Bringing you today’s stories on issues important to Native communities. Native NewsClips is a complimentary service of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. Please save the dates for our Fourth Annual Native Hawaiian Conference from August 30 - September 2 2005, at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. For information and updates on our training workshops and events, please visit our Web site: www.hawaiiancouncil.org.





February 18, 2005



Mayor repeals leasehold law


By Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com


February 10, 2005

Six-year-old Chris-Jordan Ulufale stood next to Mufi Hannemann as the mayor erased the controversial 14-year-old lease-to-fee conversion law from the books.

"Eh, this is part of history, you know," Hannemann said as he handed an official document to Chris-Jordan -- a beneficiary of the Queen Liliuokalani Trust.

During a ceremony yesterday filled with pageantry, chanting, singing, speeches, laughter and tears, Hannemann, with a stroke of his pen, approved repealing the ordinance known as Chapter 38. The ordinance used the city's powers to condemn the land beneath condominium buildings to help leasehold owner-occupants buy the land.

"I go back to my fundamental belief that property owners should not be dictated by government when they should sell. That was the thing I could never get past," Hannemann told reporters afterward.

Mandatory leasehold conversion pitted lessees against lessors, landowners against homeowners and became a rallying cry for native Hawaiian groups who saw the law as a tool for the unjust taking of ancestral lands.

And it was one of the few issues that mayoral candidates Hannemann and Duke Bainum took opposite positions on during last year's campaign -- Hannemann said he would sign a repeal bill, and Bainum said he would not.

"I purposely said that I wanted this to be the first bill that I would sign as the mayor of Honolulu, and you made that happen ... by going to the polls and electing a mayor who certainly saw that this was the right thing to do, that we needed to repeal Chapter 38," Hannemann said.

But while the law is gone, the controversy continues, and so will the lawsuits associated with it. At least one supporter of mandatory leasehold conversion predicted that leasehold land would continue to be converted to fee simple, albeit without the backing of the law.

"There will still be fee conversions -- the pace will slow, prices will go higher," real estate agent Michael Pang said. "There's not going to be any control of when it will happen; it will be at the whim of the fee owner. Chapter 38 balanced the playing field, and without it, it's on the side of the landowner again."

"We're elated, absolutely elated that finally a corrupt law has been abolished," said Phyllis Zerbe, who has led a coalition of small landowners over the years to repeal the law.

Dozens of representatives of small landowners, native Hawaiian organizations, and beneficiaries and officials of two so-called alii trusts -- the Kamehameha Schools and Queen Liliuokalani Trust -- congregated in the Mission Memorial Auditorium next to City Hall to watch Hannemann sign the bill after the Council voted 6-3 last month for a repeal.

One of those beneficiaries is Chris-Jordan Ulufale, who has been receiving assistance from the Queen Liliuokalani Trust since his father, football standout Semeri Ulufale, died last year. The trust helps children of Hawaiian ancestry.

"He benefits from the agency by financial and rental support," his mother, Francine Paaluhi, said.

The trusts supported the repeal of mandatory leasehold conversions because they said their organizations could lose income for needed services to native Hawaiian children.

Also on hand were two former councilmen, John DeSoto and Mike Gabbard. DeSoto was the lone "no" vote against leasehold conversions during his years on the Council, while Gabbard introduced the bill that Hannemann signed.

The repeal makes it impossible for leasehold applicants not already approved by the City Council to move forward with their conversions.

Two lawsuits have already been filed by condominium owners at the Kahala Beach and Admiral Thomas buildings.

"We're disappointed that we were weren't able to protect the rights of lessees under contract with the city to convert their property," said attorney Joachim Cox, who represents Kahala Beach residents and who expressed confidence they will prevail in court.




DHHL’s Home Ownership Assistance Program and the HHCA


Posted on: Thursday, February 17, 2005


Honolulu, Hawaii – In partnership with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) delivered one of the first of 18 Orientation Sessions on DHHL’s Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP) and the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA) on Wednesday, February 16, 2005, to an attentive crowd of over 250 Native Hawaiian community members at Washington Middle School.


To compliment DHHL’s unprecedented development schedule of building more than 1,000 homes over the next five years, DHHL partnered with CNHA to create and administer HOAP, a program to assist Native Hawaiians in understanding what it takes to achieve homeownership, increasing the likelihood of qualifying for a loan, and providing access to personalized assistance in repairing credit and reducing debt.


“It’s visionary for DHHL to launch this proactive approach to housing and meeting their mandate of returning Hawaiians to their land. We thank DHHL for making this a priority to increase the ability of Native Hawaiians to adequately prepare for DHHL’s aggressive development schedule,” said Robin Danner, CNHA President & CEO who conducted the session. We are also grateful to Bank of Hawaii who donated door prizes for attendees of this first workshop.


More of these FREE Orientation Sessions will be held statewide from 6:00 pm – 8:00 p.m. on the following dates:



To register or for more information, visit the HOAP website at www.dhhlhoap.org, or call the HOAP Information Call Center from O’ahu at 791.3403, or toll-free from the neighbor islands at 866.897.4384. Inquiries can also be made to info@dhhlhoap.org.


CNHA is a national member-based non-profit dedicated to providing support services to agencies and organizations that focus or deliver programs in Native communities. For more information, contact CNHA at 808.521.5011 (toll free at 808.709.2642) or visit CNHA’s Web site at www.hawaiiancouncil.org.





Big Islanders to get ranch leases at last

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

More than a half-century of waiting has ended for a group of aging Big Islanders who have sought Hawaiian Homes ranching leases but whose claims were lost in decades of dispute over how those leases are issued.

