Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 12, 1 December 2015 — Native Hawaiian role model lived aloha ʻāina [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Native Hawaiian role model lived aloha ʻāina

L0UIS K. "BUZZY" AGARD, JR. Feb. 25, 1924 - Oct. 28, 2015

Always a gentleman, Louis K. "Buzzy" Agard, Jr. never stopped advocating for Hawaiian governance and for the betterment of the native people of Hawai'i, whieh he loved dearly. At the age of 91, after decades on the front lines working to shape the modern story of Hawaiians, Louis K. "Buzzy" Agard, Jr. passed away on October 28. "Unele Buzzy was for me and many others who eame out of the Renaissance of the 1970's an inspiration," said OHA Chair Robert Lindsey. "He truly loved our people and our Nation. Agard was recently recognized by OHA for a lifetime of service to the Hawaiian community. He regularly attended OHA board meetings sharing pearls of wisdom

and a lot of aloha." Agard began his career as a commercial fisherman

in the 1940s. In the mid-60s facing proposed land reforms at the Hawai'i State Legislature that would have allowed the forced sale of leased lands to private owners, Agard helped form the Friends of Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate to preserve the will and wishes of the Schools' benefactor, Bemice Pauahi Bishop. He has served in various capacities with the Congress of the Hawaiian People formed in 1965 to uplift the Hawaiian spirit, the Aloha Association founded in 1971 to seek reparations fromthe U.S. govemment for the taking of Hawaiian lands, and the Council of Hawaiian Organizations, testifying on the merits of sovereignty at congressional hearings in Honolulu dating back to 1973. In 2001, Agard was honored by

then-President Bill Clinton at the establishment of what was then the nation's largest nature preserve - The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, whieh he was instrumental in creating and whieh is today's Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Since then, he served as one of three Native Hawaiian repre-

sentatives on the reserve's Advisory Council, has served on the Westem Pacific Fishery Management CounciI for more than a decade and, beginning in the 70s, traveled the country providing his perspective on conservation, protection and management of resources. Agard is a former Hawaiian Homes Commissioner, a founding board member of KĀHEA — The Hawaiian Environmental Allianee, and a director and founding member of the statewide Hawai'i Fishing Coalition begun in 1983, to develop conservation legislation. "In his quiet, jovial, humhle and parabolic way, he was sure and eonfident that as the first people of these islands nothing is impossible," said Lindsey. "We just need to lōkahi and find refuge in eommon ground issues. I will always remember the smile in his voice, his kindred spirit and his Aloha for Hawai'i and our lāhui." ■

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Louis K. "Buzzy" Agard, Jr. - Photo: Courtesy