JANUARY - APRIL 2019
hele mai THE MAGAZINE OF MAKANI KAI AIR
MOLOKA‘I VOICE & ADVOCATE WALTER RITTE
CRAFTING PINE NEEDLES INTO BASKETS
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Welcome to
Moloka‘i
When I see our passengers smile and greet each other with hugs, I’m grateful to be able to serve such a tight-knit community. It’s always been my mission to provide affordable transportation to the people of Moloka‘i and it’s proven to be a more rewarding experience than I would have guessed. My heartfelt thanks for making us the success we’ve become. We’re your airline.
Richard Schuman Owner, Makani Kai Air
HAGADONE MEDIA GROUP | Publisher Kent Coules Creative Director Chase Nuuhiwa | Sales Director David Baronfeld | Editor Sarah Yamanaka Published by Hagadone Media Group 274 Puuhale Road, Suite 200, Honolulu, HI 96819 Phone: 808-843-6000 | Fax: 808-843-6090 From the Neighbor Islands: 1-800-232-2519 ©Copyright 2019 by Hagadone Hawaii Inc. All rights reserved which include the right to reproduce this publication or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
hele mai THE MAGAZINE OF MAKANI KAI AIR
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table of
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MAKANI KAI ‘OHANA
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FACES OF KALAUPAPA Hear the stories of Kalaupapa as shared by the people who live and work at this historic site
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The faces of the Makani Kai Air family—you just might see them in the air or upon arrival!
AN ORGANIZING FORCE FOR MOLOKA‘I Being a community organizer and leader, and voice for native Hawaiian people is in Walter Ritte’s blood
NEEDLE 21 PINE BASKETRY
Terry Klerlein weaves pine needles into baskets of all shapes and sizes
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Makani Kai Air’s ‘OHANA
R O B E R T “ M AC ” S M I T H by P.J. O’Reilley
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ac’s first memories of flight are probably enough to make most folks put off flying forever. The son of a career military man, he was a wee lad of five flying from Honolulu to Guam to Manilla on the old Military Air Transport Service. Poor Mac endured the grueling 24-hour trip with strep throat, two penicillin shots in his rear end and a strong desire to just lie down and sleep. Yet Mac persevered and went on to log more than 12,000 hours in a variety of aircraft, and along the way, became a designated pilot examiner, airplane owner, flight school manager, cargo dog and 4
Makani Kai Air’s chief flight instructor. His romance with aviation started not long after his Navy family moved from Honolulu to the Philippines. “Our house was two blocks from the end of the runway and there was always something flying overhead,” he recalls. But his dad would have nothing to do with Mac wanting to be a pilot. So, when the family returned to O‘ahu, Mac had to hide the fact that he was taking glider lessons at Dillingham Field from his high school girlfriend. Geez, most kids hide the beer from their parents … Mac attended the University of Colorado on an ROTC scholarship, enrolled in the
HELE MAI MAKANI KAI AIR January - April 2019
aviation training program, met his future wife, and bought an airplane. But the islands were calling, so Mac packed up his belongings, including said wife and airplane, and came back to O‘ahu to attend the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He kept flying and kept training and earned his Commercial and Flight Instructor (CFI) ratings. Mac started instructing with Hawaii Air Academy and flew multi-island tours in a four-engine DeHaviland Heron for Seagull Air. Life being a series of twists and turns, Mac left the aviation world behind for a few years to manage the Hawai‘i Kai McDonald’s. Asked if he still frequents the restaurant, Mac replies, “Yes, and when I see them get backed up, I still have the urge to jump behind the counter and help out.” Mac got back to flying in 2001 when he joined Flight School Hawaii as their chief instructor. That gig lasted for nearly a decade, during which time Mac met Makani Kai owner Richard Schuman. “Richard was training to get his Private Pilot License for fixed-wing aircraft and I found out that Makani Kai had Cessna Caravans. I let it drop that I’d always wanted to fly turbines.” The next thing you know, Mac was on staff with Makani Kai and has not looked back since. “I still love coming to work here because of the people I’ve worked with,” he says. “Most pilots are on their way through (here) to jobs with the larger airlines, so I’ve helped a lot of people with those transitions.” He’s also grateful for being part of Makani Kai’s Kalaupapa initiative, “I’m proud of the work we’ve done for that community … we’ve been an important part of helping those folks stay connected with the rest of the world.” Never content with what he’s learned, Mac recently trained and qualified to fly a Cessna Citation II jet. “The training was fantastic, but there was an awful lot to learn. It’s a far cry from the Caravan and the Chieftain,” says Mac, “but at the end of the day, it’s still on-demand charter at odd hours.” HELE MAI - MAKANI KAI AIR
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When he’s not at the airport or flying, Mac is a big fan of the Marvel Universe and super hero shows such as “Agents of SHIELD,” DC’s “Legends of Tomorrow” and of the new “Star Trek.” One of his favorite all-time movies is “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” He’s also fascinated with the Civil War and considers Robert E. Lee to be one of our country’s greatest statesmen. “Lee could have encouraged the South to continue its campaign at the end of the war, but instead he asked the Confederate Army to lay down their weapons, return home and become good citizens. He was a gracious and intelligent gentleman. This, in spite of the fact that he was stripped of his U.S. citizenship.” And then there’s the car. Mac bought his Porsche 944 new in 1984 and it remains his daily driver. “There was a time when I couldn’t afford to maintain it properly. When I started making money again, I took it to the shop and asked them to bring the car back to good working condition,” he says. “They told me, ‘You’ll never get out of this car what you need to put into it,’ and I didn’t care. I told them to do what needed to be done. It’s my car and I like driving it.” Mac’s advice for young people aspiring to become pilots? “Well, if you just want to fly, be rich.”
