Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 8, 1 August 2023 — Aloha mai kākou, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha mai kākou,

V 'OLELO A KA POUHANA V ^ MESSAGE FROM THE CEO *

PROTECTING 0UR 0CEAN F0R THE GENERATIONS THAT F0LL0W

It is with mueh aloha - and an appreciation of the possibilities of what we ean collectively accomplish - that I am serving as the interim CEO of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). Ihis is a kuleana that I willingly accept, knowing that there is mueh to be done. First and foremost, we must build and fortify our connections with one another, with the aina upon whieh we live, and with those institutions and governments that affect how we live and how we as Hawaiians exist in the world. Ihis issue of Ka Wai Ola focuses on our connection, as Hawaiians, with Moananuiākea, our traditional oeean realm. The stories shared within examine our familial relationship, as Kānaka Maoli, to the oeean - and our kuleana, along with that of other Indigenous Pacific peoples, to steward and care for it. Today, our beautiful planet is in crisis and she calls upon us to collectively use our Indigenous knowledge to protect her, to heal her, and to chart a better path moving into the future to ensure our very survival - and the survival of the generations to eome. Our cover story by OHA Interim Federal Puhlie Policy Advocate Kealoha Pisciotta opens with a recitation of our collective genealogical ties to the oeean and a reminder that Hawaiians have always been stewards of our ecosystem with cultural practices that were in harmony with pono resource management. Many of our modern keepers of traditional knowledge and practices are actively involved in preservation and eonservation work and efforts to educate and shape oeean policies at the county, state, federal and international levels to protect Moananuiākea usingboth Indigenous knowlege and western science. We also feature a story about Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (the Northwestern Hawaiian islands) by Kanoe Morishige and Malia Evans that details its historical and cultural significance to Native Hawaiians - to include our voyaging

traditions - its exceptional biodiversity, and efforts to further protect the area by pursuing sanctuary status for the region. Similarly, Hoku Cody of the National Oeean Protection Coalition writes about the efforts to protect the Pacific Remote Islands (PRI) - a region of ecological importance equal to that of Papahānaumokuākea and nearly as large. Currently under the jurisdiction of the U.S., the PRIs are the nexus of traditional cross-cultural voyaging pathways for the entire Pacific. So while sanctuary status is being sought for the area, so, too, is co-management of the region that includes Indigenous Pacific Islanders. Our oeean issue is rounded out with articles about the dangerous push towards corporate deep-sea mining, the imminent designation of Klpahulu in East Maui as a Community Based Subsistance Fishing Area, and an update on Hōkūle'a's Moananuiākea

voyage. A eommon theme throughout these stories is the need to maintain healthy ecosystems, encourage sustainable practices, safeguard cultural practices, and protect our precious Moananuiākea from destructive extractive practices motivated by profit.

We are reminded that our kuleana as Hawaiians is to assert ourselves and take our rightful plaee in the management, protection and stewardship of this planet alongside other Indigenous Pacific peoples. Our time has eome. ■

Colin Kippen Ka Pouhana Kūikawā | lnterim Chief Executive Officer