Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 8, 1 August 2010 — TO BUILD A NATION [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TO BUILD A NATION

By Jennifer Armstrong KaWai Ola WiththeNativeHawaiian Government Reorganization Act on deck in Congress, OHA is actively preparing for the road ahead. OHA staff and Trustees attended a two-day seminar on June 30 to July 1 for a nation-building presentation conducted by the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy (NNI). The training provided an in-depth view on the challenges and successes of building a nation within a nation. "We view ourselves as a resource for indigenous coimnunities and indigenous leaders to help them achieve self-determination, selfgovernance and to be able to have self-sustaining coimnunities as well,"

said Joan Timeche, Executive Director of NNI and a citizen of the Hopi tribe in northeastern Arizona. Her colleague Stephen Cornell, Ph.D., Director of the Udall Center for Studies in Puhlie Policy and Professor at the University of Arizona, was a co-presenter. Timeche's experience as a citizen of an indigenous nation and Cornell's background in puhlie administration, policy and sociology provided valuable insight to what Native Hawaiians may expect in their quest to forming a govermnent. To put a face on the research and types of govermnents that exist, the Timeche and Cornell shared examples of other native nations from all over the U.S. "Part of the history of indigenous people on the continent of North America has been a history of being denied the right to govern themselves," said Cornell. "Our job is to

think about those experiences, eommunicate what we think the lessons are, provide that information and then have Native Hawaiians take what is useful ... and look at what lessons they ean use in the post-Akaka era." Founded in 2001, NNI was established as a self-determination, self-governance and development resource for native nations. NNI assists the building of native nations so these communities ean realize polhieal, eeonomie and development goals. Nation building is the central focus of NNI's programs. Nation building involves the efforts of native nations to increase their capacities for self-rule and for self-determina-tion. It specifically involves building the tools of self-govermnent that are culturally appropriate to the nation and that are effective in addressing the challenges the people face. ■

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Trustee Oswald Stender, CE0 Clyde Nōmu'o, Joan īimenehe (Executive Director, Native Nations lnstitute), Stephen Cornell (Faculty Associate, Native Nations lnstitute), Patricia Zell, John Van Dyke (UH Law Professor), Chairperson Haunani Apoliona, Trustee Boyd Mossman. - Photo: Jennifer Armstrong