Families facing eviction from Kahana Valley gained support yesterday from the University of Hawai'i's Hawaiian studies center, which called on the governor to stop the evictions and give the valley to the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The faculty, staff and students of the Kamakauokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies also called for the resignation of the head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources that is carrying out the eviction.

"We saw last night on the news that Sens. (Colleen) Hanabusa and (Clayton) Hee have tried to intervene, but Laura (H.) Thielen, head of DLNR, is adamant that she is evicting the families, right before Christmas, during the rainy season when she knows there is no alternative housing, and that is her bottom line," said Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, a UH professor. "We're in the worst recession that America has ever seen in our lifetime. There are no housing out there. Because of her hard-hearted and anti-Hawaiian sentiment, we call for her immediate resignation."

About 50 students and staff attended a press conference at the center yesterday. Members of the families facing eviction, supporters from Waiahole Valley and Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku) also came.

Deborah Ward, DLNR spokeswoman, said Thielen didn't want to comment about the call for her resignation and is concentrating on helping the families through the eviction.

"She's focused on moving forward," Ward said. "She's focused on the families and she's focused on the situation."

The six families were scheduled to meet with Thielen yesterday but said at the late-morning press conference that they had canceled because of illnesses, work and a desire to have an attorney present.

Nevertheless, Thielen went to the Windward side to meet with the group and said she was disappointed that no one could meet with her.

"I've offered to make myself available any time on Saturday or Sunday to sit down and talk," she said. "I'm hearing secondhand about what people are saying about what I said. I don't think they are getting accurate information, and it's important that I listen to them and they have a chance to hear directly from me."

In the meantime, she announced that the DLNR is not going to take any eviction action this weekend.

The valley is home to 'Ahupua'a O Kahana Valley State Park that was created as a living park to allow families with long-time ties to the valley to remain. A state law provided 31 leases, and in exchange, the families performed cultural activities for the public for 25 hours a month. Over the years, some families lost their leases, so the state was negotiating with other qualified people to give them leases. But in March, the state attorney general opined that the law that provided the leases had ended, so no new leases could be granted.

A week ago today, the DLNR issued the final eviction notices.

At the press conference, Jon Osorio, UH professor of Hawaiian studies, said Kahana Valley is an important educational resource visited by hundreds of UH students each year.

Osorio said the issue in the valley is political, and the people there are caught in the middle.

"This is not about six poor families in Kahana," he said. "This is about the control of ceded land. If the state wants to play it like this, maybe it's time for all the Hawaiians to come together and manage the land."

Waiahole residents Pat and Jose Royos, who fought against an eviction in Waiahole Valley in the 1970s, said their community is also supporting the six families. Hundreds supported Waiahole Valley residents when massive development threatened to destroy their valley, so Pat Royos urged others to get involved.

"I suggest to them (the six families) that they should stay and fight," Royos said. "Don't give up, because they have the rights."

The majority members of the state Senate have pledged their support and will make the Kahana bill the center of their legislative package, guaranteeing its passage, said Hee. Several other bills to address the issue failed in the House of Representatives in the past, but Hee said he's confident the House will listen to the people now.

"The legislators as human beings tend to respond when the pressure is on," Hee said. "The pressure hasn't been on until the eviction notices were served."

He reminded people that until March, the state was negotiating leases in the valley, and at least three families thought they had a good chance of getting one.

UH student Kaniela Snyder, 21, said the timing of the eviction couldn't be worse with the holidays coming and the price of housing ridiculously high.

"DLNR says the park is for the people of Hawai'i," Snyder said. "We are the people of Hawai'i, and we're saying it's OK. We don't want eviction, regardless if it's Hawaiians or any others."