Native Hawaiians - Earth Foundation Teams Up With Native Hawaiians

Native Hawaiians. Earth Foundation works with the Hawaiians in an effort to be of help in their achieving resolution and settlement. EF sees Hawaiian settlement as the #1 critical issue to the Hawaiian Islands. Native Hawaiians and Whites have been at odds in Hawaii for perhaps 200 years. Many problems in Hawaii stem from this. To help repair this rift is exciting and fulfilling.

Starting on August 1, 2001, Earth Foundation formed a coalition with a special group of Native Hawaiian elders who have been very effective in uniting the Hawaiian community to address their cultural concerns. Earth Foundation’s coalition with Native Hawaiians remains strong, has substantially increased in trust and strength, and helps protect the ‘aina.’ Some local people say the aina is the feeling of the land. And, many other locals say the aina (pronounced “EYE-nuh”) is the feeling in the land, the air, the water, in the animals and birds, in the people – the ONE’ness of feeling that to many people seems to unite everything together into ONE.

Following is the thinking behind why Earth Foundation worked to form this Coalition with Native Hawaiians:
If we blink and do nothing on Maui and the other Hawaiian Islands this breathtakingly beautiful place will be destroyed and gone in 3 to 5 years from poorly planned, rampant development. Earth Foundation formed a Coalition with Native Hawaiians on Maui because it is what’s right and is needed to better defend Maui and its people.

We are concerned with much more than preserving the ecology alone. “Environmentalism” is preserving the ecology AND the native culture. In any land in which there has been a long standing indigenous population, to properly defend the “environment” it is imperative that both the ecology AND the native culture be vigorously protected and preserved.

The reason HAWAII feels so wonderful to tourists and locals is more than just the astounding beauty. It is also the 1,500 years that the indigenous Native Hawaiian people have put their energy, their mana, their hearts and souls into the land itself that does so much to make Hawaii FEEL and be as wonderful as it is. This is the “spirit of Aloha.” By teaming up preservation of both the ecology AND native culture, we create a unique way to really help SOLVE the problem of preserving indigenous lands that have been colonized—in Maui, the rest of Hawaii, and perhaps in other parts of the world.

We are very fortunate that Earth Foundation has been given the opportunity to be of potentially significant service in this situation. It is a wonderful, comfortable experience to be able to work with Native Hawaiians and understand their protocol and easily talk and have fun with them. In 2001 after months of talks with Native Hawaiians by Earth Foundation’s representative and a close Native Hawaiian friend, this Coalition was formed. The Native Hawaiian friend is a member of both a Native Hawaiian organization and Earth Foundation. It is a true honor and distinction for Earth Foundation to work in Coalition with Native Hawaiians. We have been told by respected Native Hawaiian elders, called “kupuna,” that this is potentially historic in Hawaiian History what is now being accomplished and beginning to be reconciled between the Native Hawaiians and Whites through the coalition and teaming up of Earth Foundation with Native Hawaiians. This is a deep honor.