Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 6, 1 June 2004 — VISUALIZING Nationhood [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

VISUALIZING Nationhood

Participants in OHA visioning conference share mana'o on the challenges of nation-building

Story and photos by Derek Ferrar What are the values that should underlie the creation of a Hawaiian government? What lands should be included in the nation's territory? What would be its eeonomie base? These are some of the topics that were under consideration when about 250 people gathered at the Dole Cannery Ballroom in Iwilei May 5 and 6 to participate in a visioning conferenee intended to air and develop ideas on the issues that should be considered as Hawaiians seek to rebuild their nation. Titled "Ka Nowelo Aupuni Hawai'i - Delve Into the Possibilities," the OHA-sponsored conference included keynote speakers and panel presentations on key aspects of self-determination, as well as smaller group sessions in whieh participants brainstormed mana'o on what a reconstituted nation should do for Hawaiians.

"I believe this is a good thing because of all the new facts," said participant Umialiloa Sexton. "The part I've really been enjoying about these forums or kūkākūkā is that the more we

get together, the less is being said, whieh to me means that more and more is being done. Everything that our kūpuna have brought us through has brought us to a point where all the

anger and frustrations are out. So now we ean get to the meat of the problem, whieh is how do we work on building our nation." Dr. Manu Meyer, associate professor of education and social sciences at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, set the tone for the conference by insisting that when envisioning a nation, Hawaiians must assert the intelligence and cultural values they've derived from more than 2,000 years of living in these islands. "The philosophy of our time begs us to think deeper," Meyer said. "I am not going to ask the United States of America for my sovereignty. We're already doing it, and we are building the nation from the inside out." Following Meyer's speech was a panel presentation on questions of national territory, including land policy and acquisition, as well as issues involving cultural and natural resources. 'īlio'ulaokalani Coalition President Vicky Holt Takamine said that when envisioning a nation, Hawaiians must protect its cultural resources: the values, mo'olelo and traditions. To this end, she said, 'īlio'ulaokalani, in collaboration with the community, has developed a declaration that outlines Hawaiian intellectual property rights and how they should be protected. "It was an exercise in self-determination," Takamine said. "We determined for See VISIONING on page 9

VISIONING from page 1 ourselves what they are and we declared them." Many of the participants also attended an evening presentation by Papakōlea community organizations, including a number of young people involved in a program that uses cultural and artistic expression to help deal with issues in their homes and communities. "It was amazing. It touched my heart, and I was crying like a baby," said veteran Maui activist Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell after the presentation at the Papakōlea Community Center. "Some of these young kids even said they had been contemplating suicide, and then through this program they re-estab-lished their sense of self worth. They're the youth of Hawai'i, and they're saying that this is their sovereignty." After the second morning's keynote talk on the nature of indigenous nationhood by Dartmouth professor Dale Turner, an Anishnabi native from Canada and an expert in issues of native sovereignty, the panel discussion focused on methods in whieh a Hawaiian nation could sustain itself economically. Panelist Manu Ka'iama, from the Native Hawaiian Leadership Project at UH Mānoa, said that when talking about nation building, Hawaiians must gain

control of taxing authorities and the assets they are currently receiving, so that these monies ean be used to sustain a nation. "It's not easy, but it's not impossible," Ka'iama said. "When you dream, dream big; this is a great opportunity we have as Native Hawaiians." In the afternoon, the "breakout" discussion groups that had been meeting throughout the conference gathered to present their ideas to one

another. One of the groups used the construction of a hālau as a metaphor for building the Hawaiian nation. "One of our members shared this 'ōlelo no'eau: "O ke kahua ma mua, ma hope ke kūkulu — first the foundation, then the building," said group participant Aunty Kawao Durante. "So that's why we thought we'd use this hālau to express what we're talking about. The foundation stones are all these things like 'ōlelo, like our value system - aloha, lōkahi - like doing things that are pono, like ho'omana, having the spirituality. But we all agreed that we wanted it embedded as the foundation, so that the culture itself is the hālau." To close the conference, Charlotte Kameaaloha Kaluna, a rapper and poet who directs part of the Papakōlea youth project, read a poem she had composed during the conference. "A name is just a name, and no one's name is greater than the nation they were called to represent," Kaluna said. "So you ean simply refer to me as Hawai'i, as you ean refer to my children by that same name: Hawai'i. As you ean refer to my neighbor or that person sitting across from you; or to my yesterday's enemy, who today is one of my truest and dearest friends. Refer to them all as Hawai'i." Sterling Kini Wong and Nohea Kimokeo contributed to this report. ■

Participants of varied ages and backgrounds gathered to express their vision for the Hawaiian nation.