Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 9, 1 September 2011 — OHA Board hears Maui community concerns [ARTICLE]

OHA Board hears Maui community concerns

By Kekoa Enomoto LAHAINA, Maui — A possible threat to fishing rights posed by a proposed monk seal recovery program headlined the Aug. 17 Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees community meeting at Waiola Church hall. Some 85 people attended the session, where many expressed gratitude to outgoing Maui Trustee Boyd Mossman for his leadership. He will resign Nov. 1 to become President of the Kona Hawai'i īemple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lana Quedding of Kēōkea presented ornate lei lā'I (ti leaf lei) to Mossman and his wife, Maile. Maui community organizers Blossom Feiteira and Ke'eaumoku Kapu said they seek to fill the vacancy to be created by Mossman's departure. They were among more than a dozen Valley Isle residents testifying on concerns, issues and projects ranging from an appeal in the Nā Wai 'Ehā water-rights lawsuit and spreading development in Waihe'e and other areas, to the traditional geocultural history of the Kuloloi'a 'ohana, and Dowling Co. gifting University of Hawai'i Maui College with the Palauea Cultural Reserve as a potential cultural-education site. Ke'eaumoku Kapu sought testimony by OHA on a draft programmatic environmental impact statement for proposed Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Actions by the National Oeeanie and Atmospheric Administration. He said the program would bring monk seal pups from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to the main Hawaiian Islands and would enhanee critical habitat for the protected mammals. He foresaw "adverse effects on the Native Hawaiian community, a lot of Native Hawaiian organizations and fishing fleets" because expanded habitat might preclude access to fisheries. Moreover, the unfettered seals would eat fish, shellfish and octopus sought by subsistence fishers. To examine such impacts, he said, "I ask OHA to get the organizations to be able to sit at the table with the federal agencies." (For information on upcoming meetings and how to provide comment on the draft programmatic EIS, visit tiny.cc/0j581.) On the topic of educational support, Liko

A'e Statewide Director Malia Davidson thanked OHA Trustees for a grant to the Liko A'e scholarship program for Native Hawaiians. "Through the $100,000 received from OHA for nontraditional scholarships, Liko A'e was able to service 76 students, including 28 in associate degree programs, 19 in bachelor's degree programs, 20 in master's degree programs and nine in doctoral programs," she said. However, Davidson noted the program recently lost $3 million in Native Hawaiian Education Act funds because a federal computer program incorrectly recognized the 'okina, a Hawaiian diacritical mark, in "Liko A'e" as a virus. Trustee Haunani Apoliona urged Davidson to pursue congressional intervention in the matter as soon as possible. In other education-related testimony, Vicki McCarty requested OHA's help in the loss due to foreclosure of Nā Kūpuna O Pu'uhonua O Honokōhau's facility. The kupuna group represents a source of traditional Hawaiian knowledge by elders and cultural practitioners in a relatively isolated valley. McCarty said it's important the kūpuna mentor valley keiki because "if their link to the past is not allowed to connect to the future, what will happen then?" "Honokōhau is the last ahupua'a where real cultural things are happening from the mountain to the sea," she added. Those attending the OHA Trustees community meeting were invited by Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce past President Chubby Vicens to the chamber's fifth annual Business Fest Sept. 2 at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa. Speakers will include Nainoa Thompson of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and Miehael Chun of Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama. For event details, visit mauihawaiianchamber.org. The next OHA community meeting is being planned for Hawai'i Island on Oct. 19 and 20. More information will be published in the October issue of Ka Wai Ola and online at www.oha.org. ■ Kekoa Enomolo is a retired copy editor and Staff Writer with The Maui News and former Honoīuīu Star-Buīīetin.

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