ABSTRACT
Kanaloa Kaho’olawe is a place renowned among Pacific navigators as a piko or center of Hawaiian navigation, which was an integral part of Pacificwide navigation. It is an island that serves as a portal into realms across Ka Pae ʻĀina Hawaiʻi, the broad Pacific, the expansive universe and into the depths of indigenous Hawaiian scientific knowledge. The story of this island as a sacred place, its desecration after Western contact and the spread of Christianity, the degradation of its landscape with goat, sheep and cattle ranching, its use by the U.S. Navy for live-fire training exercises, and the Native Hawaiian movement to stop military use and heal the island is epic. It is laden with meaningful insights and lessons about indigenous peoples’ connections with ancestral lands. The story of the healing of Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe is the story of a generation of Native Hawaiians assuming responsibility to end abuse of Native Hawaiian lands and in the process reclaiming ancestral cultural and spiritual beliefs, customs and practices. The work to heal the island is also the work to heal as a people and a nation. As the first lands set aside to be returned to the re-established Native Hawaiian nation, the story of Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe will continue to develop to new stages and levels inspiring new generations.
