Another Incredible Day...

Today was insane. A last minute agenda for the Board of Land and Natural Resources was brought to my attention late yesterday by an alert staff member. One item on the agenda pertained to a long standing case our office had been working on, in various incarnations, for the past eighteen years. A massive marina being excavated into our sacred land. The historical legacy of our ancestors wiped clean from the surface of the earth to deny their very existence and pave the way for the rich to dock their yachts and pleasure craft. Untold contaminants to flow into our ocean and destroy the sacred limu, the seaweed that provides our people with food, medicine and religious sacraments. Out of pure fortune, the one Hawaiian I needed to be with me this morning as I prepared to battle the large developer's request to amend their conservation use permit, showed up this morning at our office purely by chance. He almost went to the University of Hawai`i but something told him to get off the bus and come to my office. I could have cried. Then another beautiful Hawaiian warrior from Moku o Keawe showed up at the hearing on another matter and ended up listening in on our matter and testifying as well. I had heard of him for years, and he said he had heard of me for years, but this was the first time we met. Between the three of us, with the help of Ke Akua, and in the presence of our ancestors, we spoke our hearts out. One more Hawaiian attorney with the group had his shoulder dislocated while sitting in a chair with us, from a simple turn of his body. He went to the hospital and is okay now with his arm in a sling. It was Hawaiian magic in the air for sure. The kupuna were in the room as the hair kept standing up on our arms and necks. It was electric. It was intense. It was supremely beautiful. We fought for ka hali'a aloha. The loving memory of our kupuna. And for a princess. A kupuna buried in the beach with two lei niho palaoa in her hand. Of the opu'u, or bud type which signifies the O'ahu line of chiefs. She surfaced of her own accord to give us a focal point and the resolve to stand up against the millions of dollars of political development will pushing this destructive juggernaut forward. We left the meeting victorious of one more step forward in the larger battle. But exhausted to the core. We left each other with renewed spirit and embraces of love and aloha. It took so much out of me that as I approached the end of the day, I hit saturation point and complete exhaustion with slight tremors in my extremities. I need to recoup. Recover. Sleep. Dream. And rise again tomorrow for yet another day in the battle to save our Hawai`i. To save our sacred land. To save our beloved people. To save our beautiful culture.  And to save Aloha and our connections to Ke Akua and our ancestors. To help save our dying and suffering world. Mahalo no e Ke Akua. Mahalo no e na kupuna. You are most powerful indeed. I am humbled yet again...