Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, March 12, 2017

A flag from the Hawaiian Kingdom will be auctioned in France in April.
Photo from Auguttes auction house

RARE HAWAIIAN ARTIFACTS, reputed to be the biggest collection outside the Bishop Museum, will be auctioned in France next month. The 1,100 items from the Rainer Werner Bock collection, including a spear described as acquired by Capt. James Cook circa 1779 and worth about $80,000, will be auctioned over three days in Neuilly-sur-Seine from April 5 through 7. Other items include an 8-inch black, red and yellow feather ornament, a war helmet, a flag from the Kingdom of Hawaiian, fishhooks, and a pahu (war drum). 

     The items were collected by Bock, who was born in Germany and has lived on Maui. He was one of the world’s leading dealers in Pre-Columbian art, who had hoped to open a museum in Maui. He compiled this unique collection of Hawaiian tribal art, including 18th century bowls, regalia, drums, fishing equipment, necklaces in feathers or hair, spears, lances, pestles and many other fascinating objects over a period of 20 years.
     In a promotional brochure, which he sent to The Ka’u Calendar, Julian Roup, a spokesman for the French auction house, Aguttes, described the collection, which also includes items from New Zealand, the Marquesas Islands, and the Solomon Islands.
     “Never before have so many Hawaiian objects been brought together outside of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu,” wrote Roup. “The collection includes some 500 items that speak to us of the daily lives of the people of Polynesia, inhabited for centuries, unknown to the European world until the arrival in 1778 of Captain James Cook.”

A Nineteenth Century
rain mantle from Hawai`i
will be auctioned off in
France.  Photo from
Aguttes auction house

     The Ihe Laumeki (barbed wooden spear) was collected by Captain Cook during his third expedition to Hawai’i in 1779- 1780, according to the auction house description, which says it is one of only four such spears to exist in private collections and is valued at about $72,000 to 80,000. A silk flag, which could date from 1845, is a rare remnant of the Hawaiian Kingdom and is valued at $12,000 to 16,000, according to the auction literature.
     The sale contains works never before seen at auction. A war helmet, which was part of a collection assembled by one of the first French scientific expeditions to Hawai’i, was formerly displayed by a French University. Its value is estimated at about $58,000 to 70,000.
     Roup explained that gathering boat models has always been a “highlight, even a cornerstone, of all great collections of Oceanian art. Bock’s collection, which was originally meant for a private or public museum, features some 30 boat models plus two full-scale canoes.
     “As to R.W. Bock’s selection of fishing hooks, it perfectly captures the art of halieutics, with each piece having been carefully chosen for its shining, polished mother-of-pearl, which bears great significance in Oceanian fishing traditions. Oceania comprises the civilizations that, over the centuries, developed the most brilliant mother-of-pearl techniques.

   

A bowl in netting is one of the
auction items. Photo from 
Aguttes auction house

 “Fishhooks are called “special” when they were kept for ritual fishing, such as a spoon lure for herring bait. Wood was also used in fashioning large hooks for catching shark in particular,” stated Roup.
     Roup calls Brock’s collection “a fantastic voyage from island to island.” His assessment is that the collection “represents the formidable eye of this internationally esteemed art dealer, whose collection of Hawaiian art adds considerably to the world’s knowledge of Polynesia. Rainer Werner Bock, a German who later immigrated to the USA, has always been a tireless traveler and art lover. He fulfilled his dream when he moved to the Hawaiian Islands, where he built up the largest-ever private collection of Hawaiian art.
     “Eager to share his childhood vision with as many people as possible, he worked hard to open a museum on Maui Island, but, regrettably, was not supported by local politicians,” contended Roup.
     Other items in the sale include: A Pahu (war drum), from the Nineteenth Century, with estimated value or $12,000 to 16,000; a Nineteenth Century feather ornament, measuring about 8 inches in diameter with a $9,000 to $10,000 value; a bowl in a hanging net valued at $7,000 to $8,000; a Nineteenth Century rain mantle made from lauhala, with value of $2,500 to $3,200.
     The items will be on exhibit at Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb west of Paris, for a week prior to the three-day auction. This event will be documented by a multiple volume catalog that itself will become collectible and will be an important reference for years to come, said event organizers.
     For more information, contact Julian Roup of Bendigo Communication acting for Aguttes at info@bendigopr.co.uk.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.  

GRANTS TOTALING $15 MILLION FOR CONSERVATION PARTNERS are being offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help voluntarily protect, restore and enhance critical wetlands on agricultural lands.

