HomeMy WebLinkAboutGregg, Toni Makani
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:Makani Gregg <makani@pohakupelemaka.org>
Sent:Monday, October 19, 2026 12:14 PM
To:Council Testimony
Subject:BILL 199: SUPPORT INTENT WITH AMENDMENTS
Aloha Chair and Members of the Council,
As a 20 year resident of Pohoiki, Puna and as program coordinator for nonprofit Pōhaku Pelemaka
caring for ʻ āina in the district of Puna. I support the intent of Bill 199 to naming our ʻ ahupua ʻ a as the
teaches everyone who travels it where they stand. However, a place name is not just label. Knowing
and honoring a place name comes with kuleana, responsibility to caring for the history, stories, and
genealogies of that particular place. As drafted in the bill right now, Bill 199 hands that knowledge to
County agencies without saying who decides. I ask the Council to fix that before this bill. moves any
further.
1. Bill needs to say who has final decision. Consultation should be with families and lineal
descendants of the place. The County should not have final say.
2. The inventory of gathering oral histories, mo ʻ olelo, photos, and archival materials into a official
inventory for public digital access. However, not all knowledge is meant to be public and should be
protected. Bill requires consent of those who share so that people can withdraw.
3. This process outpaces community process. Bill is allowing 12 months but not sure that sufficient
time to build trust, get names, and consent.
Requested amendants:
1. Add a decision-making provision: “Final determination of the traditional place names, spellings,
boundaries, and cultural content for historic place markers and the inventory shall rest with the lineal
descendants and recognized community representatives of each moku and ahupua ʻ a. The department shall
facilitate, document, and implement those determinations.”
2. Make consultation mandatory. In Section 14-_(b)(3), replace “Consult, as appropriate, with” with
“Consult with, and obtain the concurrence of,”.
3. Require consent for the inventory. In Sections 14-_(b)(6) and (d), add: “No oral history, mo ʻ olelo,
photograph, or other cultural material shall be included in the inventory or made publicly accessible
without the free, prior, and informed consent of the individual or ʻ ohana who shared it, who may restrict
or withdraw it at any time.”
4. Phase installation by community readiness. Allow the implementation plan to proceed moku by
moku as community determinations are completed, and provide that no marker shall be installed where a
name or boundary remains unresolved.
I ka ʻ ōlelo nō ke ola, i ka ʻ ōlelo nō ka make. In language there is life; in language there is death. With these
amendments, Bill 199 can give life to our place names rather than fix them in the County’s hands. Mahalo for the
opportunity to testify.
--
me ke aloha ha ʻ aha ʻ a.
Toni Makani Gregg
Pohoiki Resident, Puna
Program Coordinator
Pōhaku Pelemaka
makani@pohakupelemaka.org
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