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Letters of Support for
Pu`uhonua Kanahele

- excerpts -

The United States authorities in Hawai`i have arrested Mr. Kanahele and are currently holding him without bail, charging that he is a "danger to the community" and a "flight risk."

This is what others have to say about Mr. Kanahele and this situation...

As a leader in human rights issues worldwide, the United States must set a good example for all nations... Mr. Kanahele has led this movement forward in a complete atmosphere of peacefulness and mutual cooperation. The arrest of His Excellency Pu`uhonua Kanahele is an affront to human rights as supported by the United States Constitution and the United Nations Charter. We are dealing here with a legal matter between nations of independent status and not with individuals.. ... We hereby request the immediate release of His Excellency Pu`uhonua Kanahele and advise you that the international community is observing this case.
- Prince A. E. Agungnugroho Prabuningrat IX, Foundation for Human Rights, Indonesia
Mr. Kanahele was appointed as head of state for the Nation of Hawaii by Na Kupuna O Hawaii, elders from all islands, early in 1994. ... As the Head of State, it was his responsibility to act in behalf of Na Kupuna to secure the nation based on values or honesty, respect, humbleness, steadfastness and alertness.
- Pua Lindsey, 81, and the Lindsey `Ohana, Lahaina
True to his name "Pu`uhonua", Mr. Kanahele has been a spiritual refuge for the disaffected within the Hawaiian community. His rough, burly appearance belies a person who at all times lives and shares a message of compassion and non-violence. ... Mr. Kanahele's sovereignty politics are...predicated upon indisputable facts admitted to by the U.S. government and recited in Public Law 103-150 ... Mr. Kanahele is a person of conscience, behaving in a way which is consistent with the truth.... If anything, he is a spiritual balm to what otherwise might be an extremely volatile community. He is a principled individual absolutely committed to peace and non-violence.
- Mahealani Kamau`u, Exec. Director, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation
Mr. Kanahele is a sincere Hawaiian activist who operates on principles he strongly believes in. We are at a critical point in the sovereignty movement in Hawaii. It is time that we, as Hawaiians, begin supporting one another in spite of our differences.
- Tara Lulani McKenzie, Executive Director, Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council
As Kanaka Maoli and non-Kanaka Maoli members of the Pro-Kanaka Maoli Independence Working Group, Kanaka Maoli Tribunal Komike and Ka Pakaukau, we urge the immediate release without bail of Mr. Dennis Bumpy Kanahele. ... The August 2, 1995 arrest and jailing of Mr. Kanahele, more that 19 months after his alleged harboring of a fugitive, and more than 17 months after his alleged obstructing justice are obviously attempts by the U.S. Government to subvert, and divert public attention away from, the larger and main issue -- the U.S.'s illegal occupation of Ka Pae`aina and continuing suppression of Kanaka Maoli inherent sovereignty and right to self-determination.
- Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell
Through his persistent input, we have all been enriched with a new experience, knowledge and our horizens have broadened. These actions were necessary as part of a well-rounded education opportunity. This is the character and gentleness of the perosn we have come to respect. .... He is an individual of his word and one that will stand by his integrity and truth.
- Sol Kahoohalahala, Maui County Council / Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council Chair
George Washington had a similar problem with the King of England. Nelson Mandela had it with the white South Africans. ... Mr. Kanahele is not on trial for breaking the law, but for challenging the right to the lands which is the wealth of any country. In this instance the country of Hawaii.
- Kelii "Skippy" W. Ioane Jr., Free Association, Moku O Keawe (Big Island)
Mr. Kanahele is one of the leaders at the forefront of the sovereignty movement. From what I know of Mr. Kanahele, he has always been an advocate for peace and nonviolence in dealing with the crucial issues past and present of sovereignty.... I do not feel that Mr. Kanahele is a clear and present danger to the community and I do not feel that if allowed bail would be a flight risk. Mr. Kanahele's commitment is to the Nation of Hawaii where his strength lies. To abandon this cause would be to abandon his life's work and this will never happen.
- Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, Kumu Hula
As a result of my experience with Mr. Kanahele, I have come to know him as an upstanding, kindhearted, Hawaiian man. To his credit, he has provided a sense of vision and purpose to many of our Hawaiian people who do not have the resources to live in a house.
- Davianna McGregor, Ph.D., UH Manoa, Ethnic Studies Program
Mr. Kanahele has spoken to University of Hawai`i students on his philosophy and experience of nonviolence. Mr. Kanahele practices nonviolence in his life as he leads the Nation of Hawaii.
- Lou Ann Haaheo Guanson, UH, Spark M. Matsunaga Institute of Peace