Nene, Hawai`i's State Bird, are benefited by programs to restore and
enhance critical wetlands on agricultural lands. Photo from USDA

     "Restored wetlands improve water quality downstream and improve wildlife habitat, while also providing flood prevention and recreational benefits to communities," says a statement from Acting Deputy Agriculture Secretary Michael young.
     Funding will be provided through the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership, part of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, a Farm Bill conservation program. The partnership is administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the leading federal agency for wetland conservation on private lands. Through WREP, states, local units of governments, non-governmental organizations and American Indian tribes collaborate with NRCS through cooperative and partnership agreements. These partners work with tribal and private landowners who voluntarily enroll eligible land into easements to protect, restore and enhance wetlands on their properties.

Ka`u Coffee benefits by good practices in taking care of adjacent
gulches and streambeds. Photo from USDA

     “These strong, locally led partnerships help improve water quality, prevent flooding, enhance wildlife habitat and provide landowners the financial resources needed to voluntarily conserve our lands,” Young said.
     Easements enable landowners to adopt a variety of conservation practices that improve the function and condition of wetlands. The voluntary nature of NRCS' easement programs enables effective integration of wetland restoration on working landscapes, providing benefits to farmers and ranchers who enroll in the program, as well as benefits to the local and rural communities where the wetlands exist.
     This year, NRCS is encouraging partners to propose projects that focus on improving water quality as well as habitat on working landscapes in high-priority areas. Proposals must be submitted to NRCS state offices by April 24. More information is available on the ACEP webpage.

Hula Performance, Wed, Mar 15, 6:30 – to 8 p.m., Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Under the direction of Kumu Hula Ab Kawainohoikala‘i Valencia, Hālau Hula Kalehuaki‘eki‘eika‘iu ma Kīlauea performs. Free; park entrance fees apply.

Thursday Night at the Center, Mar 16, 7 – 9 p.m., Volcano Art Center. Susan Scott and Wally Johnson present their book, Hawai`i’s Kolea, the Amazing Transpacific Life of the Pacific Golden-Plover. 967-8222

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Buffet, Fri, Mar 17, 5 – 8 p.m., Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Corned beef & cabbage, lamb stew, shepherd’s pie & more. $19 adults; $10 children 6 – 11 years. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply. 967-8356

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

www.kaucalendar.com

Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, March 11, 2017

The public visited the hula heiau between Pahala and Na`alehu in May of 2016 and is invited
to learn about the recent archaeolgical inentory on April 1. Photo by Jasmine Cronin

A PRESERVATION PLAN FOR THE HULA HEIAU in the mountains above Punalu`u, called 'Imakakaloa Heiau, will be presented to the public on Saturday, April 1 at Pahala Community Center at 12:30 p.m. Kalaho`ohie Mossman, who works with stewards of the heiau, the Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation, said that everyone is invited to the community gathering.
        The heiau is on land owned by Edmund C. Olson Trust. Edmund C. Olson has provided the Kanakahole Foundation with the stewardship agreement.

     "We have completed the Archaeological Inventory Survey as well as the preservation plan and would like to share our findings with the community," said Mossman. "We would like to present the preservation plan for your review. Please feel free to make any suggestions on this draft plan which will guide the future treatment of this sacred place. Although the plan currently only addresses the two-acre area where the heiau is located, we are hoping to expand the area of preservation to include important view planes from the site. We value your input and look forward to seeing you all on the first. Please feel free to share this message with others who may be interested."

John Stokes described the hula heiau in his survey of
Hawai`i Island heiau, published by Bishop Museum

    A meeting was held on March 19, 2016 at Pahala Community Center, drawing many people who talked about the hula heiau and other cultural sites in need of preservation in Ka`u. 

     Kanaka`ole Foundation representatives discussed the possibility of the heiau becoming a focal point for community and cultural outreach, with possible programs coordinated with schools.

    On May 14, 2016 the public was invited to visit the heiau and gave input toward its preservation and community use.

   Olson Trust land manager John Cross recalled that John Replogle, of The Nature Conservancy, asked about the location of the heiau after Olson bought the property from the old Ka`u sugar company, and ranchers planned to clear more land in the area for cattle. 

