2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case

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the first place I ever swam when I was four years old. The first beach, and the sand went all the way out. I spent many years in this very bay pounding ‘opihi, hā‘uke‘uke, pipipi, cross net pai pai, with the renowned ‘ohana from the district, the Kamoku ‘ohana and the Nahale ‘ohana. I was one of the many kanaka ‘ōiwi who helped reestablish the Makahiki festival here at Kahalu‘u Beach in the late 80’s and 90’s. And at that time we were threatened with incarceration for participating in our own religious and cultural beliefs. I have to be honest, to myself first, my kūpuna, my tūtū-s that came before me and my entire Kona community from the old days to now; I am an employee, I am the project superintendent of Towne Realty and Development, for eleven years. I have supervised many projects with the highest integrity and professional standards possible. Like many of us who work in the construction and tourist industry, we understand the painful compromise that we deal with on a daily basis. Our work is often in total contradiction to our cultural practices and our religious beliefs. In all the years I have been employed with Towne Development, my work has never jeopardized my cultural and religious beliefs until now, because it involves the removal of our kanaka ‘ōiwi-s, our ancestors, our bones from the beginning of time immemorial thousands of years before this. This very painful conflict of interest has taken a toll on my heart and my health, my entire ‘ohana. I brought this to the attention of my upper management who understands my situation and have encouraged me to attend and testify at this contested case hearing, regardless if it’s for, against, bad, and without the fear of repercussion. Speaks to the integrity of my company. As a kanaka maoli born and raised in Kona and a kanaka ‘ōiwi practitioner who fishes, dives and sustains myself from these waters and lands my entire life, I cannot in my na‘au and in all good conscience condone this development in its present form and allow the possibility of the desecration to a nationally registered historical site. It would seem that the State and the County preservation department should be responsible and held accountable and liable for these kinds of desecration in the event it does occur. It is also my belief that it would be in the best interest of all parties involved to have a combined effort to create an independent archaeological survey of all discrepancies of registered historical sites. Kupuna Mitchell, who assisted recognized cultural site expert Henry P. Kekahuna, testified at these very hearings that the burial sites are so ancient and so extensive that there are layers and layers of iwi-s there, layers and layers, not one, not two, but layers. Many more kupuna-s have testified, many concerned community leaders confirm that house sites, farming and religious practices are more, much more extensive than has been surveyed under this project proposal. This to me is extremely heart wrenching and hard to bear. I had to walk out and relieve myself bursting in tears and pain in my heart. It’s so hard to bear down and listen to all kupuna-s calling out to us. We were taught our core, core values are to respect and honor our kupuna-s and their mana‘o and their ‘ike, their vision. It’s in our culture to honor those. And as for Bishop Estate Development, I think we pointing fingers at my company is not the right place. There is a broken trust here. If it’s not Towne Development, it will be somebody else or somebody else or somebody else. Doesn’t matter. You have to get to the core and root of the pilikia; it’s the broken trust of Bishop Estate, the broken trust of the State government, allowing these kinds of lenient criteria set upon development that does not protect the culture, does not protect the people, does not protect the future of our generations to come. Because of this, I have to, I have to bring to your attention, 7 2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case