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faces of KALAUPAPA J U L I A A L E S Z C Z Y K & R Y A N P O L A N D by Sarah Yamanaka
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oung couple, Julia Aleszczyk and Ryan Poland, have spent the last two years in the tiny community of Kalaupapa. Julia is the museum curator for Kalaupapa National Historical Park, and Ryan volunteers his expertise in the Natural Resources Dept. propagating and introducing native Hawaiian plants to the landscape, as well as working with the endangered native Hawaiian Hoary bat. Our interview takes place in their singlefamily abode, in which they’ve made their home since 2016. It’s a few thousand miles from fast-paced New York where Julia grew up after being adopted into an Italian Polish family, and even farther from busy London where Ryan attended school after being born and raised in Northeast Ireland. They met while attending classes at England’s Durham University amid a meeting of anthropological scholars while drinking old wine and smoking in a yurt. After juggling VISAs, Green Cards, lots of paperwork and taking turns being with one another in their respective countries, they were getting ready to teach English in Korea when Julia received a callback for a position with the National Park Service in 8
Florida. “I’ve ALWAYS wanted to work for the park service,” she says. “I had to take it!” Korea would have to wait. They settled in Tallahassee for her new tech job, but one day, Julia saw a job pop up in Kalaupapa, Hawai‘i, and she applied. “You know, what do we have to lose?” she says with a shrug. Julia got the job. “… basically what happened was I quit my old job, we got the 90-day VISA approved, got married, and then two days after getting married, moved here,” she recalls in a whirlwind fashion. “So we call this place our ‘Forever Honeymoon.’” I’m curious as to what they love most about their responsibilities in Kalaupapa. “It’s definitely working with the artifacts, the archives in the collections,” replies Julia, “and having an understanding for what this (community) used to be like, how it’s evolved, the people who were here, the legacies they left behind. “A lot of the patients here are religious so we have a lot of religious items in the collections,” she continues. “You’ll see specialized tools that they used to help them with Hansen’s Disease, where they’re using their own ingenuity to create these
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tools and share them. The history here is really interesting and I feel it really captures humanity. The patients all had a lovely sense of humor, and you still feel a small community vibe that’s always been a part of Kalaupapa. And it’s nice to be a part of that now. So working with those collections, you feel that, and it gives you a deeper understanding of this place.” “For both of us, it’s understanding,” adds Ryan, “feeling that we’re making a positive impact for the future. I think Julia is safeguarding these artifacts, looking after them, preserving them, to ensure they’re stored and going to last. And even I can see how that’s been an impact for her because family and friends will come and they will want to see these things. We had someone recently who was thrilled to see this legacy was being preserved for an individual, and she got a real sense that the person’s not gone, the art’s still here, and that it’s been looked after.” “And the same applies to Ryan,” says Julia. “Lots of times in the nursery he’s propagating heritage trees that the patients planted in their own gardens. “There’s a calling to the community,” she adds. “… we’d love to have days when we’re not doing anything, but that’s not what Kalaupapa’s about. It’s about being out in the community, participating in it, you know. We’re all here together so we all spend time with each other. And that’s the one thing, when we leave here, we want that. We want a small community that we can be a part of and contribute to … where it feels like family.” That being said, it’s been a two-year-long honeymoon so far. How long will it last? “We discuss that all the time,” says Ryan. “And it’s never a question we can clearly answer.” Like anyone who feels like he/she has found his/her niche, it’s tough to move on. Especially when you’ve found a wonderful community that surrounds you, a fact that both feel very strongly about. “We’ve both lived in big cities,” explains Ryan. “When you live in London, you live
