Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 11, 1 November 1997 — Our kūpuna ensure the survival of culture, language, pride. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Our kūpuna ensure the survival of culture, language, pride.

Editor's note: Trustee Aiona delivered the following weleome at the 10th annual kupuna conferenee held on Kaua'i, Oct. 24. He also updated kūpuna on ihe appeal ofJudge Heely's decision to the Hawai'i Supreme Court; the $7.2 million due OHA now held in escrow; the effect ofAct 329 whieh sets OHA's ceded lands revenues at $15.1 million for the next two years and providesfor an inventory ofceded lands: and the govemor's moratorium on landing fees.

Aloha and weleome to you, honored guests and beloved kūpuna. You know, I'm one of you. I just turned 72, and I have seven mo'opuna and two ' great-grandchildren. As a kupuna too, it brings me tremendous pride to take i part in the opening ceremony of ' Aha Kupuna. Our gathering comes at a time when our people ean benefit greatly ffom our ideas as elders, our sense of 'ohana and our desire to ensure that our culture endures. Today

we see the embrace of our culture from government, ffom private organizations and individuals. This is a reffeshing departure from the past. But now, we must be ever vigilant to ensure that our traditions, our language and our way of life cany forward. We ean only do this by sharing with our families pride in being Hawaiian. We cannot and will not rest in our efforts to further our heritage. We have many examples of kūpuna reaching out to our next generations. We have to look into the eyes of our children, mo'opuna. nieces and nephews and see the dreams of tomorrow's people of Hawai'i. We must help our

future generations, whether it be through mentoring and tutoring in our schools or simply telling of stories of our heritage. We ean see many hard-fought victories, but we have a long way to go before the dreams of our people ean be realized. Eaeh of you has watched as our culture and people have not only endured outside influences, but have become stronger. Throughout the last centuiy, our kūpuna have not forgotten our cherished traditions. Instead, they have, through their loving hearts and hope for our future, provided a platform of unity. We have eome very far in the last century. An example of the embrace of culture is in the revitalization of our language. We have wimessed as our

language was treated with disrespect, whereas today, we have schools dedicated to its preservation, we see many members of our loeal media speaking the language and, best of all, our youth again are speaking our language, with mueh pride. We must pursue dignity in our heritage — it is the path to our success. And if we are to succeed as a people, we must have strong leadership. That type of leadership

ean only eome from our 'ōpio. We must prepare them, educate them to assume their rightful plaee in Hawai'i. We muSt build their enthusiasm to overcome the outside challenges to our heritage. A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau predicted that by the year 2049, there may not be any more pure Hawaiians. As our people carry some of the traits of other cultures, we must do everything possible to ensure that our heritage, traditions and rights as an indigenous people remain undiluted. My heart and my dreams are with our people, their past and future. Let us have unity in voice, in action and in spirit. ■

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TRUSTEE MESSAGES

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