 Back to Talk Story with John Wahe, and another exciting episode for all of you this afternoon. We are continuing with the series called Heroes, Rascals, and Duds, the people who built modern contemporary Hawai'i. Today, we've got a show and that we'll be exploring the origins of the Hawaiian renaissance. So we'll be covering the years between 1970 and 1978, and we've got some people here that are directly involved somehow in either the renaissance or with writing about it. And I would like to at this point introduce them to you. The first, our first guest this afternoon would be Troy Andrade. Troy is an associate professor at the Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai'i. His claim to fame, as far as us old people are concerned, was that he's the grandson of one of the great heroes of the Hawaiian movement, I think personally a hero of mine, Mr. Pai Galdera. We have Stephen Morris is with us this afternoon. Stephen was a participant in many of the events that led up to what we call the renaissance. And we also have with us Waters Martin, who was there with Stephen along the way. Now we may have been coming from different aspects of the society. One is was a businessman. Stephen, I think you were working with the Lillio Kalani Trust at that time. And as a social worker and Troy, you weren't even born. So I, you know, the first group. So just to kick the show off, the first group that I remember that you could identify as a Hawaiian activist group really came out of white monologue. And they were called the Hawaiians. And Stephen, I remember meeting you for the first time at a meeting of the Hawaiians. Tell us a little bit about the people who were involved in that effort, or anything that you can recall about the Pai Galdera, some of the people. Yeah, well, the, the talks, the leadership, I think, came out of white monologue. But my part was actually the chairman or the president of the organization. The others that I remember were close to him. When he originally was from Molokai. It's the Giza from Molokai, Arnold Kitter. You remember Arnold Kitter from Wai'anae. Arnold Kitter, right. And what about the Kalahiki brothers? You had Uncle Mel and Randy from Ha'ula. You know, some of the others, like Deitai from Eminalo, really stronger roots. And they went about, they went about organizing big fights. You had leadership spread out, decentralized across the state. You had folks on, on Kauai, like Oga, Holi, and on Maui, you had Christine Teruia. And on Big Island, you had Anathanao. And, and I can't remember some of the original people from Kauana, but it was statewide organization. And in fact, it was the first statewide organization, if I remember correctly. Now, Troy, you wrote a book about this, you know, did you talk to any of these people that Steve just mentioned in addition to hearing your family history? Yeah, so I, I wrote my dissertation. And it's, it's hopefully it'll be a book one day, but it really is looking at the origins of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. And so the book is about OHA. But obviously you cannot talk about what happened in 1978 without talking about everything that was happening in the 60s and 70s. And so that was, that's what kind of turned me on into this. And I talked to several people. But primarily I talked to my grandfather about this. I knew nothing about this growing up. He didn't talk about this. My, my mother knew what was happening, but she didn't tell us about it either. And it was only because I was in college one day homesick to be frank, googling pictures of my family members, because that's what you do when you're in the middle of a snowstorm. And I come across Ian Lin's photos from a protest at Parker Ranch on the Big Island. And lo and behold, there's my grandfather with Sonny Kaniho and a whole bunch of other people, and I call him up immediately and I'm like, what, what is this? And he tells me about, about what he was involved in and why he got involved in the movement and it really was to protest to begin to hold accountable the state of Hawaii for not moving fast enough to help Hawaiian homesteaders and those that have been on the waiting list to get access to a piece of property. And so he, he, you know, he dropped out of high school, but he was kind of a community organizer he worked at the Waimanalo team project. And the story goes that he was, he was asked to take a child home one day a child whose family had been kicked out of a homestead property. And the child lived at the beach in Waimanalo and he said that he was there trying to hold down a tent one night because it was storming you got the wind blowing in from the ocean and from the land. And he thought this was so wrong and there are so many Hawaiian families that were there on the beach. And so he decided to organize and put together this, this group. No, no, and when I remember in those days that one of my first meetings with the Hawaiians, the group called the Hawaiian