Militarization in the Pacific – Teresia Teaiwa

Church of the Crossroads, United Church of Christ

A Just Peace and Open and Affirming Congregation

The Watada Lectures 2012

November 8-11

Militarization in the Pacific

featuring

Dr. Teresia Teaiwa

Thurs. Nov. 8, 5:30 – 7:00 pm   UH Manoa Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies 

“Fiji, Women, Soldiers, And Poetry”

Sponsors: Center for Pacific Island Studies, the Women’s Studies Program, the Brandt Chair Fund, and the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies

Saturday, November 10, 7:00 – 9:00 pm, Church of the Crossroads

“The Military Cultural Complex”

 Sunday, November 11, Church of the Crossroads

9:00 am – Adult Education conversation with Dr. Teaiwa

10:30 am – Morning Worship “Religions and Militarization”

Noon – Lunch

Afternoon – Veterans’ Day Forum with Veterans and Dr. Teaiwa

 

 

 

 

 

 

E Ola Ke Awalau o Puʻuloa: Kanaka Maoli speak on Puʻuloa / Pearl Harbor

Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice presents: 

Kanaka Maoli speak on Puʻuloa

DATE: June 19, 2012

TIME: 6:00-8:00pm

LOCATION: Center for Hawaiian Studies, UH Manoa Classroom 202, 2645 Dole Street

COST: free

WHAT:

Kanaka Maoli panelists will present historical, cultural, environmental and social significance of Ke Awa Lau o Pu’uloa (Pearl Harbor) and engage in a dialogue about its past, present and future.

This presentation is sponsored by the Hawaii Council for the Humanities through a grant to Hawaii Peace and Justice. Our presenters, Dr. Jon Osorio, Dr. Leilani Basham, Andre Perez and Koa Luke will tell the “hidden” histories of Pearl Harbor, from the mo’olelo of its ancient past and sacred sites to its present uses. Pearl Harbor is a site of great historical importance to Hawai’i, the U.S. and the world, but the discourse is unbalanced and incomplete. Most people know only of Pearl Harbor and the Japanese attack and World War II. This is an opportunity to unearth its Hawaiian past and open doors for its future.

WHO:

  • Dr. Leilani Basham, assistant professor, West Oahu University – Hawaiian Pacific Studies will share her research regarding old place names and stories.
  • Dr. Jonathan Osorio, professor in Manoa’s Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge will be presenting a Kanaka Maoli historian point of view from a paper he published entitled Memorializing Pu’uloa and Remembering Pearl Harbor.
  • Andre Perez, a Hawaiian cultural practitioner and community activist/organizer. Andre will present work being done at Hanakehau Learning Farm (off shore of Pu’uloa) showing how Hawaiians today can take grassroots approaches to reclaim and restore lands impacted by militarism and industrialization, creating a space where Hawaiians can come to teach, learn and reconnect with the ‘aina and engage in Hawaiian traditions and practices. Andre will explain how these types of efforts are building blocks towards a Hawaiian consciousness of self-determinations and sovereignty.
  • Koa Luke: University of Hawaii Library Science graduate student. Koa will talk about his ohana’s history and experience growing up in Waiawa, an ahupua’a of Ke Awa Lau o Pu’uloa.

http://www.wp.hawaiipeaceandjustice.org/2012/06/16/kanaka-maoli-speak-on-puuloa/

Hawai'i Delegation Report Back from the 8th Meeting of the International Network of Women Against Militarism

WOMEN’S VOICES WOMEN SPEAK
C/O HAWAI‘I PEACE & JUSTICE
2426 O‘AHU AVENUE
HONOLULU HI 96822
WVWS808.BLOGSPOT.COM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 21, 2012

Contact: Terri Keko‘olani 808-227-1621
Eri Oura 808-542-0348 eriola@gmail.com

Hawai‘i Women Share Experiences from Puerto Rico (Honolulu, O‘ahu). Four Hawai‘i women returned home recently after meeting with other members of the International Women’s Network Against Militarism (IWNAM) at the organization’s 8th annual meeting in Puerto Rico. They will share their experiences with the community Friday evening, June 1, 6:00 PM at the Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu.

