An emerging vision of the 

Kohola Hawaiian Life "Ahupua'a" Sculpture

proposed for the Waikiki Aquarium

as the final project of the Iliahi Foundation of Hawaii, in memory of James Haley and all those who work ceaselessly to protect, preserve and enhance the natural eco-systems including the native plants,  animals and sea life within and around the Hawaiian Islands.

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The Kohola Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a sculpture today 

     Click here for the definition of Ahupua'a

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Kohola Ahupua'a Sculpture  (proposed for the Waikiki Aquarium)

Overview of the Vision

A vision is being revealed to create and consecrate a Kohola sculpture from one of the ten Port Chicago logs. It will be erected at the Waikiki Aquarium as a key feature of the children's Hawaiian Life Exhibit currently in the planning stages.  

This sculpture will feature hundreds of surface carvings of native birds, marine mammals, fish and invertebrates, and trees and plants of the Hawaiian Islands, common, endangered and extinct. The sculpture surface carvings will be organized by climate and terrain elevation zones of the traditional  Ahupua'a  land scheme of ancient Hawaii where great continuous swaths of land from the ocean (makai) all the way up to the top of the mountains (mauka) were managed on a planned sustainable basis to produce the fresh water and food necessary to support the original Hawaiian groups of peoples who inhabited the lands. 

At the two ends of the Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a sculpture will be fountains of fresh and salt water ponds representative from the fresh water in the high mountains to the sal water of the ocean at the bottom, with the representational species carved into the appropriate area of the sculpture.  It will be a beautiful site to behold.

Youth of Hawaii will be invited to participate in carving teams led by master eco-carvers of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands including Tony Shane Eagleton.  The youth will research and do the appropriate hand carvings of each species appropriate to each zone.

The sculpture is only partically completed.  Initial carving was started in 1997 by a number of non-profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area representing Pacific Islanders, the First Peoples of California, the world Interfaith community, and eco conservation and restoration interests. The sculpture is currently stored in the San Francisco Presidio waiting completion of plans and commitments to bring it to Hawaii for placement in its permanent home which will be at the Waikiki Aquarium's if the current vision is consummated.  

The gift to the Waikiki Aquarium of the Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a Sculpture will be a joint venture sponsored by individuals and organizations including:

• The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii

• The Pacific Islanders Cultural Association

• The Jon and Karen Larson Family Foundation 

• The Iliahi Foundation of Hawaii

• The Waikiki Aquarium Society

  Currently stored outdoors at the Interfaith Center at the San Francisco Presidio, the partially completed sculpture awaits its journey to Hawaii and its new life as the Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a Sculpture at the Waikiki Aquarium. 

 

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     Above: Sam Hart (above) of the Pacific Islanders Cultural Association grinds smooth the DNA surfaces which were carved by Shane Eagleton using chain saws.   Hundreds and perhaps thousands of images of native Hawaiian plant, animal, bird and marine life will be carved into the surfaces of the DNA by teams of youth in Hawaii under the supervision of eco-carver Shane Eagleton before the log is eventually erected vertically. 

  Below. Jon Larson, one of the many Hawaii born and raised mentors of the sculpture, applies a coat of linseed oil to protect the surface from the elements while it is being stored in the San Francisco Presidio, the original carving site provided under special use permit by the U.S. Parks Service, until plans are completed to transport it to Hawaii.. 

    

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Project Phases:

Phase 1:    (1997-2016)

Clean and prepare the surface DNA.  Store in the Presidio Native Plants Nursery until the final purpose is determined and the gift is accepted.

  

Phase: 2:(2017)

Develop a detailed plan to complete the sculpture.  Plans will include the final destination and use with agreement by the receiving party and funding. . 

Planning will include producing a specific listing of all Hawaiian life plant, marine mammal, bird, fish and invertebrate images to be carved into the DNA. Youth groups of Hawaii will be assisted by elder mentors in the community to select the species to be carved on the surface.  Knowledgeable people at the University of Hawaii, The Nature Conservancy, the Iliahi Foundation, the Honolulu Aquarium and Sea Life Park will assist in the selection of the hundreds and perhaps thousands of Hawaiian life images to be carved on the DNA surface.

