Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 3, 1 March 2013 — Senator Daniel K. Inouye [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Senator Daniel K. Inouye

Senator Daniel K. Inouye's work to return Kaho'olawe to the people of Hawai'i, to improve the heahh of Native Hawaiians, and to support the revival of traditional navigation arts has defined hini as a keiki 0 ka 'āina. The return of Kaho ' olawe started on Oet. 22, 1990, when President George H.W. Bush ordered a halt to all military ordnanee

delivery exereises on Kaho'olawe. Sen. Inouye, who was ehainnan of the Senate Military Appropriations Committee added a provision in the 1990-1991 military appropriations budget that prohibited any of those monies from being spent on ordnanee-related military exereises on Kaho'olawe. The legislation also established the Kaho'olawe Island Conveyanee Commission (KICC) to reeoimnend to Congress by 1993 what the future use of the island should be. On Aug. 16, 1992, the KICC, in eoordination with the Offiee of Hawaiian Affairs, the Edith Kanaka'ole Foundation and the Proteet Kaho 'olawe ' Ohana, organized a ceremony of healing on Kaho'olawe. Gathered were major decision-makers, government leaders and kūpuna from eaeh island who eame together to heal their differences in order to heal the land. Sen. Inouye was among the government leaders in attendance and all who attended pledged to protect and heal the island. In May 1994, Kaho'olawe was returned to the people of Hawai'i. Sen. Inouye and Hawai'i's congressional delegation sponsored Title X of the FY 1 994 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. Title X appropriated $400 million for a 10-year eleanup of unexploded ordnance. Of the appropriated money, $44 million was provided to the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Conuiiission to restore the island's natural and cultural resources. While chair of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, Sen. Inouye was instrumental in acknowledging Native Hawaiians as the indigenous people of Hawai'i with special needs and an entitlement to access resources afforded to Native Americans by the

U.S. Congress. Fegislation he navigated through the U.S. Congress to include Native Hawaiians were the Native American Programs Act, the Native Hawaiian Education Act, the Native Hawaiian Heahh Care Improvement Act (1988), Title VIII oftheNative American Housing Assistance and Self-Detennination Act, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

All of these laws promoted the heahh and well-being of Native Hawaiians and perpetuated our cultural integrity. He also worked whh Sen. Akaka on the law of apology to the Native Hawaiian people for America's role in the takeover of Hawai 'i in 1 893 , and continued to support Sen. Akaka's Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act. Sen. Inouye helped to secure $3 million for Moloka'i General Hospital, whieh was then used to raise $15 million for new facilities and medical technology. Whh his sponsorship, Moloka'i received monies as an "Enterprise Community" for community-based eeonomie development projects such as fishpond restoration, a slaughterhouse, an icehouse, restoration of taro lands and value-added coimnercial kitchen operations. One of Sen. Inouye's most significant contributions to the Native Hawaiian coimnunity was his support for the voyages and educational activities of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. He understood the unportance of the wayfinding voyaging traditions of our Native Hawaiian ancestors in uplifting the spirit, pride and identity of contemporary Native Hawaiians. Congressional support helped launeh Hōkūle'a and other double-hull canoes. A new generation was trained in the traditional art and science of celestial navigation and this developed an appreciation of the legacy of Native Hawaiian ancestors among all of Hawai'i's people. His aloha and lifetune of service opened many paths of opportunity for the Native Hawaiian people that we will continue to walk upon with dignity and pride. Aloha a hui hou, Senator Daniel K. Inouye. ■

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