The International Women’s Network Against Militarism (IWNAM) was formed in 1997 when forty women activists, policy-makers, teachers, and students gathered in Okinawa to strategize about the negative effects of the US military on their respective communities. The network—a collaboration among women active in their communities and who share the mission to promote, model and protect genuine security—includes women from the Philippines, South Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Guam, the continental United States, Puerto Rico and Hawai‘i.

“With the increasing militarism in so many of our communities, the opportunity to stand in solidarity with others who face issues similar to ours here in the islands,” said long time activist Terri Keko‘olani, “helps us to put our work into perspective.”

In addition to meeting around organization and strategic planning for the near future, the attendees participated in excursions to several storied places of Puerto Rico, such as El Yunqué Forest and a healing labyrinth in the mountainside village of Barranquitas. They participated in a protest against the building of a natural gas line in the city, met with survivors of domestic violence, former political prisoners, various women’s groups for peace, and others leading their communities in providing health screenings and services.
“Puerto Rico and Hawai‘i have much in common, as island economies that are dependent on importing basic necessities and vulnerable to unsustainable development and military interest,” Elise Davis, a public health educator, was particularly struck by the health concerns brought up by communities that experienced extensive military weapons testing. “Vieques has a 27% higher rate of cancer than mainland Puerto Rico, and no one can say with certainty that it is not related to the weapons testing.”

Communities, such as Ceiba, introduced them to the struggles to reclaim and reuse land no longer being used by the U.S. military. “There are so many similarities between Vieques and Kaho‘olawe,” shares Kim Ku‘ulei Birnie, a member of Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana. “They have Ceiba, Culebra and Vieques; we have Kaho‘olawe, Mākua and Pōhakuloa. We have so much to share with one another.”

The group also made presentations on the status of militarism in their respective countries, held at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, and at the museum on Vieques.

“There’s a strong partnership between the local communities and the university among the network in Puerto Rico. We met Puerto Ricos most involved and passionate activists and scholars who believe in the right to self-determination and actively resist further Americanization of their people and lands,” explained Eri Oura. “We were even greeted by the mayors of Barranquitas and Vieques.”

Terri Keko‘olani, Eri Oura, Elise Davis and Kim Ku‘ulei Birnie will share their impressions on Friday, June 1st, from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu, 1212 University Avenue.

This is a pre-event to the Umematsu & Yasu Watada Lecture Series on Peace, Social Justice & the Environment. The public is invited.

Women’s Voices Women Speak is a group of Hawai‘i women who organize around Kanaka Maoli sovereignty and demilitarization in Hawai‘i from women’s perspectives.

www.wvws808.blogspot.com

Women for Genuine Security is the U.S.-based partner in the International Women’s Network Against Militarism.
www.genuinesecurity.org

# PAU #


Media documents can be downloaded here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-K0TmHJlFSUU19WaGk2WUZzeWM/edit

"The Pacific Blue Continent: Militarized Experiences in Hawai'i, the Marshall Islands and Guahan"

November 30, 2011

5:30 pm

University of Guam CLASS Public Lecture Hall

Featured Speakers:

Kyle Kajihiro, Hawai’i Peace and Justice

Abacca Anjain-Maddison, Former Senator, Rongelap Island,

Ken Kuper, FITE Club

Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice

Sponsored by the Division of Social Work and Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice

(De) Militarizing the Pacific – Hawaiʻi and Guahan

NATIVE VOICES #3: 11/9/11, 7pm, Halau O Haumea, Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies.

DEMILITARIZING THE PACIFIC: a roundtable featuring scholars & activists from HAWAII & GUAHAN, including JULIAN AGUON, LISA NATIVIDAD, TY KAWIKA TENGAN, TERRI KEKOʻOLANI, & KALEIKOA KAʻEO. Hosted by CRAIG SANTOS PEREZ.

