• Listen to people with roots • Ideas for North Shore workouts? Listen to people with roots I was born on the island of O‘ahu in Haaula and was raised from the age of 2 on Kaua‘i from Ha‘ena to
• Listen to people with roots • Ideas
for North Shore workouts?
Listen to people with roots
I was born on the island of O‘ahu in Haaula and was raised from the age of 2 on Kaua‘i from Ha‘ena to Anahola.
I am one of the lucky ones that did learn to fish in the Hawaiian style from some of the best fishermen in our area. I am lucky enough to know many of the people still actively fishing.
From there on and off in my life I have throw nets and lay nets and also free style diving equipment. There is a natural draw in me from my roots to fish and I love the Island fish.
Because of this I was very interested in the movement going on and have to side with the citizens impacted by radical change to this type of lifestyle whether it is full time or part time.
There are many people here that fish as a livelihood and/or as fish for food for themselves and their families, even if you include luau needs for their extended families. This is true here on Kaua‘i just as much as it is true on Molokai which I notice is not included in projected plan.
There are many people here that would love to have the time to fish and dream of the day they can afford equipment and have that time.
We, the people from Kaua‘i, say, “they have cut us off from the mountains but they can’t take the ocean from us.” From recreational to financial to feeding our families this is the new movement.
As the government very well knows many people are working a lot raising their families and also there are many people not working but who are poor. The government is trying to directly or indirectly help create jobs to improve the lives of people. By the time some are able to share their knowledge from their roots they will have to go to another island out of the Hawaiian chain.
I know that your department knows first hand who are the people on your committees and who are the people pushing and pushing to regulate and mandate and lock down and manage the managers and govern from the outside without even having to run for any position or office. Either they are well off and looking for a hobby or something to do, or get caught by a “Hawai‘i Cult Protestor” or they are grant getters or they have this as their life, like a marriage, working longer hours then the elected officials planning and working their plans to manipulate the system. Some of their plans are in stages and take time and commitment which they are steadfast to. Example: the Sunshine Law.
This movement is an example of “how is doesn’t work.” The meeting at the Kaua‘i Community College should have been the first place anyone gathered to discuss this issue to discuss it with people influenced by the outcome to be the first people to talk to and start thinking.
This comment letter could go on and on. Just to mention I will continue to participate in this issue to help any way I can. I have a practical way of thinking. I have a Kanaka way of thinking. I do understand people need to eat and also make a living here. Just to mention I do not want to have our Island be back door managed by people that have no roots to the Islands. People that are grant getters. They have to come out of the closet and face the people and say “we want to be your leaders,” “we want to tell you all what to do and how to do it,” “we want to decorate the island the way we want it”.
The committee people can’t face the people of this island, they are strictly backdoor manipulators. Sometimes even with people’s good thoughts for things, planting their seedlings to grow something they thinking is beautiful it is like the evasive plants or fish that kill the old roots and the original fish. Better to work with the old roots and blend with the old roots and make Hawai‘i work for everyone.
The sanctuary, if any, should be on the South Side where the majority of the whales and seals are.
Just like the nene we have to have education and we do have to all live together. We cannot continue to care more about birds and sea creatures more then people. We have to start applying Hawaiian knowledge of handling things. It can not be 100 percent old ways because it is a new time and we have to adjust accordingly but in a Hawaiian mindset which naturally was sharing and caring, “for all,” not just those we want to share and care about.
Thank you for your time, and please listen to the people with roots in Hawai‘i.
Mitchell Alapa, Kilauea
Ideas for North Shore workouts?
This is to second the letter by Robert Wolaver, printed on Oct. 9, (“Princeville spa story was puff”) about the closing of the gym and pool in Princeville, a facility routinely used by 500 members, plus countless visitors, to maintain their levels of health and development.
Included in the activities there were many classes, including ballet, yoga and tai chi, whose participants ranged in age from our keiki to our elders.
It is obviously the developer’s right to close the health club, but the way this was handled was foxy and sneaky, to be kind, and certainly not with any interest in the people who live on our island.
Unfortunately, The Garden Island’s coverage of the closure read more like a handout from the developer himself — with virtually no input from the employees who have been tossed out of jobs or the loyal members of many years. The employee quoted is the only one who has retained her job, which is a good thing for her, and I am happy she’s been able to do that.
Still, how about once in a while that the paper digs a little deeper than the surface and perhaps uses its editorial pages to stand up for the people of Kaua‘i and not just the big-buck developers?
Hopefully, we on the North Shore will find a new place to work out, but a near-term solution with gym and pool will certainly be difficult. Anybody out there have any ideas?
Lynne Glaser, Princeville
