“This Is a War Between Worldviews”: On the Frontlines with Kalehua Krug

TL;DR - While local environmental justice groups have been pushing back against the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility for decades, it would take reports of unexplained illnesses and hospitalizations of residents and intense national scrutiny for state agencies to take meaningful action. Mistrust of the US military’s land management practices has long pervaded many pro-Hawaiian groups as well, inspiring leaders like Kalehua Krug to promote a Hawaiian worldview to guide stewardship; Krug is the principal of Ka Waihona o Ka Naʻauao, a Hawaiian charter school; a traditional Hawaiian tattooist; a musician and composer. 

Krug is also part of Kaʻohewai, a coalition that erected a koʻa (shrine) near the front gate of the Headquarters Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, where members regularly conduct Hawaiian ceremonies to frame the ongoing opposition to the U.S. Navy’s 20 massive, steel-lined underground storage tanks through a Hawaiian worldview.

In December, Krug sat down with Flux Hawaii in Pauoa to discuss the recent history of aloha ʻāina activism at Kapūkaki, also known as Red Hill, and remaining hopeful about the future.

January 28, 2022: “This Is a War Between Worldviews”: On the Frontlines with Kalehua Krug, FLUX