Phase 3:   (2018) 

Transport the partially completed Kohola sculpture to Hawaii.  Hawaiian youth, under the supervision of eco-carvers  includng Tonu Shane Eagleton and other PICA selected Hawaiian and Pacific Islander eco-carver masters, will complete the DNA surface preparation, and create animal and plant life carvings on the surface appropriate to the purpose.  It is anticipated the carving can be accomplished at a special area within the Waikiki Aquarium.  The gift envisions providing a shadehouse within which the sculpture will be placed while being worked on.  The shadehouse would be converted to a Hawaiian Native Plants and Trees nursery upon completion of the sculpture which can produce native Hawaiian plants and trees for planting on the Waikiki Aquarium grounds. The Nature Conservancy and Iliahi Foundation will supply expertise in operating the nursery and will provide the native plant seeds.  The Hawaiian Native Plants nursery can be a walkthrough feature of the new Kohola Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a Sculpture exhibit

 

Phase 4:   (2020)

Complete the sculpture.  Consecration ceremonies are held.   Exhibit open to the general public.

 

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The Bronx Zoo sister project

The Hawaiian Life's sculpture's sister,  The "One Voice 9-11 Healing Sculpture", was dedicated September 5, 2002 at New York City's Bronx Zoo where it now greets the one million children and adult visitors to the Bronx Zoo each year.  

The One Voice 9-11 Healing Pole with a representation of New York City Council members, Bronx Borough political representation, local Jacoby Hospital officials, New York City police and firemen, school teachers, Monterey student carvers, California Workforce Investment Board members, administrators and management of the Bronx Zoo, and surviving members of families who lost loved ones in the 9-11 tragedy.

 

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Background

"Kohola Sculptures" is a project supported by the Jon and Karen Larson Family Foundation, a non-profit 501c3 public benefit foundation with interests centered in California and Hawaii.  The foundation sponsors community activities which all have spiritual, cultural healing, or ecological restoration themes in their heart and soul.  Over the past 15 years, under the umbrella of the Kohola Sculptures Project, many different individuals and non-profit organizations (each with its own vision, mission and priorities) worked together in a burst of creative synergy to create a series of twelve healing sculptures carved from old growth previously fallen logs which range from several hundred to over 1,000 years old.

Ten of the logs are immense Alaskan yellow cedar logs salvaged in 1997 from the U.S. Navy's former Port Chicago Naval facility on the San Francisco Bay where they were installed in the 1920's and used as floating and underwater caissons at the former west coast ammunition storage and trans-shipping facility.  Two others are previously fallen old growth redwood logs acquired from private land owners near San Francisco.

Each Kohola sculpture is consecrated for a specific healing purpose.  Each is a model for spiritual healing which honors the cultural and faith traditions of the peoples and the plants and animal life worldwide.   

Six sculptures have been completed to date.   Four more are currently in the detailed planning or construction stages.

The 10th proposed to become the Kohola Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a Sculpture, is in the visioning stage.  The emerging vision is presented herein.

 

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Kohola Project Inspiration

 

 

The project was first inspired when the Hawaiian Spiritual Delegation came to San Francisco in June of 1995 to participate in the United Nations 50th Charter Interfaith celebration where a call for a new United Religions Initiative was first heard by a confluence of representatives of the worlds faith traditions.

The arrival of the Hokule'a sailing canoe from Hawaii into San Francisco Bay the same week was another key event that brought together Hovey Lambert of the Pacific Islanders Cultural Association, Tonu Shane Eagleton, world renown eco-sculpturist, Marcus Von Skepsgardh of the Protect All Life Foundation, Melissa Nelson of the Cultural Conservancy, Paul Chaffee of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, Pat Friedel of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, Jon Larson of the Jon and Karen Larson Family Foundation, and other individuals and groups who related to the healing mission.  

Their shared visions and creative energy were further inspired by dreams for a better future in the new Millennium fast approaching. The people and the historical time of the new millennium together created the historical imperative within which the sculptures project was born.  

It was originally designated the Kohola Healing Poles Project honoring the common ties of the many Pacific Islanders at the core of the project including Jon Larson, the Pacific Islanders Cultural Association, and Shane Eagleton.  The project name was subsequently changed  to the Kohola sculptures project to more broadly honor and represent the diversity of the backgrounds of all of the individuals and non-profit organizations that have come to be involved.

 

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The Healing Mission

Land - Ancient Trees                        The First Peoples                              Oceans - The Great Whales

 

The healing missions of the Kohola Sculptures is expressed through three living symbols (life forms) of the indigenous plants, animals and peoples of the world;

• The great original old growth giant trees, the redwoods and cedars of the Pacific Northwest, 

• The great whale (Kohola), 

• The proud descendents of the First Peoples of the Pacific Islands, California and the Pacific Northwest.