James Akiona, 78, was one of seven people who sued collectively as the "Aged Hawaiians," a group that yesterday signed a final settlement with the state Hawaiian Homes Commission.

Yesterday he and his wife, Nyna, attended the signing of the accord, which gives the group revokable permits to use ranch land in Honokaia, between Waimea and Honoka'a. Under the agreement, each claimant must prepare a detailed plan for a ranch — Akiona, for instance, hopes to raise up to 400 head of cattle — before the commission will issue the permanent lease. The precise location of each lot is yet to be determined.

The Akionas' large family — seven children, 30 grandchildren — will enable such an operation, he said.

"They're leaving it up to me," Akiona said. "But time is calling up to me ... so me and one of my sons, Harold, we talk about what to do."

In 1952 the group was among 187 candidates on a waiting list for a 300-acre "pastoral lot," a lease category for ranch lands.

In the initial years of that program, only 48 of 187 candidates on the Waimea list were awarded pastoral leases. In 1956, the Hawaiian Homes Commission canceled the list without notifying the applicants and later resumed issuing leases, but to other people, said attorney Alan Murakami.

Murakami is with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., which has represented those who opted to file legal challenges.

Ten years ago, the state Supreme Court ruled that the group must get a hearing to consider their applications for ranching leases.

The dispute has been handed off year after year because the commission and Hawaiian Homes administrators couldn't agree on how to evaluate applications for such large land grants, said Micah Kane, commission chairman.

The agreement balances the commission's duty to make good on an old commitment with each applicant's duty to present a workable ranch plan, he said.

More than half the original group of applicants has died, Murakami said, and one of the seven people named in the settlement, Irene Torrey, died Feb. 4. The commissioners, recognizing her ill health, gave her a lease on a ranch in her final days so that her son could inherit it, he said.

The settlement came late, Nyna Akiona acknowledged.

"But at least he's still alive," she said, with a nod toward her husband, leaning on his cane.



NCL to hold fund-raising cruise


Cruise line NCL America will hold an overnight fund-raising cruise in July to benefit Child & Family Service, Kapiolani Children's Miracle Network and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.

The cruise will be among the inaugural festivities for the arrival of NCL's second U.S.-flagged ship to serve Hawaii, the Pride of America.

NCL will donate the use of the ship, food and beverage services and amenities. Two previous charity cruises by NCL raised more than $500,000, the company said.

Those wanting to book a cruise should contact one of the charities.



For more information, call CNHA at 808.521.5011 or at info@hawaiiancouncil.org







Native Hawaiian council launches donor Web site

 

Pacific Business News

Honolulu, HI - The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement on Monday launched a Hawaiian Way Fund Web site to support a donor and work place giving campaign for education, affordable housing, health care, the environment and economic development.

The Web site is www.hawaiianwayfund.org. Donors are able to contribute through one-time pledges or if their employers operate a work place giving program, directly through payroll deduction.

"We're excited about taking the Hawaiian Way Fund to the World Wide Web to expand opportunities and inspire philanthropic giving to things Hawaiian," said Robin Danner, council president and CEO.

The donations will directly impact multiple nonprofits that focus on cultural knowledge, values and practices.

The council is a national nonprofit created to promoting community development in native communities. For more information call 521-5011 or go to www.hawaiiancouncil.org.




From the February 4, 2005 print edition

New FCC ruling could cost local telecom Hawaiian Lands project

Terrence Sing

Pacific Business News

After working for years and spending about $160 million to deliver telephone and broadband services to rural homesteads on Hawaiian Home Lands, a Native Hawaiian-owned telecom could lose access to the federal funds that underwrite the project.

The $400 million project by Honolulu-based Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. seeks to link 69 noncontiguous parcels of Hawaiian Home Lands on Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Maui and the Big Island via high-speed fiber-optic cable.

But a surprise ruling from the Federal Communications Commission last October has put the project in jeopardy, based on an appeal originally filed by GTE Hawaiian Tel in 1998, which is now Verizon Hawaii.

GTE argued the areas Sandwich Isles proposed to serve were not unserved because they were within GTE's territory.

At the time, Sandwich Isles applied for and received a waiver from the FCC as an incumbent local exchange carrier, which allowed it access to the Universal Service Fund to pay back money it borrows from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service fund.

The Universal Service Fund comes from fees charged to telephone customers to ensure quality service at affordable rates nationwide, particularly in rural areas.

In its October ruling, the FCC said it made a mistake in 1998 when it granted Sandwich Isles' petition and ordered Sandwich Isles to reapply for a waiver in order to continue receiving universal fund support.

"Incomprehensibly, this dispute has sat in front of the commission for six years," FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps said in a statement issued with the order. "I limit my support to concurring because fairness requires that we resolve issues involving support for unserved areas and disputed territory with greater speed than we attempt to do here."

Sandwich Isles serves 1,300 customers on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.

"We always knew the appeal was there, but because we were granted local exchange carrier status and relied on it, as did the Rural Utilities Service, we were moving along," said Sandwich Isles Vice President Gil Tam. "In the meantime, we've been out there and getting to people that haven't been served. They will not only have telephones, but affordable access to broadband services."

Tam said Sandwich Isles is the only Hawaii company to ever draw upon the Universal Service Fund that Hawaii residents have been paying into since the late 1940s.

"Everybody pays into it and it's been going to the Mainland to fund other local exchange carriers building out rural America," said Tam, who stressed that Sandwich Isles' project helps all Hawaii. "It's creating high-tech jobs. We have areas out there that don't have telephone service."

