Return to the Nation
of Hawai`i Home Page, the News Articles Index,
or the Political Prisoner page
By Alan Matsuoka
Hawaiian sovereignty activist Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele says he
is a "changed man" after spending more than three months in prison,
and indicated a greater willingness to work with others in the factionalized
movement.
The leader of the self-proclaimed Nation of Hawaii, whose tactics have sometimes
put it at odds with more moderate groups, said he is emerging from behind
bars with a better focus and realizing more must be done than "just
going out there and being politically aggressive.
"It's almost as if this incarceration has made me very considerate
for every Hawaiian's rights, their views, whether it be mainstream or grass
roots," he said. "And I was only one- sided all the time. So I
think now I can understand conventional politics and that kind of stuff
a little bit more clear."
Kanahele made the comments outside the federal courthouse after being freed
from prison, where he had been held without bail since Aug. 2 following
his arrest for harboring and impeding the apprehension of a tax protester
who was a fugitive.
His case was heard by a jury last month but a mistrial was declared, and
U.S. District Judge David Ezra on Monday ruled that the 41-year-old man
can be released to the Miller Hale halfway house on Punchbowl pending a
new trial in January.
Among those who spoke in support of the release were members of the Office
of Hawaiian Affairs and Ka Lahui Hawai'i, two groups which have been critical
of Kanahele's clashes with authority and which have been criticized by him.
Kanahele - who said he had more time to read the Bible in prison and proclaimed
he had "seen miracles" during his trial - expressed gratitude
for their support and said he believed a foundation for cooperation had
been laid.
"I think it was more for the fact of the Hawaiians than just Bumpy,"
he said. "Because it's not about Bumby. I was just an instrument in
probably getting us all put together, and I think that's what's going to
happen."
He said, "we're going to surprise everybody" at a news conference
today.
Kanahele added he would abide by a court order barring him from going to
the Nation of Hawaii's headquarters in Waimanalo, even though it makes his
heart "sore."
OHA land officer Linda Delaney, who loaned $1,000 to help pay for the first
month of Kanahele's stay at the halfway house, said an "incredible
thing" arising from the case is the recognition by Hawaiian groups
that they have more binding them together than dividing them.
Kanahele signed a $50,000 signature bond and emerged from the courthouse
wearing blue jeans and a purple T-shirt with his group's log on it.
He was greeted by about two dozen supporters and family members who brought
Hawaiian food and leis, among them one made of ohia, which Blossom Feiteira,
the Nation's acting head of state, said is the only plant which can survive
a lava flow and thus represents rejuvenation and new growth to the Hawaiian
people.
He appeared relaxed and good-natured while checking in at the halfway house,
a tidy, compact four-story apartment house with lanias that overlook the
freeway and downtown. He is free to go out during the day but must return
at night:
"I'm just happy to be out," he said, speaking from behind a locked
wrought-iron fence.
Return to the Nation
of Hawai`i Home Page, the News Articles Index,
or the Political Prisoner page