Mr. Kanahele is an integral part of the Waimanalo community. We have had many opportunities to meet with and observe him in a variety of settings. He has in many ways contributed positively to the community he calls home. He has supported and responded to the needs of the homeless, especially the women, children, and the elderly who were living on the beaches. He has an innate ability to work with, and identify with, our youths. He encourages them to continue with their education and to understand their inalienable rights. "Bumpy, a Native Hawaiian man, exemplifies the empathy of his people, the Kanaka Maoli
- Mabel Ann Spencer, President, Waimanalo Health Center Board
He teaches us to move in a peaceful and truthful way.
- Kupuna Patricia Nishiyama, Lahaina
He is not doing this for himself, he is trying to let the people of Hawaii know about what we should know... I am pure Kanaka Maoli that didn't learn anything about my heritage until now... Mahalo to Bumpy for opening our lives.
- Kupuna Pearl K. Kamaunu
The only arsenal he has collected in knowledge, and I believe for that knowledge is why is incarcerated. He has done nothing but help our Kanaka Maoli, and educate us so we can make good sound decisions on our future and the futures of our children. I stand good for Mr. Kanahele, and I stand behind him, he has my full support and the support of the Nation of Hawaii, of which he is head of state, a position he was elected to, not self-appointed.
- Kahu (Reverend) Nani Saffery, Lahaina, Maui
I believe that the claims of the Nation of Hawaii deserve to be addressed in open public, legislative, and judicial forums.... It is not too late to restore and repair public respect and trust in your government and your administrations by working toward the immediate and responsible release of Mr. Kanahele.
- Rev. Kaleo Patterson, Executive Director, Hawaii Ecumenical Coalition
As a spokesperson for Ka `Ohana O Kahikinui, I know Pu`uhonua Kanahele is not a threat to our community or any individual residing in this community. In fact he is an asset to the Hawaiian community in it's struggle for self-determination.
- Earl "Mo" Moler
Pu`uhonua Kanahele is a peace loving person looking to regain his people's rights, sovereignty, and independence by legitimate means. I would give him all my support.
- Robert Watts, Executive Producer, Indiana Jones movies
We would like to state unequivocally that in our experience no one in Hawaii has shown more sincerity, dedication, and devotion to the advance of conditions of life for all the people of the `aina than Mr. Kanahele and the members of the organization he represents. We have been greatly impressed by his peaceful yet forceful advocacy for the just and humane treatment of the Hawaiian community as well as all who live in Hawaii.
- Tom Starchild, Hinalea Group, Haleiwa
I believe that Bumpy Kanahele is an asset -- not only to Native Hawaiians, but also to the community as a whole.
- Celeste N. King, PhD, Clinical Psychology
A genuinely peaceful society must be open and free. Holding a sovereignty activist without bail and spreading "unsubstantiated and unconfirmed allegations" (Honolulu Advertiser, 8-8-95) about "violent intentions" and "arms caches" and "bunkers" are the tactics of a police state afraid of the democratic aspirations of its own people. Therefore, we must demand that the US Free Bumpy Kanahele Now. "Jail nukes, not Bumpy".
Rick Rothschiller, Sane Nuclear Freeze Hawai`i
Kanahele has been my personal inspiration and mentor in building the foundation of the Chamoru Nation, Guam's counterpart to Hawai`i's movement in the quest for self-determination. Yet in agreeing to assist me and our founders, he was unequivocal in stating that only peaceful means could be employed in pursuit of sovereign rights. ... I cannot imagine why any element or branch of government would deem forthrightness as a danger. ... If nations under the U.S. flag are forced to champion their own cause, no other issue should even remotely seem to cripple that cause. Indignities can be endured: injustices cannot. Therefore, in the name of justice, I respectfully, earnestly, passionately plea for the immediate release of Pu`uhonua B. Kanahele.
- Senator Angel L.G. Santos, Guam Legislature
In August 1993 I had the privilege of traveling to Hawaii with eight other Maori from Aotearoa. While there I met Bumpy Kanahele. In the time that I got to speak with him I grew to love, trust and respect him. Knowing the struggles of most indigenous peoples through the world it enrages me to hear that Bumpy has been falsely arrested by a foreign government. While sending the support of the rangatahi here in Tauranga, we still demand the immediate release of Bumpy Kanahele. No reira kia kaha koutou mo to mahi. Ka whawhai tonu matau AKE!!!
- Wahine Ngararoa Mate Kite Whenua Moeke Kohu, Tauranga, Aotearoa
Mr. Kanahele is committed to the Nation of Hawai`i, morally as well as physically, and has been working for Hawaiian self determination in the non-violent tradition of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandi. ... We would urge the United States Government to immediately release Mr. Kanahele, and open a dialogue with the indigenous Hawaiian Peoples who are the most severely affected by this arrest, with the view of establishing peaceful relations between Peoples, as in the obligation of the United States, under the United Nations Charter. Mr. Kanahele's immediate release would also be consistent with the U.S. human rights obligations and the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all Indigenous Peoples.
- Alberto Saldamando, General Counsel, International Indian Treaty Council
(see the full text of this letter)

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