Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 1, 1 January 1991 — Chairman's message [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Chairman's message

Next 1 0 years: decade of decision for OHA

by Thomas K. Kaulukukui Sr., Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees Chairman, 1988-1990 'Ano'ai me ke aloha. Mahalo for joining with us this morning as we celebrate the investiture of the trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. This celebration, this occasion marks both continuity and change. To those who have served so well in the past, our deepest appreciation for your efforts and for your dedication. Rod Burgess, Clarence Ching, Manu Kahaiali'i, and Chubby Mahoe, you eaeh brought a particular talent and grace to our board — and will all be missed. On behalf of all our friends, 1 wish you all the best in your future work. To those who are now willing to serve in the future, our deepest aloha for your willingness to offer different strengths and visions for the Hawaiian people. Trustees Rowena Akana, Chief Abe Aiona, Clayton Hee, and Kamaki Kanahele — we weleome you and extend our appreciation for your dedication to the work whieh remains. To my friends who will continue to serve — Trustees Moanikeala Akaka, Frenchy DeSoto, Louis Hao, and Moses Keale — your sacrifices and commitment also deserve special notice. 1 have seen eaeh of you plaee your official responsibilities above the needs of self and family. To your family and to mine — thank you for always being there, because without you we couldn't be here. The lei hulu was placed around our shoulders as a symbol signifying leadership roles. Although the lei signifies leadership, leadership is not automatic. Eaeh person must develop his or her own leadership. Leadership cannot be bought. It cannot be conferred. It cannot be inherited. It knows no divine right. It cannot be passed on by any process of succession. It is always stamped with the label "not transferrable." Goods ean be manufactured on a formula; guided missiles ean reach their own targets. We ean bake our bread, make our clothes, plow our ground with machines. But it takes a human being to be a leader. And great leadership requires a human being at his best. Poetically, Hawaiians traditionally think of prized individuals as na hulu — the teathers whieh are precious and few, gathered slowly over time until they ean be made into leis of great value. Today, as trustees we wear the lei hulu as a new but ancient symbol of office. I will cherish this lei, and think of eaeh of its feathers as representing

those trustees who have and who will serve our people. For like this lei, our success as trustees and as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs only has form and beauty when eaeh of our contributions are pulled together and seen as one. This investiture is the opportunity to witness and to recognize that unity of purpose and people. Ten years ago, when the first board waselected — we had no office space, no furniture, and little idea of how to meet our mandate to better the eonditions of Native Hawaiians and Hawaiians. On Dec. 3, Governor Waihee urged us to join him on a voyage of discovery, to experience a sense of renewed excitement for what has been accomplished and for the challenges whieh still await us. That voyage into unfamiliar waters and towards uncertain destinations is not a new but an on-going adventure for OHA. As I look back on the past 10 years, I feel a deep pride for what we have accomplished. We have made mistakes. We have sometimes lost our way. But we have never despaired. Like the Hawaiian People, we have survived and are growing stronger. Today: • We are in the process of refining a money and land package as part of the negotiated settlement

of past due trust entitlements to the office valued at $100 million; • We are nearing completion of negotiations with the governor's office to implement a separate entitlement whieh will serve all Hawaiians; • We are formally coordinating our efforts with other Hawaiian service agencies and will present the Hui Imi report on identified unmet needs and how to address them to the next session of the Legislature; • We manage the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund and have awarded more than $2 million to qualified Hawaiian business enterprises; • We are actively participating in the federal Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts program and the planning efforts of Papa Ola Lokahi for improved Native Hawaiian Health; • We have private and public partnerships for the protection and preservation of Native Hawaiian cultural resources through formal memoranda of agreement valued in excess of $20 million. Ten years ago, OHA started withaone-yearap-propriation of $125,000 — last month, we approved a biennium budget request of $20 million. Even as we review the achievements of the last 10 years and marvel at what we have aeeomplished, there is also the harsh reality of how mueh is still undone. The next 10 years will truly be a "decade of decision." We must and we will complete draft federal legislation to settle the land claims of the Hawaiian people. A century of dishonor and mistrust between the United States and Hawaiians must and will end. We must and we will be unified as a people. Twice, we have asked Hawaiians if they would continue divided rather than joined by blood. And twice — by overwhelming margins — we have asserted that we are one. Despite laws whieh worked to turn against eaeh other, we must and we will continue as a family. We must, however, have the uniting power of love. Without the uniting power of love, we cannot become of one mind. As our love grows through a conscious relationship with our savior, our desire and ability to tolerate differences, to work out eonflicts, and to solve problems also increases until we become of one mind. We must cooperate completely and work in harmony one with the other. There must be unanimity in our decisions and unity in our actions. If the spirit of the Lord is to magnify our labors, then this spirit of oneness and cooperation must be the prevailing spirit in all that we do. It is cooperation and mutual eoneem that determines the overall success. Issues of self-determined governance and expressions of sovereignty must and will be resolved. The management of our own resources and the ability to live as Hawaiians will and must begin. Our voyage is a search for justice. And when we arrive at the end of this voyage, we will discover that we are truly at home, and no longer strangers in our own land. Mahalo nui loa.

Thomas Kaulukukui, Sr.

o O @ s -§ e o CL e e -O o o £

The investiture ceremony at Kawaiahao Church.