Makua: Wildfires and Military Toxins

On September 28, a wildfire caused by an Army detonation of unexploded ordnance burned 100 acres in Makua Valley:

A fire burned about 100 acres of the Army’s Makua Valley training range Wednesday after it was started by workers who had detonated unexploded ordnance.

An Army spokesman said the detonation was part of a routine, ongoing cleanup operation. No one was injured. The fire was contained about 4 p.m.

No threatened or endangered species or native Hawaiian cultural sites were affected, according to an Army cultural resoucre official at the scene, the Army said.

This week, the court ruled that the Army failed to adequately study possible contamination of seaweed in the sea off Makua training area.  The Civil Beat reports “Army Can’t say Whether Hawaii Seafood Is Safe”:

Waianae-area residents still can’t be certain whether seafood they harvest off their shore is safe from dangerous levels of arsenic and lead. A federal judge has ruled that Army tests of possible contamination have fallen short and advocates for the community say more tests likely will be necessary.

Contractors hired by the U.S. Army to test whether 80 years of military operations had poisoned local residents’ seafood attempted to test seafood including fish, limu, sea cucumbers and octopus without diving into the water to collect specimens, according to an environmental law firm that sued the Army.

But the contractors never left the beach and the testing was inadequate, said David Henkin, an attorney with Earthjustice representing Malama Makua, a local community organization.

[…]

“What’s really sad is for a community to have to get into federal court and spend over a decade to battle the military,” said Sparky Rodgrigues, president of Malama Makua and a Vietnam veteran. “I went to battle hoping I wouldn’t have to come home to battle.”

Bullets and unexploded ordnance are strewn throughout the Makua Military Reservation where the Army has been doing military exercises since the 1920s. Residents worry that chemicals such as arsenic, lead, chrome and uranium from the artillery could be leaching into the soil and entering the ocean through runoff. Rodrigues said that the chemicals could also be released into the air and absorbed into plants.

The court order supplements an October 2010 ruling in which Mollway also ruled that the Army had failed to adequately test marine resources. While the military found high levels of arsenic in a previous test of seafood, officials didn’t test whether it was inorganic arsenic, and thus highly carcinogenic, or organic, which doesn’t pose a human health risk.

The 2010 ruling also said that the Army violated a separate settlement obligation to complete archeological surveys to determine whether cultural resources could be damaged by stray shells and mortar rounds.

The military has been banned from doing live round firing since 2004 and is unlikely to be able to resume the activities until the testing is complete.

Rodrigues said the military wasn’t being good neighbors “by contaminating the water, food source and environment.”

“The military takes from our community and doesn’t really give back,” said Rodgrigues.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

 

Protect Kahoolawe Ohana: All Our Aloha in One Kanoa

Stopping the bombing – 20th Anniversary

September 25, 2011

9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Ka Papa Lo’i o Kanewai – 2645 Dole Street

Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana rededicates itself to Kaho‘olawe

 (Kānewai, O‘ahu). The Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana (‘Ohana) will host All Our Aloha in One Kānoa on Sunday, September 25 from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM at Ka Papa Lo‘i ‘o Kānewai at 2645 Dole Street.  The event, which is free and open to the public, and welcomes families, wraps up a year of islandswide activities marking the 20th anniversary since the bombing of Kaho‘olawe was stopped,  The ‘Ohana invites the community to join in the rededication of promoting Aloha ‘Āina throughout the islands.  Activities include talk story panels, music, food and other activities.  The ‘Ohana will be serving ‘awa from the kānoa (‘awa bowl) that has been traveling across the Hawaiian Islands for the past year inviting community to rededicate themselves to Kanaloa Kaho‘olawe and continued efforts for its restoration.

 Three unique kūkākūkā sessions will bring in members of the community to connect to Kaho‘olawe:

11 – 12 PM.  MAKAHIKI.  Makahiki practitioners from various O‘ahu communities will share their experiences around the revival of Makahiki on Kaho‘olawe and how they’ve connected those practices to their own wahi kapu (sacred places).

1  – 2 PM.  I MUA NĀ PUA.  Young people will share what the island has meant to them as students and family members through poems, songs, oli, or their personal stories.

