Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 6, 1 June 2007 — Hawaiians continue fight [ARTICLE]

Hawaiians continue fight

I am Hawaiian, born in the Queen's hospital and raised on fish and poi, with one foot in the oeean and the other on the 'āina. My earliest memories are of my 'ohana on the heaeh and my tūtū calling out in Hawaiian.

I remember a time when the language was in danger of being lost. If Hawaiian is not taught here, will it be taught anywhere? Slowly, access and gathering rights are reduced. The law states that the beaches are publie, but many are without puhlie access, and some property owners plant vegetation on the heaeh to extend their property. Freddy Rice won his case in court, and Hawaiians ean no longer exclusively select leaders to represent them in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. There have been numerous cases against Hawaiian programs. For 124 years, Hawaiians have been fighting just to retain what is theirs. For the most part, life goes on, and the bigger picture goes undetected by busy people trying to make ends meet. Meanwhile, step by step, those who want to end Hawaiian programs advance, and ever so slowly the first people of these islands lose what was theirs. The Doe v. Kamehameha Schools case was settled, and a monarch's legacy to her people is preserved for another day. Pua Richards Honolulu, O'ahu