{"id":170552,"date":"2022-12-15T16:03:12","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T02:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=170552"},"modified":"2022-12-20T22:12:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T08:12:58","slug":"water-justice-red-hill-aina-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/15\/water-justice-red-hill-aina-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> conference addresses water justice, Red Hill, \u02bb\u0101ina"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Seven
Wai, ʻAi<\/span> and Iʻa<\/span> panel featured aloha ʻāina<\/span> leaders and practitioners from loko iʻa<\/span> and loʻi<\/span> kalo (Photo Credit: Makoa Freitas)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pressing concerns surrounding the Red Hill water crisis and overall wai (water) access critical to loʻi<\/span> kalo (taro patches) and loko iʻa<\/span> (fishponds) across the state were at the center of a new series of forums held at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa.<\/p>\n

To foster advancing the protection of ʻ\u0101ina (land) and wai through policy and law, the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Â鶹´«Ã½nuākea<\/span> School of Hawaiian Knowledge<\/a> hosted the inaugural Piʻo<\/span> Summit: Wai Sovereignty and Justice<\/a> on December 15, at the East-West Center. Approximately 200 participants attended the conference that brought together academic researchers from UH<\/abbr>, esteemed community leaders and advocates to discuss ailing issues and the need to turn to ancestral innovation to help solve them.<\/p>\n

“The university can really be a catalyst to uplift what\u2019s happening in our community to try to link our research and our mentoring of students to actually solve real-world problems for our islands today,” said Kamanamaikalani Beamer<\/strong>, who is the Dana Naone Hall Endowed Chair in Hawaiian Studies, Literature and the Environment at Â鶹´«Ã½nuākea<\/span> and a professor at Kamakak\u016bokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies<\/a> and the William S. Richardson School of Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kaipulaumakaniolono Baker<\/strong>, a PhD<\/abbr> student at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa opened the conference with an oli (chant), followed by remarks from Â鶹´«Ã½nuākea<\/span> Dean Jon Osorio<\/strong> and Beamer who rallied attendees to passionately chant ʻOla i ka wai<\/em>, which means water is life. He also dedicated the conference to Dana Naone Hall, a k\u0101naka maoli (Native Hawaiian) environmental activist. This was followed by the first panel focusing on the significant role wai has in feeding Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s communities.<\/p>\n

Wai sovereignty and justice<\/h2>\n

A major focus of the conference was on the current state of water management and access in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and how state leaders can utilize research compiled at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and ʻike (knowledge) from aloha ʻ\u0101ina practitioners steeped in rich wisdom passed down from k\u016bpuna to address problems impacting the islands.<\/p>\n

“I think here in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> we can really look towards our ancestral systems that solved [issues] for our islands at different scales in different times but are still very viable and valuable for our future today,” Beamer said.<\/p>\n

Wai, ʻAi and Iʻa<\/span><\/h2>\n

The first panel featured aloha ʻ\u0101ina leaders from loko iʻa<\/span>, loʻi<\/span> kalo and wai advocates who expressed the importance of restoring stream flow in critical areas across the pae ʻ\u0101ina (Hawaiian archipelago) which can help to support the production of food and customary rights. Panelist H\u014dk\u016bao Pellegrino from Hui O N\u0101 Wai ʻEh\u0101 spoke of more than 100 streams on Maui that are currently diverted and the need to restore them.<\/p>\n

Wai and Red Hill<\/h2>\n
\"Four
Wai and Red Hill panel, from left Ernie Lau, Camille Kalama, Kapua Sproat and Wayne Tanaka (Photo credit: Makoa Freitas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second session addressed strategies on decontaminating water impacted by the Red Hill fuel spill and revealed traditional maps listing freshwater resources on Oʻahu<\/span>. The panel featured UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Professor Kapua Sproat<\/strong> (Ka Huli Ao), Ernie Lau (Board of Water Supply), Wayne Tanaka (Sierra Club of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>) and Camille Kalama (Kaʻohewai<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Lau lamented that there are still 400 million gallons of fuel sitting over the aquifer and advocated conference attendees to push for the Navy to defuel tanks. “If another spill happens, ‘Oh my gosh, our poor wai,’” Lau said.<\/p>\n

Special keynote<\/h2>\n
\"Two
Cornel West and Kamana Beamer during moderated keynote discussion at Kennedy Theatre (Photo credit: Makoa Freitas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Renowned philosopher, political activist, public intellectual and author Cornel West will headline a moderated keynote discussion following the summit at Kennedy Theatre 5–7 p.m. West will speak on imperialism and the occupation of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, while placing the islands within the context of peoples\u2019 movements for liberation and justice across the world.<\/p>\n

“Dr. Cornel West has been one of the most influential thinkers of our time when it comes to race, social justice, economic justice, and the liberation of oppressed peoples and occupied nations,” Beamer said. “He is a globally recognized philosopher and progessive activist for human rights. He is one of the most impressive speakers and academics one can witness.”<\/p>\n

Organizers plan to host the Piʻo<\/span> Summit annually with themes highlighting aloha ʻ\u0101ina and sustainability, and how to advance local policy issues as well as increase collaboration. The summit is hosted by Pōʻai<\/span> Ke Aloha ʻ\u0100ina, a project of the Dana Naone Hall chair, which aims to elevate aloha ʻ\u0101ina practices within our community.<\/p>\n

Event sponsors include the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center<\/a>, Native Hawaiian Student Services<\/a>, Â鶹´«Ã½nuākea<\/span> School of Hawaiian Knowledge, Hawaiian Theatre Program<\/a>, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Alliance for Progessive Action, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, ʻ\u0100ina Aloha Economic Futures, Kanaeokana and Sierra Club of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

200 participants attended the Piʻo<\/span> Summit that brought together academic researchers from UH<\/abbr> and esteemed community leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[665,662,758,551,1503,1465,1314,73,9,1043,68],"class_list":["post-170552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-conservation","tag-environment","tag-environmental-science","tag-hawaiinuiakea-school-of-hawaiian-knowledge","tag-kamakakuokalani-center-for-hawaiian-studies","tag-manoa-native-hawaiian-place-of-learning","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","tag-water","tag-william-s-richardson-school-of-law","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170552"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170915,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170552\/revisions\/170915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}