3  – 4 PM.  EA.  Activists and proponents of Hawaiian sovereignty and restoration will describe their visions of how Kanaloa Kaho‘olawe fits into a Hawaiian entity.

Live music will be featured between sessions, including music by the Hakioawa Serenaders, Steve Ma‘i‘i, Jon Osorio, Ernie Cruz, Jr., and Kupa‘āina.

The lo‘i at Kānewai was re-established by UH Hawaiian language and culture students who were also members of the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana.  Kūpuna who guided the activities on Kaho‘olawe also helped young people to re-open the lo‘i kalo.  The histories of the two communities are interconnected.

Ono food, familiar to those who have accessed Hakioawa with the ‘Ohana, will be available for donation.  All proceeds from the day will support the mission of the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana.

Formed in 1976, the vision of the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana is Aloha ‘Āina.

Its mission is to promote Aloha ‘Āina throughout the islands through cultural, educational and spiritual activities that heal and revitalize the cultural and natural resources on Kaho‘olawe.

Peace Day Event Calls for Ending Missile Testing in the Pacific

For Immediate Release             

Contact:     Kyle Kajihiro
808-988-6266
kkajihiro@hawaiipeaceandjustice.org

Peace Day Event Calls for Ending Missile Testing in the Pacific

Hawai’i Peace and Justice  (formerly the American Friends Service Committee Hawai’i Program) will sponsor a talk by a renowned peace activist to commemorate International Peace Day.

MacGregor Eddy will speak about “Peace In the Pacific: Stop Missile Testing!”  Ms. Eddy sits on the board of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power Space <http://www.space4peace.org>, is a member of the International Committee to Save Jeju Island (Korea) <www.savejejuisland.org>, and coordinates peace protests at the Vandenberg Space Command <www.vandenbergwitness.org>.

The event takes place on International Peace Day, September 21, 2011 at 7:00 pm, at the Honolulu Friends Meeting House, 2426 Oahu Avenue, Honolulu.   The presentation is free and open to the public.

On what has been declared an International Day of Peace by the United Nations, the United States had scheduled to launch a nuclear-capable Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. After an outpouring of international criticism, the launch has been postponed to a later date.

There was much controversy with the selection of this particular date, which was established by the U.N. General Assembly in 2001 to be reserved as “a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honor a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day…commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”

David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, said, “Missile testing is a provocative act, not a peaceful one, and is particularly inappropriate on the International Day of Peace. Rather than testing one of its nuclear-capable missiles, the US should be taking steps to further the goals of peace and nuclear disarmament on this important day. To build a more peaceful world, US leadership is critical.”

Vandenberg Air Force Base in California routinely tests hydrogen bomb delivery systems, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMS), over the Pacific to Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands in violation of the U.S. commitment to disarmament under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The US and its allies use the few, short range launches by North Korea as a pretext for military buildup on Guam, Okinawa, and Jeju Island South Korea. The Pacific Missile Range Facility in Nohili, Kaua’i is key to the testing and tracking of missile launches.

Kyle Kajihiro, coordinator for Hawai‘i Peace and Justice said “On Peace Day we should reflect on the high cost of war and militarism and commit ourselves to ending the disorder of global militarization. Will Hawai‘i truly be a gathering place for peace, or a weapon of global domination? ”

####

 DOWNLOAD THE POSTER FOR THE EVENT

Hawai’i Peace and Justice
2426 O’ahu Avenue
Honolulu, Hawai’i 96822
808.988.6266
nfo@hawaiipeaceandjustice.org
hawaiipeaceandjustice.org

Military studies Waikane Valley bomb cleanup

The Honolulu Star Advertiser published an article about the progress of unexploded ordnance (UXO) cleanup in Waikane valley in Ko’olaupoko district of O’ahu.

Waikane is a lush valley that is very significant in Hawaiian legend and history.  The name refers to the waters of the great deity Kane. Sites in the valley are referred to in ancient chants about creation. As this is a land of flowing streams, there are extensive lo’i kalo (taro fields).