Representatives of The Carlyle Group, which is in the process of buying Verizon Hawaii, declined comment.





Posted on: Sunday, February 13, 2005

Taro genetic work blasted

Monday, February 14, 2005

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

Some Native Hawaiians are expressing concern that genetic engineering of taro could pose a cultural and economic threat to the Hawaiian people.

"Taro is a sacred plant to us. It's absolutely sacred," said Big Island educator Ku Kahakalau. She said taro — kalo, in the native language — is a body form of the Hawaiian god Kane.

Moloka'i activist Walter Ritte Jr. said tradition has taro as an ancestor of the Hawaiian people.

Until recently, most genetic work with taro has involved traditional breeding: crossing one variety with another to develop new varieties with qualities of the parent plants. Such work, for example, might try to combine the disease resistance of one variety with the flavor and large-sized corms of another.

Kahakalau and Ritte said that using genetic-engineering techniques to insert foreign genes into the taro plant is wrong. "You can't change our ancestors without our permission," Ritte said.

They also expressed concern that genetically engineered taro would be patented and that farmers might have to pay a license fee to grow it. "They're trying to own what shouldn't be owned," Ritte said.

University of Hawai'i plant pathologist John Cho, who conducts taro research, said he generally agrees that genetic engineering is neither necessary nor appropriate for taro grown for food. But he said there are instances in which new varieties have been patented, even when grown using traditional techniques.

Cho said he is participating in a trial with the Hawai'i Agricultural Research Center to insert disease-resistance genes from rice into a Chinese taro variety called bun long to develop a hardy ornamental taro.

"I've told people I don't think it's appropriate for food taro. You can improve disease resistance and do the other things we need to do with taro using traditional breeding methods," Cho said.

Stephanie Whalen, director of the Hawai'i Agricultural Research Center, said the research at this point is simply aimed at determining how to do the genetic modification on taro if in the future someone wants it.

"We've been working with the University of Hawai'i on trying to develop a system for working with taro, but we're not working on any traditional Hawaiian varieties. And if people don't want it, it won't go anywhere," Whalen said.

Kahakalau said she has no objection to traditional breeding. "We know that our Hawaiian ancestors hybridized kalo. There is no need to genetically engineer it," she said.





Burial council selection process to be discussed

Advertiser Staff

The state is planning a series of public meetings, starting Tuesday, to gather ideas on how officials should select members of the island burial councils.

The hearings are part of the response by the state Historic Preservation Division to a report by the state auditor, whose criticism of the burials program included a charge that it lacked criteria for appointing burial council members.

The island burial council members meet monthly to discuss developments and incidents of natural erosion that might affect Native Hawaiian burials; they also hear testimony about burial treatment of remains.

Council members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate for a four-year term.

The meetings will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Capitol Auditorium.

The Neighbor Island schedule of meetings, all to begin at 6 p.m.:

• Maui — Wednesday, Wailuku Elementary School cafeteria.

• Hawai'i — Thursday, State Office Building, Department of Accounting and General Services conference rooms A, B and C, Hilo; and Feb. 24, Kealakehe Intermediate School cafeteria, Kailua-Kona.

• Moloka'i — Feb. 23, Kulana 'Oiwi Complex, Lili'uokalani Group Activity Room, Kalamaula.

• Kaua'i — Feb. 25, Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School cafeteria, Lihu'e.

Written statements may also be mailed to: Melanie Chinen, State Historic Preservation Division administrator, 601 Kamokila Blvd., Suite 555, Kapolei, HI 96707.

Comments also can be sent by fax to 692-8020, or by e-mail to dlnr@hawaii.gov; the deadline is Feb. 25.

Anyone planning to attend a meeting who needs a sign-language interpreter or other special accommodation should call 692-8015 before Monday.

Information on the island burial councils and state burial laws is available at www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/hpd.





Posted on: Wednesday, February 16, 2005

At least 60 sets of bones tallied at Wal-Mart site

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

A contract archaeologist working on the inventory of human remains unearthed at the Wal-Mart Ke'eaumoku Street site has turned over to state officials what he now estimates to be the remains of at least 60 people buried there in the mid-1800s.

The remains, believed to be those of Hawaiians, previously had been numbered at about 44 to 50 people, but archaeologist Aki Sinoto said his studies indicated that the area represent-ed more burials.

On Saturday, Sinoto gave Wal-Mart officials the keys to a trailer where he and his crew had been working on the inventory of remains. Officials of the State Historic Preservation Division enforced a final stop-work deadline Friday, one week before the bones are scheduled to be reburied.

The fate of the remains has been a controversy for the past two years, a conflict that has intensified because of disagreement among families about how to proceed with reburial. Some have favored reburial as soon as possible, while others have wanted the mingled bones to be fully sorted into separate burials.

Paulette Kaleikini, one of those favoring reburial Friday, said yesterday she was pleased by how the effort is proceeding.

But Regina Keana'aina Rash, a member of a family officially recognized as direct descendants of some buried individuals, yesterday said she is afraid "they will be reburied before they are ready."





Slack key wins first Hawaiian Grammy

By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

Producer/guitarist Charles Brotman and his "Slack Key Guitar Vol. 2" won the first-ever Grammy Award for Hawaiian music yesterday over favorites Keali'i Reichel and the Cazimero Brothers.

"Aloha," a composed Brotman greeted an audience of several thousand during the "pre-telecast" portion of the 47th annual Grammy Awards. Out of the 107 awards, 92 were awarded off-camera at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"We wouldn't be here today without all the hard work and creativity of all those Hawaiian musicians that came before us, and it's an honor to be on the same list as the other (Hawaii) nominees," Brotman said.

