Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 1, 1 January 2023 — A Healer of the Land; A Healer of the People [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A Healer of the Land; A Healer of the People

V HE HO'OMANA'O V ^ IN MEMORIAM *

^ v Dr. Noa Emmett 'Auwae Aluli ^ v Jan. 16, 1944 - Nov. 30, 2022

By Puanani Fernandez-Akamine Kulu ka waimaka, uwē ka 'ōpua; The tearsfall, the clouds weep. The passing of Dr. Noa Emmett 'Auwae Aluli, beloved Moloka'i family physician and ieonie leader of the Aloha 'Āina movement, is mourned throughout Hawai'i Pae Āina and the world. He leaves an inspiring and enduring legacy for the generations that follow. In a statement issued by the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, whieh Aluli helped to form in 1976, his passing generated "a hulihia, an overturning, an upheaval marking [his] transformation as a heroic and dearly loved leader into a dynamic spiritual force and a cleansing that opens the way for the next generation of leaders" marked by the convergence of elemental hō'ailona (signs) occuring at the same time including "forceful winds, rainbows, blessings of cleansing rain showers, a rust moon due to the eclipse of Mars...and the...Mauna Loa eruption." Soft-spoken and humhle in demeanor, Aluli comes ffom a large, prominent and extended Hawaiian family. Descendants of noted Hawaiian patriot and anti-an-nexationist Emma 'A'ima A'ii Nāwahī, wife of Joseph Nāwahī, their numbers include medical doctors, attorneys, academics and musicians. Aluli's life partner is UH Mānoa Ethnic Studies Professor Dr. Davianna Pōmaika'i

McGregor. Born on O'ahu and raised in Kailua, Aluli graduated from Saint Louis High School and Marquette University in Wisconsin. He was part of the first cohort of medical doctors from the University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). After completing a family heahh residency on Moloka'i in 1975, Aluli began a 46-year

medical practice at the Moloka'i Family Heahh Center. His contributions to medicine in Hawai'i were nothing short of transformational. Aluli pioneered a distinctively Native Hawaiian approach to heahh care in rural Hawaiian communities. Believing that eaeh patient's heahh and wellbeing must be understood in relation to their 'ohana, genealogy, life-

style, and 'āina, he also emphasized specialized care for kūpuna and even made home visits. In 1983, as one of a handful of Hawaiian physicians, Aluli participated in the original E Ola Mau Heahh Study, a seminal report that established the baseline heahh status of Native Hawaiians. Alarmed by the excessive rates of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity on Moloka'i, Aluli sought out the 'ike of kūpuna who helped him develop a traditional foods diet. Participants in the resulting Moloka'i Heart Study dramatically reduced their risk factors, cementing in medical journals the inherent value of such diets. To empower Hawaiian communities, Aluli initiated community-based participatory research on Moloka'i, laying the groundwork for Indigenous heakh data sovereignty in Hawai'i. He also helped to draft the Native Hawaiian Heahh Care Improvement Act and lobbied

until it was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1988. This groundbreaking federal legislation led to the creation of the Native Heahh Care System, Papa Ola Lōkahi, and on Moloka'i, Nā Pu'uwai, whieh he co-founded. In 1998, Aluli was an original member of 'Ahahui O Nā Kauka, the Native Hawaiian Physicians Association. With more than 300 members today, it is part of the international Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress. Aluli's efforts led to the opening of the Moloka'i Dialysis Center. He also raised $17 million to upgrade the trauma unit at Moloka'i General Hospital, and successfully campaigned for its CAT scan maehine. "The heahh of the land, is the heahh of our people, is the heahh of our nation," was Aluli's personal motto, and as a community activist he put his words into action. He initially worked to protect Hawai'i's subsistence lifestyle as part of Hui Ala Loa, whieh advocated for oeean access rights through Moloka'i Ranch, and successfully stopped development that would have destroyed the prominent landmark Kaiaka Rock, village complexes, a pu'uhonua at Kawela, the Pūko'o fishpond, and a fishing ko'a (shrine) and house sites at Kawākiunui. Aluli's most enduring legacy was his role in founding the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana (PKO) and the Aloha 'Āina movement. The PKO's heroic efforts to stop the military bombing of the sacred island of Kaho'olawe were a huliau - a turning point - in modern Hawaiian history. At this time of awakening for Native Hawaiians and for the larger community, the Aloha Āina movement heeame the social-political haekhone of the Hawaiian Renaissance. Aluli was one of the celebrated "Kaho'olawe Nine" who staged the first occupation of the island in Jan. 1976. After the tragic disappearance at sea of charismatic PKO leader George Helm and Kimo Mhehell in 1977, Aluli emerged as leader of the PKO, serving on the eongressional Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance Commission. Through its efforts, in 1990 the abuse of Kaho'olawe as a military target was halted by then-President George H. W. Bush. After half a century of military occupation by the U.S. Navy, control of Kaho'olawe was transferred to the State of Hawai'i in 1994 as a cultural preserve overseen by the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission. The Navy has since conducted a massive eleanup of ordnance. Aluli was instrumental in crahing the state law mandating that Kaho'olawe be held in trust for eventual SEE DR. NOA EMMETT 'AUWAE ALULI ON PAGE 8

rXti r m ~ , Aluli as d medical student.

jrfmm f M c *" 1' ,,i 2* 1 ' Dr. Noa Emmett 'Auwae Aluli - Photos: Courtesy