The whale (kohola) and the old growth redwood and cedar trees, ancient animal and plant species which have co-existed for over 40 million years on this planet, are threatened with extinction as are the history and collective wisdom of the indigenous "First Peoples" of the Earth. This brings meaning and importance to the healing mission expressed in each of the Kohola Sculptures.  

The stories of the great whale, the great California redwood and Pacific Coast cedar trees, and the spiritual traditions and cultures of the  indigenous peoples of California, Hawaii and the Pacific region, are re-told through these Kohola Sculptures in a respectful and reverent manner which seeks to heal ancient wounds and restore new life, respect and hope to the living and future descendants of the indigenous peoples, plants and animals of the world.

 

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KohoLa - "Seek the Light"

KohoLa is the Hawaiian name for whale.  Early Hawaiians were inspired by the mother humpbacks pushing their keiki (calves) toward the surface (toward the light - Ko-ho-La) for a first breath of air. We used it in the early stages of the project as a spiritual idiom for "To Seek the Light (Truth)" and to describe all the various activities which were taking place under the umbrella that was originally called the Kohola Healing Poles Project and has since come to be known as the Kohola Sculptures Project. 

The above painting by Bay Area eco-artist George Sumner called "Bali Hai" depicts a mother Humpback whale gently pushing her newborn keiki calf toward the surface (towards the light) for its first breath of fresh air off the Na Pali Coast of Kauai. 

 

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The original Kohola Carving Team

The Kohola team gathered at the Kohola carving site in the Presidio of San Francisco on Earth Day in February of 1997 to receive the ten Kohola yellow cedar logs salvaged from the former U.S. Navy base of Port Chicago, 40 miles northeast of San Francisco.  

 

Kohola carving site at the Presidio of San Francisco.

 

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More on the Hawaiian Ahupua'a land and water resources management system

 

Ahupua'a      In ancient Hawaii, a system of land management developed that mirrored the natural landscape in which nature itself was honored and respected. 'Aina, the Living Earth, is the ancestor who provides sustenance.

The natural resources defined the boundaries of the ahupua'a. This significant land division was generally wedge shaped that stretched from the ocean to the uplands. The boundary was usually marked with an altar with the image of a pig, ahu - altar and pua'a - pig. Kailua, in the Ko'olau-poko, was considered one of the riches ahupua'a on Oahu.

It had plentiful rainfall, rich forests, hundreds of streams, sheltered valleys, broad flat lands, protected shores, and rich ocean fisheries. Malama is the necessary stewardship to care for these resources and to share with others.

As the water flows down the mountain, it nourishes food plants. Fishing in the upper streams for shrimp and hihi-wai (limpets) varied the diet. Kalo, ki, and mai'a (taro, ti, and banana) were grown downstream near the na hale (houses). As the water reaches level ground near the ocean, water is diverted to fishponds. The lowest area of the ahupua'a is the reef edge. The many streams of Kailua ahupua'a still flow into the Kawai Nui Marsh. Lokahi reflected the harmony and unity that needs to exist to keep a balance in nature.

The royal tax on the ahupua'a depended on the size of the land and what it produced. Tax could include a certain number of hogs, fish, clusters of feathers, tapa, bananas, poi, and house items. It has been estimated that the common people received on the average only about 1/3 of the produce from their labor, while the various ranks of head chiefs took the remainder.

Kapu and noa, sacred and forbidden, were enforced to govern water resources., as well as other natural resources. The kanawai, laws of water, eventually became the law of the land. You could draw water from the upper parts of the stream, but not bathe. Damaging irrigation systems or harming the water source resulted in severe punishment. The Hawaiians were only allowed to fish at certain times of the year. Living on an island surrounded by salt water, ancient Hawaiians learned the value and preciousness of fresh, pure water.

Below are the Ahupua'a of the southern half of the Island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands.  Note Honouliuli Ahupua'a in dark green, the conservation area served by The Nature Conservancy and the Iliahi Foundation of Hawaii..  And the Waikiki Ahupua'a, home of the Kohola Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a Sculpture to be located at the Waikiki Aquarium.

 

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The Carving Logs

 

The Port Chicago Cedar logs

A group of ten unique logs was salvaged by the Kohola Sculptures Project in 1997. The logs range from 300-1,000+ years old each, average 30 feet long, and weigh 2-3 tons each.  They were brought by rail to San Francisco in the early 1920's from the Pacific Northwest to serve as submerged and floating caissons at a former shipyard which was converted to became the Port Chicago Naval Magazine, a U.S. Navy ammunition loading base 40 miles northeast of San Francisco.  

