Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 1, 1 January 2000 — Wahine Warrior [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Wahine Warrior

By Paula Durbin fOR MANY hula fans, Pi'ilani Smith's solos at the 1989 Merrie Monarch Festival remain the truly magic moments of nearly three decades of the Miss Aloha Hula competition. Just 21, Smith won the title and went on to a successful performing career — traveling, dancing

and loving it all as she prepared to succeed, one day, her mother, Alieia Smith. kumu hula of Halau o nā Maolipua. Now Smith is center stage as t the feisty president of the Associated Students of the University of Hawai'i, elected last spring during a spirited term in the UH senate. What prompted the transfor-

mation from hula . artist to campus firebrand? Smith credits Hawaiian language teachers Edith McKinzie and

Kalani Meineeke, the mentors who put her on the path to the universitv where she is maior-

ing in Hawaiian studies. And she cites anti-PASH legislation with arousing her poliheal consciousness. "As a hula person, I became very interested in political struggles when I learned about Senate Bill 8, whieh would have required us to register to gather the plants needed for dancing, and I thought the best political analyst would be Haunani Trask," she explained. "So I went to the Center for Hawaiian Studies." Encouraged by Trask, Smith joined others running for student government positions on an all-Native Hawaiian slate. "I wanted to show the institution

that Hawaiians were eapahle," said Smith. " I wanted the university to deal with our Hawaiian issues. I felt Hawaiians were treated as if we were an invisible population. And I was unconstitutionally removed for bucking the status quo." Her colleagues wanted her out of office when Smith began to boycott the committees

to whieh she was assigned because she thought they were too caught up in parties and

feel good" activi-

Pi'ilani Smith's memorable hula stylings, photographed above at the 1989 Merrie Monarch Festival, ean be seen with Hālau o nā Maolipua at "Ua Ao Hawai'i 2000" Jan. 15. See Ka Wai Ola's calendar on page 18 for concert details. found she was ready to take the heat. "Being a smart Hawaiian," she said, "I looked up all the rules. There were procedures to be followed. Surprisingly, the then-ASUH president said, 'Pi'i, you're right. Just eome in and take your seat.' Out of that, I decided I'm definitely fit to be a leader." See WARRIOR on page 17

PHOTO COURTESV: HĀLAU O NĀ MAOLIPUA

ln her office, ASUH President Smith works on a variety of projects ranging from administration of a $300,000 budget to oversight of ASUH's $6 million investment portfolio to its program of guest speakers. In May, ASUH will bring indigenous peoples' advocate and Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menehu from Guatemala to the Mānoa eampus for a public lecture.

PHOĪO: PAULA DURBIN

WARRI0R

From page 12 f mith follows Mamo Kim as K the second Hawaiian woman in three years to lpreside over ASUH. Like S Kim, nothing arouses Smith's enthusiasm more than identifying substantive issues to be addressed. "We push the hard issue of mismanagement," she said. As an example, she points to observatories on Mauna Kea used rent-free although the entire mountain is ceded land. "That's mismanagement," she insisted. "If there's anything I want to get done, it's to hold the university responsible to the Hawaiian people for any development." This led to another eoneem. "Six hundred foreign students get tuition waivers," Smith pointed out, "whereas we have only 210 or so for native Hawaiians. Where is the equity?" She promised the issue, on whieh she and other students are working with Senator ColIeen Hanabusa, will surface during the 2000 legislature. Smith's stance on what she deems institutional racism has definitely rocked a few boats. A Nov. 10 meeting of the UH Faculty Congress attended by 350 professors fell into total disarray when she asked for a

broader perspective in the world civilization core eumieulum requirement. "I was floored," she recalled. "It seems that anywhere I go my mere presence sets off a controversy." Last summer, she took on the UH mascot, whieh ean be described as a caricature of a Hawaiian warrior. "There is a continental trend to remove such racist mascots and UH still has one. As contemporary Hawaiians we find it degrading and insulting," Smith said. The athletics department resisted her demand to retire the symbol, but the commotion that followed included death threats. So the mascot sat the semester out. When she completes her edueaūon, Smith wants to work with Native Hawaiian women. "Bring them out of the woodwork, organize them and give them the resources and opportunities to do what they want," she clarified. But all the activism has meant carrying a lighter academic load and postponing graduation until fall 2001. Meanwhile, she explained, "If by my presence and my posture other students find their voice and express themselves, then I would eonsider that success." ■ . n