    Cross said he knew of the heiau from the Bishop Museum archaeological survey Heiau of the Island of Hawai`i by John F.G. Stokes, published in 1991. Stokes described the heiau as “a series of enclosures with walls sometimes broadened into platforms. The ground declines to the southeast, but the earth floors of the enclosure have been approximately leveled as though by cutting and filling. The large enclosure on the southeast is said to have been for the chiefs and kahuna, the stone pavement shown being the kuahu.      

     "Outside and adjoining the wall of this enclosure on the west is a platform one foot high. To the north of the latter is another platform 4.5 feet high, an extension of the walls. This last is said to have been the hale o Papa. The second largest enclosure is said to have been for the hale hula. There was no information regarding the smallest enclosure.”

Public input on the hula heiau was welcomed by the Edith
Kanaka`ole Foundation last year in Pahala.
Photo by Julia Neal

     The late Pele Hanoa, long involved in historic, cultural and land preservation in Ka`u, also informed Olson Trust about the general location of the heiau, and several crews unsuccessfully hiked the area to find it. Ka`u cattleman Al Galimba bumped into a heiau rock wall as he was clearing for pastures and paddocks. He contacted Cross, and they identified it as the hula heiau, buried deep in a tangle of Christmasberry, cat’s claw and a large monkeypod tree. The location is makai of Ka`alaiki Road - the old cane haul route - between Pahala and Na`alehu.      Galimba withdrew cattle from the area and helped clear brush away from the heiau, followed by an Olson Trust team using small equipment to clear and protect it, fencing off about 1.5 acres around the site. Additional conservation has been accomplished through the Kanaka`ole Foundation.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

HAWAI`I ATTORNEY GENERAL DOUG CHIN will take the state’s complaint against President Donald Trump’s second Executive Order travel ban to court next week.

      Chin said this week on NBC News that the travel ban is "setting up as a system where there are certain races that are going to be presumptively in a second class type of environment and there will be a superior race that is running everything." 

     He said Jeff Sessions' speech last week, to U.S. Attorney Generals from around the country meeting in Washington, D.C., was that "crime is on the uprise...It is being committed by people who are unlawfully in this country, so if we remove people who are unlawfully in this country, then crime will go down."

Hawai`i Attorney General Doug Chin on NBC News

     Said Chin, "When you layer on those statements, which is actually part of what we do in this argument, we are saying there are so many statements from this administration that are going in a bad direction. That's another reason we can find this discriminatory in intent."

      In a press conference, Chin said,  “This is the first time a President has made such a broad sweeping kind of Executive Order that bans people purely based upon their nationality.  

     "It is saying if you are from one of these six countries -  now six  (first travel ban named seven countries) - you are presumptively a terrorist. This is over-assertion of power by the President. The President is not a king. He is not a dictator. We all learned that in social studies growing up. The concern about this Executive Order, even though it is just for 120 days, is that it can be easily renewed. It can be renewed for another 120 days and just become permanent or perpetual,” said Chin.

     Chin said that “We here in the state of Hawai`i care about the security of our state, but don’t bring us back to a time that occurred prior to the 1960s."
     Chin said he doesn't see the objection to the travel ban "as a Democrat thing or an agenda thing. I see it as if Hawai`i doesn’t speak up about discrimination by national origin, we are dishonoring and we are disrespecting what our past generations have gone through.” 

    Hawai`i will argue its case before U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson on Wednesday, March 15, the day before the ban is set to go into effect.

    Omar Adwat, Director of American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project, said the ACLU also filed a complaint. He said the “revised travel ban has the same problems as the original travel  ban, which is that it’s religious discrimination. President Trump can’t follow through on his threat without running straight into the Constitution.”

     The new travel ban does not favor Christian over other religions for entry to the U.S, as did the first travel ban that was stopped by the courts. The new travel ban also exempts those with Green Cards. It changes the ban to affect travelers from six instead of seven Muslim-majority countries, exempting Iraq. All refugees from the six countries would be banned for 120 days.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

A STATEWIDE SEARCH FOR KILLERS OF A MONK SEAL on Kaua`i on Feb. 23 near `Ele`ele has been launched with a $10,000 award. The monk seal tagged R4DP was found dead on the beach. She was 15 years old and familiar to monk seal researchers and Kaua`i residents. 

     Tipsters can call the state Department of Land & Natural Resources and provide information to be held in confidence to 855-DLNR-TIP (855-356-7847). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement is also investigating, along with DLNR’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.
     The reward is sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Council for Hawai`i, the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust.

