Photographer of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement
I started years ago labeling my negatives by number, starting with 1649. It was my street address in Makiki at that time. It was also my office.
Since then, Iʻve stuck with labeling the back of contact sheets and prints with a sequential job number of that shooting.
Each contact sheet has different numbers under each picture.
Ed Greevy
Honolulu, HI
George Helm kinda came out of nowhere. I hadn’t photographed George before, I’d only read about him.
In the late 60s or early 70s, I saw a handmade poster at a local camera store regarding a meeting that would be held at Kaimuki Library within a few days. I called the number on the poster and introduced myself.
The reason I called was due to Doug Fiske. He wrote me and asked about the status of Save Our Surf (SOS). Surfers on the mainland were curious to know what it was and whether they could work with them on the mainland.
Rell Sunn was an up-and-coming young surfer from Makaha. She was very attractive and popular. She also believed in getting as many people into surfing as possible.
She established a reputation as a very good surfer and was a close friend of Soli Niheu. She was always a big proponent in getting kids to learn how to surf, as she was their champion.
She passed away in 1998 from cancer.
Ed Greevy
Kahuku Hospital, Oʻahu
There came a time when the PKO was expanding its area of influence beyond the Windward side. It was then decided among the leadership to visit Mākua Valley.
There had been a lot of plants that were grown historically in Mākua. It was however, chosen by the military as a bombing target. The reason the military liked Mākua was that it mimicked the conditions youʻd find in Southeast Asia.
Mākua took a lot of shelling and was considered a dangerous place.
I went along with a group of several groups of Hawaiians that day to take pictures.
I went out to Kalama Valley a couple of times. John Kelly recommended I go out there and take pictures to document what was happening. I first met Soli Niheu there. He was the one who allowed me to enter and take pictures.
Soli always treated me with respect, he treated me well. I appreciated that, because not everybody did.
Later, the Kalama Valley resistors had a big rally at the state capitol on 31 March 1971.
Continue reading “Kalama Valley”
Jo Patacscil was the matriarch of a large Filipino family that lived on a large lot of land in Kaneohe. You had to take a road on the side of Haunani-Kay Trasksʻs place to get there.
She was a protector of the meadowland and didnʻt want anyone developing it, as she was concerned about flooding issues. She knew everybody and naturally understood politics.
When I first met him, Puhipau was spending a lot of time on Sand Island. He and his brothers had built a home there.
He was the ice man of Sand Island. He had an old ice delivery truck. He’d buy ice in the morning and drive out in the morning to Sand Island to sell it. That’s why he had the nickname. Being the seller of ice, he was one of the few people on Sand Island that everybody knew.
Clement Apollo was well known on Sand Island, as he became the first director of the Committee to Save Sand Island. He was a gregarious, popular guy. He would give boat rides to people like myself and John Kelly. He and Puhipau were the most well known people at Sand Island.
His house had a wooden floor, it was one of the more well built homes on Sand Island.
I didnʻt know him well. He was from Maui and was a figure in the Kahoʻolawe struggle.
Ed Greevy
Honolulu, HI