Waikane was granted to the Kamaka family during the Mahele. But land speculators like Lincoln McCandless acquired vast amounts of land in Waikane and other areas like Makua, allegedly through illegal or unethical means.

During World War II, the military leased Waikane lands for training and promised to return the land in its original condition.  When the lands were returned to the Kamaka family, Raymond Kamaka began farming and working with youth.   But the bombs kept turning up.  Instead of cleaning up as promised, the Marines condemned the land over the objections of the family.

In 2003, the Marines announced that they planned to conduct jungle warfare training in Waikane and held community meetings.  The community turned out in large numbers to protest the plan and to demand that the military clean up the land and return it to the Kamaka family. The Marine corps abandoned its training plans for Waikane.  Several years later, it began the administrative process for closing and cleaning up the range.

The surrounding lands were also affected by training, but since they are currently in private hands, a different program called the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program under the Army Corps of Engineers has the responsibility to conduct the ordnance removal.

The very fact that the munitions are being studied and removed is a win for the community.  What was once “too dangerous” and “too costly” is now within reach.  But the level of cleanup depends on the cost and feasibility analysis as well as the final land use.   This is where continued pressure is needed to ensure that the land is returned to Mr. Kamaka or to an entity that he designates to carry on the kuleana (responsibility) he solemnly swore to fulfill to his ancestors.

The Hawai’i congressional delegation can ensure that the cleanup is conducted to the highest level possible by ensuring that there is adequate funding to achieve the highest level of cleanup.

There are currently two cleanup operations underway in Waikane.  Under the Army Corps of Engineers FUDS program, a Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) has been established to oversee its portion of the cleanup. Under the Marine Corps, a separate Restoration Advisory Board has been established.  These RABs include military, government regulators and community members and provide input to the military on the cleanup process.   The meetings are open to the public.

The Army Corps of Engineers FUDS RAB will meet Wednesday, June 22, 2011 from 7-9 pm in the Waiahole Elementary School Cafeteria.

Below are excerpts from the Honolulu Star Advertiser article. The time line at the end has an error: the Marine Corps did not fence the Kamaka parcel in 1992 after it condemned the land.  It installed a fence some time after 2003, only after the community blasted the Marines for being hypocritical, i.e. claiming that the land was so dangerous it had to be condemned but never enclosing it with a fence.

Military studies Waikane Valley bomb cleanup

A Windward Oahu area littered with old munitions is being looked at by both the Marines and the Army

By William Cole

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jun 19, 2011

WILLIAM COLE / WCOLE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Marine Corps officials and an ordnance removal technician view Waikane Valley in the vicinity of the ordnance impact area.
WILLIAM COLE / WCOLE@STARADVERTISER.COM
The Marine Corps said it is spending $1.37 million to investigate the 187-acre impact area in Waikane Valley where the majority of the munitions are located and to develop a feasibility study for cleanup options that is expected to be released in the fall. Here, a warning sign is posted at the edge of the Marine Corps’ impact area

More Photos

Up a rutted road in jungly Waikane Valley, past the old Ka Mauna ‘o ‘Oliveta Church, through a locked gate and beyond a security fence is the former Kamaka family farm, the now-defunct military training range that replaced it, and the long-held hope — going on decades now — that the land can be returned to the agricultural and cultural place it used to be.

Waikane Valley is one of dozens of former military training sites in Hawaii undergoing the slow, arduous and sometimes painful process that goes along with demilitarization.

Among those many sites, Waikane is considered by some to be a special place, and there’s been momentum in recent years to clean up the munitions that litter it.

The Marine Corps and Army Corps of Engineers are each conducting studies on removing ordnance from a total of 1,061 acres in Waikane Valley. Citizen advisory groups are asking Congress for millions in cleanup funds.

“Things seem to be moving in a good direction — at least things seem to be moving, which is a good direction,” said Windward resident and attorney David Henkin, who is on the two restoration advisory boards for the land.