          Punishment for killing an endangered monk seal can bring fines of up to $50,000 and imprisonment for up to a year, or both. The seals are protected under state and federal laws.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

SUNDAY CLAY: High Fire, Sundays, March 12 – May 7, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. or 2:45 –5:45 p.m. at Volcano Art Center. $185/$166 VAC members plus $13 materials fee. 967-8222

REP. RICHARD CREAGAN SPEAKS AT THE NEW VOICES MEETING on Sunday, at Punalu`u Bake Shop at noon. The public meeting will be held in the upper pavilion. Creagan will review activities of the 2017 Hawai`i Legislature, which has reached mid session. He will also discuss the national situation with the new President's administration. For more information, call Melissa Wheeler at 808-785-2643.

Ka`u News Briefs Friday, March 10, 2017

NOAA and Sea Grant work with University of Hawai`i to provide scientific information and
develop programs regarding climate, natural disasters and environment. Sea Grant faces elimination
and NOAA faces severe budget cuts in the new Trump administration's  proposal to Congress.
Photo from NOAA

ELIMINATING THE SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM at University of Hawai`i and in other states is one of Pres. Donald Trump's budget cuts, according to a statement from Sen. Mazie Hirono and a story in The Washington Post. 

     “The Sea Grant College Program has been serving coastal communities and economies through the provision of science based information, tools and technologies for more than 50 years. Based at universities in 33 coastal and Great Lakes states as well Puerto Rico and Guam, Sea Grant serves as NOAA's link to University research and the communities they serve,” said Dr. Darren Lerner, Director of the University of Hawai`i Sea Grant College Program.
     Hirono pointed out that in 2015, University of Hawai`i received more than $2 million in federal funding for the Sea Grant Program.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

NOAA'S GOES WEST satellite provide information for disaster
preparedness and daily weather forecasts in Hawai`i. Photo form NOAA

DRASTIC BUDGET CUTS TO NOAA'S SATELLITE PROGRAM are proposed in Pres. Donald Trump's budget. 

     NOAA provides critical imagery and forecasting information for community disaster preparedness, response and recovery and for U.S. military navigation.  

     Sen Mazie Hirono and Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, wrote a bipartisan letter to the Trump administration, saying: “In 1992, Hurricane Iniki struck Kaua`i, Hawai`i, causing six deaths and $1.8 billion (1992 USD) in damage. If communities had not been warned about the hurricane in advance, the death toll could have been much higher. Deep cuts to NESDIS’ monitoring equipment and activities will directly increase coastal states’ vulnerability to hurricanes and other natural events that can threaten our communities and run counter to NOAA’s building of a Weather-Ready Nation.”

     The letter was also signed by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Angus King (I-Maine), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawai`i).
    Business leaders also weighed in:  “The NOAA IOOS program provides the real-time data that we need to understand and adapt to changing ocean conditions. The system is critically important to our team members and the coastal communities where we operate,” said Ronald K. Lau, Operations Manager of Kona Coast Shellfish, LLC- Pacific Seafood Group.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

NOAA' Mauna Loa Baseline Atmospheric Observatory recorded a fifth straight year of record CO2 in
the atmosphere. Photo from NOAA

A RECORD INCREASE IN CARBON DIOXIDE in the atmosphere was recorded for 2016 at the Mauna Loa Baseline Atmospheric Observatory. According to a statement on Friday from NOAA, C02 levels rose by 3 parts per million to 405.1 parts per million (ppm) in 2016, an increase that matched the record jump observed in 2015.
     The two-year, 6-ppm surge in the greenhouse gas between 2015 and 2017 is unprecedented in the observatory’s 59-year record. It was a record fifth consecutive year that carbon dioxide (CO2) rose by 2 ppm or greater, said Pieter Tans, lead scientist of NOAA's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network.
     “The rate of CO2 growth over the last decade is 100 to 200 times faster than what the Earth experienced during the transition from the last Ice Age,” Tans said. “This is a real shock to the atmosphere.”
    Globally averaged CO2 levels passed 400 ppm in 2015 — a 43-percent increase over pre-industrial levels. In February 2017, CO2 levels at Mauna Loa had already climbed to 406.42 ppm. NOAA has measured CO2 on site at the

 Mauna Loa observatory since 1974. To ensure accuracy, air samples from the mountaintop research site in Hawai`i are shipped to NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, for verification. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which first began sampling CO2 at Mauna Loa in 1956, also takes independent measurements onsite.
     Emissions from fossil-fuel consumption have remained at historically high levels since 2011 and are the primary reason atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing at a dramatic rate, Tans said. This high growth rate of CO2 is also being observed at some 40 other sites in NOAA’s Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network.        
     Carbon dioxide is one of several gases that are primarily responsible for trapping heat in the atmosphere. This “greenhouse effect” maintains temperatures suitable for life on Earth. Increasing CO2 levels trap additional heat in the atmosphere and the oceans, contributing to rising global average temperatures.