"I think I can say this for the entire state of Hawaii: Mahalo."

The award was the first in the new category of Best Hawaiian Music Album. "Slack Key" is a compilation featuring 10 island musicians with distinctively different styles. Brotman was joined onstage by three of the guitarists: Sonny Lim, Jeff Peterson and Ken Emerson.

Lim appeared stunned onstage, and with tears in his eyes was unable to speak at first when Brotman gently nudged him to the microphone.

"I, uh, uh," said the tuxedoed Lim, stepping back from the microphone to compose himself and receiving loud applause from the audience. Then, with head held high and an infectious smile, Lim spoke melodically in Hawaiian, which he later translated as, "Thank you to the Grammy ohana for honoring Hawaiian music, the music of our culture, and allowing Hawaiian music to be represented here."

Three of the guitarists wore traditional tuxedos, while Emerson wore perhaps the brightest jacket at the event -- with colorful sequins and neonlike thread. "I got it from my friend Todd Rundgren, who lives on Kauai," Emerson said. "We agreed that I needed to wear something colorful to represent our beautiful state." His ensemble was completed with black pants and a kukui nut lei.

To win over the other nominees -- Willie K and Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom for "Amy & Willie Live," Keali'i Reichel for "Ke'alaokamaile," Ho'okena for "Cool Elevation" and the Cazimeros' "Some Call It Aloha ... Don't Tell" -- was an honor but not a complete surprise, Brotman said.

Many Grammy handicappers suspected that the nationwide popularity and familiarity of slack key had made the Palms Record album at least a dark horse.

"There is something about the sound of that solo guitar that crosses genres and borders," Brotman said.

He explained some slack-key history to about 60 reporters in a crowded conference room backstage. "We think it may go back to the 1830s on the Big Island, when King Kamehameha brought in mainland cowboys to take care of a growing cattle population. When these paniolo began playing their guitars, they would slacken the strings, so right there you have the derivative of slack key."

Guitarist Peterson said slack key has been popular on the mainland for many years. He credited George Winston and the many CDs produced on his Dancing Cat label with leading the charge.

Brotman, a Washington state native, said every guitarist on the album was either born in Hawaii or has lived and played music in Hawaii for 25 years or more. "If you're a working musician anywhere, and certainly in Hawaii, a Grammy is not something you can plan for ... or expect," he told reporters. "It's an elusive thing that, being in Hawaii, you never expect to land on you."

Brotman said the award had nothing to do with deciding who's best, and that all the nominees had contributed to the art. "For us this wasn't a battle to win an award, but to represent a very special kind of music, and Hawaii," Brotman said. "Music is not a competition for us."

Robert Cazimero said he was feeling fairly relaxed as the announcement of the Hawaiian Grammy grew closer -- more so than he would have been in Hawaii, "where there is a lot of attention and everyone knows you."

He added, laughing: "I'm embarrassed to say this, but I wanted to win -- but I wasn't crazed over it. For real, Roland and I feel like we did win, because Hawaii did. And we're very happy for Charlie."

Robert's immediate reaction: "Now we can eat."

Then he received nine phone calls within a few minutes, all expressing support although the pair hadn't won. "We've been around a very long time and know the thrill of victory and the hell of defeat," he said. "But this doesn't feel like defeat."

When the announcement came, Brotman was in the audience with wife Joanie, sister and business manager Jodie and the three guitarists.

"When we all just heard the word 'slack,' we all jumped up," Brotman said. "It was such an adrenaline rush. ... It's going to take me a week to calm down and really understand what's happened. I know in my head what happened, but my heart is ready to burst. I still can't figure out what it all means. Oh, but I will."





Posted on: Sunday, February 13, 2005

Photos capture poignant history, document losses

By David C. Farmer
Special to The Advertiser

Whether photography is a fine art still provokes debate.

Photographs preserve personal memories in family snapshots and inform us of public events through news photos. From identification, advertising, specialized commercial work in travel, scientific and architectural photography and portraiture, photographic images surround us.

They also alter our memories, which otherwise are burnished and altered by the inexorable passage of time.

Photography in the 19th century — the "mirror with a memory" — was considered, at least initially, as a tool to capture the world whole rather than one to use for interpreting it, as drawing and painting did.

Twentieth-century critics argued about whether photography was indeed a direct trace of experience, like a footprint in the sand, or rather a reflection of the photographer's particular point of view and therefore an art form.

The camera from the start was seen as a challenge to the painter's brush, and many 19th- and 20th-century photographers, such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Stei-Áchen, created images in a painterly, pictorial mode before the medium finally found its modern voice in the classic images of Paul Strand, Edward Weston and Ansel Adams.

Among many points of contention, the most appropriate display of photographs is prominent: Should they, almost like traditional Asian scroll paintings, be seen in intimate, one-on-one settings, or can they hold their own as framed light paintings, mounted on a gallery wall?

The images on view at 1132 Bishop St. certainly deal effectively for the most part with the preservation of Native Hawaiian values, resources and sacred sites, but they also renew questions about the medium's proper display.

Traditional black-and-white photographs — some in large formats — feature landscapes, portraits and city environments. Many of the photographers have worked together previously in published book projects.

Mark Hamasaki's modest 2003 silver gelatin print "Wailele huna o Kahalu'u" is an especially striking, quiet piece, resonantly poetic and articulate.

Ross Togashi's 2004 "Documents: Evidence Found in a Library" series, consisting of silver gelatin prints accompanied by mixed-media boxes, exemplifies photography in the service of evoking poignant loss.

