Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 12, 1 December 1991 — OHA trustees visit Tonga [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA trustees visit Tonga

by Christina Zarobe The list of participants attending the 31st South Pacific Conference in October on Tonga read like a who's who among foreign dignitaries. Over 300 ministers, governors, ambassadors from around the globe congregated on the small island nation to discuss issues ranging from oeean warming to ehemieal weapons disposal. But for Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Moses Keale, Sr. and Abraham Aiona who also traveled to the session the conference wasan emotional journey back to the culture of the South Pacific islands. "We're Pacific Island people. We're very mueh a part of the Pacific Island families. So for me it is a return back to our origin whieh is Polynesian," said Keale who has attended the meeting every year except for three since 1982 when OHA was first invited. "Secondly, we all share the same oeean continent so to speak. I like to think of the Pacific Oeean as a continent and our islands as cities. What affects them affects us. We share the same concerns." The South Pacific Commission was founded by the governments of the United States, France, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand after World War II to deal with eeonomie and social issues. The mandate of the commission was to rebuild the islands of the region ravaged during World War II. Currently, 27 nations send delegates to the

conference whieh includes the five "metropolitan powers" that established the commission more than 40 years ago, according to Keale. OHA representatives attend the session with official observer status although both Keale and Aiona are lobbying for OHA to become a full-fledged delegate. Previously, the president of the U.S. has appointed a representative from Hawai'i to accompany the U.S. delegation. Past representatives have included Honolulu Councilman John Henry Felix. "There's not a Hawaiian presence there and that's what OHA brings," said Keale who has served as an OHA trustee since the organization's inception a decade ago. For Trustee Aiona, his first time to the conference and to Tonga was a powerful experience. His memories of the trip and facts about the island kingdom led by Taufa'ahau Tupou IV spill over one another as he talks about the conference. "This being my first trip to the South Pacific as an OHA trustee it was really kind of a humbling experience as well as an eye-opener," said Aiona. "It was a meshing of people of the South Pacific basin . . . and we consider ourselves as brothers and sisters. There are a lot of things that are very similar." The trustees had little free time during their stay but what they saw of life on Tonga clearh> left a strong impression. continued page 8

Tonga from page 1

The Tongan world is a male-dominated society with women taking care of the children, the yards, and harvesting the fields. A religious people, some 97.3 percent of Tongans attend a wide variety of churches. Large families are the norm — the prime minister of Tonga and his wife have 17 children, seven of their own and 10 adopted. Tongan men over 18 are given 8 acres of land but only a Tongan ean own land. Among the crops on the island is a recent addition, a variety of pumpkins from New Zealand. Started two years ago, some $30 million of the crop are exported in a growing season. But surrounded by Western and American Samoa, the Cook Islands and Fiji, Tonga may soon find itself catapulted into the Western world. The Tongan government is looking for financial backing to put up three satellites . between Australia and Hawai'i opening the doors for widespread television use. "You have to weigh cultural values versus technology," said Aiona. "If you had to make a ehoiee, it should be on the side of cultural values." Among the activities arranged for the trustees were separate visits to Tongan villages. Eaeh returned with large handmade tapa as gifts and colorful memories. "When we went to the village it was . . . an experience. lt brings us right back to where Hawaiians were. That's how Hawaiians used to be. I remember it as a kid," said Keale. Although crossing the intemational dateline took the trustees ahead a day into the future, their days on Tonga were a somber reminder of how mueh of the Hawaiian culture has been lost in the past century. "I tried to tell them that cliildren were their best resource and that they should eonhnue the.

language and continue to appreciate the culture," said Aiona. Yet based on the experiences of Hawaiians, Keale believes that OHA ean aid these Pacific Island nations as what seems to be the inevitable tide of Western culture and business begins to wash up on these remote shores. "I think we being Americans and also Pacific Islanders it gives us a unique position for a contribution on technical know-how and all of this that happens here in Hawai'i," said Keale. "We are an important link in that they see we are brown, we're brothers and they like to make this connection. And, thereby, OHA is placed in a unique position in that we represent the native people of Hawai'i." A special meeting of the South Pacific Commission will be held in March. The next regular meeting of the commission will be in October on Fiji.

OHA Trustees Abraham Aiona and Moses Keale meet with Sir Peter Kenilorea, Minister for Foreign Affairs and T rade Relations for the Solomon lslands, during the South Pacific Conference.