Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 1, 1 January 2015 — Hawaiʻi bond ... Native to Native [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiʻi bond ... Native to Native

Aloha e nā 'ōiwi 'ōlino, nā pulapula a Hāloa, mai Hawai'i a Ni'ihau, puni ke ao mālamalama. Trustees of the Nahonal Museum of the Ameiiean Indian, Smithsonian, traveled to Hawai'i this past December with the purpose to conduct their final Board of Trustees meeting for the year; previously scheduled for 2013 but sequestration delaying it until December 2014. Native nations represented on the NMAI Board have previously included Chickasaw, Ojibwe, Yup'ik, Sioux, Pawnee, Cheyenne, Chocktaw, Cherokee, Pueblo of Laguna, Serano/Cahuilla/San Manuel Band of

Mission Indians, Seneca, Tulalip, Comanche, Winnebago, Oneida, Yocha Dehe Wintun, Maya and Native Hawaiian. The NM AI agenda provided a rare opportunity for Trustees and staff to consider adding five days, of thek time and resources, for site visits in Hawai'i, specifically O'ahu, to precede the NMAI Trustees board meeting. And they agreed. The first day was spent at Mauna 'Ala. Kahu William John Kaihe'ekai Mai'oho presented mo'olelo and history of the "Burial plaee for the Sovereign and High Chiefs of the Kingdom." He spoke of royal burials before Mauna 'Ala, the founding of Mauna 'Ala, who is interred at Mauna 'Ala and theh ehcumstances, the protocol of Mauna 'Ala and finally the reason for the distinct location of the Lunalilo Mausoleum at Kawaiaha'o and its significance. Our Native visitors presented lei and mana'o at eaeh of the tombs at Mauna 'Ala; the Wyllie, the Kamehameha, the Charles Reed Bishop, the John Young, and the Kalākaua ciypts. The Trustees were most reverent and appreciative for this acknowledge-

ment of our Ali'i as they too honor theh native, indigenous predecessors. In the days that followed the Mauna 'Ala visit, Trustees began to see the humanitarian and policy work of our Ali'i that made the difference, then and now, for Native Hawaiians. Day 2 included three sites: 1 ) the well appreciated visit to 'Iolani Palaee and the expressed deshe by NMAI Trustees to return to at a future date that would allow for more time and study; 2) Ka'iwakīloumoku - Hawaiian Cultural Center at Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama in Honolulu, Hawai'i; and 3) the Office of Hawaiian Affahs.

1 he tmrd day ot visits were devoted to Hawaiian Homelands. The NMAI Trustees spent an hour briefing on Hawaiian Home Lands; the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the lands and their locations, the challeges ongoing as well as the current and future possibilites; and aeeomplishments thus far. The NMAI Trustees traveled with the Commission Chah aniving at Waimānalo homesteads. They witnessed the multiservices and collaboration at woik for kupuna housing and services, preschool education, QLCC and the deliberate and hard woik of the Waimānalo Homestead Association.

The Trustees saw the upcoming development for Hawaiian Homes, as well as the soon-to-be eompleted self-help projects in the homestead. Leaving Waimānalo, Tmstees haveled to Punchbowl, to oveiview Papakōlea, Kalāwahine and Kewalo homesteads. They also paused at Punchbowl to diive silently past the gravestone of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, who is honored and well-remembered for his unwavering support of and his years of dedication to Native people as Chah of the Senate Indian Affahs Committee. The fourth day took NMAI Trustees to the cultural and historic Waimea Valley, one of the last partially intact ahupua'a on O'ahu; then Trustees made theh way to Kūkaniloko, piko of O'ahu, plaee of the bhthing stones and more; and finally in the late afternoon continued to Hawai'i Loa for the Polynesian Voyaging Society for briefing. The final Saturday morning, for those Trustees who remained, was committed to "hoe wa'a." We traveled from the mountains to the sea, from the east to the west with our NMAI partners - native, indigenous people, together. 25/48 ■

Haunani Apnlinna, MSW TrustEE, At-largE

A trip to O'ahu by Trustees of the Nalional Museum of the American lndian included visits to Mauna 'Ala, OHA and Ka'iwakīloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center at Kamehameha SchoolsKapālama, pictured. - Courtesy photo