The photographed bound documents include the seminal "Blount Report," part of the 1894 House Foreign Relations Committee Report. It was prepared by U.S. Rep. James Blount, who was sent by President Grover Cleveland to assess conditions in Hawai'i after the Hawaiian Republic had been overthrown by the "Committee of Safety."

For the sovereignty movement, some say that this government report details the best basis for claims by Hawaiians that the kingdom was stolen.

These images capture what has been lost in at least two senses: most of these priceless documents — reminders of the lost kingdom — were destroyed in last October's catastrophic Manoa flood that savaged the University of Hawai'i's Hamilton Library.

Some of the other images more directly document in a journalistic idiom Native Hawaiian activism for self-determination, past and present, from the early George Santos/Kalama Valley struggle of the 1970s through contemporary resistance to the military presence here in the Islands.

Perhaps because its iconic significance has deepened by the passage of time, Ed Greevy's powerful image of Terrilee Keko'olani, captured near the inception of the Hawaiian Renaissance, cultural as well as political, comes closest of all the documentary works in the show to standing on its own.

However, the nagging question persists: Would this image possess even more mana in its miniature form, pressed between the pages of a book?

It is in Franco Salmoiraghi's 1997 series "Kaho'olawe: Tortured Metal/Broken Stone" that the debate ripens and resolves.

A gifted photographic artist at work here in Hawai'i since 1968, Salmoiraghi combines silver prints with charcoal, graphite, pastel and earth on distressed metal plates to create a hybrid expression intended to capture the complex reality of Kaho'olawe.

He writes: "Use of symbolic materials to draw and mark on the photographic prints are meant to amplify the emotional impact of the images by altering the usual pristine quality of the photographic print, which felt much too clean to describe an environment placed under severe environmental stress by bombs and explosions."

Especially in the haunting "Abandoned Wheel and Fishing Shrine," the gambit pays huge dividends, and the intellectual twittering machine discourse of what is art quiets in tranquil contemplation, humbled in the presence of a photographic epiphany, a song of beauty and rebirth.





Posted on: Saturday, February 12, 2005

Historic school on national list

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer

Central Middle School, once the site of Princess Ruth Luka Ke'elikolani's palace Keoua Hale, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In addition to being seated on royal land, the downtown school was also recognized for its neoclassical revival architecture and its historical significance.

"Basically, it's one of the earliest schools," said Thomas Lim, architectural branch chief for the state's Historic Preservation Division.

Although Central initially opened in the palace structure — which had previously housed Honolulu High School — the buildings that have been recognized are more recent, built after Keoua Hale was razed because of termite damage. The existing buildings date back to 1926.

School officials learned it had been placed on the national register just in time for an assembly celebrating Ke'elikolani's birthday Wednesday. Students paid respect to the princess with song, cards, poetry and lei.

According to custodian Roger Aquino, the school was actually placed on the national register a year ago, but no one informed the school.

In fact, the school might still be in the dark if Aquino had not asked the state Historic Preservation Division about the status of the school's federal nomination from 1994.

Aquino received a brief letter this week confirming that the downtown school had been added to the list on Feb. 11, 2004.

He noted that there's no presentation or even a certificate to recognize the school's status, but told the students to "be proud and be loud" because "we're on the national level."

Ke'elikolani, a descendant of Kamehameha and governor of the Island of Hawai'i, was the Kingdom of Hawai'i's largest landowner. Upon her death in 1883, she left her estate to her cousin Bernice Pauahi Bishop, whose husband, Charles Bishop, sold Keoua Hale to the state with the understanding it was to be used for educational purposes.

Principal Melissa Trew said the designation will mean the school should always be mindful of its history before making decisions.

"We've been recognized as a building of value that we need to protect and we need to understand its place in history in Hawai'i and what it means to the tradition of our students and the tradition of our culture here," she said.

When the school opened as Central Junior High School in 1928, it was one of five new public secondary schools established to follow the Mainland trend of creating more mid-level schools. It was also one of the first schools to require an English-language exam for entrance.

While several other secondary schools of similar age have been placed on the national register, Central is "the only remaining secondary school in Hawai'i in its original building," Lim said.





Posted on: Saturday, February 12, 2005

UH regents honor Genoa Keawe

Advertiser Staff

In recognition of her national stature in musical achievement, "Auntie" Genoa Keawe has been awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents.

Keawe, who has been an instructor in 'ukulele workshops as part of the Windward Community College's Hawai'i Music Institute, is the sole living member of the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.

The honor was sponsored by Windward Community College chancellor Angela Meixell, supported by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and approved by the regents at their last meeting.

Board chairwoman Patricia Lee said Keawe has been in the forefront of promoting Hawaiian music as a performer and still shares her music as a professional entertainer.

"Throughout the years she has given freely of her time and talents to perpetuate the rich sound and history of traditional Hawaiian music," said Lee. Her recordings began in the days of 78 rpms and today are on compact discs.

Interim President David McClain praised Keawe for the years of mentoring she has given to students as a teacher.

"The University of Hawai'i has been privileged to have her be a part of the UH family," McClain said.





Posted on: Thursday, February 10, 2005

Leadership Corner: Chiyome Leinaala Fukino, M.D.

Interviewed by Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

Name: Chiyome Leinaala Fukino, M.D.



Age: 54

Title: Director

Organization: State Department of Health

High school: Kamehameha Schools

College: Bachelor of arts in psychology, Brandeis University; medical degree, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i-Manoa

Breakthrough job: Fukino learned how to manage different kinds of people and balance finances as an administrative assistant for the student council at Brandeis University.