in flats with ‘X’ humber of people. … you don’t know who these people are even though you share that same six feet of carpet in and out everyday. And even back home in Ireland, they live in a small cul-desac, about 30 houses. Couldn’t tell you who lives in half of them anymore. And that’s a very common way people live now. You know, very insular … we’re all on social media rather than actual physical contact. “When you come here, it’s so different. There’s less than a hundred people, it’s a small community. And not everyone gets on all the time because we’re human beings. But it’s a wonderful way to live life where people are friendly and nice. “We know when the time comes for us to leave — and it will come because we want to have children at some stage — it’s going to be heartbreaking,” says Ryan. “So we talk about it all the time, and it has to happen, but ... when the time feels right. For now we just realize we’re very fortunate to be here, and we’re spoiled rotten.” We make our way to the nursery where Ryan raises native plants that will eventually be propagated to two main areas: Kauhakō Crater, located in the center of Kalaupapa Peninsula representing the dryland forest area, and the coast. The planting season is typically from November to February, but Ryan is waiting until we’re more into the rainy season so the plants won’t require as much maintenance. In the meantime, native plants such as the wiliwili tree, the rare hala pepe and the plumbago, an understory ground cover, await their journey to the crater. The coastal naupaka and hinahina also bide their time. “It’s very rewarding when you see the impact, particularly at the end of the day when you’re finished with an area,” shares Ryan, “you can see all these little saplings. In my mind I already envision this big impact in the future, and I’d enjoy coming back in 20 year’s time, and seeing large areas of forest that we’ve restored. To know HELE MAI - MAKANI KAI AIR
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At the nursery where Ryan raises native Hawaiian plants for propagation
that I helped contribute to that …” We then head to the single-story building that houses the memories, stories and artifacts of Hansen’s Disease patients made up of two secure climate-controlled rooms. Julia opens the door to the first room, and it’s as if we’re entering someone’s home. “These are our collections,” shares Julia. “This wing houses more of our smaller items, personal effects that belonged to the patients, their artworks. On the other side is a lot of old equipment from the hospital that were used to treat Hansen’s Disease, and furniture pieces from patients’ homes. We come across a black and white photo of a couple in white. “Here’s a picture of two patients on their wedding day,” says Julia solemnly, her voice echoing in the room. “… (your) wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life — a union of families — but at that time there was still limited contact between patients and non-patients.” She explains that before patients could meet outside guests, they had to shower at the old hospital and have their clothes “fumigated” (ie. sprayed with formaldehyde). Even after all that, there was still no physical interaction allowed between patients and non-patients. When asked to share about any particular artifact that has deeply touched her, Julia thinks for a moment before replying. “There’s 10
so much in the collections that is just so unique and so special, but the one thing I find the most interesting … well, we have a lot of casts. “Hansen’s Disease attacks the cooler parts of the body first, and it affects each person differently,” she thoughtfully explains. “A lot of patients had resorption of their toes … that could make it difficult to walk and balance. In the early 90s, a cobbler came in, took casts of all their feet, and made special shoes, customized to each patient.” Julia shows us the shoe of Auntie Gertrude, who was known as the Cat Woman for her multitude of cats. “You can see her shoe is still actually covered in cat fur,” laughs Julia. Ryan’s interest lies in the huge stamp collection. “You always think of this place historically, as somewhere very isolated, cut off from the world,” he says. He asks Julia how many stamps they have. “Hundreds of thousands,” she replies, “not even exaggerating.” “We’re talking, like, stamps from all over the world, from countries that no longer exist, places like Nazi Germany,” states Ryan, enthusiastically. “So I think that’s a real beautiful story … you feel this place is isolated and cut off — and that’s why they were sent here to be cut off from the world,
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Julia takes us through the numerous artifacts housed in Kalaupapa National Historical Park’s collections to be sent to this prison. “But when you look through these stamps,” he continues, “you realize they had a big, broad relationship with the world, and news and information, and stories being shared all across time and space, and it’s incredible. A real unique moment of history here.” When we actually see a couple of the large bags of stamps — and Julia says there are 15 boxes filled with these kinds of bags — we’re astonished. Where do you even begin organizing? “So it’s our ongoing volunteer project,” laughs Julia. The tour continues as the stories of Kalaupapa’s past residents come to life in photographs, paintings, wheelchairs, improvised medical equipment, modified utensils such as spoons, a drying rack for fish and meat, original bed frames from the Bishop Home for Girls, the old school bell, an old projector from Paschoal Hall which was the center of Kalaupapa society, sewing machines, furniture, even a modified bat from the baseball team known as the Kalaupapa Dodgers. The settlement’s first and only baby crib is also housed here. “As soon as babies were born, they were taken away from their mothers,” shares Julia. “There would be a
