Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 6, 1 June 2013 — Books to be sent to paʻahao [ARTICLE]

Books to be sent to paʻahao

By Karin Stanton Far from home, hundreds of Native Hawaiians prisoners are cut off from family, friends and their culture. With little to nurture their traditions, one University of Hawai'i student had an idea to boost the morale and quench the thirst for knowledge of Hawaiian prisoners on the continent. Andre Perez, a University of Hawai'i-Mānoa Hawaiian Studies

student, was immersed in prison advocacy work when he recognized a need - Native Hawaiian prisoners on the continent had no access to reading material that reflects their culture, history and language. This isn't the first time Perez will be sending troves of books to pa'ahao, but he said it's the first effort that he's coordinating with the state Department of Puhlie Safety to ensure the books are officially admitted into the prisons' library.

"I have a really simple formula: books in prison get read - over and over again," said Perez, who's visited pa'ahao on the continent and taught classes. He said many of the inmates are intelligent and hungry to learn, and having referenee books by Kamakau, Malo, Pukui and Fornander when you're incarcerated miles from home is a "good first step forward" in providing them a link to their Hawaiian history and culture. Perez's latest effort is being done with help from fellow student Ilima Long and the UH Native Hawaiian Student Services, whieh is a part

of the Hawai'inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. Nalani Balutski, research and evaluation coordinator for Native Hawaiian Student Services, said books on Hawaiian history and other related topics are "part of the healing" for pa'ahao. "Usually, the gang identity trumps all other identities in the prison environment," she said. "But if you ean teach Hawaiians about their Hawaiian identity, it has positive outcomes." The long-term goal is to reduce the number of Native Hawaiians who retum to prison and boost the number who commit to higher education.

"They are in a plaee where it's not set up for them to believe in their potential or recognize the power of their Hawaiian identity," Balutski said. "It's about faith and learning about who you are as a Hawaiian that gives their lives purpose and meaning." With the help of a $5,000 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and $1,000 from the university's Student Equity Excellence and Diversity Office, Perez, Long and Balutski launched a book drive. Billed as "a grassroots initiative SEE B00KS ON PAOE 13

B00KS

Continued from page 11 to build a Hawaiian scholarly library to help feed and sustain the minds and souls of our Kānaka Maoli brothers and sisters in prison," the project got started April 8 with music, food, speakers and a plea for new books on Hawaiian language, culture and history. That event netted 200 books, Balutski said. Donations also eame in from Native Books/Nā Mea Hawai'i, Kamehameha Publishing andNative Hawaiian Student Services as well as through drop-off sites at UH-Mānoa, Kapi'olani Community College and Windward Community College and now total around 500. The main donation drive is now complete and organizers are preparing to catalog the books and work with the Department of Public Safety to send the books to the prisons. Balutski said professors oeeasionally have received requests fromprisoners and mailed books right from their own shelves. However, prison regulations may have prevented those packages from reaching prisoners. Most of the donated books will be sent to Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona, whieh houses the majority of Hawai'i's 1,900 out-of-state male prisoners, Perez said. Statistically, about 40 percent of the state's prisoners are Native Hawaiian. In a YouTube video of the April launeh, Perez said that books will also be sent to the women's prison on O'ahu, "so we're not forgetting about our mothers, daughters, grandmothers who are incarcerated too." For more information, email Balutski at balutski@hawaii.edu. ■

Karin Stanton, a former reporter/editor at West Hawai'i Today, works for the Associated Press and Hawai'i 24/7. Lisa Asato contributed to this report.