Little-known fact: As director of the state Health Department, Fukino is also the mayor of Kalawao County, which comprises Kalaupapa.

Major challenge: Dealing with medical issues specific to minority groups, in particular Native Hawaiians, in the state; letting the public know what the department does; and addressing the problem of an aging workforce.

Q. Hawai'i has long been considered a healthy state. Is that a misconception?

A. When the health statistics come out for the state, people say, "Wow, look at this, Hawai'i is a pretty healthy state." That's great, but the fact of the matter is that that's an average in our statistics. Comparing our population base with the rest of the nation, we do very well. But there are minority groups, subsections of the population, that don't do very well. Native Hawaiians are certainly one of these groups.

Q. You've been active in addressing the health issues of Native Hawaiians, including your involvement with E Ola Mau, a nonprofit organization of Native Hawaiian healthcare providers. What are the major issues in this particular ethnic group?

A. The poor health of Native Hawaiians wasn't something that was developed five or 10 years ago. It's been decades. We've made some strides, but we still have more work to do. And with each new wave of immigrants that come (to Hawai'i), there are issues pertaining to health from a public health standpoint. Many come from nations not as well developed, so they bring with them diseases ... And they come from areas that have almost no healthcare system to speak of.

Q. What are some strides that have been made to address the health issues among Native Hawaiians?

A. The first stride you have to make is recognizing there is an issue because you can't address it until you recognize there is a problem. I think data collection by the Department of Health has helped to give a clearer picture of what's going on. The E Ola Mau study done in the mid-1980s through funding that Sen. (Dan) Inouye had gotten from Congress documented for the first time the socioeconomic status of Native Hawaiians. And part of that (looked at) their health status. The other thing the (UH) Medical School can be very proud of is the fact that they were able to educate Native Hawaiian physicians who returned to the community to help. So we needed to have an awareness that there is a problem, we needed to have a group of people who were interested in treating that problem, then we needed to have the commitment of resources to deal with it.

Q. How important is cultural sensitivity when administering healthcare, especially in Hawai'i?

A. We have good healthcare coverage in the state because of the prepaid healthcare act and also our Medicaid coverage. But having coverage doesn't necessarily mean you will access care. So the important thing is to be sure that services are provided in a culturally appropriate way so that people are willing to go in and get those services. And that's another thing about this medical school that has been very good for the state. Part of the training emphasizes cultural sensitivity. And it's not just about minorities, but it's about how to understand certain groups of people, how they see the world and how we can talk to them because that's what it's all about, being able to communicate.

Q. Is the department often misunderstood by the public?

A. The public doesn't know what the Department of Health does. Part of that has been the (role) that it took historically. Nobody wanted to hear about big governments. The department actually does a lot of really good things for the people of Hawai'i, but we just don't advertise. Somehow we need to let the people of Hawai'i know what it is that we do, what their tax dollars are paying for. Public health at its very best is often invisible. If we are monitoring and keeping the water, the air, the streams and the beaches clean, you don't hear about us. If you think about it — and I actually had somebody tell me this — the only time you hear about the Department of Health is when something is going wrong. But the truth of the matter is lots of things go right. That's one of our challenges.

Q. What are other challenges your department is facing?

A. Another challenge we have, like other departments, is the fact that our workforce is aging. There aren't that many people who want to go into public health because it doesn't pay that well ... This is truly a service occupation. You have to want to do it because you really love it.

Q. What do you want people to understand about healthcare?

A. We, in the Department of Health, want people to understand that they have to assume more personal responsibility for their health. In America, everything is fast. Fix it with a pill or an ointment. And the fact of the matter is chronic diseases are often a result of not paying attention to the things that we have to do on a day-to-day basis to help us stay healthy.

We get so caught up in the fast pace of living that we're not enjoying life and we forget to take care of ourselves. The end result is you start getting the consequences of a combination of your diet, exercise habits and gene pool, manifesting in chronic diseases. We have to get across a tough message that most people don't want to hear. And that is we are all responsible for healthcare.

We have to take better care of ourselves so that the government doesn't have to take care of you later. Because then, you'll have no choice.





Hurricane Olaf passes over American Samoa

Advertiser News Services

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Hurricane Olaf, with winds as strong as 190 mph, passed within 60 miles of the U.S. territory's main island of Tutuila early today and then blew directly over a nearby group of smaller islands, causing widespread damage and displacing about 1,000 people.

"Olaf has made a direct hit on American Samoa's Manua Islands and most people have weathered the storm," said Kevin Vang, coordinator of the Australian-Pacific Centre for Emergency and Disaster Information.

"There are reports of widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure and about 1,000 people are still sheltered in the main high school and churches," Vang said.

Olaf is a category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale. Category 5 is the strongest on the scale, capable of causing 18-meter waves. Cyclone Nancy, a Category 2 on the scale, yesterday hit the nearby Cook Islands, Vang said.

About 1,300 people live on the three Manua islands. About 179,446 people live in American Samoa and 21,200 on the Cook Islands, a group of 16 islands.

Telephone service to the Manua Islands of Ta'u, Ofu and Olosega was interrupted and officials were waiting for reports of damage after the storm crossed the area at about 7 a.m. Hawai'i time.

The National Weather Service had warned that the Manua Islands, which also are part of American Samoa, could be devastated by wind up to 140 mph, with higher gusts.

The Manua Islands are home to about 2,000 people.

Olaf had wind gusts up to 190 mph, and giant waves were likely to cause flooding in low-lying areas, the weather service said.

Gov. Togiola Tulafono had already declared a state of emergency yesterday and asked President Bush to issue a disaster declaration as officials warned of an "extremely dangerous" storm.