was at the merchandise mark, building downtown on Alakea Street building no longer exists but in those days. It seemed like that office was owned by a gentleman called John Dominus, John Dominus hope. Now, if I remember correctly waters, you were pretty good friends with him. Tell us a little bit about John Dominus and how he gets into this and how these pieces all come together. The first time I remember seeing John Dominus hope was at a rally at the shell for the Hawaiians. And here comes this very elegant through them almost British Hawaiian man, very kind of. And he starts to talk about the importance and he used the word la hui la hui, and I had never heard that. And he was emphasizing the importance. You know, as of a group as a family, and he was quite grand and quite elegant. And he was one of them, you know, the speakers at that time. You know, but cross that sort of 50 something years ago the next, but we knew John hope because he published, you know, he published a book called on being Hawaiian. He wrote about the frustrations with somebody who was, you know, I don't use how they use that word but it was English Hawaiian Tahitian and he rattled all that off and how, while they owned all of my car. You know, by the time he got to him, you know, it was very difficult for the family but he was educated and you went to you know, from the East Coast but he was very grand. And somehow he got, he got hooked up with guard kea loha. And that's when God kill loha. It's another name. Yeah. Right and guard worked. Ultimately in the publishing company. Because the whole second wife Patrick Damon, you know, was able to create a top gallon and published many of john's books that had been waiting, you know, to be to be published and so God became active with him. And also with Moana Lewis to save Moana Lua Valley. And so Garni was the wordsmith for many of those. If I remember correctly, the, the Damian family patches, John White was very active in funding people from why holy white Connie. In opposing building the H3 through more than low valley. And I think that was the color Hickey brothers with Randy and now, why holy white Connie. Right, because you know, Patrick's even though they own, you know, Moana Lua, or her, you know, the Damian estate. And that's a whole nother story how they got it from power. You know, the only thing that you gave free play for anybody. But, you know, Damon was her attorney so watch out. Watch out for your lawyer you try. You know, so anyway, so john hope. And what patches was, you know, active politically to an embarrassment of her family, if you read her obituary, you know, they brought out how that you know she was supposed to be a communist and all kinds of things she was, but she was actively supporting, maybe the underdog throughout the world, and trying to make social changes but fortunately she had money. He was able to do that. Anyway, so john and patches and guard and many other people, but you know and john why hey you were part of the homeroom. Yeah, we were meeting at the homeroom movement, which, which by the way, I think brings up another name as Steven. Remember, we, we were meeting at the, at the Lillio Kalani trust if I remember that was the homeroom movement that started there. And the person, if I remember correctly, and the person who was the head of Lillio Kalani trust he wasn't needed for why but he, in my opinion, very instrumental was was a shero. Masaro, Masaro, Masaro, shero. Yeah. In fact, seemed to almost encourage people like yourself who were social workers to get active in the Hawaii. That was a little bit about that. He knew I was a terrible social worker and being a colleague, everything. Most of the families that I work with, I mean, I could identify them because my family just a matter of they were. He saw in me another, another way to get me active and keep me active and so and now doing social action and social change work but Masaro was a wonderful guy, great leader. It's amazing that he was, in a way, again, he was not a native Hawaiian but I think he was an unsung hero because he encouraged so many of his social workers to join the Hawaiians. We used to have meetings as the waters was pointing out at the Lillio Kalani trust. George, Georgie, Georgie Anna Paddiken became the director of the Hawaiian homelands later. Yeah. She was the old there. Now, all of this takes place in the early 70s and I remember there was another group that were starting out maybe try you might have come across them. And they were called Aloha, the Aloha movement. And that was the first time was that Aloha Association, my memory is Aloha Association. And, and that was the do you any of you remember any of the people involved in that the Troy when you put your rights about Mrs. Rice. Yeah, so what I what I recall is that they're somewhat identified as the first, you know, group that was really looking at. And some may dispute this but we're looking at sovereignty for Hawaiians