kokua to care for the baby, but there was still separation between mother and child.” Before leaving, I ask what they’ll take with them upon their departure from Kalaupapa. “ … a lot of tears …,” says Ryan. Both agree, laughing. “We had several good people who left recently, and maybe, just the knowledge of them moving on is making us both emotional, realizing the time’s gonna come for us. So when the time comes, it’s gonna be just a lot of beautiful memories, and that’s all we can hope for.” “I saw in the archives recently, a picture of Father Peter,” reflects Julia. “He was here a long time ago. And there’s a quote he put in there. I’m paraphrasing, but it was something along the lines of, ‘When I die and if they were to cut me open, they would find Kalaupapa in my heart.’ And I remember thinking, yeah, I hear you, Father. “The impact of this place is gonna be — it has its ups and downs, you know,” continues Julia, “but at the end of the day, it’s an amazing place to be, and we’re fortunate to be here. And when we leave, it’s going to be so heartbreaking. But, that’s the nature of Kalaupapa.” HELE MAI - MAKANI KAI AIR
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A N O R G A N I Z I N G FO R C E FO R M O LO K A‘ I WA LT E R R I T T E
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by Sarah Yamanaka
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“I just hope we don’t make the same mistakes,” reflects Ritte, “because if we lose Moloka‘i, I don’t know if there’s going to be any other examples that are going to keep reminding people of what is really valuable.”
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rowing up in Hawai‘i, I remember reading and hearing about Walter Ritte throughout the years. An advocate for the rights of the native Hawaiian people, the land and its natural resources; speaking up against overdevelopment; rallying against cruise ships coming to Moloka‘i; ... community organizer and leader, a voice raising the red flag. Ritte is passionate about his beliefs, some say he’s abrasive, even antagonizing. Regardless of how others view Ritte, he has accomplished much in his lifetime while trying to help the native Hawaiian people. It’s raining in Ho‘olehua when we meet Ritte at Kualapu‘u Cookhouse. Sitting at a bench under a tent, he’s wearing a camouflage jacket as if ready to go hunting. I may have expected someone combative, ready to charge, but Ritte is soft spoken with a subtle sense of humor and is knowledgeable about so many issues, as he’s had to be. After graduating from Kamehameha Schools and spending some time on the
Mainland, Ritte returned home to Moloka‘i in 1965 where he married and began to raise a family. He was intent on feeding his family as a hunter, but at the time, Moloka‘i Ranch was the most powerful entity on the island and owned nearly “ … a third of this island, and all of the good hunting and fishing was on their land.” “The problem I was having was I couldn’t go where the deer was going, because for some reason, the deer didn’t understand the ‘Keep Out’ signs,” shares Ritte with a chuckle. “So I followed the deer and went wherever. I was gonna provide for my family doing what I wanted to do everyday. So that conflict with the powers that be made me realize that I had to do something. Then I started talking a lot with our elders (kupuna).” Ritte researched the area and found that the road the kupuna had taken many years before had once been a government road that had allowed access through ranch lands. So when and why did this open HELE MAI - MAKANI KAI AIR
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In 1975, Ritte and his wife Loretta march on a historic trail from Mo‘omomi Beach to Kawikiu Beach with Hui Ala Loa fighting for public access rights through Moloka‘i Ranch lands
Ritte and his oldest daughter Tiare in Pelekunu Valley
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government road close for public access? In response, Ritte and others organized the first Hawaiian march in 1975 with about 200 residents to get access rights for all. “Back then in 1975, it was like heresy,” says Ritte referring to the march. “We were supposed to smile and dive for quarters when they threw them in the water at Honolulu Harbor, and just keep doing the hula. “So we started this whole movement about access, and it was important for us on Moloka‘i because … I could feed my family. I could get protein with fish and deer … then I could grow the starches, sweet potato, vegetables, and stuff like that. So I was able to provide for my family two-thirds of everything I needed just through my own ability and access. “That (march) put me on a path that I stayed on until today,” explains Ritte. “There were a lot of conflicts and we always solved the conflicts by organizing ourselves. We didn’t want