Sacred Soil or Training Site? : Hawaiian Isle Used for Target Practice

A decade of controversy has not settled the fate of the tiny Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe, the only listing in the National Register of Historic Places that undergoes regular military bombardment.

Depending on who’s talking, the parched 45-square-mile island six miles southwest of Maui is either sacred soil or a vital military training area.

More than 10 years after a small band of protesters first landed on the uninhabited, bomb-scarred island, those fighting to end its military use have gathered some powerful allies.

The mayor of Maui County, which includes Kahoolawe, has fired off letters to the Navy and President Reagan seeking an end to the bombing and a return of the island to civilian control.

No ‘Piece of Junk’

“The island is not a worthless piece of junk good only for use as a target, and this is what we want Navy officials to recognize and accept as incontrovertible,” Mayor Hannibal Tavares told Chase Untermeyer, Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

The Navy has pledged to look over Maui County’s plan for the future of the six-mile-wide island.

And the new governor of Hawaii, John Waihee, is himself a former member of Protect Kahoolawe Ohana, the group opposed to the bombing. Waihee has let military authorities know his opposition and has pledged to work for return of the island to the state, although he sees no “magic solutions.”

Historically, Kahoolawe was used as a place of banishment, a prison, and a sheep and cattle ranch. During World War II, however, the Navy used it for gunnery practice and it was officially placed under military control in 1953.

Heard on Other Islands

Since then, Kahoolawe has been shelled regularly from ships, bombed and strafed by planes, and used as an assault zone. The bombardment can be heard on neighboring islands.

Although the island appears arid and barren, archeological evidence indicates that it was once covered by vegetation and supported a community of 500 to 1,000 people some four centuries ago.

Beneath the shrapnel that litters the bare red turf is an archeological treasure house of more than 2,300 features, revealing 1,000 years of Hawaiian habitation. The discoveries led to the island being placed in 1982 on the National Register of Historic Places.

Members of Protect Kahoolawe Ohana staged a series of protest occupations of the island in the late 1970s to force the military to stop bombing. Two members were lost at sea during one of the occupations.

Access Granted

The civil disobedience ended with a court-approved agreement guaranteeing Ohana access to the island almost every month and also assuring land management and archeological preservation efforts by the Navy. The two sides meet twice a year to try to resolve differences.

The Ohana sees Kahoolawe as a focal point for revival of Hawaiian religious beliefs. Members have been observing ancient religious rites on the island and have built a hula mound and a traditional house.

Ohana members have concentrated, with some success, on discouraging foreign vessels from bombing Kahoolawe every two years during Rim of the Pacific military exercises.

The Navy, however, insists that Kahoolawe is the only place between California and Korea where live naval gunfire can be practiced. Officials say other sites are too small, too far away, too expensive, or too close to populated areas.

‘Puff’ Rounds

The military practices on only the middle third of the island and must use “puff” rounds--which make only a cloud of smoke--for 75% of the ammunition. Targets must be at least 300 meters from archeological sites in the impact area.