Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 7, 1 July 2022 — He Kua'āina a be Wabine Koa o Moloka'i Nui a Hina [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Kua'āina a be Wabine Koa o Moloka'i Nui a Hina

J HE HO'OMANA'O S ^ INMEMORIAM '

At Kū'ū Hill on Moloko'i looking towords Koloupopo. One of Machodo's personol fovorite photos. - Photo: Rikki Cooke

Colette Yvette Pi'ipi'i Machado ^§^25, 1950 - May 23, 202f^

By Davianna McGregor, Ph.ū. "O ka pi' i no ia a Kōkī-o-Wailau; Ascended to the topmost part of Wailau." An expression of admiration for one who reaches the top in spite of difficulties. - 'Ōlelo No'eau #2434 Auwē, Uwē, Auwē. Lament, cry, sorrow. Our wahine koa, Colette Pi'ipi'i Machado, ehampion for Moloka'i, with a heart full of aloha passed into the leina on May 23, 2022. In her lifetime, Colette overcame hnaneial hardship and racial prejudice to be acknowledged as one of the most influential and respected leaders of our lāhui. Born on Moloka'i, her ancestral roots traced to the Pi'ipi'i warriors of Hālawa, Moloka'i. Her grandfather, Zachary Pali-Pahapu was one of the original six homesteaders to found the Hawaiian Homestead Program in Kalama'ula in 1921. Her parents, Francis Machado and Hannah Pali-Pahu-pu, were born and raised on Moloka'i. Her father delivered mail until her parents decided to uproot the family and move to Honolulu where they resided at Pālolo Housing and later in Kalihi. Colette was the youngest sister to three older

half-brothers (Jerry, Milton and Peter Haliniak). Playing alongside them, she learned how to be tough and how to fight back. In elementary and then intermediate, she was disenchanted by racial discrimination and by a laek of hope and eventually dropped out in the ninth grade to stay home and help babysit her two oldest nieces. She eventually earned her GED in Oregon and returned home for an opportunity to participate in a new program called the College Opportunity Program (COP). It started as an experimental program in model cities and eventually heeame a part of the University of Hawai'i. Colette successfully completed the program and was admitted to UH Mānoa, where she graduated with honors in education. Shortly afterwards, a documentary film was made about her educational journey. Titled "Colette," it premiered in 1975 and was used to recruit for the COP program by showcasing her success. I met Colette when she took the Hawaiians class that I teach in the Department of Ethnic Studies and together we protested the eviction of farmers in WaiāholeWaikāne and supported striking workers at Hawaiian Telephone. After college, Colette worked as a TRIO counselor at Honolulu Community College. Contractor Chucky Coel-

ho recalls how she helped him and other students from Moloka'i get financial aid, navigate through the system, and graduate. Colette was a strong advocate for all Native Hawaiian students. Fed up with O'ahu, Colette returned to Moloka'i and began working to protect her island home from the development that was ruining O'ahu. She first worked with Alu Like, and then established the alternative education program, Ka Papa Honua O Keawanui with Kamehameha Schools. It was at this time that she heeame involved in the effort to famously "Keep Moloka'i Moloka'i," working alongside Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli, Judy and Sherman Napoleon, Joyce Kainoa, Wren Wescoat, John Sabas, Adolph Helm, and Leiala and Jane Lee (as Hui Ala Loa, ine.), to stop the development at West Moloka'i and preserve the island's scarce water resources for homesteaders. "We saved Kaiaka 'hlaek rock' from becoming a hotel and protected the fishing ko'a and sites at Kawākiu - including a portion of Ke Ala Pūpū a Kiha from the Pōhakumāuliuli cliff condos," said Aluli. They also started Nā Lima Hana O Nā 'Ōpio, involving youth to help reopen lo'i kalo in Mana'e, learning ffom taro farmers they visited in Ke'anae-Waluanui SEE C0LETTE MACHAD0 ON PAGE 5

