Army denies Hawaiians access to sacred sites

[The Sushi Bandit]

Source: The Honolulu Advertiser

Tensions have flared up again between the Army and Native Hawaiian groups over access to four sacred sites in Makua Valley.

Long-simmering differences between Native Hawaiians and the military over access to Makua Valley have flared anew, with the Army notifying two prominent groups that they will no longer be allowed access to four sacred sites they've visited in the past. Malama Makua and Hui Malama say the Army's notice, contained in a June 12 letter, may violate a 2001 court order guaranteeing cultural access to many sites in the valley, including the four sites they can no longer enter.

"The 2001 court decree said that Malama Makua and other groups must be allowed a minimum of two daytime accesses per month and one overnight visit a year for cultural activities at the sites," said William Aila, a member of Hui Malama, a Native Hawaiian faction that has conducted cultural practices at the sites along with Malama Makua. "Now, these activities have been severely restricted." Denying access to sacred sites denies Native Hawaiians the ability to honor their ancestral spirits within those locations, Aila said. He said the Native Hawaiian groups will continue to seek access to the restricted areas. If their requests continue to be denied, they'll let a judge make the decision.



Read more: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070722/NEWS01/707220365/1001

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Again we get fucked over by the US government

[Hekate]

1. Kickin' this. What crap. What evil crap.

Best of luck to all who fight this injustice. My heart is with you.

Hekate

[IndianaGreen]

2. Our glorious US Marines toppled Hawaii's queen, and turned the islands into a US colony

I wonder if those idiots with the magnetic "Support the Troops" ribbons on their cars have a fucken clue as to what precisely those troops have done in the name of "freedom and democracy."

I noticed that the white missionaries got the best land!

[missTheBigDog]

5. You're exactly right

It wasn't bad enough that the military (and a few greedy businessmen) overthrew the queen and took over the islands in the 1890s. Now they pull this kind of audacity? Wow. This is their land and they way the natives have been treated in the last 100 years is appalling. I hope they stand up and fight this sort of injustice.

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. Thank you for

having the guts to say what I have been pondering for quite some time.
I even have a long long post on my hard drive questioning this "support the troops" mantra, but here it sits......languishing in the pool of my doubt.
In my mind, its very difficut supporting the very organization that is responsible for the killing and death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
Is anyone here still deluded enough to believe that they are "fighting for our freedoms"? IF so, name one. I dare ya.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Yeah, they warned the US not to build at the sacred site of Pearl Harbor, too

The elders said if the sacred site was violated, it would bring bad energy...but the US blew off the medicine people, as usual, and built Pearl Harbor all the same.

My pappy was there on Dec. 7 when it all went wrong...and he, as with so many other sailors and soldiers, suffered the slings and arrows of krappy, arrogance-invoked karma.

[Vinca]

4. What are they doing at the sacred sites in the Makua Valley?

Hawaii is so beautiful I cringe when I hear the word military associated with it.

[sanskritwarrior]

18. Normally

we conduct live fires out there, we do close combat infantry tactics, convoy practices, and some controlled demolitions with the Combat Engineers........

Occasionally we start a fire, but we have them out before they damage too many Hawaiian religiou artifacts.......

[conspirator]

6. Another criminal land grab n/t

[C_U_L8R]

7. Don't mess with ancestral spirits

they'll be sooooorrrrrry :-)

[LiberalFighter]

9. Ancestral spirits... make sure your energy is expended fully on the Bush family

[C_U_L8R]

12. The Chimp must have missed that Brady Bunch epidode

[Crowman1979]

13. Oh they have been....

..cause ever since prescott stole Geronimo's bones, each generation afterward gets more dumb and stubborn than the one before. Who knows what will happen with the ancient Hawaiian spirits thrown into the mix.

[MetaTrope]

8. Maybe this is where Bush's mercenary army is setting up housekeeping now?

And the Paraguay thing was just a decoy?

[formerrepuke]

10. Over 3.7 million square miles of US territory..and the military needs this tiny spot..???

[Wise Doubter]

14. How much would be restricted if ...

this were some sacred "christian" site ?? Not much at all, I`d imagine.

[lynnertic]

16. It would have been desecrated long ago, is what I think.

So I agree with you, it probably wouldn't be restricted.

I'm trying to think of a Christian Holy Site that hasn't been desecrated.

[Lasher]

17. And I wonder if this were Christians seeking access to a holy site...

if their plight would be met with as much sympathy in this forum.

[lynnertic]

15. More to the story.

from the same article, this excerpt suggests that there is ordinance in the valley and that the people seeking access, who were denied, are "malihini" = not in the "club". I think that's an important point, don't know how valid the claim is tho.

The Army cited safety concerns for its 2005 ban. After two years of ordnance removal, Hawaiian groups expected they would soon be allowed back to the sites. Instead, they received the June 12 letter, saying they will no longer have physical access.

It stipulates that only visual access to the firebreak road sites will be allowed from trails and overlooks. Cultural practitioners and other members of the public will no longer be allowed to physically touch or enter the areas in order to preserve and protect those locations, the letter said.

The letter, signed by Steven M. Raymond, director of public works at Schofield Barracks, cited two reasons: Unnamed "lineal descendants" object to the visitations and contend that access to the areas "by malihini (newcomers), and non-family members" will harm and desecrate sacred family sites.

Also, it said past studies by the National Park Service on archaeological locations had found that "unlimited and/or unrestricted access physically damages cultural sites."