I know they had a big phone drive, or a drive that happened, I believe it was at Eolani Palace to try to raise funds but waters you know anything more about the Aloha Association. You know, it was almost mystical, because you know, she was a taxi driver, her car. Oh, sorry. The car caught on fire, everything, you know, destroyed her. He was sleeping in the car, but the only thing that didn't burn was Hawaii story by Hawaii Queen Lillipalani. And so she took it as a sign from God that this, you know, so she read the book, she felt you know she should do something to carry on. The work of the Queen. I think her car burnt up in Waikiki. So anyway, she and if you met her you know she was just a very, you know, just kind of playing Hawaiian kind of tough a little bit, you know the old style eyebrows, but you know she really felt driven. And so she was very unspoken, and somehow she got her, you know, she was able to do what she did and ended up in Washington DC with Auntie Lani Palama. They were handing out copies of the reprint Hawaii story they were trying to meet with the various, you know, senators and congressmen. And they were actually successful. I mean I think they met with Patsy Mink and Sparky Matsunaga and they were successful in having them introduce sort of the first reparations bill in federal government for. No, this is the same time that the settlement was being done the reparations with the Alaska data. Yeah, and what I remember about the movement was that they were the first group to. Well, the Hawaiians focused on Hawaiian home, and the movement started to focus on seated land. And they were the first to let people know, many of us didn't know these things that people know that that native Hawaiians were entitled to revenue. I think Charles Maxwell was associated with a lot of Charlie. Charlie was your body. Charles, Charles Rose. Charlie Rose. But I think her name, Louisa Rice was. She was a dealer. I know that to school with her son that mail mail. But as as as waters and. You know, and it was people like Charlie, the two Charlie's and other couple actually became the executive for the organization in the beginning. He was a long time politician in Hawaii. In fact, his claim to fame was that he grew up in a grass shack. You know, and he was briefly in the car. He was in the Constitutional Convention. He served as a council member, I think for a while as well. You know, who was interesting was that right about this time, since you mentioned the glimpses, the beginnings of the sovereignty or the dealing with the issue of sovereignty. And I was a gentleman named Kawai Puna Prashin. I don't know Gail Prashin. And he was everywhere. I remember. Sorry about how that all happened. Yeah, why don't you get it. Yeah. Actually, in his father on one. We were contacted on the pie pie and the leadership at the home is worth by an organization called Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colorado. We were interested in coming and having a way of a similar organization here in Hawaii, that could present native clients and two leaders of the Native American Rights Fund were invited to come to Hawaii to speak. And we had very large meeting. I don't know waters if you were there. But in the library of the Queen Lillio honey. The one on Halona Street, more low learning. And the two gentlemen would. And at the end of the meeting, Troy, your grandfather, he asked for any volunteer in the audience to take on an initiative like this. And I remember Kawai Puna G and I raising her hands and friend colleague he we all were in the back of the room and we all stood up and said, Yeah, we'll take on the challenge. And we actually went on to, to develop the Hawaiian coalition of native claim, which is the. The, if only corporation. Yeah, it's the beginning it was the, it was the beginning of what now is the. corporation. Yeah, that, you know, all of these things have these these little entry points and so waters. You were in 1974. The Hawaiians go up to Parker and cut and cut the chain. And I, you know, in my first, my mind that is the first truly native Hawaiian process up until then we had Hawaii and others, but they were basically multi ethnic multi mostly young people rebelling against established now we have this process. And were you up there with them. Did you go to the 1974. One of you. No. No, but can I tell us about the week. Oh, that's great. And flight out of Honolulu and I got there late. So I got to spend time with all them afterwards. You know, my, my, my granddad and I also spoke to a Gil Johnston who was an attorney for legal aid. And what they told me was that they actually had planned specifically where they were going to cut the fence and exact and they, they, and only my grandfather Sonny Conejo and guilt knew about this particular area and it ended, it ended up that this was not even Parker ranch lease land. This was land that was Kuleana land so that people would get off scot free but they could