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older building, but my son was raised on the beaches there. At age five, he had a knife on his
<br />ankle and was throwing net, and was raised literally by the fisherman in the area who taught him
<br />everything he knows, and he is a fisherman to this day. He knows every inch of the coastline
<br />there, and has never really confided to me up until now, but he did tell me that the reef in front of
<br />the area is, where the heiau is, is dead and there are very few fish. And those of us who have been
<br />here for a long time have noticed that the fish even in the bay are depleted and not as colorful and
<br />just, just not the same. Early in the morning I’ve gone down and, as was witnessed, that the beach
<br />is deteriorated. I spoke to a County worker the other day, and he’s told me that he takes care of all
<br />of the area from Kahalu‘u to Hale Hālāwai, and they are very short-staffed and they can’t take care
<br />of the whole place. There’s debris everywhere at all the beaches. We are trying to have
<br />community input, grab a rake, go down, if you can, and clean up some of the area. Magic Sands
<br />and the whole area just is very sad. And, of course, the facilities north and the six-lane highway,
<br />all the money seems to be going north. But we need to protect and restore this area that’s very
<br />sacred to so many of us. So, I’m, I’m just hoping that all of the work that Simmy and Loke have
<br />done, and the family, will provide the evidence that we need to stop and we need to restore the
<br />whole area and stop development. We need to stop it. We don’t need it in that area. It’s a sacred
<br />area, and it would be beautiful to just take care of it. Thank you very much.
<br />
<br />CLARE LOPRINZI: I’ll keep it to three minutes. I just am really honored. First, aloha kakahiaka
<br />and mahalo, mahalo that, our kupuna here – can’t say enough every time. I’ve been here a long
<br />time. I came here because I was told to come here. And I’m a traditional midwife. I’m a cultural
<br />practitioner. And our work is, is deep. And I really understand it, and that’s why I came here with
<br />these keiki and I sit next to them, because I help them be born, I’m the māmā, I’m a māmā, I’m
<br />Māmā Clare. And when you have the great honor of helping these children come into this world,
<br />and I have their fathers catch their children, I have them bring their hā in, because these children
<br />have already been told to me, even by the kupuna-s, that they’re gonna lead. We will not allow
<br />this to happen. It can’t happen. And we also know, for the sake of all of your families of all of
<br />you that are sitting there on the other side, that I think you should just go up and just cancel this
<br />whole situation for your own safety and for the chi- for your own many generations of children,
<br />because I’m sure you guys have good families. And nothing means more to us to have our
<br />mo‘opuna and then the mo‘opuna have their mo‘opuna and the mo‘opuna, and then the dreams,
<br />and then the people come and they say, “Hō, kū mau mau!” They already are ready. And we will
<br />heal this place, because it’s all healable. And we will get people to stop using sunscreens and the
<br />heiau-s will come back. And even before the ali‘i were the other, the old, old people. And I’ve
<br />helped families from the Kahulamū; they do not believe it should be just their iwi that should be
<br />saved. And there is no pono way of doing this. So, it is either pono or kaohe – is that? – the other
<br />one when you, you cannot do it when you, like maha‘oi, you cannot do this, so that’s why we
<br />know it won’t happen. Because at this point we’ve got to put our bodies down, if that’s what
<br />happens next. But I know you are going to make a good decision because you are a smart man.
<br />And you have to because you’ve got, you’ve got a line behind you, too. I know you’ve got –
<br />you’ve got mo‘opuna? Sir, judge, you have mo‘opuna? You have your own grandchildren? And
<br />you love them and you know you’re going to love them. So in all ways all of you that came here,
<br />but especially our kupuna, mahalo nui, because I learn every time I come here. And mahalo nui
<br />for everybody’s leo, because behind each one of these voices is another thousand. So, keep
<br />speaking. Kūpa‘a. We’re always gonna win. And we’re always gonna restore it, because it can
<br />be healed. Mahalo.
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<br />2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
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