to become like Waikīkī. We were very nervous because we had no voice, and the west side was going to be just like Waikīkī, that was the plan. So we fought the development.” Then one day Ritte got a call from Maui cultural specialist Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell, Sr., who asked Ritte to join a group going to Kaho‘olawe. As most longtime Hawai‘i residents are aware, this journey undertaken aboard several boats on January 4, 1976 was big news and gave rise to the “Kaho‘olawe Nine.” “My job was to hunt and feed all the guys that were going to be there,” says Ritte. “That’s the reason I went. I didn’t know the politics of Kaho‘olawe. “By the time we got to Kaho‘olawe, I was seasick,” he says with a small laugh. “Maxwell stopped us right before we got to the island. We’re sitting there in the boat, and I was getting more seasick. Then the helicopter and the Coast Guard came, hovered over the boats, and said we need to turn around, that
HELE MAI MAKANI KAI AIR January - April 2019
Speaking out to protect natural resources at the State Legislative Rotunda they had taken pictures of all the boat numbers and were going to confiscate the boats. So Charlie said, ‘Turn around and go back.’ And I’m like, I’m not going back. I’m gonna go on that island because I was sick as a dog, and I didn’t come all this distance just to turn around.” So nine people out of the group — Ritte, Noa Emmett Aluli, Kimo Aluli, George Helm, Ian
Lind, Ellen Miles, Steve Morse, Gail Kawaipuna Prejean and Karla Villalba — jumped into the media boat that had just arrived from Maui amid the chaos of helicopters and U.S. Coast Guard boats, and caught a ride to the island. Ritte and Emmett Aluli left the rest of the group to check out the island, and from their higher vantage point, saw the Coast Guard arrive and take the others. “I told Emmett, ‘I think we better hide because they’re gonna come looking for us,’” says Ritte, “so we went into a little ravine, covered ourselves in grass. The helicopters flew over us and couldn’t find us.” This was the start of a three-day evasion, and when both men were finally ready to be found, they were taken off the island in handcuffs. Following this incident, Ritte made additional forbidden trips to Kaho‘olawe, and in 1977, he and fellow
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Protest march through Waikīkī to protect Mauna Kea activist Richard Sawyer spent 36 days there surviving on goats, coconuts, ‘opihi and fish, while putting out plastic to catch moisture for drinking water. It sounds like something right out of a movie as Ritte explains how he and Sawyer hid in the valleys as soldiers passed by searching for the two men. The two in turn followed the military, eating their C-rations and other leftovers. At night, military planes used thermal imaging equipment above the island searching for the two, but no luck. The military believed the men had somehow left the island. “Our wives kept telling them, ‘No, they’re there,’” says Ritte, “but they started bombing again.” Eventually Ritte and Sawyer ended up in maximum security prison for six months. “The lesson I learned from my time in prison,” says Ritte, “is that when I was outside of prison, and was trying to explain to people what we were doing on Kaho‘olawe, I had a hard time explaining what we were feeling inside. But when I went to prison, they understood what I was feeling. They knew exactly what and why aloha ‘āina was driving us to save Kaho‘olawe, so we had many deep and big time discussions.” 16
A game changer for Ritte was the Hawai‘i Constitutional Convention held in 1978. Referred to as “the People’s Con Con,” it brought forward many female delegates, as well as a more racial and ethnic diversity among the delegates that many felt better reflected Hawai‘i’s diverse population. After getting a call from delegate Adelaide “Frenchy” DeSoto to “come over,” Ritte realized he could actually help to enact change to the Constitution of the State of Hawai‘i for the Hawaiian people. “I called my wife,” he says, “and told her to send some clothes, ‘I’m gonna be here for a while.’ I stayed a month or so.” DeSoto asked what Ritte wanted to do. He said, “I want to provide access for Hawaiians in the Constitution.” So he worked with lawyers to draft Article XII Section 7, which codified native Hawaiian cultural and gathering rights. They also created the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and made Hawaiian the official language of the state. Ritte says it passed with less than five dissenting votes. This experience sparked Ritte’s interest in politics, but instead of diving in, he took his family to live in Pelekunu Valley in the early 80s where the first Hawaiians
HELE MAI MAKANI KAI AIR January - April 2019
Ritte at ease with family on his homestead property where he practices subsistence living
