CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hanohano Naehu, above center, headed toward the of University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine where he helped chain and padlock the front door for a brief period this morning. It was part of a demonstration protesting the university's patents on taro.
|
|
Native Hawaiians temporarily shut UH medical school
The demonstration was held in protest of UH taro patents
Native Hawaiian protesters padlocked and chained the main entrance of the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kakaako today in a demonstration against University of Hawaii patents on taro.
After chaining the entrance shut, protesters, dressed in white malo, held kapu sticks in front of the building. The protesters confronted Board of Regents Chairwoman Kitty Lagareta as she approached the medical school just before 9 a.m. for the monthly meeting of the board.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Walter Ritte confronted University of Hawaii Regent Kitty Lagareta about taro patents this morning.
|
|
Walter Ritte, a protest leader, asked Lagareta to respect the kapu and the Hawaiian people. He called on the university to drop its patents on taro before any talks on resolving the issue.
"You guys hold all the cards," Ritte said. "We're not going to talk unless you drop the patent."
The university holds three patents on disease-resistant strains of Hawaiian taro that the university bred.
Manoa campus Chancellor Denise Konan said the university fears that if it relinquishes the patents some other entity, such as a big corporation, might pick them up. Konan said they are trying to resolve the issue and want to sit down and talk with the protesters, but it's not a simple matter of dropping the patents.
Lagareta agreed to respect the kapu until 9:30 a.m. at which time Ritte promised to take down the padlocks. The meeting was supposed to start at 9 a.m.
About two dozen people were involved in the protest, which remained peaceful. Ritte said there would be more protests until the issue is resolved. The protesters believe that native Hawaiians are descended from kalo, or taro, so owning a patent on it is like owning your ancestors, Ritte said.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hanohano Naehu helped chain and padlock the front door of University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine for a brief period this morning in protest of the university's patents on taro.
|
|
