George Helm

George Jarrett Helm, Jr. (born March 23, 1950 – disappeared March 7, 1977) was a Native Hawaiian activist and musician from Kalamaʻula, Molokaʻi, Hawaii. He graduated from St. Louis High School on Oʻahu, about which he said, "I came to Honolulu to get educated. Instead I lost my innocence." While at St. Louis, he studied under Hawaiian cultural expert John Kahauanu Lake, and achieved mastery in vocal performance and guitar.

Helm was one of the greatest Hawaiian falsetto vocalists, and played fast, complex guitar parts while singing in an "almost inhuman" vocal range. He was a powerful speaker, writer, and "revolutionary" philosopher who pioneered many Hawaiian sovereignty concepts. He was considered, as his posthumous album title suggests, a "True Hawaiian" who surfed, fished, farmed, loved, sang, worshipped, and thought in the ways of old.

George Helm began his front-line activism in the Molokaʻi-based group Hui Alaloa around 1975, and became deeply involved in Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana, a Hawaiian-led organization that sought to end the bombing of the island of Kahoʻolawe, a Hawaiian island used as target practice by the U.S. Navy. In 1976, nine activists occupied the island of Kahoʻolawe, Helm among them. He was moved intensely by the power and beauty of the island, and dedicated the rest of his life to fighting for its protection.

Helm, stating "we were touched by some force that pushed us into commitment" (Hawaii Observer, 1976), appealed to the Hawaii State legislature and to the U.S. Congress, where he proved to be a great writer and orator, for Kahoʻolawe's protection. However, the bombing continued. More Kahoʻolawe landings by protesters ensued, and on January 30, 1977 five activists (Helm, Walter Ritte, Richard Sawyer, Charles Warrington, and Francis Kaʻuhane) landed on Kahoʻolawe in an attempt to gain greater public recognition of the struggle. Everyone was arrested except for Ritte and Sawyer, who stayed hidden on the island for 35 days, with very limited food and water.

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