had constructed thriving taro terraces. He returned to his roots to learn how the Hawaiians survived and says that those years in the valley were the best years of his life. In 2012, however, after much deliberation, he reluctantly moved his family out of Pelekunu to run for the At Large seat for OHA after hearing radio reports that said people believed OHA was created in order for the state to control the Hawaiian people. He ran because he felt he had to prove those people wrong. In the end, however, Ritte says he was voted out by the OHA trustees. As one of the “Kaho‘olawe Nine,” native Hawaiian activist and musician George Helm was one of the leaders of the Protect Kaho‘olawe Organization. Ritte recalls Helm’s goal that he often shared with others: “Who better than the people of Moloka‘i to determine their own future.” Those words had always stuck with Ritte. “He (Helm) was really adamant that we need to become our own county (Moloka‘i is a part of Maui County along with Maui and Lānai), so right now that’s one of my major focuses,” says Ritte. “We have been told that you cannot become your own county because you don’t have the funds, the income to pay for the infrastructure, police,
the firemen. We’re dependent so much on the government. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘We can. We don’t need to depend on big government for our survival. We depend on ourselves, our subsistence talents and our abilities to work hard and do whatever we gotta do,’” maintains Ritte, slowly and thoughtfully. “We’re doing a lot of organizing of young people to be the next leaders,” says Ritte, “and switch from playing defense — we’ve been playing defense for 34 years now. We’re holding classes at Maui Community College and have 14 students going into our second semester. Our goal is to train them to become the new leaders for Moloka‘i. “The reason why we’re setting it all up, what’s tipping the scale,” says Ritte, “is that Moloka‘i Ranch is now for sale. We’re talking 50,000 acres. “So I said to the class, ‘We cannot wait to see who’s gonna buy it; we don’t know if it’s good or bad. We need to be proactive, come up with a plan, and let whoever’s out there know that when you buy this land, you’re not just buying land, you’re also buying into a community, into the future of this island.’ So that’s what we’re working on. We went through the process of the HELE MAI - MAKANI KAI AIR
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Moloka‘i Community Plan with the county, so a lot of that, land designation and land use areas, are falling in line. So it’s a matter of us making clear … because they (developers) don’t want to buy it, and then enter into another 40 years of battle. We have that reputation, that we’re not just going to sit there and be manipulated.” There are always two sides to every story, but it’s due to vigilance by Ritte and the community that Moloka‘i still remains a truly unique place compared to the other islands. Corporations can easily provide jobs for the community, however, let one in, and others could easily follow — O‘ahu and Maui are two perfect examples. I ask for his thoughts on the rampant development on the other islands, especially O‘ahu. “I know what they have,” responds Ritte carefully, “and it’s not what we want, and I know the story of how they got there. I don’t want to make the same mistakes, and do the same things. So the lessons that I try and teach our class is to make sure that you have the voice or you have the control. 18
You cannot give that away, so you have to be really careful who you bring in.” It’s not that Ritte doesn’t understand what families are experiencing. He does. He understands that people are struggling, making it difficult to think of anything beyond the need to survive or feed ones family. He’s been there. But he encourages everyone to broaden their vision, see the bigger picture, and think about the future of Moloka‘i. “People love this island,” he says, “whoever lives here, they love this island, otherwise they would’ve gone to look for jobs elsewhere, and a lot of them have.” Ritte talks about having two economies. “If you’re stuck with one economy, the cash, you’re stuck,” he asserts, referring to nine-tofive jobs that corporations could bring. “So here, I could go out hunting and eat steak. I could go on a boat or just grab my speargun and bring in a lobster. I could have steak and lobster for free. For me, it’s like, put that in your head and keep it there because you think you don’t have, but you have. “The future of this island is going to be how do you balance the two economies — cash and subsistence. The state does not want a subsistence economy because they cannot tax the sharing. This is the only island that has a subsistence study, and it proves how much people here depend on it, what they depend on.” In his mind, Ritte has all the components set up to accommodate the two economies, and says people have to keep thinking out of the box. He acknowledges that it’s going to be tough and require hard work in the beginning, but once things fall into place, Moloka‘i can become an independent county. Whenever it rains, the red dirt runs into the surrounding shallow waters and covers the reef because there’s no deep forest ground cover to soak up the water. Everyone is aware of it, but has never done anything about it. So Ritte says that a top priority for whomever purchases the former Moloka‘i
