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Here's the latest I'm reporting on from my neck of the woods. The
military is destroying all of our cultural sites and desecrating our
ancestors' graves while expanding their dominion over these islands. The
sad thing is that a Hawaiian organization (OHA) that is supposed to be
helping us apparently made a deal with the devils in Washington and did
not move on this when they found out about it a year ago. Only now when
they're caught they are doing something, although not much.<br><br>
As you know, this issue of further land-grabbing is repeating itself in
Guam and Okinawa and other places. I'm trying to report on these issues
as much as possible because no other media outlet is doing it. The media
is so military-friendly here, even more so than on the
continent!!<br><br>
</font>Folks I collaborate with on these anti-militarization pieces just
got the axe from the American Friends Service Committee (they are/soon to
be the former AFSC Hawaii Chapter) and will lose funding and affiliation
at the end of the year. Word is that the organization is not comfortable
with the rampant anti-military and sovereignty stance of the Hawaii
Chapter.<br><br>
<font size=3>
<a href="http://thehawaiiindependent.com/masthead/105/">Samson
Kaala
</a><a href="http://thehawaiiindependent.com/masthead/105/">Reiny<br><br>
</a>
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</font><h1><font size=4><b>OHA ‘drops the ball’ in protecting cultural
sites from Stryker brigade</b></font></h1><font size=3>Aug 03, 2010 -
11:17 AM | by
<a href="http://thehawaiiindependent.com/masthead/105/">Samson Kaala
Reiny</a><br>
<a href="http://thehawaiiindependent.com/story/oha-stryker/" eudora="autourl">
http://thehawaiiindependent.com/story/oha-stryker/<br><br>
<br>
</a>HONOLULU Cultural sites that were supposed to have been protected
from military vehicles and training exercises may have been put in
jeopardy due to an oversight by The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)
lasting nearly a year.<br><br>
At a special meeting with concerned community members last Thursday, OHA
admitted to “dropping the ball” by not taking action on a damning report
the agency received last year that criticized the Army’s efforts at
preserving cultural sites while training and constructing the Stryker
Brigade Combat Teams (SBCT).<br><br>
OHA received the report in September 2009, and it suggests that parts of
the <a href="http://www.achp.gov/nhpa.html">National Historic
Preservation Act (NHPA)</a> were disregarded. Trustees and staff
discussed the item at a committee meeting in November. According to the
minutes, Clyde Namuo, CEO, said staff was to draft a letter to the Army
requesting the protection of sites mentioned in the document. It was
revealed last week that no such action had been taken since that
committee meeting last year.<br><br>
“A lot happened,” said Kai Markell, OHA’s Compliance Monitoring Manager,
who noted some structural changes within the organization kept some
employees in limbo. “Some of us didn’t know if we were going to be here,
and we lost a few people related to the project.”<br><br>
The report, written by independently contracted archaeologist Christopher
Monahan, comments on the Army’s numerous shortcomings in its attempts at
documenting cultural sites, which, if included on the National Register
of Historic Places, offers them various protections from being
disturbed.<br><br>
The report was the end result of a lawsuit OHA filed against the Army in
November 2006 alleging violations against the NHPA and the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Cultural
monitors claimed that numerous sites were being mistreated or were
endangered, including Haleauau heiau near Schofield Barracks, whose
protective buffers were razed by bulldozers in July of that
year.<br><br>
In October 2008, a settlement was reached where OHA would drop its
lawsuit based on its then knowledge of the existing surveys and reports.
In return, the Army allowed the independently contracted archaeologist,
Monahan, as well as OHA staff, access to Stryker Brigade sites for a
total of 50 days in order to draw up an objective second opinion. OHA had
the option then to proceed with mediation or litigation based on the new
findings.<br><br>
OHA initially gave the report to Terri Kekoolani, program coordinator for
the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Hawaii, a few weeks ago at
her request.<br><br>
Monahan is critical of the methods used in the previous surveys conducted
by the military and its hired firms, recognizing there are issues with
the competency of the field personnel involved. It also notes a general
lack of subsurface testing, or excavating, to locate such sites. Instead,
there are “mere guesses ... and based on relatively little scientific
data.” <br><br>
At some locations, Monahan’s findings more than doubled the number of
known features the Army had previously reported. <br><br>
There is also concern regarding numerous earlier reportsones that
evaluated surveys taken of impacted areasthat were not made available to
him because they were in draft form. Most problematic was a major report
on the Kahuku Training Area, which was completed six years ago but is
still not available.<br><br>
Many of those in attendance recommended that, due to the Army’s
violations of NHPA as cited in the report, an injunction should be filed
by OHA to halt construction and training activities, until these issues
are resolved. Markell said he would consult with upper management and the
legal team on the options.<br><br>
“We will refocus our efforts,” Markell said.<br><br>
<br><br>
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