These ten logs all withstood the immense blast July 17, 1944 caused by the explosion of two ammunition ships being loaded with munitions for the war in the Pacific.  320 men lost their lives in the tragic explosion, the largest single loss of civilian lives during the war. This history is important because it feeds the healing and restoration themes of the Kohola Sculptures.

The logs were removed from service 60 years later in the '80's, stored on a remote mudflat on the San Francisco Bay, and forgotten.  Fifteen years later, destined to be sold for firewood, the marine salvage firm Specialty Crushing sold them instead in 1997 to the Kohola Sculptures Project team. 

On Earth Day in 1997, they were transported by truck to a special carving site within the Presidio of San Francisco obtained by the Kohola Project under a temporary "special use permit" from the U.S. National Park Service.   

Historical information about the exact background of the ten Kohola cedar logs is not 100% certain. But we have researched all available information and present it herein as our best judgment and opinion about the sources, ages and history of each of the Kohola logs. 

 

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Kohola Ahupua'a Sculpture

The sculpture honors the healing wisdom of the indigenous peoples of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands.  It was sculpted into a Hawaiian humpback whale by Shane Eagleton, the Pacific Islanders Cultural Association, and the Kohola carving support team of organizations from throughout the San Francisco Bay area. 

This sculpture was carved in 1997.  The Pacific Islanders Cultural Association, a San Francisco based non-profit organization seeks to preserve the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands culture in California and to extend a welcome hand to Hawaiians and all Pacific Islanders relocating to the Mainland.

We plan to bring the sculpture home to an appropriate permanent public place in Hawaii for viewing by all Pacific Island peoples and visitors to the islands. It honors all peoples of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands on behalf of the PICA organization, the Pacific Islands peoples and the indigenous peoples of northern California, and the Hawaiian Spiritual Delegation to the UN Interfaith gathering in San Francisco in June of 1995 when the United Religions Initiative vision was born.  The Waikiki Aquarium is currently considered as the primary final destination for the sculpture where it has been proposed to be incorporated into the new Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a exhibit area currently under design.

 

 

Currently on display at the Interfaith Center at the Presidio of San Francisco, awaiting its return to Hawaii.

 

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PAL Protect All Life Healing Pole in Half Moon Bay, CA  (looking towardds the Hawaiian Islands 2300 miles due west)

This sister Protect All Life Healing Pole was carved by Shane Eagleton for the PAL Foundation from one of the ten Port Chicago logs.  It is mounted vertically on PAL property on the Pacific Ocean (background) coastline in Half Moon Bay below San Francisco, as an "acupuncture needle for Mother Earth".

 

First Peoples Healing Totem in Indian Canyon near Hollister in central California

     

INDIAN CANYON

VILLAGE HOUSE, TOTEM POLE & SOLAR VILLAGE PROJECT

In conjunction with the Mutsun Indian First Peoples and the Cultural Conservancy, the Larson Family Foundation funded the creation of a special healing totem pole carved from an ancient log salvaged from the U.S. Navy at Port Chicago by Tonu Eagleton which has been gifted to the Mutsun First peoples of Hollister, California where it will be featured in conjunction with construction of an entire village.

 Vision:

Indian Canyon will serve as a refuge and a peaceful place for people in the world who do not have sacred land for performing their ceremonies. Today almost 5,000 visitors participate in rituals, educational programs, and vision quests annually. Indian Village including its Village House and Solar Village Project will become an irreplaceable resource for community events as well as a place to honor and preserve cultural heritage.

 

Jon stands with the First Peoples of California Healing Totem sculpture at Indian Canyon with abalone shells linking and honoring the sea, the rocks of Mother Earth, and the Great Spirit.. 

 

 

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Youth carving

 

Tonu Shane Eagleton trains youth to carve symbols of the world's wildlife on the DNA surfaces of his massive sculptures.

 

 

 

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How the Kohola Sculptures are created

The following series of photos shows the process of converting salvaged old growth logs into completed healing poles. These pictures were all taken at the special Kohola carving site at the San Francisco Presidio.  

 

The Carving Process

The logs are sand blasted to remove mud and loose bark. Rotted out sections are removed with special chain saws.  

Purposes and healing themes for each log are discussed by project members.  

Prior to carving, each log is consecrated in a special ceremony honoring the traditions of the First Peoples from California and the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Islands. 