get the media publicity of challenging state Department of Land and and its practices to leasing to Parker ranch. That's kind of funny because you know the first guy that got that this is a story I heard. One of the gentlemen who were there was the was named. You know, what is the name from come from why Manalo. Joe, Joe, yeah, he was actually the big on it, but then that, and he, he said he cut the fence, you know, and he also got the he cut the chain, and then they opened the gate and went into the property and everything. But he was the first guy arrested, because a cousin, somebody's cousin ever, you know, just another Hawaiian guy who was the policeman I actually drove up. And at that time, and he, you know, he's going to have to get them out of there do something. And he drove and Joe Tesla didn't want to walk up a hill you have to go back up to where everybody was. And he said, let me write in your car, he says why should write my car I got arrested. So he became the first Hawaiian to be arrested. You know, the people were a lot more mellow in those days. In fact, tell me, because you were there, at least at the aftermath Steve. And what I heard was that not only people actually volunteered to go down to the police station to get processed for the arrest. And because they didn't have too many people to process them. They actually brought food and fed everybody so they had a fight right at the police station while they were getting arrested. Yeah. The arresting officer was the cousin of Joe's. His name was Larenoff. Yeah, Larenoff. Officer Larenoff. And that was 1974. And, you know, right about that time. And this is the right about that time. One of, I think an unsung hero of the Hawaiian movement was a gentleman from Kona called David Roy or Mauna Roy. And I remember Mauna coming and talking to you, Steve, and to myself and to other Native Hawaiians that were in the law school, about a place called Koloko Hona Kahau, which was in Kona, which is now a national park. And Patsy Mink was actually sponsoring this park. But we worked on it. And I know that for a number of us, this was a very transitional experience, especially for yourself. So maybe you want to recount if you could, that experience. Koloko Hona Kahau was basically a private land that I think the Greenwells owned a big chunk of it. But it was all just to be part of, you know, the whole Gold Coast plan that, you know, the state had planned for North Kona, from Kaipa going north toward South Kohala. And Koloko Hona Kahau was destined to be a basically a marine type development. And David and other grassroots folks from Kona organized the protest against the plan because of, you know, the area being one of the last remnants of what a traditional Hawaiian fishing village was. It had two big fish ponds. It had fish traps. There were a few crews coming out and catching up. It was a full working Hawaiian fishing village. So I had a lot of protein fish to, you know, traditionally going all the way back to, you know, the chiefs and coming out. So David and others went to a protest and they went to see Ming and Patsy was able to get a bill passed establishing the Hona Kahau Commission. They had some people on there that I can consider to be Hawaiian royalty. My name is Lani, I'm a Thomas, Felipe Springer, Kiki, Chinhaka, all of these. I thought they were like, you know, they were the knowledge of what Kona was all about. So as you remember, David took along on a hike across the local Hona Kahau with Kiyoki Chinhaka being our guide. And I think you remember, we came across an old cowboy from that area. Old, old, old watery cowboy. If I'm not mistaken, Kohala area. But if you recall we came across that cave. Okay, it had been basically desecrated by artifact hunters. And we remember standing there as Kierke began his way, his a-way chant, and putting the Bones band in the key that he was chanting, a-way, a-way, a-way. And I considered it to be one of the final moments in what pretty much radicalized me the rest of my life, you know. And what gave me a start to all of that. What I remember most, because we were all standing there and he jumped in through the cave and started a-way and started putting the things back, was the moment that really struck me was he was facing away from us when he was doing a lot of this. And then all of a sudden he turned, I think you wrote about this, that second when he turned around and we saw tears running down his face. But this old tough cowboy was literally heartbroken over the scene. And you know what was interesting about Kaloko Honakaha, which leads us to the next appellate a-way, was that it was the first time, at least for me and for a lot of us, when we started to spiritualize the Hawaiian movement. It went from something more than social economic kind of activities, what's justly do, or political activities to the idea that the land was more than just something that you produce houses or, you know, was more important, which