The Fight To Take Back Hawaii | Foreign Correspondent

[Music] welcome to hawaii the home of aloha and the birthplace of surfing it's a slice of paradise for some but behind the postcard facade native hawaiians the kanakamali have a different story to tell [Music] boy is being sold to the global elite it's not a give and take it's like a tick tick tick tick tick it's a struggle for land language and culture forcibly taken from them by the united states of america this is a theft premeditated systematized theft we do not consider ourselves american we are not going to be quiet we meet people determined to right these wrongs and keep hawaii hawaiian he like took it away in three generations we're gonna get it back in one this is our home we're here [Music] [Applause] pipeline event 13 minutes 25 seconds remaining in the place where surfing began the most famous of all competitions is underway on the north shore the pipeline pro whoa check out this energy it is pumping pipeline [Applause] day one pipeline's turning on jack robinson from washington australia falls for the sky riding through the pipe barrel grabbing rail coming out with a spin among the favorites is 11 time world champ american kelly slater he turns 50 next week [Applause] you've got your uh big birthday coming up in a few days man you think this could be the birthday present it already is it already has been these waves for hawaiian surfers like seth moniz it's a chance to shine on home turf in the sport these islands gifted to the world it's a great honor obviously you know i am i'm a native hawaiian i have wine blood so that is very special to me my whole family friends cousins they we're so grateful to kick off the championship tour here in hawaii the birthplace of surfing the women are tackling pipeline for the first time in competition and the hawaiians are leading the charge none more so than hawaii's queen of surfing five-time world champ karissa moore she's just awesome you can actually watch like women go out there which really inspires people like me who serve have you ever been out of pipeline no i'm not doing that yet no the winter swells of the pacific ocean peak at this time of year in a matter of hours the wave size can go from playful to life-threatening it is absolutely massive out there at pipeline that must be 20 foot faces at the surface attacking right now we're seeing broken boards but thankfully not too much damage to the surface themselves the hawaiian water patrol behind me they've got this show on lock doesn't matter how big it is they're out there sorting it out keeping everyone safe so this contest can keep on going most of the time it's just like broken leashes broken boards maybe like six or seven broken boards today it's pretty gnarly when it's rugged out there born and bred on oahu's north shore pamay hawapili is a member of the hawaiian water patrol none of our crew got injured so everybody gets to go home in their own car not an ambulance [Music] here surfing in the ocean is about much more than a multi-billion dollar industry it's the root of hawaiian culture for hundreds of years hawaiians even their kings and queens surfed on wooden boards like these these are like recycled boards these are some of the boards that i make they're like old school style back in the day they're all like one piece like 22 feet long i was at seven meters [Music] the most revered practitioners of this ocean culture are known as the water men and women of the islands what makes a good waterman or water woman to me if i had to put like a type of word to it i would say like gracious in the ocean and on land too culminating that into your life to where everything seems like surfing are like flowing and that's like the ultimate goal that flow was best exemplified by kahanamoku the father of modern surfing at bondi beach we have a welcome visitor kahanamoku last time he came to australia he introduced the surfboard to this country from his native hawaii how much pleasure the sport you introduced has brought to countless australians [Music] duke's aquatic prowess crossed from the ocean to the olympic swimming pool where he won three gold medals for the united states almost 100 years after his success surfing made its debut in the tokyo olympics the women's gold medal was won by hawaii's carissa moore unlike in pro-surfing hawaiians at the olympics compete under the american flag for many a reminder of deep historical grievances it was huge yeah it was a big deal in hawaii people were talking about it like oh you didn't give us the flag everyone knows she's still hawaiian you know we are our own country there is no annexation treaty like we are actually our own sovereign nation illegally occupied by the united states of america [Music] stand [Music] together forever [Music] january 17 1893 was the day that we lost our status as a independent hawaiian nation we were invaded by the u.s and it was a small group of american businessmen that overthrew our peaceful nation and imprisoned our queen in her own palace this whole history has been hidden from our people it was part of the americanization colonization of hawaii a lot of us grew up not even knowing about the overthrow [Music] these annual marches to iolani palace began in 1993 on the 100th anniversary of the queen's overthrow they were led by the iconic activist the late haunani k trust the americans my people are our enemies and you must understand that they are our enemies they took our land they imprisoned our queen they banned our language we are not american we are not american we are not american we are not american say it in your heart said when you sleep we are not american we will die as hawaiians we will never be americans [Music] i would like to believe that when she spoke those strong words that shook me inside that we are not american that she meant that we are a people who don't abandon the natural laws of our island in our resistance kalihua crew is a community leader and a school principal resistance is not only how we get our land back definitely the seeds that we plant through resistance are going to get us control political control back of our lands but it's also medicine that resistance is how we heal queen liliuokalani was overthrown by the plantation oligarchs known as the big five they transform the islands into farms to mass produce sugar