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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, December 30, 2002

State, canoe-building group at odds over sailboat's fines, fees

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaiian sovereignty battles are being fought over land valued in the billions — and a 71-foot motorized sailboat with a $500 pricetag.

The Kaiwaka was impounded by the state for lack of required permits, but members of a hui are saying the boat belongs to them under the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Department of Land and Natural Resources photo

The Kaiwaka, a vessel still languishing in the state boat pound despite the state's attempt to auction it off, is all but worthless. But a buyer also would have to pay about $5,800 in fees.

Members of a canoe-building hui known as Na Wa'a Kualoa say the craft belongs to them under the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and that Hawai'i state laws putting the boat under lock and key should not apply.

The argument began more than five years ago when the state found the Kaiwaka lacked required permits and impounded the boat, which was moored in Kane'ohe Bay near Mokoli'i, the islet also known as Chinaman's Hat.

It was the subject of an administrative hearing shortly after the boat was seized, said Stephen Thompson, O'ahu district manager for the state boating and ocean recreation division. A hearing officer upheld the impounding as lawful, Thompson said, and since then the dispute has simmered in correspondence and discussions among group members and state officials.

The division, part of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, held an auction Friday aimed at selling the Kaiwaka for a minimum bid of $500, plus $5,805 in impoundment fees. It didn't sell, although two Na Wa'a Kualoa members registered to bid.

They are Tomas Rosser — who is listed in state records as one of the boat's owners, along with Thomas Jones — and retired attorney William Amona.

Thompson, who presided over the auction, first allowed statements by Rosser and by Aran Ardaiz, identified as attorney general for a Hawaiian Kingdom government entity called Ke Aupuni o Hawaii Nei. Rosser, a canoe builder of Maori and American parentage, opened with a prayer in Maori; both he and Ardaiz then challenged the state's jurisdiction in offshore waters.

"You didn't make the ocean," Rosser said, "but we know who did."

Rosser said he has transferred ownership of the boat to the canoe-building hui, under kingdom laws, but Thompson told him that if he was the winning bidder, he would have to pay past fines as well as the price and fees. Rosser submitted a $3 bid, which was not accepted. Amona decided not to bid.

The group says the state has allowed Kaiwaka to deteriorate in the pound, and Amona said after the hearing that the total bill, topping $6,000, was more than the boat was worth in its present condition.

Thompson told The Advertiser that the state's jurisdiction has been upheld repeatedly in court and that the department now has three options: Sell the boat at a negotiated price; give it to another government agency; or junk it at a salvage price.

Russell Pang, a media spokesman for Gov. Linda Lingle's administration, said Lingle has no plans to intervene in the case.

However, Leon Siu, a Hawaiian entertainer and hui member, said that the group still hopes to meet with administration officials and resolve the dispute.

The group could have met the state's demands and paid for the boat plus the fines and fees, Siu said, but is basing its stand on principle.

"It was a lot less at the very beginning, and we had people willing to pay it," he said. "But if we were to pay it we would admit that the state had the right to assess the fines."

Reach Vicki Viotti at 525-8053 or vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com.