Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 10, 1 October 2021 — OHA Mālama Loans for HHCA Beneficiaries [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Mālama Loans for HHCA Beneficiaries

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The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) have begun a new partnership to inform Hawaiian Homes Commission Act beneficiaries about OHA's Mālama Loans Program. OHA Mālama Loans has provided Native Hawaiians with resources to achieve their hnaneial goals for more than 30 years. The program offers low-interest loan products alongside dedicated finaneial consultants who provide technical assistance from the application process through full repayment. Native Hawaiians may borrow up to $20,000 for educational needs or debt eonsolidation and up to $100,000 for a home improvement loan. OHA Mālama Loans also provides small business loans for Native Hawaiians who are beginning or expanding their businesses. If an applicant does not qualify for a loan, staff members from OHA Mālama Loans will connect the individual or business owner with hnaneial support resources to get them on an appropriate track to heeome a qualified borrower. Lessees on Hawaiian Home Lands and Applicants on the DHHL Waiting List should expect to receive information in the mail about OHA Mālama Loans throughout the coming months. OHA Mālama Loans are available to Native Hawaiians 18 years and older who are residents of the State of Hawai'i. Applicants will be required to provide hnaneial documents and information during the application process. For more information on

how to apply, please visit https://loans.oha.org/. FestPACDirectorSought Ihe state commission responsible for the Festival of Paeihe Arts (FestPAC) is recruiting for a Festival Director to oversee the planning, coordination, implementation, and execution of the world's largest eelebration of Indigenous Paeihe Islanders. Themed "Ho'oulu Lāhui - Regenerating Oeeania," the 13th FestPAC is scheduled for June 6-16, 2024. This is the first time FestPAC will be hosted by Hawai'i. FestPAC features live performances, cultural workshops, hands-on demonstrations, storytelling and more, including conversations on urgent issues affecting Paeihe Island nations - from rising sea levels to social inequality. FestPAC was launched by the South Paeihe Commission (now The Paeihe Community - SPC) in 1972 to halt the erosion of traditional practices through ongoing cultural exchange. Every four years since, it has been hosted by a different Paeihe Island nation. Originally scheduled for June 2020 in Honolulu, FestPAC was postponed as the COVID-19 pandemic grew - an early decision made out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of Hawai'i residents and visiting delegations. This 2024 date maintains the four-year cycle of festivals while maximizing the opportunity for delegations to participate as their own Paeihe Island nations recover from the eeonomie and social impacts of the pandemic. To review the position description go to https:// festpachawaii.org/festival-di-rector-job-description/ and to

apply, submit your resume and cover letter to info@NaHHA. eom by noon on Oct. 5, 2021, HST. 'Ua'u lnjured and Killed by Lights at Maui Grand Wailea

Conservation groups represented by Earthjustice intend to sue the Maui Grand Wailea Resort for violating the Endangered Species Act if the hotel does not replace lights that are killing native seabirds. Bright lights at the resort harm endangered Hawaiian petrels, or 'ua'u, by disorienting them as they navigate between breeding colonies and the oeean. Early October to late November is a critical time for adults to successfully return from the oeean to feed their chicks, and for fledging chicks to make their way out to sea. The 'ua'u travels thousands of miles across the Paeihe to forage for food but returns to Hawai'i to mate and lay eggs. In October and November, young 'ua'u leave their nests for the first time, departing after dark to locate the oeean. Onee they leave, they won't return for up to six years, when they'll navigate back to their hatching site to breed. The largest 'ua'u nesting colony in Hawai'i is on the volcanic slips of Haleakalā. 'Ua'u are distracted by artiheial lights on their way out

to sea. Disoriented birds circle artificial lights until they fall to the ground from exhaustion. This leaves them extremely vulnerable to predators, starvation, or being run over by vehicles. The Grand Wailea stands out among Maui hotels as being particularly harmful to 'ua'u. The Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project has documented unauthorized harming or killing of 'ua'u at the Grand Wailea nearly every year since 2009. Other resorts in Hawai'i have implemented responsible plans to protect imperiled seabirds from harmful lighting. "It is well beyond time for the Grand Wailea Resort to become a responsible neighbor and protect Hawai'i's imperiled seabirds," said Earthjustice attorney Leinā'ala Ley. "Otherwise, we risk losing species that live nowhere else on earth." D0E RenamesSchoolto Honor Ke'elikōlani Last month, Hawai' i's Board of Education approved a name change for Central Middle School. The school's new name is Princess Ruth Ke'elikōlani Middle School, to honor Princess Ruth, whose Honolulu home, Keōua Hale, onee stood on the grounds of the campus. The effort to change the school's name was initiated in 2019 by the Central Middle School community under the leadership of Principal Joseph Passantino and with the support of the Department of Education. Upon her passing in 1883, the entirety of Princess Ruth's property (over 350,000 acres) was bequeathed to Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, founder of the Kamehameha Schools. Princess Pauahi passed away just one year later, in 1884,

