Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
currently on the market for $65 million, while their Hotel Hana-Maui struggles
with years of declining visitation and unstable employment.
An underlying theme of community activism is preservation of cultural land-
scapes. Elder residents want younger generations to identity with East Maui's sense
of place by recognizing that cultural practices and environmental conservation are
interconnected. It shouldn't be a trade off of one for the other, but that the loss of
one will degrade the other, as has been exemplified in other island communities
throughout the State of Hawai'i and elsewhere. “Understanding this provides a
more sensitive and richer framework for future land use planning and government
policies. Without such understanding, our actions may be blunt and clumsy, and our
vision incomplete” (Atta
1995
).
Maui has appeared in media over the decades as a place that has managed to
develop tourism appropriately. The island routinely earns the Readers' Choice
Award as the best island destination in the Pacific by
Condé Nast Traveler
, and
2009 was no different with three resorts, including the Hotel Hana-Maui, in the top
ten and the island receiving the highest score of all islands worldwide for best
island destination (Condé Nast Traveler
2009
). As portrayed in a local media edito-
rial, East Maui “not only represents a priceless resource in culture, history, agricul-
tural richness and human dignity; even more important, Hana is everyone's reigning
symbol that the wild spirit of this land has not yet fallen under the orderliness of
concrete and the tidiness of leaf blowers” (Maui News
1997
).
Yet, not all headlines indicate that all is smooth sailing: The
Wall Street Journal
reported from Hana just months after the September 11, 2001 attacks when tourism
was already struggling under the banner “Maui's outbreak of Dengue fever is test
of system” (Zimmerman
2001
) even though the
Maui News
ran an editorial under
the headline “Fact: It's safe to go to Hana” (Maui News
2001
); “Dawn at Haleakala?
Think again” reported the
Washington Post
regarding sunrise congestion on the
summit (Rosenthal
2005
). A line from another
Maui News
editorial speaks for
many, “None of us wants to belong to the generation that lost Hana. If that's so,
however, we have a lot of work to do, and now” (Maui News
1997
).
Conclusion: Inspired by Place
Among the lessons learned in East Maui is that resistance to external stakeholders
has reconfirmed place identity and transformed resident empowerment. The bold
actions of a few have ignited the passion of many in this community and elsewhere
in the Hawaiian Islands. One example is the community grassroots organization
Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana that faced an even more intimidating opponent than the
National Park Service and emerged victorious. Efforts to reclaim the military target
island of Kaho'olawe from the U.S. Navy were once deemed impossible by observers.
Yet, nonviolent action in pursuit of an end to military training operations on the
island proved a potent strategy (Aiu
1997
). The island of Kaho'olawe, long recognized
in oral histories and archaeological evidence as a center of learning, has taught
contemporary generations what it means to
malama 'aina:
to steward the land.
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