Land in and around the former training area is valued as a cultural and natural resource. The city thought highly enough of the land in 1998 to spend $3.5 million for 500 acres to the southeast of the Marine Corps land that are intended to become the Waikane Valley Nature Park. A private landowner, Paul Zweng, bought 1,400 acres — part of which is in the former training area — for a proposed Ohulehule Forest Conservancy to preserve and restore the endemic flora and fauna in the valley, officials said.

[…]

Despite the potential risk, off-road vehicles tear up Waikane Stream, and pig hunters cut through the fence that surrounds the 187 acres still owned by the Marine Corps.

Between 1943 and 1953 the Army leased more than 2,000 acres in the Waiahole and Waikane valleys for jungle training; small arms, artillery and mortar fire; and aerial bombing, according to a recent Navy investigation.

In 1953, the Marine Corps took over, leasing 1,061 acres for live-fire training. The report said live fire “apparently” stopped in the early 1960s, and that the lease was terminated in 1976.

A Marine Corps clearance effort in 1976 removed 24,000 pounds of practice ordnance and fragments, and 42 unexploded munitions.

In 1984 the Marines came back and recovered 480 3.5-inch rockets from what is known as the Waikane Valley Impact Area. A 2009 site inspection turned up 66 shoulder-fired rockets, one 2.36-inch rocket and three rifle grenades.

The unexploded ordnance, or “UXO,” as it’s known, was so thick the Marines abandoned in 2003 a plan to conduct blank-fire jungle training in the valley, saying it was too dangerous.

Despite that, community members working with the military on continuing studies say there’s progress and hope that Congress will provide cleanup funding.

[…]

Two remediation efforts are taking place in Waikane Valley. The Marine Corps said it is spending $1.37 million to investigate the 187-acre impact area where the majority of the munitions are located and to develop a feasibility study for cleanup options that is expected to be released in the fall.

The Army Corps of Engineers, meanwhile, is working on 874 adjoining acres that contain fewer munitions as part of the FUDS program. In addition to a $1.34 million study, the Army Corps said it has a $1.94 million ordnance clearance effort under way with Environet Inc. focusing on two parcels totaling 44 acres.

Among the decisions the Marine Corps will have to make is whether to clean up the 187 acres it still owns and to what degree, as well as what to do with the land afterward.

While some community members have complained about the number of plans put forth and the length of time for the Marine Corps to address the issue, an email response from Marine Corps Base Hawaii to the Star-Advertiser said the latest “munitions response program,” which began in 2008, “is detailed and takes time to ensure potential risks to human health and the environment are thoroughly identified and appropriate cleanup action is selected.”

People have been injured and killed by mishandled munitions in Waikane Valley, though there have been no incidents recently, according to the Navy “remedial investigation” draft report issued in March.

In 1944, two people were killed and two others were injured when a 60 mm mortar discovered in the valley accidentally detonated, the report said.

Three children were injured in 1963 when a “souvenir” rifle grenade reportedly discovered in Waikane Valley exploded after it was thrown against a wall. There have been no other reports of injury attributed to munitions found in the valley, the report said.

Raymond Kamaka, 72, said his family owned and farmed the Marine Corps land as far back as 1850 through a deed from King Kamehameha III, and he still lays claim to it.

His great-great-great-grandmother, Racheal Lahela, who came from Waikane, was a half sister of Queen Liliuokalani, Kamaka said.

Kamaka recalled playing in the valley as a kid. “It was our playground. Up there we used to swim,” he said. He remembers three ancient heiau.

The government later said it needed the land for wartime training, leased it from the Hawaiian family, and said it would clean it up and return it afterward.

The lease was terminated in 1976, and the Marines conducted several cleanups. Kamaka, a one-time professional wrestler, returned to farm in the early 1980s. He grew taro and raised pigs and brought in schoolchildren for visits.

When munitions were found on the property’s higher reaches, the military condemned the land in 1989. Much of the family settled for $2.3 million in 1994 — but not Raymond Kamaka.

“Nobody settled with me,” said Kamaka, who claims to be the only rightful heir.

