Aloha Aina Party of Hawaii
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The Aloha Aina Party of Hawaii (from Aloha ʻAina, love of land) is a legally recognized political party of the state of Hawaii in the United States. A modern reincarnation of the Home Rule Party of Hawaii that was then led by Congressman Robert William Wilcox, the Aloha Aina Party of Hawaii was resurrected as a result of discontent of native Hawaiians with the call of Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano with the support of the Hawaii State Legislature to replace the Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees as a result of a 2000 United States Supreme Court decision in Rice v. Cayetano. It was founded by dance teacher Vickie Holt Takamine, and was bolstered by a merger with former Honolulu mayor Frank Fasi's Best Party of Hawaii.
Aloha ʻAina, which literally means "love of land", is a central concept of ancient Hawaiian thought, cosmology and culture. The concept is felt by many people in Hawaiʻi as a locus of ecological and cultural understanding.
Traditionally, the concept goes back to mythical times, and is illustrated extensively in creation chants such as the Kumulipo, which emphasize the connection between the land and the people. In everyday practice, it embodies a deep passion for the land, as is often demonstrated in songs, hula, stories, and regular lifestyle practices such as farming, which have many celebratory, and sometimes sensual, elements. As a political term, it came into wide use during the late nineteenth century through the Aloha Aina Party, which transformed into the Home Rule Party of Hawaii in 1900, after the annexation of Hawaiʻi in the last decade of the 19th century. Since that time some connotations of Hawaiian nationalism have often been associated with the term. Many practitioners, however, assert that Aloha ʻAina is not itself a political term but rather a tenet of spiritual and cultural understanding which "drives one into action (George Helm, 1977)". These actions may be political, or they may simply involve prayer, lifestyle choices, and deep love and respect for the land and sea.
During the "Hawaiian Rennaissance" of the 1970ʻs, the term again came into common use, and a strong social movement arose based upon it. Land struggles were the locus of this movement, which brought together ecological principles, ancient practices, historical interests, demilitarization/peace concepts, and Hawaiian Sovereignty claims.
The pinnacle of the 1970ʻs Aloha ʻAina movement came in 1976-77, with the occupation of the island of Kahoʻolawe by the group PKO (Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana). Kahoolawe had been used as training area for the military since World War II, and was still an active bombing target practice range for the U.S. Navy at the time. A group of activists, kupuna (elders) and cultural practitioners led by Kawaipuna Prejean and George Helm[1] reached the island by boat, but were later arrested. They returned, and two of the group, Walter Ritte and Richard Sawyer, were left behind on the waterless island when the others were again removed. George Helm, who had become the clear leader of the struggle and a hero to many people, paddled from Maui on a surfboard, along with Kimo Mitchell in an attempt to return to Kahoolawe. Helm, who was a lauded musician and speaker, disappeared along with Mitchell. Since his disappearance, George Helm has become one of the Aloha ʻAina movementʻs famous human symbols.
Today, the Aloha ʻAina movement largely focuses on the growing of kalo, or Hawaiian taro. Kalo is a sacred plant in traditional Hawaiian culture, believed to be the elder sibling of the first humans, and the plant from which Hawaiiansʻ beloved poi[2] is made. Kalo requires copious water and is very sensitive to pollutants (hence, urbanization); therefore, anti-development and water rights struggles are ubiquitous elements of traditional loʻi (kalo culture) in the present day. Kalo culture also relates directly to health issues; studies have shown very high rates of heart disease, diabetes, many cancers, and most other preventable, diet-related diseases among native Hawaiians, and a major factor in these statistics is suspected to be the abandonment of traditional dietary practices. The goals of Aloha ʻAina include the harmonization of human health with the health of the land, through the culturally pono (righteous) protection and care of the natural resources that sustain it.
Recent issues of concern for the Aloha ʻAina movement include the hotly contested creation of a genetically modified taro variety and the proposed arrival of 240 Stryker tanks to Hawaiʻi.