and fruit as the demand for pineapple grew so did the need for more land so in 1922 james dole bought the island and converted it from a cactus covered island into the largest pineapple plantation in the world over the decades hawaii was also becoming increasingly important as a strategic base and in 1959 became the 50th state of the usa this triggered a boom in tourism today hawaii's largest source of income waikiki beach is the jewel in the crown of the tourism industry every year millions of visitors descend on this piece of sand for their taste of paradise but at the edge of this playground is a different reality this flip side is what indigenous filmmaker chris kahuna hana wants the world to see waikiki is a story about contemporary hawaii initially for the film industry hawaii was seen as hollywood's backdrop so you know it served as a beautiful location for a caucasian center hero they shoot here but the stories weren't created here they weren't about here they were just using here as an exotic location that's pretty in detroit for instance right the world's starting to understand the value of authentic stories right people are getting tired of seeing the same ocean yes [Music] abc australia abc australia television i can't even you uh youtube yeah yeah all right [Music] the price of land has been rising steadily over the past decade it shot up even higher during covert as mainlanders bought island getaways hoy is being sold to the global elite hawaiians and the local population is competing against unlimited funds from everywhere it's always ranked one two or three as the most expensive places to live in the united states so it's either new york san francisco or hawaii and it fluctuates but man at least in san francisco in i mean you know you got the tech industry and in new york it's media it means [ __ ] new york how are they supposed to compete against that like what kind of jobs supposed to have unfortunately the only jobs that they provide for people from hawaii is tourism jobs which are like servant jobs right it's like you're servicing a population providing them with entertainment and an experience it makes you like a servant to the system it's like you can't live outside of the system without land [Music] we talk about hawaiians not being able to florida what happens if hawaiians can't live here i mean yeah well without hawaiians is it really hawaii it's not and then the p the powers that be they don't give a [ __ ] the housing affordability crisis is driving a homeless epidemic the state is one of the highest per capita rates of homelessness in the us native hawaiians have been hardest hit it's hard to go anywhere on the island of oahu and not encounter the problem so i notice here in hawaii no one says homeless they say houseless they're displaced it's not like they don't belong here it's like when you say they're homeless it's like they don't have a home you know they actually have a home you know the fact that they can't afford to purchase a house i mean it's still their home [Music] a short drive from waikiki is the waianae boat harbour here a community of houseless hawaiians are tackling the crisis together twinkle borge is the camp's matriarch so at night when you come in we do have securities we do have securities that sit here this is herman he's one of my hands that's my head of my security nice to meet you nice to meet you thanks for having me yeah you're looking after the place at night yeah [Music] this is owainai pua hanua means place of refuge i've been here since all the way back to 2004. at that time was only seven of us and as people started coming with family i would just give them in my camp yeah because my thing was i didn't want to see the kids stressing i didn't want to see them sleeping on the ground twinkle transformed that makeshift camp into something more permanent today around 250 people live here that actually works that actually works yeah that actually works i mean this is our home you know we don't have the privilege of going in and turning on our lights so clicking on that um that pipe to turn on our water here we have generators we bring in our own water gotta get the water every day yeah yeah [Music] how long have you guys been living here 10 years 10 years yeah feel safe here oh yes yeah 22 year old john isaac moved here four years ago my parents actually moved in before i did i was living on my own already but the household i was living with was getting evicted so i never like be a burden to them welcome to hawaii aloha my son i got four and he's one of them that stays on the front with the front line mama twinkle's there twinkle's team yes we all are every single one of us in here she's just one of those that is willing to be the spear the head of that spear isaac i always ask myself what can i do how can we get them help what can be built for them i'm not saying that we 100 solution be part of that solution [Music] [Applause] [Music] hawaiians are looking to themselves for solutions the classroom is ground zero [Music] kalihua krug is the principal at kawaina akana aval a charter school that focuses on reviving hawaiian culture when you give history to them at a young age when you give the culture and ceremony and language them at a young age they don't have to feel the loss like we did you know they don't have to take that punch in the gut that we had to have to take as a generation of natives in this time period for them it's hopefully lessening the load or the intergenerational trauma that they have to bear [Music] we still believe in the sciences we still believe in physics and engineering we still believe in mathematics as long as the the ethics that come from the wisdom of our ancestry are attached to them in the valley behind the school is one of several us military bases the students regularly hear the sound of bombing from over the range we tell them you hear that do you feel that in your in your stomach because i felt it in my stomach it was like an earthquake we can't keep letting it happen without feeling the pain that the earth is feeling that that the land is feeling the creatures they are feeling we have military families and their children here uh so we're not necessarily preaching uh demilitarization but we're teaching you to see that as wrong aloha desecration of land is wrong [Music] since the overthrow of