LEADERSHIP CORNER
Health of land linked to health of people, Moloka'i physician says
Interviewed by David Butts
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Age: 59
Title: Primary care physician at Moloka'i Family Health Center; medical executive director, chief of staff, at Moloka'i General Hospital
High school: Saint Louis School
College: Marquette University; John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i
Breakthrough job: In 1976, he took a job as the primary care physician at what was then Moloka'i's only outpatient medical clinic.
Little-known fact: Aluli surfed all over O'ahu and Maui as a kid. "I got pretty good, but it got to my head. I could think of nothing but surfing. That's part of the reason I went away to school, so I could break that."
Major challenge: The integration of traditional healing practices with Western medicine.
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Q. From your long involvement with the Hawaiian community, what have you found that works well when leading Hawaiians on issues such as the restoration of Kaho'olawe, sovereignty and the Akaka bill (to create a U.S.-recognized Native Hawaiian government)?
A. For me it's kind of like really looking to the grassroots/cultural practitioners and being very sensitive and an advocate for what communities are saying and feeling.
Q. You often hear people say there is division within the Hawaiian community on those issues. Do you find it hard to get people moving in the same direction?
A. It just shows how deep and serious the problems are. There are so many different communities and sometimes opposing perspectives on how to resolve things. The dialogue is good and necessary. We have very few successes. We have to concentrate on the positive things in our recent history ... like Kaho'olawe, health improvement for Native Hawaiians; and another thing that you'll be hearing about soon is the access for traditional practitioners to the Wao Kele O Puna forest (on the Big Island).
Q. What is your opinion on sovereignty?
A. Sovereignty, however it is defined, guarantees entitlements left behind by our ali'i. It means that we would control, be responsible for cultural activities, our gathering and subsistence rights.
I agree with the nation-within-a-nation concept and that we move forward from that. (The Akaka bill) certainly is in my opinion a necessary first step for protecting our rights as indigenous people, not rights based on race.
Q. The University of Hawai'i Regents recently established a Department of Native Hawaiian Health in the School of Medicine. Why do we need a separate department for Native Hawaiian health?
A. Because of all the disparities in the health of Hawaiians (Native Hawaiians show rates about four times higher for diabetes than Caucasians do), for training, including cultural sensitivity, to improve upon the healthcare. We need to track the intervention programs that work. Anybody who trains at the university could become well versed in Native Hawaiian health.
Q. You have worked for many years on getting Native Hawaiians to adopt a healthy lifestyle. As part of that, you advocate a diet that allows people to eat all they want as long as they don't eat fatty food, smoke or drink. Is that right?
A. That's the complex carbohydrate diet, the taro, the sweet potato, fish, and greens from the mountains. The so-called Native Hawaiian diet, which we started back in 1987, kind of popularized that diet, until the participants here said, "Wait, wait, wait, you are going to make poi so expensive." They redirected us to: 1) keep the water from going to the golf course, keep them in the streams and the valleys so we can grow the taro, and 2) support the construction or reconstruction of fish ponds so we can keep the reefs healthy and stocked.
Q. So if you are going to have a more historically accurate diet, you need the land back to what it used to be?
A. That's basically how I see sovereignty operating. What I've learned from the kupuna is you can't separate land from health: health of the land and the health of the person, and also the health of the nation.
Q. If the large, heavy Polynesian body is the body of your ancestors, why is it wrong for Native Hawaiians to weigh 300 pounds or more?
A. I've been aware of that (idea). We weren't just fat. We did a lot of work. We survived. We were more muscular than fat. Perhaps there is a gene out there that makes our bones heavier. I'm not sure.
Q. You were one of the original group members who occupied Kaho'olawe in the mid-1970s to get it returned to Hawaiians. What is the next step in the restoration of Kaho'olawe?
A. On Nov. 11 the Navy transfers access control to the state. On Nov. 11 will come an observance, commemoration at 'Iolani Palace that will recognize the transfer. And then the Navy has about four more months to finish off as much they can (of clearing unexploded ordnance) and to demobilize. There is state legislation that says this land will be transferred to the sovereign entity, one that is recognized.
Q. At this point there is no sovereign entity recognized by the Native Hawaiian community. What is the chance of the community coming together on that?
A. We need a little more time. We need a little more reaction, a little more discussion in the community. We need time to come together as a community. When you go from one community to the other, it is a little hard to get consensus. I don't know, maybe you need another Kamehameha ... to fire that cannon.
Q. Your generation helped move the renaissance of Hawaiian culture to the forefront, and now that effort must be taken up by the next generation. What is your opinion of the young Hawaiians?
A. I'm excited about them. They want to continue those cultural practices. They've learned Hawaiian language. They are more into the ocean and canoes. They are more excited about traditional healing.
Q. What were your feelings when you saw that 100 paddling teams entered the Moloka'i-to-O'ahu canoe race this month?
A. It was tough for the emergency room. (Laughs.) It certainly is a very powerful time. People are adopting that whole practice of canoe racing.
Q. Princess Cruises and Holland America Line wanted to bring cruise ships to Moloka'i but were rebuffed. What was your opinion of that?
A. The cruise ship alliance really saw that there was damage that was going to be done. I'm proud of the group that stood up and said, "Hey, you are going to do something that is irreparable." They (the cruise lines) admitted it, but they did it in a nice way. You could see that there was going to be damage to the reef, and there was no accountability, really. There was a memorandum of understanding, but there needs to be legislation and fines that go along with it.
