Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 10, 1 October 2013 — The Kalaupapa Memorial [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Kalaupapa Memorial

Trustee's note: Tlūs eoīumn was written by Valerie Monson, staunch advocate and board member of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa. Plans for the Kalaupapa Memoiial, a longtime dream of the Kalaupapa community, took a big step forward when the Board of Land and Natural Resources unanimously approved a 65-year lease to Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa

for the site of the Kalaupapa Memorial and the surrounding grounds. "This was a great day for us," said Boogie Kahilihiwa, president of the 'Ohana. "We were so happy that Land Board members could see the passion and commitment from so many of us with the 'Ohana to see our memorial eome to life." The memorial will be built on the site of the former Baldwin Boys Home across the road from St. Philomena Church, also known as Father Damien's Church. This loeaīion was selected, in large part, because it has long been the preferred site of the majority of Kalaupapa residents. The community asked Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa to make the memorial a reality. The Hawai'i congressional delegation led the effort to get The Kalaupapa Memorial Act passed and signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009. The law stated that the 'Ohana will be responsible for raising all the necessary funds. The memorial will list the names of everyone who was isolated at Kalaupapa because of government policies regarding leprosy from 1866 to 1969. Of the estimated 8,000 people sent to Kalaupapa, fewer than 1,000 have marked tombstones so most of the names of those who created the history of Kalaupapa are missing from the landscape. To begin gathering the names, the 'Ohana launched The Kalaupapa Names Project in 2007. Since then, the 'Ohana has compiled a list of more than 7,000 people who were sent to Kalaupapa - and is now in the process of double-checking spellings

by searching other registers, letters, petitions and consulting with family members. We are already using this information to help descendants learn about their Kalaupapa kūpuna. The 'Ohana has also been working with the Naīional Park Service (NPS) on eomplianee processes to move forward in collaboration on the memorial. At the request of the Kalaupapa community, Kalaupapa Naīional Historieal Park was created in 1980. The 'Ohana feels it is essen-

tial to work hand-in-hand with NPS for the success of the project and is seeking to develop a cooperative agreement with NPS regarding the operations and mainīenanee of the memorial like NPS has with its other nonproht park partners. The 5.9 acres of the former Baldwin Home site are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, so approval of a 65-year lease by the Land Board was important. The Land Board granted the lease with two benchmarks: that the memorial be built within 10 years and that the 'Ohana prepare a management plan within 20 years. Land Board members were struck by the personal testimonies. Support letters eame from OH A, former Gov. John Waihe'e as chair of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa and the Rev. Charles Buck, Hawai'i Conferenee Minister of the United Church of Christ. Also providing testimony were Don Reeser and Henry Law, former NPS superintendents, who are members of the 'Ohana Memorial Committee. Family members and descendants spoke about the need for a 65-year lease. One 'Ohana leader carried her 2-year-old son and another brought her grandson to show that the 'Ohana will go on for future generations. Onee the memorial has been built, the 'Ohana envisions that family members will serve as docents and guides at the memorial, sharing the stories of their ancestors that will help the names of Kalaupapa live again. ■

LEO 'ELELE TRUSTEE MESSSAGES

Cūlette Y. Machadū ChairpErsūn, TrustEE Muluka'i aud Lāua'i