On the Desecration in Kalalau Valley

I suppose it is wise to believe only when it is our own personal experience, and in this age of information our news sources tend to be dubious to say the least. Recent news about Kalalau Valley stirs the notion that the valiant protectors and upholders of justice have claimed victory over the long term campers of Kalalau. Of 28 reported arrests, I have found evidence of only two, only one having happened in The Valley, neither for charges directly related to living in The Valley. Conflicting information on this issue led me to want to do a little investigation, so I hiked in.

Kalalau Ops Media Clips 2-5-16 from Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.

The campers that I talked to over the 4 days that I was there told me that a few camps had indeed been raided. One man told me that “the only thing the rangers accomplished was that they destroyed the property of some campers, cut down some fruit trees, and wrote tickets to a bunch of people with fake names.” I spoke with another camper who had been educated at Kansas University and employed as an archeologist, who felt that the state was falling short of their responsibility to The Valley as a cultural heritage. He drew attention to the Archeological and Historical Preservation Act of 1974 which requires that governing institutions excavate and/or protect the site, neither of which is being done by anyone (other than those who are living in The Valley). I saw the restoration of lo'i taro terraces and the creation of stone circle art. The abundance of food and stewardship of the land there is seemingly for the benefit all and not just a few. I saw signs that were professionally made to keep people on the correct trails that looked as if they had been made by the state, and other signs that requested that people not use man made detergents in the drinkable Kalalau Stream. It did not appear to me that the camping residents in the Kalalau Valley were any more threatening to the ecosystem than were the park rangers and their helicopters. As the Garden Island has reported,“The best experience was the people who live out there”. After exploring a bit on my own with a camera I was able to gather a bit more information. Some of those photos are here.

(altar respecting 'Heart', Buddha, and various aspects of the natural surrounding)

So why do these vagrants, squatters, renunciants, hippies, and high functioning homeless get such a bad name in the media?

Well first of all, there is occasionally the deranged one the one that is a menace to society and even dangerous or harmful to themselves and others, this is the one who most readily makes the front page headline for a manhunt. The most recent did not actually happen in The Kalalau Valley. As the KHON2 reports, "It happened at around 10:45 p.m. on Kuhio Highway in Kapaa, fronting the Courtyards at Waipouli apartment complex..

(natural stone spiral labyrinth)

Secondly I suspect there may be some aversion to the foolishly naive and overly blissed out cultural iconoclasts, the Hippies, who run around with no shoes and in many cases nothing else either. Pridefully mirthful, they prance about boasting that they are upholding the values of the native culture decimated by their forefathers. They learn a few words of the Hawaiian language, and piece together bits of Hawaiian folklore, only to use them in a bastardized and sub par manner that might easily find a sensitive nerve on anyone of true native descent.

(community free table for unwanted useful items)

Thirdly there is an issue of garbage. One of the recent camps evacuated was apparently found to have a collection of garbage amassed over a period of four years. As well, once the rangers write tickets, and perhaps in some cases slash tents and tarps and destroy fruit trees, sometimes they leave the camps to be cleaned up by the shaken campers, who in some cases have fled and do not make it back to take care of the mess. Also, in other cases, as is relatively apparent in the above video, is that it was not actually trash that the rangers removed from the valley, but actually peoples' belongings! There also are likely cases of the many tourists who, being accustomed to waste disposal, leave in the valley those items they do not want to hike back out. Although this is in some cases a gesture of sharing, it can prove to create problems over time.

(camp found with sliced up tarps and tent, and destroyed fruit trees)

It seems that what it comes down to, is that the residents of the Kalalau Valley are not like us, clear and simple. They are outsiders. They behave in ways that are contrary to the status quo, and their behavior reflects and contrasts that of our own in ways that may cause us to question our own behavior or make us uncomfortable.

If they were like us, they would not adhere to ideologies like restorative justice, they would not live with and communicate directly with those deranged members of society, they would simply incarcerate them, lock them away so that tax dollars could support them with a budget much higher than they would have lived by otherwise.

If they were like us, they would not work upon the land, and with the land to grow their own food. They might plant kiawe thorns so that no one could run around shoeless like savages, and might dress themselves appropriately with clothing shipped from Mexico or China so that toplessness would only be a tourist novelty for postcards and not a living part of cultural identity.

If they were like us they would not likely make effort to remember the old graven images, language, and stories of Hawaiian tradition, because perhaps that history is only for people of natural descent.

If they were like us, they would allow the land to be owned, not by all people, but would pay a monthly rent to the banks and the wealthy who claim dominion over it.

If they were like us, they would not keep their garbage to a few large bags in every 4 years. They would instead consume much larger quantities each and every month, and rather than recycle or reuse, they would pay to have it buried within the Aina to be forgotten and left for Her to deal with.

If they were like us, they would work....not for the Life of the Land, but for Dollars with which to support a taxation system that would afford them to pave over and build massive concrete structures upon sacred land.

If they were like us, they would try to make us be like them...but they do not.

(maintaining food; cassava, banana, mango, edible hibiscus, etc.. Taro terraces not pictured)

I hiked into The Valley on friday and hiked out on the tuesday the 4th. I was informed soon after by the media that more raiding had ensued. On the 7th, in Hanalei, I ran into two tourists I had met out there who seemed doubtful of the legitimacy of a second raid, as they were unaware of any unrest amongst the camping residents of Kalalau Valley in that time. They had left the valley the previous day. In any case, it seems the there is a fair amount of exaggeration over the topic and a limited amount of willingness to view multiple perspectives.

Here is a rather tranquil and uneventful police account of the current state of affairs in Kalalau dated May 14th...

Malama the Napali Coast Media Clips from Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.