Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 1, 1 January 2014 — Toward a better, brighter New Year for all [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Toward a better, brighter New Year for all

As a relatively new trustee, I find it useful to frequently revisit the mission of OHA and remind myself of the responsibility that has been entrusted to me. I ask myself: Did we mālama (protect) Hawai'i's people and environmental resources and OHA's assets? What have we done to perpetuate Hawaiian culture? How have we enhanced the lives of Native Hawaiians, while eonlinuin" to build a strong and

healthy Hawaiian people and nation? I am happy to report that over the course of a busy year we have taken important steps that addressed all aspects of our stated mission: steps that I believe move us forward as a people. We weighed in to ask that our children not be denied the opportunity for language immersion that is so critical to sustaining our culture. We have celebrated and promoted the use of ho'oponopono - the ancient Hawaiian practice of forgiveness and reconciliation. In these times when religion is too often used to divide rather than to unite, ' a process that combines aspects of Hindu and Buddhist practices of renunciation and Christian concepts of repentance ean only bode well for the community. Amidst the sometimes overheated debate about nationhood, we took pragmatic steps toward achieving eeonomie sovereignty. OHA has eome out in favor of public/private partnerships to make the most of our energy resources and give Native Hawaiians the means of improving the well-being of their families. The stake we took in Hu'ena Power, a Native ' Hawaiian geothermal development eompany met our stringent investment policy guidelines. But what should matter even more to our beneficiaries is that this investment holds the promise of moving us toward independence from fossil fuels. Geothermal is the only renewable energy resource that we have that ean do what oil does today: provide a stable source of power. Geothermal will be there for us even when the sun does not shine and

the wind does not blow. We need to have a say in how this critical resource is developed to protect the interests of our beneficiaries. Good health is a critical part of helping families do better. That is why we have been vocal about encouraging our beneficiaries to use the resources made available through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - otherwise known as Obamacare - to get quality health

insurance. The preventive care that the ACA makes possible will go a long way toward addressing the disproportionate occurrence of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease among Native Hawaiians. One way in whieh we perpetuate our culture is to preserve traditional knowledge. That is why we welcomed the focus on the 'aha moku system of stewardship, designed to bring back the best of indigenous resource management systems. Integral to this is recognizing the interconnectedness of all aspects of nature and the impact of human action. That was brought home to us as we listened to the appeals of the people of Ni'ihau to do something about the overfishing that was affecting their ability to feed their families. Good governance also demands that we take stock of where we have fallen short. We had to make some tough decisions to cut back on funding the Kana'iolowalu, or Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, whieh had not met expectations. We will need to revisit where we are with regard to more fully meeting the original goal of the commission. For now, we wish all our beneficiaries a happy and successful New Year. We will do our best to make it so by continuing to work toward meeting our strategic goals, including the development of Kaka'ako Makai. Me Ka Ha'aha'a. ■

Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey Trustee, Maui