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Ranch lands will be to plant a forest, a project that will create jobs. The forest will then hold onto rainwater so it will stay long enough in the ground to replenish the aquifers and there will be less runoff. He says the four major valleys — Halawa, Wailau, Pelekunu and Waikolu — have wallto-wall taro terraces all intact. The structure is there, as well as all the water that’s needed, but there’s no one to work the terraces. Ritte wants to join forces with the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Hawaiian Studies’ program to train people who will work in the valleys where so much of the island’s starch can be produced, but he says they should have a Hawaiian background and practice the traditional way of growing taro. “We have 14,000 acres of one continuous reef system from this side of the island all the way to the east,” says Ritte. “Our fishponds? In order for us to be successful with our fishponds, we need a fish hatchery. Then we can stock all of these ponds with fish. Double the output, traditionally. So, educational infrastructure for the valleys for starches, some fisheries infrastructure where we can produce protein … that will give Moloka‘i a solid economic foundation and help our food security problem. “We want to be an independent island,” says Ritte, “so that’s where the county is going to be important. And when we do set up our county government, we cannot depend on that government … WE have to be independent and care for our families so that we don’t have to have so much taxes in order for the government to help us survive.” So, really, what can people do if they want to effect change? “To me, the whole thing, especially in the Hawaiian community,” shares Ritte, “is they don’t want to vote for many reasons. Number one is they don’t believe that they’re Americans. You know, ‘You guys came over here and overthrew my Queen, now you want me to play your game? I’m not going to play your game.’ You’re stuck.
In his mind, Ritte has all the components set up to accommodate two economies that will be important for the future of Moloka‘i HELE MAI - MAKANI KAI AIR
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“I wanted to survive so I ended up at the Constitutional Convention,” he continues. “I made a Constitutional amendment that allowed us access. So, you can grumble, but until you do something about it, nothing’s going to change. Democracy is here. Capitalism is here. And it’s been manipulated to your disadvantage. If you do nothing, then you’re still going to be a slave. And I think for me, you have to get involved. You cannot strong arm these guys. They’re ready for you, so you have to learn … the … system,” emphasizes Ritte. “The reason Moloka‘i is like this is because we learned the system. We did our homework, learned the system and we did what we had to do to use it to our advantage. And you can, if you learn to organize. Moloka‘i is still pretty much independent, and all we have to do now is build our economy. That’s the process we’re going through now.” In closing, I ask Ritte if there’s one thing, thinking back on all the issues he’s encountered, that’s been the most frustrating. “When I started the classes, I told the students that the one thing they’re going to have to learn is to be flexible,” he says quietly. “Just because we say we’re going to do this on Monday doesn’t mean we’re going to do it on Monday. The weather changes, the river flows another way
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… you have to be flexible. So that’s how I approach my life … the river never flows straight, so I just go with the flow. Everything I do influences something, and I use it as a positive. “It’s like, people who think independently, who don’t know where that line is, cross that line and end up in prison. So all the guys I work with, I teach them to know where that line is, and when you come right up to that line, gently push it, but don’t cross it. And then you keep moving that line, right? So what was like, heresy, back in the ‘70s, is now mainstream. You just have to be patient. Just keep moving that line.“ Ritte practices what he preaches. On his homestead property, he shares his process of permaculture, rotating crops and avoiding mono crops, drip irrigation and no fertilizers. He has a bountiful food forest producing taro, avocados, ‘ulu, papaya, kukui nuts, guava, mountain apple, citrus, mangoes, bananas, starfruit, Hawaiian sugar cane and more. On his agenda nowadays is building a case for Moloka‘i to become its own county; working on water, a key issue for the island’s future; and organizing and unifying the native Hawaiian people. Ritte’s passion for the island and its people is never ending. He also says that today’s native Hawaiian people are discussing international laws reaching back to the overthrow of the constitutional monarchy. But that’s a discussion for another day.
