Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 3, 1 March 1997 — Hāna native sees politics as a force of social change for Hawaiians [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hāna native sees politics as a force of social change for Hawaiians

by Deborah Ward J. Kalani English, a native son of Hāna is bringing a vision of change to Hawai'i. English was appointed to the Maui County Council this January as councilmember representing East Maui. At 30, English is one of Maui's youngest elected officials, but his record of accomplishments show he is no newcomer to the political world. Before his appointment as coimcilmember, English served two years as chief of staff for state Sen. Avery B. Chumbley of Maui, but his interest in politics eoes

back to his youth. Though bom in Horida, English was raised hanai from infancy M by his matemal grandparents Murray English, Sr. and Violent Soong English V in Haneo'o, outside of Hāna. A 1984 Kamehameha Schools, graduate, his interest in pol- <1 itics began at a young age. * He witnessed the quiet title and adverse possession pro- 1 ceedings of Hāna Ranch i against land held by his family. He saw his grandfather in ] despair over how the legal system could twist native genealogies because of seeming inconsistencies in recorded documents, and disregard oral traditions shared by native people. "That was the genesis of my involvement with the Hawaiian national movement," English said. "You begin to see a broad pattem of reverse apartheid against Hawaiians, totally

enveloping Hawaiians in the westem system through paper. He says, 'This is the psychological torture of our people, to be made to prove who we are. What is accepted as a legitimate genealogy elsewhere, we need to prove with documents. But not all documents were recorded properly, so there are conflicting documents. The people knew who was whom, and that Hawaiian names could change during your lifetime. But attomeys apply a westem standard of one name for life. So they say it' s not the same person." English attended Hawai'i Loa College and graduated in 1989 with a B.A. degree in Pacifie Island Studies. While at Hawai'i Loa, he did an intensive certificate course in Mandarin language at the Nahonal Chung Chi University in Taipei in 1986. That experience lent him a valuable new perspective from the Chinese on the process of poliheal change over long periods of time. English then received a fellowship at East-West Center Intitute of Culture and Commimication to pursue his ma^iei^ degree in Pacific Island Studies. He completed his degree in 1995, with a thesis on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Meanwhile, he worked during the fall general assemblies as an advisor for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) at their embassy to the United Nations in New York City. The FSM was a new country whieh had just established diplomatic ties. There at the UN, he voted on issues at meetings of the six committees of the General Assembly, and made recommendations to members for voting in general assemblies. During his time there, more than a dozen new nations emerged on to the world scene: Lithania and Latvia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaizhan, Eritrea, Namibia and others.

He saw countries with far less than Hawai'i struggle for and achieve independence. "My view is, I support complete independence for Hawai'i. It's plausible, it's do-able, it's a viable option." But he cautions, "We need to move away from the racial context. This involves everyone in modern Hawaiian society." He sees sovereignty for Hawai'i as a viable alternative to continuing under the current federal system. But he is concerned that what may develop will be like an apartheid system — separate lands, separate government. "I hope we don't construct a system based on that, whieh would create more division."

English looks at his appointment to Maui County Council as an exercise of sovereignty. "Yes, I am in the system, and that is sovereignty. I share similar views with Sol Kaho'ohalahala (Maui County Councilmember from Lāna'i). Because we (as Hawaiians)

don't fully participate in the current system...we lose our voice and power. As we become the eenter, we gain more power," he said.

"I go by a saying, whieh has been my guiding light, 'If you change your mind, you've changed the world." If you just ■ change your ^ mind you ean

hnd a way to resolve any prob-

lem. But sometxmes it is easier to 'change the world' than to change your mind." "Hawai'i is a third world country masquerading as a first world country. We are dependent on oil imports, dependent on food imports, dependent on U.S. federal subsidies." _

English was involved with various Hawaiian nationalist groups, including Ka Lāhui Hawai'i, but decided he was more valuable to the greater community when not affiliated with a group, so he cou!d stand on his own personal views. His involvement was "very good experienee." He says today, "I encourage our I people to exercise critical and indepen- i

dent thinking." English was appointed to fill the remaining two years of the late eouncilmember Tom Morrow's seat after Morrow was killed in an airplane crash just four days before the Nov. 5 eleehon. Morrow was still elected by voters, putting the final ehoiee Up to the eoimeil. English was selected by a majority of eouneil members in January. He made it known he was interested in the seat, though it was a hard ehoiee to make because Maui senator

Chumbley was to be named co-chair of the Judiciary Committee and English would have been chief of staff to the committee. But he saw the opportunity, as a councilmember, to have a direct say in loeal policy. Maui residents, and Chumbly encouraged him. He said he's learned in politics that people appreciate decisive commitment. He says, "As-legis-

lators we have great choices to make. Sometimes you have to put aside your own feelings, because you're elected to make a ehoiee." "I think the majority of people are motivated by fear. I prefer to act from a point of strength. That has served me well. Yes, there are things I'm fearful of. But I choose to act from a point of strength. If you act from a point of fear, you act from weakness. This is where critical thinking and examining issues comes in. These two elements will help people to know their strength. It helps to strip away the personalities to feel comfortable and strong about that issue." Among English's goals with the eouneil are to: incorporate technology into loeal government to get all members on e-mail, and to bring in telecommunications so rural districts such as Hāna, Moloka'i and Lāna'i ean fully participate in loeal government process. "I think it is our obligation to provide eonvenient venues for the public to voice their opinions. We need to make government as accessible as possible, provide on-line access to government documents, agenda, minutes, and make it free because this helps the public." English chairs the eouneil committee on eeonomie development and environment. He says, T'd like to look at the big picture for Maui Coimty in terms of eeonomie development. We are dependent on tourism. We need to look at truly diversifying our eeonomie base, for example, with sustainable/ renewable eeonomie development, by cutting down energy use and dependency with photovoltaic systems, energy efficient lights; through food production, food storage systems to reduce our dependency on outside sources. "We also need to be creating more meaningful jobs in our society, not more service jobs." He points out that the higher educational opportunities pursued by Hawaii's young people often do

5t matcn employment opportumties in

the islands, whieh are predominantly in service jobs. "We need another policy to support creation of creative jobs." English onee again lives in Hāna and says "Now it is my honor to take care of my grandparents." English is one of the founders

**■ of Hui 'Āina O Hāna and is still involved with this loeal land trust formed to help Hawaiians and nonHawaiians deal with land use issues by creating win-win situations. Hui 'Āina O Hāna recently worked with a Hāna landowner to turn over a fishing trail easement to the land trust. Hui 'Āina O Hāna assumed liability for the trail, loeal fishermen were able to get to the shore and the owner no longer had liability concerns. As case

uiaiiei^ei, jz,iigiiMi iii 177^. upeiieu uie Hāna office of Hui No Ke Ola Pono , the Nahve Hawaiian Health Care Center. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. He is past chairman of the Maui County Cultural Resources Commission. Councilman Kalani English may be reached on the net at jkalani@aloha.net, or at his office at (808) 243-7765 and fax (808) 243-7177. I

Hāpapa Mōmona is a Ka Wai Ola o -4 OHA feature showcasing people from the Hawaiian community making a difference m j in the lives of others. Call 594-1 980 with suggestions for . , future profiles. t

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