takes us right into the Hokulea. In fact, one of the people, before I leave, Steve was a little bit modest because he actually wrote the plan for that part. And didn't you have a contract with the Department of the Interior, he actually wrote the plan. I did the editing, it was a hui, it was a cock-o-ting, it was a, I remember, I mean, I had some, Herb Connie did all the artwork for the Repertum of Congress, you did one really critical section on the hiring of native Hawaiians, which is really controversial because the National Park Service is basically a federal organization and both discriminate in one of their big no-nos, right? So here we were proposing the Congress that created a National Park where only native Hawaiians be hired, be trained and hired. So that was the ground to keep them. It was kind of interesting because when we came back, when that was kind of done, when we came back, Herb went off and started the whole Hokulea and then you and Waters, you went to Kahokulabia at one point as well, and a whole bunch of people and the two simultaneously began, right after that. And there was sort of, in my mind, I remember about that period was that, was that all all of a sudden we got the spiritual basis for the entire Hawaiian movement, the idea that the land was sacred, the land was special, the idea of aloha aina, and all these concepts started coming up. And one of the people that was very instrumental in all of this was a woman named Anti-Emma Defree. I don't know if you guys have any stories about anti-emma, but what did you know about anti-emma? I'm sure you did. Yes, I met her. In fact, I can tell you, in the summer of 1967, I had come home after one year in a way, and it was California not knowing much about Hawaiian history. And I remember my mother who, taking us as children, you know, 10 or 12 years old, to Queen Emma's summer palace. And I had never been back, but I knew where it was. And I went there, and Anti-Emma was sitting on the alumni, and I talked with her, and I told her how they asked, who's your family before, an hour or two or by. Our families are related, I'm not sure exactly how. But I used to visit her when I was going to, you know, between classes. And I would just talk with her. I wasn't like Frank, in Kawhi Kapua, O'Kleinu, who was a student. But I knew her, you know, from darkness of Hawaii. And the next time I'd see her is when she's with, you know, particular O'Lavi Ohana, in 1976 or so. And she's, you know, the spiritual guide. But I knew Anti-Emma from, you know, way back. She was an important part of the movement. Actually, one of the interesting things about the Protect Kawhi O'Lavi Ohana was the inclusion of the kupuna in their deliberations. It was like a search for knowledge. Knowledge that was for many of us hidden, not really told to our particular generation. But Steve, you were part, and in fact, you wrote about this. It's a great, this great episode in your book. If those of you who haven't read it called The First Landing. But about that whole, the first time the Ohana tried to occupy Kawhi O'Lavi. And this was, well, I mean, the first time might have been when Walter really just went over any time he got like, but we can talk about that. But when the formal first time was, why don't you tell us a little bit about that? Well, that was, you know, I wanted to just share about the kupuna though. We wouldn't have, I wouldn't have, let me say, I wouldn't have gone to Kawhi O'Lavi and occupied it in that one situation in 1976. If they hadn't given us their blessings, you know, and Auntie Emma was one of those who, and there's Molokai and Kraku from Molokai, you know, would shaker her cane at us and implore us to do more, you know. We wouldn't have fun. You know, it ended up, there was, again, it was a calling, it was a hui of, from Mawi, Charlie Maxwell, from Mawi, the Molokai hui all along. We planned and it was, there are those who say there was no plan, kind of, but we landed on, nine of us landed on Kawhi O'Lavi in a protest occupation in January of 1976. And we stayed on the island for about eight hours until we got transported off the guard. It was the beginning of a whole series of occupations that played after, and you had the group to protect Kawhi O'Lavi and all these occupations that began, organizing the Aloha Aina since, yeah. I think the one story you want me to share, John, is of the kupuna that I took from Big Island, me, Auntie Ele and I knew, I was working for Lili Okolani Trust in Lopuna, and I had to get to know her really well, and when she found out I was going, she wanted to come and said, well, she said a year ago, and I said, you sure you want to come? This could be very dangerous. And she said, oh, it's going to be wild. So Auntie Ellen went, she was my kuleana the whole time. There was this one instance when I think she was a blast. I mean, she did stuff on the island, my video camera ran out of batteries, right? So the battery pack, those