Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 10, 1 October 1998 — ʻ98 candidates in focus [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻ98 candidates in focus

'98 candidates infocus is a Ka Wai Ola o OHA forum to whieh all OHA candidates were invited, free of charge. Letters were sent to eaeh candidate, giving them the opportunity to publish information on themselves by sending narratives and/or answering questions that would provide our readers pertinent information. Photographs were also requested. Of the 38 candidates running for the five open seats on the OHA board, we received 33 responses. Read eaeh submission throughout this issue of Ka Wai Ola o OHA, and all other materials that will ' * ^ 4 j| help you to make informed choices at the Nov. 3 general election. E heluhelu mai 'oukou...

1 Why do you want to be an OHA trustee? I wish to contribute my knowledge, skills, mana and independent ideas to the process of uplifting our Hawaiian people. I have benefītted throughout my lifetime from the hard work of my parents and the wisdom of my kūpuna and now wish to return something to coming I generations. What qualities would you bring to the position? I was raised on the Waimānalo home1 stead, educated in Hawai'i and New I Zealand, and have eome through with a sensitivity and awareness of what Hawaiians and other indigenous people have 1 gone through. After 22 years as an elected member of the Board of Education, I know how to deal with bureaucracies.

With a history of being involved in issues affecting our Hawaiian people since 1967, 1 bring consensus-building skills, recognizing the independent ideas of eaeh individual. What do you consider the most important issues confronting the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and/or the Hawaiian peopie? We must take a pro-active stance in the ceded land issue, land bank by the purchase of land, and have self-determina-tion by and for Hawaiians. Most of all, we must work toward ending government paternalism, state wardship and state dictates. OHA must achieve a united voice for all Hawaiians. As an OHA trustee, how would you resolve those concerns? By consensus-building and prioritizing

the issues before the Hawaiian people, the voices, concerns and ideas of all Hawaiians and Hawaiian groups will be heard. Like driving on the freeway, we must glance at the past in the rear-view mirror, but concentrate on the present and the future. If you could only accomplish one goal as an OHA trustee, what would it be? To build Hawaiian unity utilizing the contributions of all sectors of the Hawaiian community, emphasizing our similarities rather than our differences. OHA must never heeome an insensitive bureaucracy. ■

The definition of "Native Hawaiian" was not created by Hawaiians themselves. Indeed, the proviso as added to the language of the 1 920 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act at the behest of powerful sugar planters, who were anxious to preserve more than 200,000 acres of ehoiee, inexpensive leases. Divide and rule. It was a classic tactic of eolonial regimes throughout the world, including the territorial administration of Hawai'i. The territory used it all too well, filling the coffers of the sugar planters while maintaining Hawaiians in factionalized penury. Seventyeight years later, Hawaiians are still wondering whether or not we own our own land. And of course, alienated from their land, Hawaiians were alienated from their spiritual and cultural selves as well. Although OHA is mandated to serve all Hawaiians, its funding mechanism restricts benefits to Native Hawaiians. The gulf between OHA's mission and its

means ean be seen in the instruments that created it and in those that fund it. The 1978 constitutional amendment that created OHA clearly required the board of trustees to "manage and administer" proceeds from ceded lands for "Native Hawaiians and Hawaiians." However, OHA's sources of revenue make the agency unable to fulfill its purpose. HRS Chapter 10 refers back to the Admission Act, whieh in turn refers back to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, whieh dedicates funding exclusively for Native Hawaiians. The act defines Native Hawaiians as "any descendent of not less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778." The blood quantum must be scrapped and benefits extended to all Hawaiians, with continued priority given to Native Hawaiians. As the Hawaiian race eontinues to "thin out" over time, we must find new ways to redefine our 'ohana, in

our own terms. Previous definitions were motivated by greed and formulated by strangers. New definitions will be motivated by a sense of lōkahi and aloha and formulated by Hawaiians. In a plaee of such great multicultural diversity as our island home, many Hawaiians are already below the blood quantum. Even Native Hawaiian families are often only a generation or two away from being in a similar predicament themselves. We are one people. We cannot afford to be divided by arguments about benefits or entitlements. Not when so mueh work remains to be done. The struggle to regain our sovereign rights requires unity and the strength of numbers. The blood quantum requirement must be amended by state and/or federal action so that OHA ean serve all the people it was created to serve. ■

;l)aiT0W Kanakanui Aiona At-Large

Rowena Akana At-Large