Some Native Hawaiians say the pending shutdown of the U.S. Navy’s Red Hill fuel storage facility may be a turning point for the wider island community to join Native Hawaiians in questioning the military’s role in Hawaiʻi’s future. HPR’s Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more.
When the U.S. Navy confirmed petroleum from a tank facility had leaked into Pearl Harbor's tap water, many Native Hawaiians were not just concerned, they were hurt and offended. They say the water crisis has intensified a distrust of the U.S. military. The Navy is addressing the water problem, and Navy officials say they will “work tirelessly” to restore community trust.
Native Hawaiians revere water in all its forms as the embodiment of a Hawaiian god. Water is so valuable that to have it in abundance means prosperity. So when the