Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 11, 1 November 1988 — Let's Have A Win/Win Situation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Let's Have A Win/Win Situation

By Moses K. Keale, Sr., Trustee, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau

Anoai kakou! Last month's article focused on our aeeomplishments of the past 20 months. As J look back on those positive accomplishments, there is still mueh more that is ahead. Today we address very serious problems whieh will impact our

people for generations. 1 he decisions we make today affect all of you — kamali'i, makua, kupuna. But more important, these decisions will affect the lives of those that eome after us to fill our shoes and walk this 'aina. Many of you have stopped me the past few weeks and asked, "Moke, what do you think about a single definition for Hawaiians? Aren't we all Hawaiians?" Well, I believe we already have a single definition and that is not the issue. When I look at my mo'opuna, I don't ask how mueh Hawaiian they have. I am Hawaiian. They carry my blood. As I am Hawaiian they are Hawaiian. There is no issue of single definition. So what's the problem? How do I explain this to you? Let me draw this picture. The large circle is all Hawaiians — those of us who had kupuna in Hawai'i prior to 1778 (the arrival of Captain Cook). The smaller circle represents Hawaiians with 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood. When Hawai'i became a state, a land

trust was created for those Hawaiians in the small circle. So you ean see we have money for the small circle and none for the large. So how do we take care of everybody? One way is to ask the state legislature for funds. Another way is to seek funds from the federal government. We ean explore private funding and there are other ways. Let's have a win/win situation. We don't want to take away from the kupuna's table but we must feed the moopuna too. We have to take care of everyone in our 'ohana. So let's plant a bigger garden. We have made a good start. Under my leadership as chairman, we increased the OHA budget by 124 percent giving us more programs. Everyone won! My active lobbying in Washington, D.C. brought home a $3 million revolving loan fund for Hawaiian businesses and a $1.6

million grant to form the Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program. We won again! And this just names a few accomplishments. With hard work and creative thinking there is more to accomplish. With the right leadership and support all sides ean win. Sometimes I have to ask the hard questions. Why change the definition now? What is the plan? What are the effects? Who will this benefit? Who will this hurt? Are we breaking the law? Again I repeat, with the right leadership and support all sides ean win. A i manao kekahi e lilo i pookela i waena o oukou, e pono no e lilo ia i kauwa na oukou.