Dance Teacher Turns Politico - Vickie Holt Takamine's Aloha 'Aina Party - Brief Article

Dance Magazine, Oct, 2000 by Paula Durbin

University of Hawaii hula instructor Vickie Holt Takamine, known locally for leading successful protests against legislation hostile to native cultural fights, is now leading a new political party that will be listed on the ballot in Hawaii this November.

Her Aloha 'Aina (literally, "love of the land") Party was certified in April by the local office of elections after she presented her petition with nearly double the 612 signatures required. The party grew out of the 'Ili'oulaokani Coalition, a grass-roots environmental watchdog group that Takamine and other hula masters founded in 1997 after they forced state lawmakers to withdraw a bill that would have legislated out of existence dancers' rights to gather necessary hula materials--flowers, gourds, tree stumps for drumming--on undeveloped private property. (The state constitution guarantees Hawaiians access to undeveloped land in the interest of cultural pursuits, as part of their cultural gathering rights). "We are making a name for ourselves as a force to be reckoned with," said Takamine, referring to `Ili'oulaokani's victories.

The new party espouses `Ili'oulaokani's policy toward protection of environmental and cultural resources--not unlike the Green Party, which will run its own candidates locally--but expands upon those concerns. It advocates for basic human and civil rights, an open political process and self-determination as well as better access to education, health, housing and human services for Hawaiians whose economic and social indicators are, generally speaking, the worst of any ethnic group in the state.

The first Aloha 'Aina candidate to step forward was Takamine's student Momi Kamahele, a university administrator with an MA in history and forty years of hula behind her.

A special CD and a four-hour hula extravaganza held this month will benefit the party's activities. Takamine said that every Hawaiian celebrity invited has agreed to appear at the hula, including Sonny Ching's hula company and singer Don Ho.