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P I N E N E E D L E BAS K E T RY TERRY KLERLEIN
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by Catherine Cluett Pactol
t starts with a tiny circle that grows and unfurls like a fern. Under Terry Klerlein’s nimble fingers, a basket takes shape, made from an unusual Moloka‘i product: pine needles. Using a weaving technique with a rich history and Native American roots, Klerlein gathers materials local to Hawai‘i for her craft. The pine needles come from Moloka‘i’s Kamakou Preserve, and each basket’s intricate, decorative elements include kukui nut shells, puka and ‘opihi shells, milo and hala seeds, and many others commonly used in Hawai‘i lei and jewelry making. “The collecting part is as much fun as making a basket,” she says. “I enjoy collecting the stuff and then dreaming up how to decorate something that I’ve woven. Not to mention, when they’re fresh, the smell of the pine needles’ fragrance is so nice.” After returning from the trek to the mountains with a batch of pine needles, she dries them then sorts them according to color — from tawny tan to deep, reddish brown. Before using the needles, she soaks
them in water to make them more supple while she’s working. Though each piece starts the same — with a small circle that increases in an everwidening spiral — the basket takes on a life of its own after that. “It starts to look like something and I get a feeling of where I should go with it,” she says of each basket. She doesn’t have a vision of the finished product when she makes those first coils. “I get to a certain point and I go, ‘Oh, I get it.’ I’m serious about that — it’s really wild.” Some baskets are petite and bowl-shaped, others are broad and more than a foot across. Some are shaped like a Hawaiian ipu gourd — round at the base and narrow at the top. All are finely crafted with dizzyingly precise stitch work and adorned with polished natural treasures. Just as each basket has its own character, it also has its own name. Klerlein says she uses Hawaiian words and phrases meaningful to the individual pieces. Reminiscent of lei making, Klerlein wraps raffia around the pine needles in even HELE MAI - MAKANI KAI AIR
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stitches that anchor the row to the previous coil with a thick, blunt-ended needle. As pine needles dwindle, she adds more to the bundle to keep the thickness uniform. A small basket a few inches across might be completed in eight hours, while a larger piece can take about a month. Though the weaving process might seem monotonous, Klerlein calls it “meditative.” “You’d think it would get boring, but it doesn’t,” she laughs. “It’s really fun. Repetitive, but calming.... There’s no way 22
to speed it up. It takes patience and time.” Klerlein’s lifestyle itself evokes calm. She lives in a tiny, two-room oasis on Moloka‘i’s east end that she and her husband created in the woods. Living minimally with offthe-grid electricity from solar panels, an outdoor shower, spotty cell service and a flock of ducks for company, her art pays what bills she has. Each one-of-a-kind piece fetches between $70 and $4,000. While some people may think of baskets to hold things, Klerlein’s work has a different purpose. “A lot of people want something functional and that isn’t why I do it,” she says. “It’s a form of art rather than something functional.” Klerlein has always been an artist. Growing up in Colorado, her mother taught her to sew when she was young. For many years, Klerlein made a living sewing clothing, as well as film costumes for movies like “Silverado” and “Young Guns.” A selftaught jeweler, she also sold her designs in her New Mexico store and even showcased her work at fashion and boutique shows in New York. She lived most of her adult life in New Mexico, where she first learned how to weave pine needle baskets at a class she attended. But visits to Hawai‘i since the 70s left her so enamored that she named her business Plumeria Exclusive Designs long before she
HELE MAI MAKANI KAI AIR January - April 2019
and her husband made Moloka‘i their home in the early 2000s. “Just appreciation makes it worth doing,” she says of her reason to create her art. “And when people think enough about something to buy it, I’m very honored.” She points to an intricate basket wall hanging above her bed — one of her pieces from the recent Hawaii Craftsman Association Statewide Juried Exhibition. “I may never sell it, but so many people liked it — ‘Oh I remember that piece’ — and that’s nice,” she says. Klerlein’s work was recently on display at the Honolulu Museum of Art School gallery after being selected for the annual juried exhibition. She also earned top recognition at the last two Molokai Arts Center Member Art Shows, an annual event highlighting local artists hosted by the non-profit center. In 2017, show attendees voted her threepiece framed basketry display the People’s
Choice Award. This past year, she again won People’s Choice, along with Best in Show, at the September event for her piece, “Pāulu ‘Ino.” Klerlein’s baskets are for sale on Maui at the Village Gallery in Lahaina and the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. They’ve also been displayed and sold at the Bishop Museum gift shop and the Mike Carleton Gallery on Lana‘i. On Moloka‘i, you can frequently find her at a weekly artists’ sale at Hotel Moloka‘i on Friday afternoons. If you can’t catch her there, you can call Klerlein at 505-930-1172, email at tkbasketcase@gmail.com or visit plumeriaexclusivedesigns.com. “I really enjoy collecting materials, seeds and shells — and I can combine it with something that people enjoy,” she says. “And whether or not they buy them, just people going, ‘Wow, that’s really cool,’ that part is the reward for me.” HELE MAI - MAKANI KAI AIR
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HELE MAI MAKANI KAI AIR January - April 2019