FREEHAWAII.INFO PRESENTS A SPECIAL REPORT IN FOUR PARTS -
FROM INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY
Homeless In Hawai'i: More Land For The Military Than For Hawaiians
By Winona LaDuke - Guest Columnist
Here's Part Two -
The U.S. military controls 200,000 acres of Hawai'i, with over 100 military installations and at least 150,000 personnel. Among the largest sites is the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), a 108,793-acre bombing range between the sacred mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in the center of the big island, Hawai'i. At least seven million rounds of ammunition are fired annually at that base alone. The military proposes to expand the base by 23,000-acres under the "Military Transformation Proposal" and plans to bring in Stryker brigades to the area. The military is hoping for up to 79,000 additional acres in new land acquisition. Pohakuloa has the "highest concentration of endangered species of any Army installation in the world," according to its former commander Lt. Col. Dennis Owen, with over 250 ancient Hawaiian archeological sites. Those species and archeological sites are pretty much "toast" under the expansion plans.
Hawaiian military bucks and the homeless -
There are some benefits to being a senior senator like Daniel Inouye. The $l.5 billion dollar pork-barrel proposal to expand Hawai'i’s military bases would include more than 400 Stryker vehicles (eight-wheeled, 19-ton, armored infantry carriers), new C-l7 transport planes and additional arsenal expansions.
Adding more military personnel and bases is always a good way to boost a state’s economy. After all, a recent Hawai'i Advertiser article featured Pearl Harbor businessmen lamenting the number of troops "sent out" to Iraq, and the downswing in business at the barbershops and elsewhere. The message: "New troops needed to fill up those businesses!"
Inouye, who is the ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Committee has been a strong advocate for more military in Hawai'i. Yet, in his vice chairmanship of the Indian Affairs Committee, he has been a stronger advocate for diminishing Native Hawaiian sovereignty, rights and land title. New proposals (the so-called Akaka Bill) would strip Hawaiians of long-term access to land, and follow the suit of the infamous Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act, barring future recourse for justice.
In the meantime, the 2 million acres of land originally earmarked for Native Hawaiians (under Hawai'i’s statehood act) are being transferred to private interests and to the military. Some 22,000 Native Hawaiians remain on waiting lists for their homestead awards, and an estimated 30,000 have died while on the list awaiting their homesteads. The Hawaiian lands end up with the military or developers. "We can barely pay house rent, and they build apartments," said one Hawaiian from the Wai’anae coast. "With inflation now, its hard to buy tomatoes, carrots ... You cannot eat ’em, those buildings."
Hawai'i has now adopted one of the nation’s severest penalties to discourage individuals from living on public property. Act 50, a recently passed law, bans individuals for an entire year from the public areas where they are given a citation. The act stipulates that people found illegally occupying public property such as beaches and parks are subject to ejection, and if they return within a year they face arrest, a possible $1,000 fine and/or 30 days in jail. Many Hawaiian families live on the beaches and in public parks. The Beltran family, among others, has lived on the beach at Mokule’ia for 12 years, claiming the right to live there as ancestral, but each week they must get a permit to camp. "We have a right to be here, because our ancestors were from here," Beltran explained to a reporter. "I cannot go to the mainland and say that’s my home. I cannot go to Japan and call that my home. This is my home, right here. I will never give this place up."
Continued In Part Three...
