Some local Hawaiian leaders maintain that traditional concepts tied to dealing with lawbreakers have a place in modern prison rehabilitation efforts.
Puuhonua were sacred places of refuge in ancient Hawaii, where warriors and others who had broken kapu — a stringent system of religious regulations centered around maintaining the divinely given power of the alii (rulers) — could gain sanctuary and pardon.
Merritt Sakata, the moderator at an All Believers Network meeting Tuesday, said since studies have shown "the method of corrections we have today is really not working, we believe that the insights of that old system (of kapu could help) with what we might institute again."
Speakers at the meeting, held at the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, included Native Hawaiian cultural advocates and educators Joe Tassill, Kauila Clark, Peter Hanohano and Samuel H. Kaleleiki.
Sakata said while violators of the kapu system often faced death, anyone lucky enough to flee to a puuhonua — such as Hawaii island’s "City of Refuge" at Honaunau, Kona — were allowed sanctuary as long as they remained there to be rehabilitated under the guidance of its priesthood. Fully rehabilitated lawbreakers were permitted to return to their communities.
Clark, a practitioner of Hawaiian medicine and a cultural consultant for various organizations, said the premise of puuhonua is not punitive.
"You’re not punishing them," Clark said. "You’re looking at rehabilitation or reinvigorating them to put them back into society."
Given today’s disproportionately high number of Native Hawaiians in prison and few rehabilitation programs available to help them to re-enter society, Clark would like to see the concepts of puuhonua embraced by the law enforcement community.
But a modern-day puuhonua might not succeed unless societal priorities shift, he said.
In accordance with the Hawaiian ideal that "all of creation is within us, and we are all in creation," Clark said, "you don’t live for yourself; you live for the community.
"Let’s not be Western and make things separate. Let’s connect everything the Hawaiian way."
A 2010 report released by the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs showed that though Hawaiians make up only 24 percent of the general population of Hawaii, they made up almost a third of the prison population in 2009.
The report said, "They serve more time in prison and more time on probation than other racial or ethnic groups. Native Hawaiians are also likely to have their parole revoked and be returned to prison compared to other racial or ethnic groups."
Over the past 17 years, Kaleleiki, a spokesman for ‘Ohana Ho‘opakele (To Rescue the Family), has worked to re-establish a form of puuhonua on all islands as an alternative to building more prisons.
According to the group’s website, www.ohanahoopakele.org, "puuhonua are places open to all, not just Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians), where the traditional ho‘opono‘pono process of making right will be used to help heal individuals, families and communities."
Under Act 117, passed in 2012, the state Department of Public Safety is to work with ‘Ohana Ho‘opakele to create a puuhonua "wellness center" at the Kulani Correctional Facility outside Hilo, Kaleleiki said.
In August the group filed a lawsuit against DPS and others, contending they have ignored the law and plan to reopen Kulani as a minimum-security prison instead of the alternative holistic center.
