Visit the Office of Hawaiian Affairs website and the Kakaʻako Makai Ceded Lands Proposal website for more information.

Ua ʻākoakoa ka lehulehu ma ke kula ʻo McKinley i ka pō nei e hoʻonui ʻike no ka ʻaelike e hoʻolālā ʻia nei ma waena o OHA me ke Aupuni no ka ʻāina ma Kakaʻako Makai. ʻO kēia ka wā o nā hālāwai mua o ʻelua e mālama ʻia ana.

“Ke mālama ʻia nei kēia mau hālāwai no ka pono o ka lehulehu,” wahi a Clyde Namuo no OHA.

Ma hope o ka hōʻole ʻana o ka lehulehu a me ka ʻAhaʻōlelo i ka ʻaelike mua i hāpai ʻia i ka makahiki 2008, he wā kēia no ka lehulehu e hana like me OHA no ka ʻimi i ala kūpono hou. A no Clyde Namuʻo, ua kūpono nō.

“Inā ʻāpono ʻia kēia $200 miliona, e hiki ana iā kākou ke hoʻoulu hou i ke kālā ma o nā hale nui e waiho ʻia ana ma kēia mau ʻāpana ʻāina i mea e kākoʻo ai ka poʻe Hawaiʻi.”

Akā no kekahi, ʻaʻole nō i lawa ko kēia ʻaelike me ka waiwai i nalowale loa iā kākou Hawaiʻi.

ʻAʻole pili kēia i ke kālā, ua ʻoi aku ko ka ʻāina waiwai ma mua o kēlā.

No Shelley, ʻaʻohe ʻokoʻa o ko kēia ʻaelike me nā ʻaelike ʻē aʻe e puni ana i ka waiwai o ka ʻāina leialiʻi.

“E like me nā ʻāina leialiʻi ʻē aʻe ma Hawaiʻi, ʻaʻohe o kākou koho no ke ʻano e hoʻohana ʻia ai kēia mau ʻāina aliʻi. Ua loaʻa nō nā hale nui e kū ana a ke hoʻohana ʻia nei ua mau hale nui,” wahi a Shelley Muneoka, he ʻelele o ke kaiāulu Hawaiʻi.

A ʻo ia ke kumu he koʻikoʻi ko ka lehulehu komo piha ʻana i kēia mau hālāwai e mālama ʻia nei e OHA no ka hoʻoholomua ʻana i ka mea e hoʻoholo ʻia.

“Pono e aʻoaʻo ʻia ka poʻe no kēia mau hui nei,” wahi a Juanita Kawamoto Brown, kekahi ʻelele aku, “ʻAʻole lawa ka heluna kānaka Hawaiʻi e komo piha ana ma kēia mau kūkākūkā a he pono ko lākou kākoʻo.”

A ua kākoʻo piha ʻo Shelley. “He pōmaikaʻi kēia no kākou e kaʻana aku i ko kākou manaʻo kūʻē no kēia ʻano ʻaelike e mālama ʻia nei.”

Akā wahi a Juanita, pono e lohe ʻia ia leo o ka Hawaiʻi. “ʻAʻole lawa ko kākou aʻoaʻo ʻana i ka poʻe e hele mai a kākoʻo. Pono kākou e hoʻoikaika i hiki ke hoʻokumu ʻia kēlā leo o ka poʻe Hawaiʻi.”

The Native Hawaiian community met last night at McKinley High School to discuss with OHA about the possible land settlement in Kakaʻako Makai.

“We are making a round of meetings throughout the state to inform as many of our beneficiaries as possible,” said Clyde Namuo, CEO of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

After the public and Legislature denied the first proposal in 2008, Clyde Namuo believes this is a great opportunity for Native Hawaiians.

“What’s in it for the community is $200 million dollars worth of real estate that would, and it’s not so much the value of the real estate, it’s really what the real estate can be used for, the kinds of developments that would generate income that could be used by the Native Hawaiian community.”

For some, however, it doesn’t make up for the value of lands lost to us.

“It’s not just about monetizing and capitalizing and developing and making money, the value of land is more than that,” says Shelley Muneoka, a community member present at last night’s meeting.

For Shelley, this proposal is similar to the rest dealing with ceded lands.

“It forces us to make the same land use decisions that have been made previously on ceded lands, which is to develop and to make money. And we have no other options on these parcels. They’re already developed, there’s already leases in place.”

That’s why these informational meetings and public input are crucial of this process.

“We need more and more community awareness, you know, we need to wise up the numbers,” says Juanita Kawamoto Brown, another community member, “We need to build the people to come out off the couch and you know, come on guys, come down to this kind of- but first they got to know it’s even going on.”

And Shelley couldn’t agree more. “We’re at an opportunity to show that we- given the decision, we would make different decisions about land. That we wouldn’t do the same things.”

According to Juanita, this voice needs to be heard. “It just, it doesn’t feel like we’re sticking our arms out to call more people to come. We need to do more of that every day till we find the place we can all come and make a single voice and that has to happen.

OʻAHU

Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011
Waimānalo
“Ka Ho‘oilina Na Kūhiō” Community Center
41-253 Ilauhole St., Waimānalo
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011
Kapolei Middle School
91-5335 Kapolei Parkway, Kapolei
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

LĀNA‘I

Friday, Dec. 17, 2011
Lāna‘i High & Intermediate School
555 Fraser Ave., Lāna‘i City
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

MOLOKA‘I

Friday, Dec. 17, 2011
Kūlana ‘Ōiwi Complex,
600 Maunaloa Highway, Kaunakakai
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.