the hawaiian kingdom the u.s armed forces have always had a presence in hawaii pearl harbor may well be the most famous military base here in hawaii but their reach extends much further across the island of oahu the military occupy more than 20 of the land that's in a place where land is pretty hard to come by [Music] adding insult to injury the us navy recently admitted to leaking jet fuel into oahu's fresh water supply putting at risk around 400 000 people who rely on this water the travesty that we're facing right now with jet fuel in our aquifer that is an example that the u.s navy does not embrace our values they don't understand water flow they don't understand how to care for natural resources they do not they don't care about anyone downstream the water crisis has emboldened calls for the state of hawaii to cancel the military's leases due for renewal in 2029 it has also amplified the debate about stolen land if we still had our land base we would not be like this this is a theft you know premeditated systematized theft and they took it from our ali they took it from our chiefs they took it from the royalty they took it from all of our families historically so that they had the land base because land you know builds generational wealth and they could control the resources they could lock up the water they could lock up the food they could lock up the ability for hawaii to self-sustain [Music] in a valley not far from the school some of that land is being taken back here we are after living almost 20 years in the boat harbour camp twinkle and her team are building a permanent home for their community for our last five years i kept telling people even though people on top of my team and they would laugh when i said it's gonna be our home five years i passed this gate and said it's gonna be our home well this is our home we're here through a mix of donations and grants twinkle was able to purchase his 20-acre parcel of land the plan is building out our homes bringing the people home try to work towards being self-sustaining um in terms of growing food and power yes yeah um and guess what they're all gonna get running water amazing never thought i would be doing the things that i am doing today um today i am able to help my family you know to be a little bit more productive amazing for twinkle the main focus is giving the next generation a better start i mean for my kids i'm so adamant with their schooling if you act up with the with the teachers or anything they gotta call me up i'll let my kids know i'm gonna show up to your school with my spots bro and trust and believe me i do that [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my paydays is when my kids bring me home the diplomas might be on sacrifice for me but at the end it'll be a reward yeah to see the accomplishment to see the does the cycle they're breaking for their family you know just to get ahead that's painting [Music] [Applause] across the islands there is a growing movement to keep hawaii hawaiian back on the north shore pamai knows that the tide is turning it's kind of like a modern hawaiian renaissance everyone's becoming more educated about it and how to deal with it my daughter's in fifth grade and in hola i'm in third grade and so it's funny to come home and have conversations about school and i'm trying to like speak hawaiian to her as much as i can you speak better than your dad he's learning so kind of it's finals day at the pipeline pro and the water patrol is back to work takes me for a spin on the jet ski to check out the conditions up close how's it looking bro [Music] the pride of the hawaiian crowd seth moniz is surfing against the greatest of all time kelly slater seth's support crew is firing up [Applause] 30 years after he first won here at pipeline slater does it again [Music] claiming this historic victory slater pays his respect to the islands of hawaii everyone who comes hawaii should take care of this place and really respect the culture and the locals and and realize it's it's their home and it's it's your place to visit but you know take care of it look after it it's really special and i'm just i'm happy i can you know make them proud and make to the finals you know we're almost there one spot off but look i'm gonna be here for a long time so i'm excited for the future the women's final is an all-hawaiian affair the favorite karissa moore and local wild card moana jones wong i'm just so super happy that the hawaiians are dominating their sport again i'm getting goosebumps i feel super good because all the little girls so many little girls are out here watching them and i mean i'm proud of them look at these waves they're huge great to see the kanaka maoli women out there wearing their flag finally you know so proud of them today it's not carissa's day moana is crowned the first queen of pipeline [Applause] i used to be that kid on the beach screaming chris's name and i grew up just watching the pikemasters all the time like thinking i would never even go out there so to come out here and like win a contest like an actual ginormous contest like this is insane everybody came down to watch me screaming for me just like so much support and i couldn't have done it without them [Music] that was a big result you know there's like three out of four people in finals from hawaii that's huge it's really cool to see that go down in history [Music] as the world tour moves on in the birthplace of surfing the message is clear hoins just want to be hawaiian in hawaii bihorn speak on live hawaiian longer you stay longer people remember like we're here but if we stop down the line people stop talking about us we disappear so we gotta keep practicing [Music] [Music] silent [Music] you

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 1,960,711

Keywords: WSL, world surf league, Kelly Slater, Seth Moniz, carissa moore, pipeline hawaii surfing, Moana, Hawaii, Pearl harbor, Surfing, hawaii homeless, hawaiian music, waikiki, honolulu hawaii, oahu hawaii, abc news, foreign correspondent, hawaii travel, abc news australia, hawaii documentary, traditional hawaiian surfing, hula, living in hawaii, truth about hawaii, US stole hawaii, hawaii colonization, keep hawaii hawaiian, aloha, mahalo, john john florence, duke kahanamoku

Id: pAFdLaW02jw

Length: 29min 50sec (1790 seconds)

Published: Thu May 12 2022