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

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Mr. Crudele, as the present day konohiki, it is your kuleana – a konohiki is a person who oversees the land, the properties, that makes those kinds of decisions that you would be making – I would call out to you and ask you to make the right decision. It is your kuleana; it’s your responsibility to protect the interest of the people of this land. He Hawai‘i a mau a mau. I am Hawai‘i. We are Hawai‘i. If we cannot respect the host race, who then do we respect, who then do we honor, who do we call Hawai‘i? People from all over the world come here, to Hawai‘i, because we have that aloha, we have that love for the land and for the people. Without it, you don’t have a commodity. Let’s not just use us as the commodity. Respect and honor our tradition, our culture and our heritage. In closing I would like to send out a big mahalo to everyone here. Simmy and your ‘ohana, you have stood up against a giant, a giant, as meager little peons. They have rows of lawyers against you. And I honor you guys for standing here today and going through this transition, going through this contested case hearing. It’s not easy, but you take the task and you holomua, you move forward. I’d like to thank everybody else here, everybody who has testified. It’s because your voice, your voice would speak a thousand words. Without a voice you don’t have an action. And I told myself, I was going to sit and no say nothing. Every time I don’t like to say nothing; I like to be just quiet. Well, the silence has eaten my soul up. The silence has eaten my children up. I represent the house of Keoua. I am Keoua kalanikupuapa ‘I kalaninui Maele. My tūtū man is the father of Kamehameha I. How can I sit by and say nothing? I cannot. E kala mai ia‘u, I cannot. It’s my kuleana to stand for it, for my people, for my community, for my mo‘opuna-s, my children. If I don’t, tomorrow when they ask me, “Dad, what did you say? What did you do?” and I’m going to say, “Nothing.” Kala mai ia‘u, I cannot say, “nothing.” I kū mau mau! \[AUDIENCE: I kū wa!\] I kū mau mau, i kū hulu hulu, i ka lanawao! \[AUDIENCE: I kū wa!\] I kū lanawao! \[AUDIENCE: I kū wa!\] I kū wa huki! \[In unison\] I kū wa kō! I kū wa a mau! A mau ka ēulu! Ē huki ē! Kūlia! Aloha. \[AUDIENCE: I kū mau mau! I kū wa! I kū mau mau, i kū hulu hulu, i ka lanawao! I kū wa! I kū lanawao! I kū wa! I kū wa huki! I kū wa kō! I kū wa a mau! A mau ka ēulu! Ē huki ē! Kūlia!\] And that’s to kāhea the unity of a people, to ask them to come in together as one. In the ancient times they would haul a canoe’s, the logs out of the mountains, and they would do it together, and they would do this chant so you can do it together as one. So this community is speaking as one voice, one heart, one love. He Hawai‘i au mau a mau. Aloha ‘āina. Aloha ‘āina. This land we belong to, it don’t belong to us; we are the temporary caretakers. How we care for it, how we use it, prostitute it, exploit it, makes a big difference in where we are going to go tomorrow in the heavens. Mahalo ke Akua first of all. Mahalo, Mr. Crudele, Mr. Chris Lau, for allowing me to speak today. Speaks to the integrity of my company that I have worked for. And if you see me sleeping on the beach tomorrow, hala pau, I gone. Mahalo, ke Akua. Aloha you guys. GRACE HA‘O: Good morning. My name is Grace Ha‘o. I’ve lived in Hawai‘i my whole life. I was raised here in Kailua-Kona. Excuse me, this is very emotional for me. My entire family has deep connections with this community. I grew up with the Kamaka’s and the Alapai’s and the 8 2017-05-15 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case