Maika'i Maui - Dispatch 3

Lots of great things to report in this dispatch. First, one of my favorite restaurants on Maui, Aloha Mixed Plate has gone full-on biodegradable with all their disposable plates and utensils. This is a pretty big committment for a quick serve restaurant that is always busy. Another great food discovery, Roselani Ice Cream made just around the Island in Wailuku...I'm totally addicted. These are all part of my efforts to join the Kanu Hawaii Eat Kocal Campaign.

Wednesday was a full day of activities. I started early in the morning with a stop in the Pacific Whale Foundation store where I bought my annual t-shirt. I figure its a win-win when you can buy a t-shirt and/or gifts that are cool AND support a great cause. Next, it was off to Maui Nui Botanical Gardens (MNBG) where I've wanted to go for several years now. The gardens were a bit smaller than I expected but they had a really extensive collection of native plants, from Ape to Wiliwili. One could spend a short time at the gardens or the whole day if you really spend the time to get to know the plants with all their beauty and cultural meanings. Best of all, their website features a video with my favorite song in the background, "Maunaleo" by Kealii Reichel.



Next it was off to the Maui Tropical Plantation, another great stop for anyone into plants. Maui Tropical Plantation is certainly more commercial than MNBG, but beautiful nonetheless. The grounds were extensive and the tram tour is a blast. Feeding the pond fish and local ducks shouldn't be missed either. And yes, there is a GIANT - like five story - windmill on the grounds (pictured above). I could sit and watch it spin and respond to the wind all day...very relaxing.

Finally, I discovered in my many conversations that there is a new effort underway to restore Kahoʻolawe, an island in the Hawaiian chain that was used briefly as a penal colony, for sheep and cattle ranching, and as a bombing range for the US Navy. In 2003, the US Navy tranferred control of the island back to the State of Hawaii and now their is a full cultural and environmental restoration taking place. Having just completed the 2009 Tribal Journey in the Puget Sound where several villages were 're' named back to their original Indian names, I can start to understand the importance and meaning of this restoration effort to honor both the people and place of Kaho'olawe. I look forward to following, supporting, and hopefully volunteering with the project going forward.

Photo: from kahoolawe.hawaii.gov)

Maika'i Maui | Dispatch 1

The annual trip to Maui is on and this year I'll be spending 11 days on the island trying to scout out all the new sustainability things going on. Once again this year, Maui follows on the wake of the annual Tribal Journey for which I paddled over 100 miles so I'm very much looking forward to some rest time.

One of the most important things I learned from my Tribal Journey days is that one should always ask permission to enter another People's lands. So, during our approach I sang the song that I had come up with during this year's Journey and once we landed, I paused for a moment and asked permission to enter. There wasn't anyone to give the permission but as this often happens on early morning launches during the Tribal Journey, I knew that by following the proper Protocol, things would be OK.

The first thing that I was very pleased to see upon landing see was that recycling has finally taken off on much of the island. In the airport, in restaurants, etc. Even in our condo where once there was one small can for recycling there are now seven separate containers for various recyclables. Yay!

The next major sustainability story comes from our first afternoon walking around Old Lahaina....Paul's sunglasses purchase. Turns out the ubiquitous Sunglass Hut stores now are supporting OneSight, a nonprofit that works to improve vision around the world through outreach, research and education. Sunglass Hut supports OneSight, you can make a donation at the store, AND you can even donate your old sunglasses for OneSight recipients.

Next up was a visit to the gallery of Lahaina Arts Society in the Old Lahaina Courthouse. The group supports many local artists and my purchase this year was a small medallion pin made of beautiful feathers by Ellen Levinsky. The pin will look great on the cedar hat I recently bought back in Seattle.

An afternoon snorkel included peeks at an eel and a puffer fish and we ended the day with a grocery visit to Lahaina Farms, the local natural food store.

Maika'i Maui | Dispatch 2

Today I got to visit some of my favorite places in Maui. For example, I stopped by a great boutique in Wailuku, Maui Thing. Their slogan is "stuck on good" and with all their great local design, organic t-shirts, and calls to action, I'm totally addicted. This year I got a 'Pono Power' T. Afterward, I walked down to Gilbert's Formal Wear to see if they had any more palaka shirts. I did get two shirts (apparently the last shirts the Maui) but also discovered that Gilbert's will be closing after 59 years! That's right, owner Susanne Hotta is closing her doors. Read more in this Maui News article: Wailuku landmark goes out of fashion. We had a great conversation, as always, so its quite sad to know that Gilbert's will soon be gone.

After Gilbert's we stopped in to Cafe O'lei where I had both the best Mahi sandwich AND Mai Tai I've ever had in Maui. Very affordable, very good, lots of local options...yumm!!!

And what would a day in Kahului/Wailuku be without a visit to Savers (aka Value Village to some of us). I purchased some Aloha shirts, Ts, and some Hawaiian textiles for the big Ballard Luau coming up when I get back to Seattle.

I ended the night by watching the Hula show at Whaler's Village next door to where I'm staying. Its one of the best hula shows I've seen (perhaps because it has dancers ranging from children to adults) and its FREE! I'll be stopping by the other shows on Wednesday and Saturday for sure.

Haunani-Kay Trask takes US to task

I had the great pleasure of hearing Native Hawaiian educator and activist Haunani-Kay Trask speak not once, but twice this week. She is an outspoken activist on topics such as Hawaiian Nationalism, imperialism, tourism, labor, and indigenous rights and strongly opposes Hawaii's dependence on tourism, as well as the US military presence in Hawaii. Trask's clearest message at the lectures I attended at South Seattle Community College and Cascadia College, was that students in particular are well positioned to create change in their universities, communities, etc. She spoke often of the ease and importance of groups organizing around issues and I must say, with her passion and persistence, she surely inspired many youth to do just that. I know she inspired me. At times during her lecture, I felt like I was face to face with the passionate and sometimes volatile Hawaiian Goddess, Pele herself.

As an annual visitor to Maui myself, I understand that I'm part of both the tourist and the US imperialism problem. But I can say that I'm now a firm advocate that Native Hawaiians should be given federal recognition similar to other Native American Indian Tribes and will do my part to support this effort. I'll also continue to do my best to be, as Haunani-Kay put it, a 'good haole' on and off the islands. In my past two visits to Maui and Molokai I've been able to meet, work, and learn from Native Hawaiians in several capacities. I've learned a lot about Hawaiian culture, particularly about early practices and current sustainability efforts. Next I plan on learning more Hawaiian language and working on a taro farm during my upcoming trip in August. I've also been trying to learn Lushootseed, the Native language here in the Seattle/Puget Sound area, and I have to say its incredibly rewarding to learn the true 'local' language as it fully captures the beauty and essence of a region since it developed in connection to that region. Since I speak other foreign languages (Russian, Spanish, French, German, and a little Italian and Chinese), I figured it was time to focus on the local language. So I can't wait to start experiencing Hawaii IN Hawaiian!

Maholo Haunani-Kay for all you do, may you continue to inspire new activists in your cause, as well as people working on so many other deserving causes around the world.