oldies, the battery pack, no bad, no more power. And I come off the hill with my Coast Guard school. I see her going around the little cove area, you know, like she was videotaping all of the police and the US Attorney was there, like she had film in the camera. And when I asked her, I told her, see Ellen, there's no batteries in there. She goes, they don't know that. And she was just kind of the humor that just kind of lightened, you know, the whole atmosphere up. I love these stories about these kupuna because it so expresses what their presence in the movement. I mean, there was, I guess when you hear a certain age in those days, you could get a little naughty, you know, and they would do things that are really funny. I love the scene where you're pushing her up on the Coast Guard. Oh, well, that was that one again, she was my kuleana, a lot of her, but when they brought us to the Coast Guard cutter, they had a skiff and they brought us off the island to the Coast Guard in the middle of the channel. It wasn't really rough, but the ship was rocking kind of back and forth. And we had to try to change that. And I remember she going in front of me and I said, Auntie, I'll be right on my shoulder, your butt, and keep pushing you up the ladder as we go up. Well, we got about halfway up and the, kind of, the ladder kind of like swung out a little bit and she lost her step. And I looked up and butt and I landed in like my eyes and my nose and everything. And she kept really, you know, and I kept saying, is that you? Is that you? And I couldn't say anything because it would have made everything worse, right? It was such a great scene. To the top and she turns around and she tells everybody, I think Steve just goose me down. You know, there were so many, so many moments of what I remember most about that whole period was the humor, the underneath all the pain and the action. It was this kind of humor. You know, we have, you know, you know us Hawaiians and even the scariest moments, we find the weird joke that that is pure Hawaiian humor. So, so what is, when did you go to the island? I know that you occupied, you went on an occupation. Well, I went on the guard, I went on a second legal access. We flew on a helicopter that we had provided for the Kupuna on the trash. It was looking for $400. And I didn't have your number to call you governor. And so we put up the and then we said to him, we will fly, you know, in and out on the helicopter. So we stayed the three days. It was very difficult. You know, the, you know, the Lua was really a Lua from all, but then to the first flight out, you are killed. And I flew brought back and we had friends that were staying at penthouse in that hotel. And we went immediately there. But, you know, we were there for the second. And it was very interesting because they were organized. Everybody had a task. So, you know, those of us people who could go out into the gills. And I guess I don't know we stayed at the shoreline. But I went on that. And then one more time. And for that, we first time was in Haki, Alva, the second time we went to smuggler's cove, which was much nicer. And I have to say, you know, I was drawn. I went up when I was in office, when I was in the governor's office, I went up to do some special planning. And what I remember, this is a well kept secret to tell me what I did was, I mean, all my security guards were models. All these guys were models with a gun. You got, you go to a model, but and, and, and all of them. And they, they put the, you know, they have to carry their weapons. So, you know, they were doing it. You know, we got, we only got a bit and there's so many more exciting people. We haven't talked about Walter, we haven't talked about Emmett, Georgiana with the movement, and then getting into anti-Frenchy. And on the meanwhile, the Hokulea, Hokulea just started, there's this parallel track. And so, and also, there's a completely growing side to all of this with the, with the development of the music with Gabby Pahinui and the sons of Hawaii and Sunday Manoa and the Casameros and all these people playing. One of the most interesting things for me doing that side of the cultural side of the Renaissance was the development of male hula. I was at law school and I remember these female students begging us to take them down so she could see these half-naked guys dancing, you know. It was, it was all so fresh and new, but that's about, I don't, I'm not out of time. So, if you guys feel up to it, I think that we ought to have a part two to finish off this particular era. So, I like, I'm going to circle back to all of you and see when you're available. I love your stories. Troy, Troy, did you ever go Koho Lavi? I've never been. I've never been yet. You got to do it, but in any event, Waters and Steve and Troy, I want to thank you all for participating with us this afternoon and I want to invite you back. Gotcha. Aloha. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.