May 20, 2008

Timmy Paulokaleioku Bailey is wearing the Hawaiian name given to him by his great grandmother. The literal translation, “the darkened lei of ku,” doesn’t suffice. Rather, the kaona, the hidden layer of meaning, might translate to “a Herculean undertaking, to stand tall (ku) under a heavy burden.” How Bailey came to represent the island of Maui in the Aha Moku Advisory Committee is a story of dedication and lokahi, unity of endeavor.

The cultural practitioners and consultants attending the 2006 Puwalu Series Ho‘ohanohano I Na Kupuna: Honor Our Ancestors, one of three conferences which brought together nearly 200 kupuna from 40 moku (districts), developed, proposed and helped pass a resolution “to increase participation of the Hawaiian community in the conservation and management of Hawai‘i’s resources through creation of a community and cultural consultation process within the governance structure.”

Representative Mele Carroll and Senator J. Kalani English then carried on this effort by introducing Bills which moved rapidly through the legislature in 2007 to create an Aha Moku Advisory Committee for the Hawaiian Islands. Bailey was chosen for the kiole position by Governor Lingle, and charged with the responsibility of setting up Maui’s Aha Moku system by December 31, 2008. He has been conducting monthly meetings in the 12 moku of Maui since February 2008. Bailey said, “The main mission of the current Aha Moku Advisory Committee is to educate people about the Act, and inventory current available resources (people) within each ahupua‘a or moku. My goal is to educate Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians about the Bill and help them develop the kiole criteria.” This includes educating the DLNR/DAR and any state or county agency about the Bill that is, as of July 2007, called Act 212.

I was present at the first meeting held in February in Ha‘iku, where Bailey explained why this Act is a boon to Hawaiians. “We can dance hula, speak Hawaiian, but without the resources we cannot continue our authentic culture,” he said. Taking care of the land, ocean and sky are holistic values inherent in the traditional ahupua‘a system. An Aha Moku Advisory Committee will be the initial bridge between the people and government. “This is the first time - this joining of voice and political power within the current system,” Bailey said.

The Aha Moku Advisory Committee, comprised of eight kiole members, representing  all the main Hawaiian Islands. “The relationship of Native Hawaiians with the Hawaiian environment is deep, spiritual and binding,” the Puwalu Report states. Yet kanaka maoli have become marginalized in their own land. Act 212, hopefully, will remedy this exclusion.

Bailey credits Auntie Vanda Hanakahi, the chair of the Aha Moku Advisory Committee, with sharing her mana‘o (thoughts) and ike (knowledge) of the prophecy that prompted the formation of an Aha Moku. Former kumu hula and huna practitioner John Kaimikaua of Moloka‘i, before his passing in 2006, left Hanakahi with a prophecy of old:
The kiole represents baby fish, like the Ahole‘hole. Kahuna saw hundreds and thousands of these keiki fish along the shore; it looked like a large black cloud. The baby fish, kiole, represented the mass of people on the shore that needed protection. Kahuna knew that the kiole would need a Council. Thus, as prophesied, the kahuna and kupuna (wise elders) came together to form the Aha Moku Advisory Committee that represents each expert fisher, farmer, and cultural educator who, figuratively speaking, make a strong cord when woven together.

The prophecy is essential to our understanding of how kiole will be selected. A blood quantum, koko, will not be the criteria of selection. Any person, either Hawaiian or not, who meets the yet-to-be-developed criteria and is willing to serve in an unpaid position, is eligible for selection. “The prophecy of Kumu Kaimikaua looks both forward and backward. Kaimikaua knew that the ali‘i (royalty) of the past were no longer pertinent to governance because they were not recognized by the Western power structure that overcame Hawaii. Instead, the maka‘ainana – the commoners – would once again be entrusted with care taking the land, sea and sky,” Bailey explained.

Bailey emphasized the importance of Act 212 in relation to the maka‘ainana: “The lawai‘a (the fishermen) and the mahi‘ai (cultivators) will restore the generational knowledge that they can still gain from living kupuna.” The ancient Hawaiian system relied on maka‘ainana whose kuleana was ingrained in them from birth,  by observing their grandparents at work in the taro fields and fishing.

“This traditional management and cultural values sustained Hawaiians until the contact with the West,” said Bailey. That he is the Maui kiole is not coincidental. His moku of birth, Kula, includes Haleakala crater. Bailey is a Park Resource Manager in Haleakala National Park. Haleakala houses the piko (the navel, center) of the Kula moku. Radiating from a place in Haleakala called Pohaku Palaha, are eight out of the twelve moku that span from there at the top of the mountain to the depths of the sea.

Bailey said, “Applying the old structures to new legislative processes will give the maka‘ainana the confidence in knowing that what they have been doing for years is best resource management practices.”

Contrary to modern (Western) land management, which divides land into public and private uses, and into conservation, resource, agricultural and urban designations, the ahupua‘a system combined the land and sea into one entity.

What is new is that state agencies such as DLNR/DAR “will have to abide by this law (Act 212) by consulting with people of each moku,” Bailey elaborated. “Each ahupua‘a, or moku, of the Council system, as a unified body, can say to developers and water resource managers - ‘You need to follow Act 212.’ Recommendations for actions, which will differ from moku to moku, will be relayed to the Council by the kiole for the people of the moku in question.” As an example, he said, “If Act 212 had been in place when the ban on gill nets was enacted, Hawaiian fishermen may have been exempted from the ban.”

For more information contact Timmy Bailey at paulokaleioku@hawaiiantel.net.

Helen Anne Schonwalter