Fomily photo of Machodo ond her husbond, Myron Aku- ' togowo. - Photo: Courtesy

lodies" (l-r): Mochodo, Stocy Helm Crivello ond Dovionno McGregor. - Photo: Rikki Cooke

Members of Hui Alo Loo circo 1980. Front row (l-r): Mochodo, Noo Emmett Aluli ond Joyce Koinoo. Bock row (l-r): Wren Wescoot, Leiolo Lee and Shermon Napoleon. - Photo: Courtesy

COLETTEMACHADO Continued from page4 and Waipi'o. Colette helped found Mālama Mana'e, Ka Leo O Mana'e, Kāko'o Kawela, Mālama Moloka'i and Ke Kuaaina Hanauna Hou - all of whieh were successful in protecting Moloka'i lands and wai from development. Around this time, she met the love of her life, her husband, Myron Akutagawa, a descendant of taro farmers from Wailau Valley. Across the ehannel, Colette and Hui Ala Loa, Ine., successfully organized the Aloha 'Āina movement to stop the bombing and all military use of the island of Kaho'olawe. She organized the first Makahiki ceremonies and continued to play a pivotal role in the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, later serving on the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission. Islands-wide, Colette served on the State Land Use Commission and the Hawaiian Homes Commission, whieh prepared her to eventually run for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Her husband, Myron says, "Colette gave her best for the Ofhce of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), serving as the trustee for the islands of Moloka'i and Lāna'i for six terms ffom 1996 through 2020 and as chairperson of the Board of Trustees from 2010 to 2014 and 2017 to 2020." While serving as a trustee, Colette was key in the acquisition of Wao Kele O Puna, Kūkaniloko Birthing stones, and the Palauea Cultural Preserve. She brokered the acquisition of the Kaka'ako Makai lands that generate $4.6 million annually with the potential to generate millions more. She also sponsored an OHA resolution to fund the kia'i of Mauna A Wākea and the filing of a civil suit challenging UH's management of the mauna. During her tenure at OHA, the organiza-

tion heeame the 13th largest landowner in Hawai'i and the trust fund grew to $600 million. As an OHA trustee, Colette was all about serving the people of Moloka'i and Lāna'i and the majority from these islands reciprocated by consistently voting for her. From funding a dialysis station in Kalaupapa for Unele Henry Nalaielua and other patients, to funding a state-of-the-art extension of the Moloka'i General Hospital serving the whole island, no need was too small or too large. Colette's heart continued to be in grassroots community organzing and advocating with the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana and Moloka'i groups at the forefront of protecting Hawai'i's lands and cultural resources - such as stopping the disinterment of hundreds of iwi kūpuna at Honokōhau, Maui. She was also a member of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa and the Ho'olehua Hawaiian Civie Club, and was the founding president of the Moloka'i Land Trust. Colette and Myron made their mark in the islands-wide movement for eommu-nity-based eeonomie development from Waiāhole to Kīpahulu. After saving the Pūko'o Lagoon in east Moloka'i from resort . development they initiated aquaculture, cultivating and marketing a popular native long ogo limu identified by Isabella Abbott as gracilaria parvispora (not to be confused with gorilla ogo). Colette has eome full circle in her life's journey, joining her ancestors in the embrace of her heavenly father in whom she believed as a faithful Christian. In her own words, "I love Moloka'i. It is my aina hānau, land of my birth, land of my kūpuna kahiko and my kulāiwi where I will remain when I hala." Colette Machado's_legacy is for the generations - an Aloha 'Aina, a mana wahine, a Ti70 hinn hno H I

Kaho'olawe lsland Reserve Commission (KIRC) stnff and commissioners deep in discussion nt Hnkionwn during a site visit to Kaho'olawe. L-R (stnnding) ore Derek Chow, Pnliknpu Dedmnn nnd Jeffrey Chong; (sitting) Burt Snkntn nnd Mochndo. - Phoio: KIRC

Mochodo with Holono Kaopuiki who is holding on odze hlonk found ot Pu'uko'eo, Moloko'i. - Photo: Rikki Cooke