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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE November 8, 2006
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| October 19, 2006 |
Global University Unit Two – Independence and Demilitarization of Hawai’i |
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Peace Boat offers participants a chance to study issues during a voyage in more depth through the Global University (GU). On the 54th voyage Unit One focused on issues surrounding former-Yugoslavia (see article on GU Unit One). Unit Two focused on issues surrounding the presence of US military bases in Hawai’i and Okinawa, Japan.
During Unit Two, 27 students learned about problems surrounding the presence of US military bases in Okinawa and Hawai’i. They learned about the violence that seeps into communities where these bases are located, the noise pollution caused by the military’s drills, environmental and socioeconomic degradation, and the negative effect that bases have on local culture. Some of the younger Okinawans onboard were invited to seminars to share their perspectives and to learn more about these issues.
During our two-day visit to Honolulu, GU students went on a study tour to visit indigenous Hawaiians who are active in the demilitarization and independence movement in Hawai’i.
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After passing commercialized streets full of tourists, brand name stores, construction, hotels and centers reserved for the US military, we arrived at the Hawai’i University’s Center for Hawaiian Studies. Terri Keko’olani, a Hawaiian activist, who welcomed us at the harbor, pointed out the socioeconomic injustices and environmental damage that such development has brought to the islands of Hawai’i. |
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There we met Kyle Kajihiro, a third generation Japanese, who is an activist in Hawai’i. He gave participants an introduction to Hawaiian history and issues surrounding the militarization of Hawai’i, after which he and Terri showed us the Center’s small natural reserve/research field where students study ancient Hawaiian methods for cultivating taro and other crops. Here the Hawaiian flag was flying in place of the US flag. “This piece of land has been liberated,” Terri explained. |
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We discussed the effects that US military bases have had on the people and land of Hawai’i. Similar to the Okinawan islands, there has been a gradual colonization by the US military and multinational corporations, suffocating the ancient Hawaiian culture and language. A great deal of violence seeps into local communities from the bases, Hawaiians are underemployed due to a monopoly of businesses by corporations from abroad, and there has been damage to the land itself where the military have continued to practice bombing and other environmentally and culturally harmful exercises. |
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Following our discussion we visited the Bishop Museum, where children of Hawaiian descent gather to attend classes at a Charter School. They learn about Hawaiian culture and language from teachers who are also of Hawaiian descent. When we arrived a six-year-old boy performed a Hawaiian custom of greeting guests with a powerful chant and a message. |
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We continued our discussion in a circle on the grass until the sun began to set. Terri and Kyle presented their ideas for the demilitarization of Hawai’i and the independence movement. “I dream of the day when the bases are gone and Hawai’i is an exporter of peace and an exporter of peace technology,” Kyle told us.
In 1993, US president Bill Clinton signed a bill apologizing for the overthrow of Hawaiian rulers in 1893. Global University students also presented information about the situation in Okinawa, which faces many of the same issues as Hawai’i concerning US military bases. |
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The following day participants visited Ka’ala Farm in Wai’anae Valley. We had the rare opportunity to see what Hawai’i looked like before foreigners started to settle there.
The ecosystem of the valley that extended uninterrupted from tall mountains to the deep blue sea was abundant with a variety of vegetation, and the air was healing. There we met with a community that has, for close to 40 years, been working to revive the valley’s ancient forests, and has built another research area for studying Hawaiian culture, including a restored ancient system of taro fields they found sleeping beneath the surface of the earth.
You can visit the organization with which Terri and Kyle work at - www.dmzhawaii.org |
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