     Atmospheric CO2 averaged about 280 ppm between about 10,000 years ago and the start of the Industrial Revolution around 1760. Track CO2 concentrations at Mauna Loa and other global locations online.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, making the regime change pitch at the
National Press Club, is joined by Sen. Rand Paul with
legislation in the U.S. Senate.

THE STOP ARMING TERRORISTS BILL, sponsored by Tulsi Gabbard in the U.S. House of Representatives, has a champion in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Rand Paul introduced the measure into the U.S. Senate on Friday. The bipartisan legislation (H.R.608 and S.532) would prohibit any federal agency from using taxpayer dollars to provide weapons, cash, intelligence, or any support to al-Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist groups, and it will prohibit the government from funneling money and weapons through other countries who are directly or indirectly supporting terrorists.

     The legislation is currently cosponsored by Reps. John Conyers (D-MI), Scott Perry (R-PA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tom Garrett (R-VA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Walter Jones (R-NC), Ted Yoho (R-FL), and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and endorsed by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Veterans for Peace, and the U.S. Peace Council.

       Said Gabbard, “For years, the U.S. government has been supporting armed militant groups working directly with and often under the command of terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda in their fight to overthrow the Syrian government. Rather than spending trillions of dollars on regime change wars in the Middle East, we should be focused on defeating terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, and using our resources to invest in rebuilding our communities here at home. The fact that American taxpayer dollars are being used to strengthen the very terrorist groups we should be focused on defeating should alarm every Member of Congress and every American. We call on our colleagues and the Administration to join us in passing this legislation.”
      Senator and physician Paul said: “One of the unintended consequences of nation-building and open-ended intervention is American funds and weapons benefiting those who hate us.” This legislation will strengthen our foreign policy, enhance our national security, and safeguard our resources.”

      Gabbard provided the following background: The Stop Arming Terrorists Act prohibits U.S. government funds from being used to support al-Qaeda, ISIS or other terrorist groups. In the same way that Congress passed the Boland Amendment to prohibit the funding and support to CIA backed-Nicaraguan Contras during the 1980’s, this bill would stop CIA or other Federal government activities in places like Syria by ensuring U.S. funds are not used to support al-Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, ISIS, or other terrorist groups working with them. It would also prohibit the Federal government from funding assistance to countries that are directly or indirectly supporting those terrorist groups. The bill achieves this by:
     · Making it illegal for any U.S. Federal government funds to be used to provide assistance covered in this bill to terrorists. The assistance covered includes weapons, munitions, weapons platforms, intelligence, logistics, training, and cash.
     · Making it illegal for the U.S. government to provide assistance covered in the bill to any nation that has given or continues to give such assistance to terrorists.
     · Requiring the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to determine the individual and groups that should be considered terrorists, for the purposes of this bill, by determining: (a) the individuals and groups that are associated with, affiliated with, adherents to or cooperating with al-Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, or ISIS; (b) the countries that are providing assistance covered in this bill to those individuals or groups.
     · Requiring the DNI to review and update the list of countries and groups to which assistance is prohibited every six months, in consultation with the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees, as well as the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
     · Requiring the DNI to brief Congress on the determinations.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

JAZZ IN THE FOREST, Saturday, March 11, Volcano Art Center at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. with Jean Pierre Thoma & The Jazztones. See www.volcanoartcenter.org. 967-8222

SUNDAY CLAY: High Fire, Sundays, March 12 – May 7, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. or 2:45 –5:45 p.m. at Volcano Art Center. $185/$166 VAC members plus $13 materials fee. 967-8222

REP. RICHARD CREAGAN SPEAKS AT THE NEW VOICES MEETING on Sunday, at Punalu`u Bake Shop at noon. The public meeting will be held in the upper pavilion. Creagan will review activities of the 2017 Hawai`i Legislation which has reached mid session and also discuss the national situation with the new President's administration. For more information, call Melissa Wheeler at 808-785-2643.

www.kaucalendar.com