Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 11, 1 November 2000 — OHAʻs productive role [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHAʻs productive role

ĪHE WEATHER of 'Ikuwā, harbinger of change, is upon us. The nights are cooler, the days, damper, with more frequent showers and lengthening shadows. Moisture loss is less severe and we are hopeful that the crops have survived the dry

season. We are hopeful also for OHA and its productive role in Hawai'i nei. As questions have flourished in this time of tumult, let me address two posed to me. 1) Why did the govemor appoint you as an interim trastee ? I do not know the govemor's intent, but I do know why I accepted: to continue the work I was elected to do until the end of this term. 2) Why did you support the Akaka legislation? As an OHA trastee, my task is to protect the assets of the beneficiaries whieh include the revenue stream whieh flows from

Washington to Hawai'i. The legislation was crafted to provide for that. Political challenges and changes aside, at a recent OHA board meeting held at

Nawahīokalani'ōpu'u, the campus of Hawaiian leaming at Kea'au, Puna on Hawai'i Island, I had a glimpse of the future. In this post-Rice time, among the things whieh we are considering are discriminations against us by the usurping govemment and

resulting social order. While we were not denied access to education or the ballot box, the language by whieh the business eonducted at the schools and polling 1 places changed. Decades of f being denied functional use of ; Hawaiian to exchange knowledge | and to vote upon the issues of the day are coming to an end. That ; Nawahīokalani'ōpu'u is named ; for a mighty kupa o Hawai'i is | thought provoking. More than f thoughts were provoked upon the confident and forceful salutation by the smdents and teachers upon our arrival at the site. The stirrings were visceral as well as academic ... a full-bodied

response. I had arrived expecting progressive academic initiatives and rigor. What I had not expected See SPRINGER on page 11

[?]

SPRINGER From page 7

was the complimentary commitment to physical self-rehance. That response was sustained and grew as we visited the māla. Developed as a means of dealing with water surplus and the inevitable Kea'au runoff, the gardens flourish with native species, Polynesian introductions, food crops and ornamental species. Like at our home, Kukui'ohiwai at Kekaha, Kona 'Akau, the Kea'au site has a very shallow soil horizon. Given their greater water budget however, they are able to generate soil at a rate whieh we only dream of. Utilizing all eompostable material they adjust and monitor the microbial composition of the soil for maximum potential. They do not stop with the gardens, having developed solar and wind power, their reliance upon "the grid" is limited to emergency use only. In addition to maximizing input to their system, they further minimize output from the site by use of composting toilets. Their system fabricated on site completes their remarkable practice of striving to live within their means. While they now supplement cafeteria meals with produce from their garden, they look forward to the time when the māla will support all of their nutritional needs. It was a clear day at Kea'au. We could see from the māla to the horizon under a bright blue sky. There I saw a metaphor and model for our work as a people and as an office. To work that we become intellectually progressive, academically rigorous while living self-reliantly and well within our means. That we do it i ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i gives life to voices quiet for a time and life to voices yet to eome. E mau kākou i ka leo o ka 'āina i ka pono. ■