However, Tutuila was not hit as hard as initially expected, and Tulafono ordered government workers to return to their jobs today. He said the territorial government would operate normally on the main island.

Schools remained closed, but teachers were told to report to prepare for resumption of classes tomorrow.

Two landslides were reported on Tutuila's north shore.

The three hardware stores in Pago Pago ran out of plywood and generators as residents prepared for the approaching storm, and the Samoa News, the territory's only daily newspaper, canceled today's edition.

The last major hurricane to hit the area was Heta, which plowed through American Samoa and neighboring Samoa in January 2004 with wind gusting to 200 mph.

Heta damaged more than 4,600 homes in American Samoa, according to the American Red Cross. It also devastated up to 90 percent of the crops on Samoa.

American Samoa, in the South Pacific, is the United States' southernmost territory.

The Associated Press and Bloomberg News Service contributed to this report.





Posted on: Monday, February 14, 2005

State of the Indian Nations address


Posted: February 11, 2005

by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today


WASHINGTON - In one of the major speeches on the national Indian calendar, Tex Hall sent a clear message to a conservative Congress that the cultural diversity and legal standing of tribes should not be mistaken for separatism.

''We as Indian people all share the goal of working together as one people,'' Hall said. Indian cultural values and the important lesson of listening, passed on by elders, enjoin tribal governments to cherish community and country, he added.

''Indian country has become a part of the institutional fabric of the United States,'' he said, citing unprecedented tribal voter turnout last November in states like South Dakota, New Mexico and Arizona. The 2004 presidential election ''energized Indian people like no other time in our history.''


Hall found many notes of hope to sound in the National Congress of American Indians State of the Indian Nations address Feb. 3, but he put an even greater emphasis on the need for congressional funding of Indian programs in a difficult year for domestic budget items. Indian country has enjoyed rising income levels, falling unemployment and poverty rates, and less crowded housing since the 1990s, Hall said. But he linked the improvement to tribal self-determination - ''Tribal self-government works'' - and called on Congress for ''equal funding'' with state and local governments to close the steep disparities that still exist for Indians in various measures of wellbeing.

''Equal health care, equal schools, equal accounting for our trust assets'' - and equal treatment of tribes as they raise the funding for community development projects, a reference to the tax-exempt bonding reforms that have failed in previous sessions of Congress. Though they can already issue tax-exempt bonds, ''tribes are subject to a stringent essential government function test that others [state and local governments] do not face,'' Hall said. The Internal Revenue Service has begun to challenge tribal development projects that can be associated with casinos, according to the accounts of Washington-based tax attorneys who work with tribes. Casinos proper are ineligible for tax-exempt financing.

Turning to domestic violence and sexual abuse in Indian country, Hall made a bold call for equal authority of tribal law enforcement officers to arrest and detain non-Indian offenders on tribal lands, just as Indian offenders would be treated off-reservation. He referred to a Department of Justice finding that Indian and Alaska Native women are ''abused in far greater rates than any other group in the United States'' - and nine out of 10 times in rape and assault cases, according to the DOJ, by non-Indian men. But tribal authorities lack jurisdiction over non-Indians, so the offenders remain free and their victims remain at risk. This situation has to be changed by an act of law, Hall said: ''This must be passed now in the 109th Congress.''

Hall identified a handful of other Indian priorities before the 109th Congress:

* Health care: ''Reauthorize the tribally-proposed Indian Health Care Improvement Act this session.''

* Education: With only 50 percent of Indian students graduating high school, school choice, teachers and Native languages are all challenges under President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative. ''We challenge Congress to fund Indian education programs at least at the same level as other education programs.''

* Telecommunications, transportation, and housing: ''We need help from the Congress and the president to increase housing'' - as well as the infrastructure of roads and telecommunications that supports housing in prosperous communities.

* Energy: ''Enact and support an Indian energy bill this year.''

* Tribal courts: Hall encouraged the Department of Justice to continue funding its initiative.

* Contract support costs: Legally binding contracts for the costs any other contractor incurs in providing services must be enforced for tribes that fulfill federal services with federal funds. An NCAI resolution requests ''full funding of all contract support requirements and ask[s] Congress to fully budget and to fully appropriate tribal contract support costs.''

* Trust accounting: the current class action lawsuit over Individual Indian Money accounts is ''a quagmire,'' Hall said. He called on Congress to ''settle the accounts and the future of trust.''

Hall closed his speech with an indirect reference to the hard times that have fallen on the federal budget, courtesy of $270 billion worth in wars abroad and the resultant constraints on domestic discretionary spending.

''The social crisis is not an Indian problem. It's a world problem ... You must do better at home.'' But Indians have already survived some of the worst social catastrophes on record, he added. ''We do not shy away from any crisis.''

Answering questions after the speech, Hall said tribes lost a strong ally when Tom Daschle, the South Dakota Democrat who also served as Senate Minority Leader, fell short in his re-election bid. But he said many congressional members still look after tribal interests, among them Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., who attended the address and offered comments on the budgeting process afterward. Hall said he has asked Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., ''to step forward'' for Indians as vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. ''That's part of our culture. You do your best and that's what you can do.''

He acknowledged that 2005, when the federal budget for fiscal year 2006 will be established, ''looks to be a real tough budget year.'' Cuts to some Indian programs are certain; Hall said a major goal is to make sure no programs are eliminated altogether.

Even in view of the war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan and the limits they place on the domestic spending on which tribes rely, Hall said NCAI tribes have not called on the White House for reductions in military expenditures. ''Ride it out,'' he said, noting that Congress restored many Bush-proposed cutbacks last year.

