Sacred Sanctuary

- GUIDED BY THE STARS AND THE WAVES, POLYNESIAN VOYAGERS CAME BY WATER IN LARGE, DOUBLE-HULL CANOES ACROSS THOUSANDS OF MILES OF OCEANIA. THIS MIGRATION WAS ONE OF THE MOST INCREDIBLE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE HUMAN RACE. THE POLYNESIAN PEOPLE WHO SETTLED IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS RETAINED THEIR SEAFARING EXPERTISE AND CULTIVATED A MARITIME-BASED CULTURE THROUGHOUT THEIR HISTORY. - I THINK WHAT'S IMPORTANT ABOUT THE SEAFARING TRADITIONS IS THE RECOGNITIONS AS OUR CULTURES EVOLVED 2,000 YEARS HERE. IT'S ALWAYS BEEN SHAPED BY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE OCEANS AND OCEANS THAT WERE TRADITIONALLY OUR CONNECTION BACK TO OUR OTHER ISLAND RELATIVES IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC, SO I THINK EVERYTHING THAT DEFINES THE HAWAIIAN CULTURE HAS SOME RELATIONSHIP TO THAT CONNECTION BETWEEN LAND AND SEA, AND I THINK THAT THOSE OF US WHO LIVE HERE THAT APPRECIATE HAWAII FOR ITS SPECIALNESS ULTIMATELY END UP UNDERSTANDING THAT RELATIONSHIP, AND THAT'S WHY IT MAKES IT IMPORTANT, WHETHER YOU'RE ON THE OCEAN OR NOT, WHETHER YOUR SPEND YOUR TIME ON THE OCEAN OR NOT. AS THE WORLD'S POPULATION GROWS, AS ITS THIRST TO DEVELOP ITS ECONOMIES AND ITS INDUSTRIES REQUIRES ENORMOUS, ENORMOUS PRESSURES ON OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR NATURAL RESOURCES, MORE SO THAN EVER I THINK THAT IN THE WORLD WE NEED OUR SACRED PLACES, AND TO ME, WHEN WE KEEP THE NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS IN THAT SACRED SANCTUARY, THEN TO ME IT'S OUR GENERATION'S GIFT TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN. IF OUR GENERATION TODAY IS DEEPLY COMMITTED TO CREATING A FUTURE OUR CHILDREN DESERVE, THEN WE NEED TO ACT IN CERTAIN WAYS. ONE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN TAKE TO ACTION IS TO PUT BOUNDARIES, PUT THIS SYMBOLIC FENCE AROUND THE NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THAT KEEPS OUT EXPLOITATION, THAT LEAVES IT ALONE, THAT ALLOWS IT TO BE SACRED, TO KEEP AND TO PRESERVE WHAT THE NATURAL WORLD IS AND WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO ALL OF US AS WE MOVE THROUGH GENERATIONS OF TIME. NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, WHEN IT'S IN A SANCTUARY, BECOMES THAT SPECIAL GIFT TO THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN. WHAT WE DO TO THE OCEAN WE DO TO OURSELVES. THE WORLD'S OCEANS IS LIKE A MIRROR THAT REFLECTS THE WELL-BEING OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO OUR PLANET. NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS IS OUR MIRROR. WHEN KEPT IN THEIR NATURAL STATE, KEPT WITHIN THEIR CULTURAL INTEGRITY, THEY BECOME BOTH THE REMINDER AND THE BENCHMARK OF WHAT ALL OUR CORAL REEFS SHOULD BE, ALL OF OUR COASTLINES SHOULD BE, AND RIGHT NOW, THEY HELP US-- CONSTANTLY REMIND US OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE MUCH BETTER CARE OF HAWAII'S OCEANS AND OUR COASTLINES AND OUR REEFS BECAUSE ULTIMATELY IN THE END, THE CHOICES WE MAKE AT THIS GENERATION TO PROTECT OUR OCEANS AND KEEP OUR SACRED PLACES, NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS IN SANCTUARY IS REALLY ULTIMATELY ONE OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT GIFTS THAT WE GIVE TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN.