Kaho'olawe & Senator Daniel Inouye

(Hakioawa, Kaho‘olawe)  The Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana is grateful to Senator Daniel Ken Inouye for his contributions leading to the return and healing of Kanaloa Kaho‘olawe.  

The following Mele Kupuna, Ancestral Chant, was composed in 1992 to honor Senator Inouye and pay homage to his ancestors.  It was chanted by Kika Nohara for Senator Inouye to enter and sit upon the Mua Haʻi Kūpuna, Kahualele (Monument in Honor of the Ancestors) on the bluff at Hakioawa during E Kahoʻolawe, E Hoʻomau ana hou i ka Mauli Ola, the August 1992 ceremony of healing for Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe.

NO KANIELA KEN INOUYE
by Pualani Kanaka‘ole Kanahele

ʻO ʻoe kā, ʻo Ken Inouye
Ke keikikāne a Hyotaro lāua ʻo Kame
ʻO Hyotaro ke keikikāne a Asakichi lāua ʻo Moyo
ʻO Asakichi ke keikikāne o Wasaburo
ʻO Kaniela kou inoa baibala
ʻO Kaniela ke kauwa a ke Akua a me ka lehulehu
ʻO ʻoe pū ke kauwa a ka lehulehu
Na Hawaiʻi i hoʻouna iā ʻoe i Wakinekona
Lilo o Kenekoa
He koa ʻoe i ke kaua holoʻokoʻa ʻelua
Ua hoʻopakele no naʻe ʻoe i nā hoa kaua
Eō mai e ka hiwahiwa o nā kūpuna o Yokoyama!

So you are indeed Ken Inouye
Child of Hyotaro and
Kame
Hyotaro was the son of Asakichi and Moyo
Asakichi was the son of
Wasaburo
Daniel is your biblical name
Daniel was a servant of the Lord and the people
So you are also a servant of the people
Hawaiʻi has sent you to Washington
You became a Senator
You were also a warrior in World War II
Who saved your war
companions
Answer, favorite progeny of the ancestors of Yokoyama!

On October 22, 1990 President George Bush ordered the halt to all ordnance delivery exercises on Kahoʻolawe. Later that year, when Senator Inouye, then-Congressman Daniel K. Akaka, and others passed the military appropriations, it was with the provision that none of the military monies could be spent on ordnance-related exercises on Kahoʻolawe.  They also set up the Kahoʻolawe Island Conveyance Commission (KICC) to make recommendations to the U.S. Congress as to the future use of the island.  

The ceremony in Hakioawa on August 16, 1992 brought together kūpuna from each island and major decision-makers.  Over ‘awa, each leader pledged to do all in his or her power to protect and heal the island for the future.  Included were U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Congressman Neil Abercrombie, Governor John Waiheʻe, III, with his young son, John Waihe‘e, IV, and Hawaiʻi Senator Mālama Solomon; and OHA Trustees A. Frenchy DeSoto, Thomas Kaulukukui and Abraham Aiona.  Senator Daniel Akaka and Congresswoman Patsy Mink sent representatives.

The recommendations of the KICC and the commitments made at this healing ceremony led to the return of Kaho‘olawe to the people of Hawai‘i in May 1994.  Senator Inouye secured $400 million over the next 10 years for clean-up and remediation.

Mahalo Senator Daniel K. Inouye for your contributions to heal Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe.  

Aloha a hui hou . . . until we meet again upon the pathway to Kahiki Moe.

Click here to download the official press release.