Hall will step down from the helm of NCAI later this year when his term expires. He is also chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in North Dakota.




Native American Initiative Announced


Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt’s announced a Native American Initiative that details the partnership between the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), and Gifts In Kind International (GIKI).


The initiative focuses on strengthening Native American Indians and tribal governments through the services of the world’s largest charity in product philanthropy, GIKI. As the lead agency, ANA’s role is to promote and distribute information to tribes, tribal colleges and non-profit Native American organizations about GIKI and the services that they provide.


With thousands of business partners across the nation, including 44% of all Fortune 500 companies, GIKI coordinates the distribution of various products including office supplies and equipment, computers, software, personal care products, clothing, books, toys and building materials. In 2003, GIKI was able to provide non-profit organizations around the world with $800 million worth of products.


This Native American Initiative will allow ANA to further their goal of improving the social and economic conditions of Native Americans in the United States and the Pacific Basin. Located under the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), ANA provides grant funding for various Native organizations to introduce community projects that address Native needs.


In two years of collaboration with ANA, GIKI has been able to successfully allocate $14 million in product to various Tribes and Native American organizations in 8 states. This includes the distribution of over 2,000 Dell three-in-one printers that are currently available to eligible tribes, Native American non-profits, tribal colleges and local area school districts. Currently, ANA is coordinating outreach for current and future donations with ACF tribal offices to promote the availability of such products to Native American Communities. For more information call ANA toll-free at 877-922-9236 or log on to www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ana and click on Native American Initiative.





Chairman of Arctic Slope Native Association dead at 73


The Associated Press

(Published: February 16, 2005)

BARROW -- Joseph Upicksoun, chairman of the Arctic Slope Native Association, has died, the association said Tuesday. He was 73.

Upicksoun had been ill with cancer for several years. He died Monday at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage.

"Joe had great knowledge of Alaska Native history, Alaska Native land claims and especially the obligations of the federal government to the Alaska Native people," said Eben Hopson Jr., president and CEO of the association, in a statement.

"During the 1960s, Joe was an outspoken leader of the Arctic Slope Native Association during the Alaska Native lands claim debate, always with the Alaska Native people's interest at heart."

The association opposed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, a 1971 law that compensated Alaska Natives for the loss of lands they historically used and occupied by providing for the establishment of Native corporations and paying them $962.5 million and 44 million acres of land.

Upicksoun co-signed a letter to President Nixon, asking him to veto the legislation on behalf of the Inupiat Eskimos of the Arctic Slope who claimed aboriginal title to 56.5 million acres north of the Brooks Range.

In 1972, Upicksoun became one of the founding members of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. He was elected president and chairman in the corporation's first election a year later and served through 1977.

Upicksoun also served as special assistant to former North Slope Borough Mayor Jeslie Kaleak from 1990 to 1993.

A memorial service is planned in Barrow, and a funeral and burial will be in Point Lay, where he was born.





Hawaiian church pastor found joy in faith and music

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Regina "Lei" Kahiwakaneikopolei Bright Recca, pastor of a historic Hawaiian Christian church on Cooke Street and a member of a famous family of entertainers, died Feb. 1 at Castle Medical Center. She was 87.

As kahu kihapai (pastor) of Ke Alaula Oka Malamalama Church, she was known to her religious community as a woman of faith as well as fun. And as a sister of famed entertainer Sol K. Bright and the mother of musician Joe Recca, she could hardly deny herself the joy she took in music.

"As a minister, she really means what she says," said Keli'i Chun, kahu for another congregation, Ka Makua Mauloa Church. "She's very religious, but when she hears the music, she'll just up and do her thing."

Recca was ninth of the 14 Bright children, all grandchildren of John Kekipimaia, who founded Ke Alaula church in 1853. It was established within a basic Calvinist tradition but as an independent Hawaiian Christian organization.

The future kahu did not take up her ministry until much later, said her son, Joe Recca. Lei Bright, with her sister Sybil, sang and danced with the Lei Collins troupe in Waikiki and later worked as a typist for the city's emergency services office.

Both her parents had been pastors of the church, Recca said, but it wasn't until she was well into midlife when she began having dreams of sitting in the church, looking up and seeing her mother pointing at her. She was ordained a minister in 1970 and became pastor in 1991.

The Bright family, native speakers of Hawaiian, was descended from one of the Kamehameha lines, Recca said. Pahukoa Morse, who was installed with Lei Recca into the Hawaiian benevolent society Hale O Na Ali'i a few years ago, described her friend as "a very gracious lady." Others agreed, emphasizing her ability to entwine faith with love of her culture.

Hawai'i songstress Auntie Genoa Keawe remembered the Brights from her own childhood, growing up across Kapi'olani Boulevard from the family home and church, and then watching them perform from time to time.

"That's what's wonderful about the Bright family," she said. "They believe in God. ... God is the one that helped them get to where they are."

She seemed to express her faith in a way that put people at ease, her son said. Recently summoned to a benediction at a construction site where bones had been unearthed, Kahu Recca consoled the worker who inadvertently had dug them up.

"He said, 'Will anything happen to me?' And she said, 'Everything is blessed, nothing bad will happen,' " Recca said. "There was such relief on his face.

"She meant that with all her heart," he added. "That comforting spirit drew people to her."

She also is survived by her husband, Salvatore; daughters Bettina M. Recca and Regina K. R. Young; seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Visitation is 9 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 19 at Ke Alaula Oka Malamalama Church, 910 Cooke St.; service to follow. No flowers.









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