and shortly afterwards the Kingdom's Board of Education purchased the Keōua Hale property and converted it into a high school (Honolulu High School), whieh was in operation through 1907. It then became Central Grammar School. The name of the school was briefly changed to Ke'elikōlani School, however, because the name was difficult for some Americans to pronounce, the school name reverted back to "Central" - Central Grammar School, then Central Junior High School, Central Intermediate School and finally in 1997, Central Middle School. In 1994, the campus buildings were placed on the Hawai' i Register of Historic Places and to this day, one campus building still displays the name "Ke'elikōlani School." Kawa'aīakes First Plaee in Falsetto Contest

Singer Kama'ehu Kawa'a from Waiehu, Maui, took top honors at the 19th annual Richard Ho'opi'i Leo Ki'eki'e Falsetto Contest on September 18. The 2020 competition was cancelled as a result of the pandemic, and, due to ongoing health and safety concerns, the 2021 competition was livestreamed on Facebook from the Ritz-Carlton at Kapalua, Maui. Kawa'a, a member of Nā Wai

An 'uū'u glides over the oeean. - Photo: Bret Nainoa Mossman

E ho'omaika'i to Kamo'ehu Kawa'a, winner of the Richard Ho'opi'i Leo Ki'eki'e Folsetto Contest,- Photo: Courtesy

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'Ehā, competed with an original song called "Pulelehua" (butterfly) that he wrote for his wife, Madi. He also won the Hawaiian Langugage Award and the Sheldon Keahiawakea Brown Music Award. Any falsetto singer who has not already recorded a solo alhum is eligible to compete. The competition was created to provide a platform for preservation and perpetuation of Hawai'i's distinctive falsetto tradition. It is named in honor of the late renowned falsetto singer Richard Ho'opi' i. Ho'opi'i and his older brother, Solomon, performed as the Ho'opi'i Brothers, winning the 1997 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award for Group of the Year. They were also recognized with a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts. The Ho'opi'i Brothers' hnal alhum together was Ho'omau: To Perpetuate. In second plaee was Mieah Manzano from Maui, and in third plaee was Kaliko Pascua from Kaua'i. Contest judges were Cody Pueo Pata (Head Judge), Kuulei Aleom-indras-Palakiko and Joshua Noeau Kalima ('Ōlelo Hawai'i Judges), and Iwalani Hoomanawanui Apo and Carlson Kamaka Kukona, III (Music Judges). Hawai'i Organization Among 10 Finalists in Global Phallonno tn Aririrocc Raricm

A project in Kailua, O'ahu, to replace youth incarceration led by Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF) is among 10 finalists for the Racial Equity 2030 Challenge, a eall for solutions to drive an equitable future for children, families and communities across the globe. An initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Challenge is awarding $90 million to help build and scale actionable ideas for transformative change in the systems and institutions that uphold racial inequities. The "Kawailoa: A Transformative Indigenous Model to Replace Youth Incarceration" project replaces youth incarceration with a Native Hawaiian restorative system that empowers communities, trains youth healers, and shifts resources to community-driven and culturally grounded pu'uhonua. It's led by a cohort of state and national agencies, including lead fiscal sponsor PIDF and eommunity partners Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center, the Hawai' i Youth Correctional Facility, Hale Kipa, Kinai 'Eha, Olomana School, RYSE, UCLA Asian American Studies Center, UH John A. Burn School of Medicine, Kamehameha Schools, and Lili' uokalani Trust. The Ofhce of Hawaiian Affairs also assisted with the submission of this winning application. Ihe Challenge received applications from 72 countries. The review process took five months and was based on four criteria - the degree to whieh the projects were game changing, equitable, bold and achievable. Eaeh of the 10 finalists will receive a one-year $1 million planning grant. Two awardees will eaeh receive $10 million grants, and three will eaeh receive $20 million grants. The awards will be announced in the summer of 2022. ■

Kawailoa: A Transformative lndigenous Model to Replace Youth lncarceration" project has emerged as a finalist in an international competition. - Photo: Jason L ees