Chains of the double helix DNA are carved by special chain saws over the entire outside of the log. Eco-artist Shane Eagleton selected the DNA theme for all the Kohola Sculptures because it symbolizes all life; animal, plant and human, male and female. DNA is the common link of all life. 

The surfaces of each log are then ground smooth by special high speed grinders.  

Special symbols appropriate to the intended healing theme and purpose of the log are hand carved with special carving tools onto the surfaces of the DNA.

A coating of boiled linseed oil or marine varnish is applied to protect the outer surfaces from the elements and to help retain the inner red and yellow colorations of the wood which will turn dark as it oxidizes naturally with the light and the elements.

The surface areas are periodically covered with linseed oil for continued protection against the elements.  For healing poles to remain outside in the winter elements, a special coating is applied to prevent cracking and discoloration of the exterior from exposure to the elements. 

At the final location, a reinforced concrete and steel base pad is built (see below).

A hole is drilled in the base of the sculpture, and it is lifted by a crane and placed down over the steel tube.

Above. Construction of the reinforced concrete base footing at the Bronx Zoo upon which the sculpture is mounted. 

Below. The sculpture is held in place vertically by the steel tube inserted into the base of the sculpture.

 

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Transporting the Sculptures

 

Flatbed trucks and heavy duty fork lifts are used to load and transport the sculptures.

 

The following sequence of photos shows the early morning relocation of the sculpture from a carving site across downtown San Francisco to its current display site at the Interfaith Center at the Presidio.   These same methods plus a special Matson shipping container will be used to transport the sculpture via ship from San Francisco to Hawaii.

 

Through the streets of San Francisco

 

 

In front of the San Francisco Civic Center Building

 

Along Crissy Field with the fog enshrouded Golden Gate Bridge in the background. 

 

Lifting the healing pole off the truck with the forklift.

 

 

Careful placement in its final resting place.

 

Mission accomplished. This sculpture will not be installed vertically until it is taken to Hawaii for its final permanent installation.

 

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The Artist

Eco-sculpturist Shane Eagleton, artistic Director of the Kohola healing poles project.

 

"WhaleForest" wood print by Shane Eagleton

 

"Keiki Kohola Whale" -  by Shane Eagleton

The Artist: 

SHANE EAGLETON is a master woodcarver, ecologist, and educator. For 20 years he has created a multitude of sculptures, a few of them mentioned below. Trees are not sacrificed for his artwork. He only uses naturally fallen timber or recycled wood. The tree becomes the medium for the message. 

Eagleton's artwork abounds with images from the natural world, bringing attention to the plight of endangered species. Shane's carvings are enduring and inspirational monuments to our precious Earth and the need to pre-serve her for future generations. 

Shane is son of a British Royal Air Force officer who found his bride in Fiji. The family left Fiji when Shane was 6 to move to New Zealand. There he stayed until 17, when he set out to see the world. Shane spent years traveling through Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. He made his way to the United States for the first time when he crewed on a yacht crossing the Atlantic. 

In America Shane learned the art of tree surgery, a vocation which led him in two directions at once. He found a cause - recycling trees instead of consigning them to landfill or a buzz-saw. For Shane the cause has become spiritually grounded; giving trees a second life is symbolic of treating the whole planet and its endangered life-forms with more care and respect. Tree surgery also gave Eagleton an amazing tool, a new kind of artist's brush - the chain-saw. He has more than a dozen saws, ranging from small delicate machines to one with a chain arching out six feet. Whether he is sculpting a 40-foot whale from of a single 2,000-year-old redwood, carving small "fish" to make art-collectors out of awestruck children, creating furniture, raising healing poles, or crafting puppets, Eagleton is a master with anything made of recycled wood. 

Shane's giant eco-sculptures adorn the stage at the October, 2002 Bioneers Conference in San Francisco. Turtles, dolphins, buttterflies, a toad stool, sea horses, whales, male and femal tiki's, birds in flight formed the backdrop to the speakers at the conference attended by over 3,000 participants. The sculptures were all carved in Hawaii from salvaged native Hawaiian hardwoods and flown to the conference in San Francisco.

A ten foot Hawaiian turtle and a six foot butterfly, two of Shane's twelve sculptures that adorned the conference stage.