The ensuing years have been “hell,” Kamaka said. “I lost everything.” He went to jail for two years in disputes with the government over the land, he said.

He still expects to farm on the family land again one day.

“Am I gonna come back? Yes,” he said.

Kajihiro, who also is program director for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that supports Native Hawaiian rights, said “there is some political will to do some cleanup (on the Marine Corps land). To what level is a question of cost.”

“We’re saying it should be cleaned up to the highest level possible to allow the broadest number of uses,” Kajihiro said. He added that those uses “need to be mindful of, and consistent with, Uncle Raymond Kamaka and his family’s vision and uses of the land — which were agricultural and cultural uses.”

LOOKING BACK

Waikane Valley’s history as a military training range:

Early 1940s
U.S. Army leases more than 2,000 acres in Waiahole and Waikane valleys and uses the property for jungle training, artillery, mortar, small arms fire, maneuvers and as a bombing range for air-to-ground fire.

1944
Two people are killed and two are injured by a 60-millimeter mortar discovered in the valley.

1953
Marine Corps leases 1,061 acres. Training includes small-arms fire, 3.5-inch rockets and medium artillery.

Early 1960s
Marines stop use of live fire.

1963
Three children are injured when a “souvenir” rifle grenade is thrown against a wall and explodes.

1976
Marines conduct ordnance clearance sweeps.

1984
Marines conduct additional ordnance clearance sweeps and remove 480 3.5-inch rockets.

1989
U.S. government acquires title to the 187-acre ordnance impact area.

1992
A perimeter chain-link fence is installed around the impact area.

2002
Marines propose conducting blank-fire training on the site.

2003
Marines abandon the idea when a study finds too much danger from unexploded ordnance.

2010
Marines conduct a “remedial investigation” on the 187-acre Waikane Valley Impact Area.

2011
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is investigating ordnance on 874 adjoining acres and removing munitions from 44 acres within that parcel.

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Marine Corps

 

"Living Along the Fenceline" screenings and talks in East SF Bay Area

Women for Genuine Security and UC Berkeley, Center for the Study of Sexual Cultures present:

LIVING ALONG THE FENCELINE

MILITARY VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, DEMILITARIZATION, & FEMINIST CONCEPTS OF SECURITY

Speaker: Suzuyo Takazato

LOCATION:  370 DWINELLE HALL, UC BERKELEY

DATE & TIME: APRIL 26TH @ 12PM

Suzuyo Takazato is a greatly respected feminist activist in Okinawa (the southern-most prefecture in Japan). Formerly a social worker with victims of gender-based violence, she founded a domestic violence project, and the first rape crisis hotline in Okinawa— REICO. Ms Takazato is a founder of Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence and still co-chairs this organization. She is one of the founding members of the International Women’s Network against Militarism, which held its first international meeting in Okinawa in 1997. She is one of 1,000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Her article, “Report from Okinawa: Long term military presence and violence against women” is published in Canadian Woman Studies 2000 (19) #4: 42-47.2005.

SPONSORS

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SEXUAL CULTURES & WOMEN FOR GENUINE SECURITY

GENUINESECURITY.ORG | CSSC.BERKELEY.EDU | CSSC@BERKELEY.EDU

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FILM SCREENING WITH DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:

SUZUYO TAKAZATO, OKINAWAN WOMEN ACT AGAINST MILITARY VIOLENCE &

DEBORAH BERMAN SANTANA, DEPT. OF ETHNIC STUDIES MILLS COLLEGE

April 27 at 7PM

Danforth Lecture Hall, Mills College

5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94613

Living Along the Fenceline tells the stories of 7 remarkable women who live alongside U.S. military bases. They are teachers, or- ganizers,& healers, moved by love & respect for the land, & hope for the next generation. From San Antonio (Texas) to Vieques (Puerto Rico), Hawai’i, Guam, Okinawa, South Korea, & the Philippines, this film inspires hope and action. Event Sponsored by Office of the Provost , Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair, Global Fund for Women, and Women for Genuine Security.

www.genuinesecurity.org

info@genuinesecurity.org

510-430-2277

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