Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 8, 1 August 1989 — Hard work lays basis for new future [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hard work lays basis for new future

Federal funding begins new era for Hawaiians

by Myron B. Thompson, Trustee Kamehameha Schools/Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate This is an exciting time for Hawaiians, a critical moment in our history. Millions of federal dollars for education, health, and cultural needs have been appropriated by Congress — for the current fiscal year, the figure is over $12 million all specifically for Hawaiians. This funding is the result of hard work and perseverance of many dedicated people who built a solid base of national legislation designed to address the needs of Hawaiians. The story of this effort began in a United States Senate hallway in 1968 in a conversation with Senator Daniel K. Inouye. He wanted to know what could be done to assist Native Hawaiians who were not then eonsidered Native Americans and ineligible for many types of federal aid. The disparity in the treatment of Hawaiians and other Ameiiean native people was readily apparent. For example, in the spring of 1972, as director of the Hawaii Department of Social Services and Housing, I learned that the federal govemment welfare reimbursement rate for American Indians and Aleuts was 100 percent. In Hawai'i it was only 50 percent. The explanation given for the difference was that these native people had entered into treaties with the U.S. government. Well, so had Hawaiians . . . and that started the effort to win recognition of Hawaiians as native people in the eyes of the fe4eral government. Senator Spark Matsunaga was a part of this effort, along with Inouye, and a particularly astute Inouye staff member, Dr. Patrick DeLeon, who ean make things happen. Working together as a team, we succeeded in

having Hawaiians included in the Community Services Act in 1974. Alu Like, ine. was originally created to receive the funds from this act, and today still exists to assist Hawaiians in defining their needs and creating programs to meet those needs. In 1975, the Native American designation for Hawaiians was attained . . . one whieh had no b!ood quantum requirement. That is when the real work began.

The first step that was taken was a large scale, comprehensive effort to fully understand the needs of native Hawaiians. We had the native designation, but the needs of our people were not comprehensively described. The federal government was not willing to give us funding unless we could delineate specific and profound needs. Two studies were foremost in those efforts: the Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment Project (NHEAP), released in 1983, and the Native Hawaiian Health Needs Study, released in 1986. The first study was mandated by Congress. However, appropriations to support it fell through, and Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, realizing the importance of the eomplehon of this study, offered to fund it. Many months of gathering, interpreting, analyzing, and presenting data were spent. Kamehameha staff, with the full cooperation of virtually every Hawaiian agency and various Hawaii state departments worked diligently to pull together the most comprehensive educational needs assessment. NHEAP was presented to Congress in 1984. It showed that education needs begin for families even before their baby is born. Many Hawaiian' children arrive at school with inadequate vocabularies. They score below national norms on achievement tests throughout their school years. They are over-represented in Special Education categories, especially learning disabled. In high school, Hawaiian youngsters are more likely to be absent from school or drop out. And too few Hawaiian students enroll in college. Hawaiian youth are also more at risk for drug and aleohol abuse. Because of this, Hawaiian adults are undercontinued on page 5

State hood day at lolani Palaee. Photograph from Hawaii State Archives.

New era /rom page 3 ,

represented in high paying jobs, and over-repre-sented in low paying jobs. NHEAP contained many major recommendations in the education field . . . but of even greater significance was the realization that no program for Hawaiians would succeed if their compelling health needs were not addressed. Thus, in 1984, Senator Inouye and Pat DeLeon sought funding for a study of the unique health care needs of Native Hawaiians and other Native Pacific Islanders. In June 1984, we began to see the fruits of all our labor. Funds amounting to $500,000 were approved for Parent Child Development Centers. The National Cancer Institute was asked to give a high priority to the extraordinary incidence of cancer among Native Hawaiians. Similar requests were made to the National Institutes of Mental Health and Aleohol and Drug Abuse. In the summer of 1985, the federal Department of Health and Human Services authorized the Native Hawaiian Health Needs Study. It revealed severe health needs. Many pregnant Hawaiian teenage girls don't get prenatal care as soon as they should. The mortality rate for Hawaiians is 34 percent higher than that of the rest of the nation and Hawaiians have very high rates for heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Hawaiians also tend to neglect their mental health because available mental health services are not sensitive to their needs. In both of the major studies, the loss of the Hawaiian culture was described as a major contributing factor to the current status of Hawaiians. And although Hawaiian culture and arts experienced a great revival in the past two de,cades, and are a source of great pride and inspiration for all Hawaii's people, this revival has only just begun. Mueh more ean be done to preserve and share Hawaiian culture. lt is critical that the

revival continue and flourish. By the spring of 1986, both needs assessment reports had been shared with congress, federal departments and agencies. Now, efforts to elicit action from Washington intensified. Additional information and data were given to congressional committees. The search for existing legislation in whieh Hawaiians could join other Native Americans was even further explored and intensified. The results of all these years of work are very exciting and gratifying. From 1974 to the present, the state of Hawai'i has received over $83 million for Hawaiian program. Recently, a number of major pieces of legislation have passed into law benefitting Native Hawaiians. For the current fiscal year we have: • Family-Based Education Centers. . $1,778,000 • Elementary Reading and Language Arts 435,000 • Financial Aid for College 1,500,000 • Gifted and Talented Programs. 800,000 • Special Education Programs • • • • 500,000 • Vocational Education Programs . . . 2,169,000 • Drug Free Schools and Communities Program 435,000 • Library Services and Construction . . . 619,000 • Health Planning/Mental Health 850,000 • Culture and Arts 1,600,000 • Elderly Program 1,360,000 The future is equally bright. Over the next three years $90 million for Hawaiian programs has been authorized. One, the Native Hawaiian Health Act, • was signed into law October 1988. It authorizes funding for a health master plan as well as the creation of nine native Hawaiian health centers statewide. While no funds have been appropriated yet, the act authorizes funding for over $4 million for fiscal year 1990. Some great strides have been made in recent

years, with the help of several key people and the diligence of many others. Some of the initial tasks required for meeting the long neglected needs of Hawaiians have been accomplished. Those needs have been studied and documented. The right of Hawaiians to receive the same consideration as other Native Americans has been firmly established and the Congress has acted on their behalf. Achieving these breakthroughs in federal recognition of Hawaiians and funding for programs is not an end in itself. It is only the first step towards the goal of eliminating negative socioeeonomie statistics and replacing them with a strong and dynamic profile of native Hawaiian people. For this to happen, agencies, organizations, and individuals must plan and work together. Only through cooperative efforts ean the resources be built upon for the future. This is how Hawaiians ean be at the forefront of moving society into the next century and beyond. The challenge is great, the outcome is critical to survival.

Honolulu Star Bulletin photo of the petition for statehood in downtown Honolulu. Photograph from the Hawaii State Archives.