Rally for ʻĪao: Today Fronting County Building

Rally for ʻĪao event flyer.

A group of concerned citizens will host a Rally for ʻĪao this afternoon (Friday, Oct. 28, 2016) at 3 p.m. fronting the County Building in Wailuku.

The rally is being organized by community leaders, educators and cultural practitioners in response to concers over issues surrounding the cleanup of the Wailuku River following a severe flood on Sept. 13, 2016.

The group outlined their concerns which include: the alleged mismanagement of emergency funds; the use of tax-payer money to pay for the removal of pōhaku (rocks) from the river; the work conducted by the Wailuku Water Company to realign the river back to its diversion grates; and the crushing of smaller sized pōhaku into gravel amid cultural concerns raised.

In an event announcement today, organizers said, “This area of ʻĪao was a place of mass burial. The blatant lack of cultural sensitivity and regard for the artifacts of the Hawaiian people is appalling.”

ʻĪao Valley flood damage.

Governor Ige’s emergency proclamtion suspended any archealogical or cultural monitoring.  Organizers say removing these boulders and digging up the river bed, are also creating a potentially bigger disaster since rocks help slow the flow of raging waters.

On Tuesday, Oct. 11, the Maui County Council voted 7-2 to approve $5 million dollars to reimburse money already spent on cleanup.

Itemized expenditures and contracts related to the $5 million spent by Maui County related to ʻĪao and Kahoma storm clean up can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By6FX6KpzsohU3RFeEpuMEFGX2c/view?usp=sharing

ʻĪao Valley, erosion and flood debris from flash flood. PC: 9.14.16 by Wendy Osher.

In response to these concerns the event organizers have drafted the following letter:

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HAWAIIAN VERSION
I ka Mea Mahalo ʻia ʻo Alan Arakawa, ka Meia, ka ʻAha Kūkā a me nā luna o nā keʻena like ʻole o ke Kālana o Maui.
No ka mea, e hoʻoholo ana ʻoukou i nā mea like ʻole no ka pono o ke kahawai ʻo Wailuku a me nā ʻāina ʻo ʻĪao, ʻo Wailuku a ʻo Paukūkalo hoʻi ma hope o ka wai luku i ka lā 13 o Kepakemapa, makahiki 2016. He noi haʻahaʻa kēia iā ʻoukou e noʻonoʻo i nā mea nui i kākau ʻia ma lalo iho nei:
1. E noʻonoʻo i ka waiwai lua ʻole o ka ʻāina ʻo ʻĪao ke hoʻoholo ʻoukou i ka hana e hana ai. ʻO ia hoʻi nā moʻolelo a me nā kūpuna e moe ana ma ia wahi a me ka pilina e mau ana me nā kūpuna i hala.
2. E noʻonoʻo i ke kahe ʻana o ka wai mai uka a i kai e like me ka nui e pono ai nā mea ola o ke kahawai.
3. E noʻonoʻo i ka pono o ke kahawai holoʻokoʻa, ʻaʻole no kekahi mau māhele wale nō.
4. E nānā ʻoukou i ka hana a Wailuku Water Company. He hewa kā lākou eli ʻana a me ke kūkulu ʻana i nā puʻu pōhaku a lepo hoʻi i mea e hoʻokahe hewa aku i ke kahawai a ʻaʻole lākou ʻo nā kānaka e hoʻoholo i ka nui o ka wai e kahe ana ma ke kahawai. Na ka poʻe o ka ʻāina nō e hoʻoholo.
5. ʻAʻole e lawe ʻia aku nā pōhaku o ʻĪao, a e hoʻihoʻi i nā mea i lawe ʻia.
6. E hōʻoia i nā kuleana o nā makaʻāinana ma lalo o ke Kumukānāwai o ka Mokuʻāina ʻo Hawaiʻi, māhele XII, paukū 7. ʻAʻole e hōʻole i ka hele ʻana o nā makaʻāinana ma ka ʻāina.
ʻO mākou, nā poʻe no lākou nā inoa ma lalo iho, he poʻe makaʻāiana a poʻe noho ʻōiwi Hawaiʻi hoʻi no ke kālana o Maui.

ʻĪao Valley flood restoration. Photo 10.4.16 by Wendy Osher.

ENGLISH VERSION
To the honorable Alan Arakawa, Mayor of Maui, the Maui County Council and the Directors of the various Maui County departments.
Whereas, you have continued to make decisions regarding the Wailuku river and the areas of ʻĪao, Wailuku and Paukūkalo following the flood on the 13th day of September, 2016. This is a request for you to be extremely concerned and consider the critical points below:
1. When making any decisions regarding ʻĪao, consider the honor, reverence and relationship that Hawaiians and others hold to the ʻāina, history and kūpuna that lay in ʻĪao.
2. Maintain ma uka to ma kai streamflow for the facilitate reestablishment of stream life. A 65% streamflow to the ocean is the minimum.
3. Make decisions that consider the Wailuku river in its entirety. Do not treat the river as sections that are not connected.
4. Closely monitor Wailuku Water Company. Their work to redirect the stream for their own benefit is wrong and a private corporation should not decide how much water flows in the river. That is the decision of the people.
5. Do not extract pōhaku from the valley and return those that have been taken.
6. Affirm the rights of Hawaiians to access lands under the State of Hawaiʻi Constitution, Article XII, Section 7. Do not deny the rights of Hawaiians to access lands.

We the undersigned, are people of the land and native people of Hawaiʻi of the County of Maui.

The event will be streamed live on Facebook by the Aloha ʻĀina Project here: https://www.facebook.com/Aloha-%C4%80ina-Project-395112027349071/?fref=ts