OHA Press Release regarding Lahaina

[HiloJulie]

As I said Ironak, we can debate Hawaiian sovereignty. 

As I also said, today we are one people. 

Let’s count the perished. Let’s find out the who the why and the how. 

Let’s take care of the displaced. 

But the debate doesn’t need to be right now. In fact, using this disaster as fuel to continue debate right now is quite disingenuous to say the least. 

We can go back to the who did what to who argument in due time. 

Today, we are one people.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

ironyak,
Thanks to the link for the Anita Hofschneider interview.  I’ve followed her on Twitter for some time now & find her perspectives as a young person in Hawaii who grew up in an American territory, Guam quite insightful.

I would agree that the OHA statement and Anita’s comments touch on similar points.  I’m certainly not going to defend plantation owners or the US government.  I don’t know the intent of the OHA statement and why the writer chose to use trigger words & dog whistles, but Anita shows you can get the historical background and the point across without, pardon the metaphor, fanning the flames.

I’ve had some minor interaction with people who were given OHA grants, and although I in no way know how many other instances were similar, the ones I know of became money tossed into a useless hole.  No oversight, nothing accomplished.

[randomq]

One, because we are all citizens of the state of Hawaii, we are all equal, and we all share in responsibility for this tragedy, if only in who we elect, and the laws they pass, and the work they fund.

Two, because being political and divisive is in poor taste when many people of all walks of life just died or lost their homes. Let's place blame on the victim's way of life, and pit people against one another when emotions are running high.

Three, because it's complete BS that "Hawaiians" would have handled this any differently the than "colonizers". There were no wildfires or deaths under the kingdom? The kingdom would have only used steel and concrete in modern Lahaina? Never left a field to follow? We already know about the destructive invasive species brought to the islands by the Hawaiians, the species of fauna and flora hunted to extinction, etc.

I don't recall OHA doing anything about fire risk, even after the 2019 Lahaina fires. They just want to point fingers after the fact.

[HiloJulie]

“But then, maybe the entire area could be given to OHA to rehabilitate.”

Now that’s a great idea. OHA could team up with DHHL and finally deliver on the decades of promises using the tools that were set in place to right the wrongs committed in the past. 

Maybe it’s time OHA & DHHL started putting some rubber to the road.

---

Have you heard this one yet?

Seems some are actively posting - even making professional YouTube videos claiming that it was Oprah herself who started the fires, her private jet was used to fan the winds, she ordered the authorities to send the kids home and block the roads so no one can escape just so she could buy all the land and turn it into a Black Lives Matter commune. 

It’s out there.

Edited to correct different font size.

[Rob Tucker]

Julie, Stop.

[ironyak]

@HiloJulie - You're the only person that raised the issue of Hawaiian sovereignty, so if you don't want to talk about it, then don't? (unless you're saying the subtext is that OHA is working to reestablish the Hawaiian Kingdom?) Also, you should probably recognize that the "now is not the time" rhetoric parallels that often used by conservative politicians in the wake of natural disasters, mass shootings, and other tragedies to avoid ever addressing root causes. I don't think that's your intent, but unless you are directly involved with search and rescue or providing supplies / housing, then there is probably little you can do other beyond discussing causes and determine actions to take for the prevention and mitigation for the next time (which there will be).

@HOTPE - I guessed that some people saw this as an example of dogwhistle politics, but there doesn't seem to be a dogwhistle IMO, just a direct denunciation of some historical and current practices of "western forces", which given that track record seems like an obvious and well documented critique? If you see "western forces did bad things" and immediately think that's attacking you, you might want to consider why.

@randomq - I agree that "we all share in responsibility for this tragedy" not only through our electoral politics, but also to our contributions to the root causes. As for the message timing being in poor taste, I'm not sure why you feel you should be the arbiter of how or when people can discuss these issues. Many are very angry at the causes that led to this tragedy - not sure why you or others feel it's your place to police those discussions. As for if empowered Hawaiian societies would have handled things differently, that's an unknowable question, but to see the outcome in Lahaina as inevitable seems grimly defeatist. Surely, we, and probably others as well, could have done better given the numerous warnings provided? The larger question is why didn't we.

@MyManoa - I've found Damian Barr's "We are not all in the same boat. We are all in the same storm." poem to be a good encapsulation that captures both the commonalities and the differences involved. As for handing over land, giving some ahupuaʻa over to a differing governing structure doesn't seem like such a bad idea, given most of those currently employed aren't doing so well. Of course, given OHA is another ineffective state agency, I'm not sure they're the best candidate, but having some large sustainable tracts of land engaged in a "people first" endeavor might be better able to address the on-the-ground realities instead of maintaining the preeminent importance of absentee landowners and ineffectual bureaucracies.

[AaronM]

Nobody in Hawaii exists outside of the Western world.  

We are all in the same canoe.

I burn, you burn, we all burn.

[randomq]

@ironyak I'm not an arbiter, I'm just annoyed by people being divisive and perpetuating falsehoods and magical thinking. We're all just people, and I agree that collectively we can do better.

[TomK]

Nobody in Hawaii exists outside of the Western world.  

We are all in the same canoe.

I burn, you burn, we all burn.

I have a really hard time agreeing with that comment, no matter how hard I try.

[ironyak]

AaronM - Nobody in Hawaii exists outside of the Western world.

Of course, which is why we all might have motivation to reduce the worst of its harmful and destructive tendencies?

AaronM - We are all in the same canoe. I burn, you burn, we all burn.

Sure in general, no in particular. If Oprah's house on Maui burns to the ground, she can just move to one of the other five she owns, or rebuild elsewhere on her 2000 acres. Given that over over 50% of Maui residents live below cost of living / federal poverty thresholds, they don't have the same relocation / rebuild options when their house burns. Same (fire) storm, different boats.

Regardless, nothing in your aphorism goes against what the OHA email said, so what's your point in sharing it OP?