SUBSISTENCE, MOLOKAI’S SECOND ECONOMY
Aloha my name is Walter Ritte from the island of Molokai, I am a Hawaiian National
of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which has been illegally occupied by the United States of
America since 1898.
Hawaii is a microcosm of the world with its limited lands and resources in a vast
Pacific Ocean, and Molokai is a microcosm of Hawaii, with its limited lands and
natural resources. On Molokai, Hawaiians are the majority of the population, and we
are fiercely protective of our culture, natural resources and subsistence way of life.
Molokai is known as “The last Hawaiian Island” of the major islands in Hawaii.
Molokai’s south shore contains approximately 14 thousand acres of contiguous
reefs, called an American Treasure by the USGS Department of Interior Scientific
Investigation Report, Hawaiians were able to double the out put of food on these
reefs by building fishponds. Molokai’s north shore contains the highest sea cliffs in
the world and four major valleys containing millions of gallons of pristine river
waters with wall to wall taro terraces producing tons of food products.
Hunting is a matter of survival for our 7,600 residents. Hunting includes gathering
food along our shorelines, in our forest and rivers, fishing on our reefs, and shooting
birds, deer, pigs, and goats. These hunting rights for subsistence, cultural and
religious purposes are protected in the Hawaii State Constitution Art. 12 sec. 7.
Today, as the population increases, hunting is being regulated out of existence and
heading for extinction.
Molokai is a strong case study of what and how a resilient and determined
community can come together to protect and enhance its cultural and traditional
subsistence way of living. On the island of Molokai we have two economies, the Cash
economy and the Subsistence economy, which provides for 33% of our food needs.
For the past 40 years, we have worked inside and outside the system, through
community meetings, organizing, doing research, public education, protest rallies,
producing planning and management documents, lobbying for new constitutional
and legislative laws, creating special State task forces, getting arrested and filing
numerous lawsuits.
We have organized a community based, State sanctioned governance body called
the “Aha Kiole o Molokai”, which is founded on our traditional Ahupua’a governance
and management system. We have completed a Shoreline Management Plan, a
partial Water Shed Management Plan and are now embarking on an island wide
Molokai Hunting Management Plan.
By cutting the Department of Land and Natural Resources to 1.1% of the annual
State budget, The State of Hawaii has shown that it has lost its political will to
properly manage its natural resources as a public trust, and instead is looking to
partner with large private corporations to manage these resources. As a viable
alternative, Molokai is trying to convince the State to partner with communities to
manage Hawaii’s natural resources.
Our community of Molokai is driven by its cultural heritage, we know who we are,
we have always been one with the natural resources, we know Hina and Wakea, the
mother and father of the child Molokai, we know Ho’ohokuokalani and Wakea, the
mother and father of our eldest brother Haloa lau Kapalili the kalo plant. We know
our kuleana (responsibility), to protect and care for (Malama) our eldest brother
and he will feed us forever.
If we are to survive the onslaught of the greed of corporate commercialism which is
threatening the very life of our world’s natural resources, we need to heed the
proven values and customs of traditional peoples and their thousands of years of
proven experience. Hunting is and has always been an honorable tradition.