Shane's work has been collected all over the world. In the Bay Area it can be found at the Shoreline Amphi-theater, Strybing Arboretum, the Mission Cultural Center, and St. Gregory of Nicea Episcopal Church in San Francisco, and in the Presidio Native Plants Nursery. His work is also installed in Australia, Czechoslovakia, England, Hawaii, and Samoa. Mr. Eagleton is an artist-in-residence at The Cultural Conservancy and involved in a continuing series of projects with the Interfaith Center at the Presidio. He was recently invited to create a Center for Trees, Culture, and Sustainability at the Windward Campus of the University of Hawaii. He will also continue his relationship with the Conservancy and Center.

Mother Kohola sculpture by Shane Eagleton on display at Crissy Field on San Francisco Bay at the Pacific Islanders Cultural Association's Aloha Festival in 1996. It is carved from a single 5 ton 40 foot long 2000 year old abandoned redwood log salvaged from a defunct sawmill in Mendocino County, California.

Click here for more background information on  Shane Eagleton. <==

 

A brief history of the Kohola Project

PICA - Pacific Islanders Cultural Association, one of the mentors of the Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a Sculpture.

Benefactors Jon and Karen Larson, standing with the One Voice 9-11 Healing Totem sculpture at the Bronx Zoo in New York City. Through their small family foundation, the Jon and Karen Larson Family Foundation, they hope to bring the Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a sculpture back to Hawaii where Jon was born and raised, where Karen graduated from college (UH), where they were married, where their son Derek was born, and where Jon's mother Becky (96) and his sister Helen live and where Jon maintains many lifelong friendships and connections to the local Hawaii community.

Above is one of the original ten Kohola logs salvaged in 1997 from the former U.S. Navy Port Chicago Naval Magazine base in the San Francisco Bay as it arrived at the original carving site at the Presidio of San Francisco before being carved into a healing pole.  The surfaces were charred and worn from being in service in the Bay for over 50 years as floating shipping caissons.   The Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a sculpture was carved from one of these ten logs.

 

 

Ten Alaskan yellow cedar logs were salvaged from the former Port Chicago Naval Base in 1997. Here they are stored in the San Francisco Presidio prior to being carved into healing poles. They average 30 feet in length and weigh 2-3 tons each.  Their ages vary from 300 to over 1,000 years old. It is difficult to determine the exact age of each log because the original cedar trees reached over 100 feet tall and these logs averaging 30 feet each could have come from upper sections of a much older old growth tree at the base. Actual ring counts indicate an age of over 1,000 years of the Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a Sculpture.  

 

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The Port Chicago Disaster and the Port Chicago Kohola Logs:

The One Voice Healing Pole and the other nine Kohola logs all survived the massive calamity at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine ammunition base the night of July 17th, 1944. Two ammunition ships being loaded with munitions destined for the war in the Pacific exploded in a freak accident unexplained to this day. The two ships, the ammo loading facility and the lives of 320 Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Merchant Mariners, and workers on duty that night were all pulverized in an instant in the immense explosion. 390 more were injured in the blast that also damaged or destroyed many of the surrounding buildings at the naval base and the nearby town.  The explosion and flames up to 2 miles high lit up the night sky and could be seen and heard up to 200 miles away. Some feared the world's first explosion of an atomic bomb had just occurred. 

This history is important because it feeds the healing and restoration themes of the current use of the Kohola Sculptures including the One Voice Healing Pole.

Ownership:

No one OWNs the Kohola sculpture.  Together we are all responsible for mentoring the spiritual energy and healing purpose of the sculpture until we can find a final permanent home for it in Hawaii.

Current keepers of the spiritual mentorship of the sculpture include:

• Members of the Pacific Islanders Cultural Association including Samuel Hart, spiritual kahuna of PICA, Shirley and Julian Avilla, and Hovey Lambert, past presidents of PICA..
• Jon Larson, director of the Kohola sculptures project which financed the original acquisition and carving of the twelve healing sculptures including this one. 
• Paul Chaffee, director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio representing the world interfaith community,
• Melissa Nelson, president of The Cultural Conservancy representing the First Peoples of California
• Shane Eagleton, master eco carver of the Iolani sustainable arts carving center at UH Windward CC.

The above are in agreement that the proper use of the sculpture is to offer it to the Waikiki Aquarium as a sister sculpture to the New York City Bronx Zoo 9-11 One Voice sculpture, for incorporation into the new Hawaiian Life Ahupua'a exhibits being planned, the final location, design and use to be determined by the Waikiki Aquarium Society supporting the Waikiki Aquarium.

• Co-founder, Director -  Kohola Sculptures project

• Co-founder, Chairman, - Iliahi Foundation of Hawaii

• Founder, Chairman  -  Jon and Karen Larson Family Foundation