WAHIAWA — More than 200 Native Hawaiian activists and others rallied yesterday against the military's plans to station a Stryker brigade in Hawai'i.

The protesters, many of them dressed in red and hoisting upside down Hawaiian flags, demonstrated at a park near Whitmore Village, then marched to Kukaniloko, near Wahiawa, the site of sacred birthing stones.

Ikaika Hussey, a member of DMZ Hawai'i Aloha 'Aina, said his group views the scheduled arrival of the roughly 300-vehicle Stryker brigade as another military land grab.

"We have a tradition of resistance. We know that we can outlast the U.S. military because we want to live here. We want to be in Hawai'i nei. This is our homeland," he said yesterday. "For a thousand generations we have lived here and we will continue to live here."

The groups oppose the plan, which would occupy up to 28,000 acres on the Big Island and O'ahu. They fear the brigade and the live-fire exercises that are a staple of their training will lead to the destruction of cultural sites, natural resources and the contamination of the environment.

"The only way we're going to win this battle is by constant pressure applied constantly," said William Aila, a member of Hui Malama 'O Makua, a group dedicated to protecting and preserving Makua Valley. "And it will continue to be applied until what is pono occurs."

Kuulei Badua, a Wahiawa resident, said: "How many years now they just bombing all the time. We can't just let them come in and take our beautiful land."

The 2nd Brigade at Schofield Barracks is being equipped with about 300 eight-wheeled armored vehicles, the first of which is expected to arrive next spring.

Army officials expect 1,000 more troops in Hawai'i to run the $1.5 billion Stryker Brigade.

Army plans include $693 million in construction, the acquisition of 1,400 acres on O'ahu and 23,000 acres on the Big Island and networks of private trails for the 20-ton Strykers.

The Army's environmental review states that there would be significant effects on cultural and biological resources, but that mitigation efforts could reduce them.

Amid hot and humid temperatures, the group marched yesterday along muddy roads in from Kahi Kani Park to Kukaniloko, the piko of O'ahu, to demonstrate their opposition. Police flanked the protesters as they marched, controlling traffic.

Representatives of three Native Hawaiian and environmental groups who filed a lawsuit last year challenging the Army's plans to establish the Stryker brigade were among the demonstrators.

'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition, Na 'Imi Pono and Kipuka said in the lawsuit that the project would damage Native Hawaiian cultural sites and harm endangered species and habitats.

But Chief U.S. District Judge David Ezra has twice ruled against them. In November, the judge refused to issue an injunction halting the project. He said any delay would hamper the global war on terrorism.

In April, Ezra dismissed the lawsuit, saying the groups raised their objections too late. He said the Army had properly notified the public and had adequately considered what environmental impacts the project might have.

The three groups plan to appeal.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.