In the Hawaiian chant Kumulipo, animals precede the creation of man “and are our elder siblings,” according to Solomon Kaho‘ohalahala, chairman of the Hawaiian Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Committee, “and therein lies some of the responsibilities that Native Hawaiians continue to honor and respect, looking at the kohola (large whales) and all other creatures.”
However, while the sanctuary and the National Marine Fisheries Service have been successfully working together in managing whale entanglements and rules regulating boats in sanctuary waters, there is a lack of information and coordinated response regarding whale strandings, deaths and remains, Kaho‘ohalahala said.
“We should consider every facet of a great animal like this, from its birth and conception in our home waters to its end of life,” he said, noting the sanctuary is not regularly informed about strandings by the fisheries service, instead receiving much of its information about incidents throughout the islands via social media posts.
From 9 a.m. to noon today, the sanctuary advisory committee’s Huhuli Subcommittee, which focuses on Native Hawaiian cultural issues, is holding an informational meeting and discussion with the Papahanau- mokuakea Marine National Monument’s Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council at which the public is invited to comment.
The meeting will open with a presentation on strandings by Jeff Walters, NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office wildlife management and conservation branch chief for the protected-species division.
“What we’re hoping to do is have this open conversation, bring information and clarity about how laws in place are implemented by NMFS and other agencies,” Kaho‘ohalahala said, “and at the same time Native Hawaiians want to also present what their perspectives are from a cultural view; it’s an opportunity for us to be able to collaborate and support one another in issues relating to strandings.”
As things stand, he said, cultural interpretations of a stranding might not be part of agencies’ perspectives, and could pose difficulties for Native Hawaiians trying to exercise their cultural rights under the Hawaii Constitution in caring for cetaceans.
Under the Hawaiian Islands National Marine Sanctuary Act (1994), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NMFS’ parent agency, is tasked with the state to develop a management plan that “facilitates all public and private uses of the Sanctuary (including uses Hawaiian natives customarily and traditionally exercised for subsistence, cultural, and religious purposes) consistent with the primary objective of the protection of the humpback whales and their habitat.”
Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, NOAA is obligated to respect the religious rights of Native Hawaiians, and under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, it is in the purview of Hawaiian religious leaders to determine what is to be done with iwi Kanaloa (cetacean bones), the subcommittee noted in a letter to Walters.
The letter asks how NOAA can work with Native Hawaiians during cetacean strandings and make decisions regarding euthanasia, proper handling of remains during research, burial and repatriation of iwi Kanaloa to Native Hawaiians.
“Ideally, Hawaiian cultural practitioners would be involved alongside agencies in a stranding and how it’s resolved in the final steps,” Kaho‘ohalahala said, adding he hoped for broad public participation in the meeting.
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>> What: Public webinar on integrating agency and Native Hawaiian cultural protocols in humpback whale strandings, with overview of strandings, discussion of potential actions and public comment
>> When: 9 a.m. to noon today
>> How to attend: Register at attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7390593218439554 573.
