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August 17, 2005

 

 

 

August 12, 2005

 

Kamehameha admission suit will not return to lower court

 

By Sally Apgar
sapgar@starbulletin.com

The non-Hawaiian boy who has challenged Kamehameha Schools' "Hawaiians-only" admission policy has lost another legal shot at attending the private school for his senior year.

Late yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion made this week by attorneys for the unidentified student, referred to as "John Doe," asking that the case be transferred back down to the U.S. District Court in Hawaii on an emergency basis so that the boy can ask the court to force Kamehameha to admit him pending the outcome of an expected lengthy appeals process.

Last week, a 9th Circuit panel ruled 2-1 that Kamehameha's admission policy "constitutes unlawful race discrimination" under civil rights laws dating back to 1866 because it creates an "absolute bar" to admission for non-Hawaiians and "trammels" their rights.

Kamehameha is expected to file a petition Aug. 23 asking a new panel of 11 judges with the 9th Circuit to reconsider the case, known as an "en banc" hearing.

Pending the appeal, a process expected to take at least a year, the boy's attorneys have sought several ways to get him admitted immediately for his senior year. So far, they have failed.

Eric Grant, a Sacramento, Calif., attorney representing the boy, confirmed yesterday afternoon that he had a verbal acknowledgment that the court had shot down his request. However, Grant was unable to obtain a copy of the order by the court's close of business.

"We're obviously disappointed," Grant said of the denial. "We wanted John Doe to be able to start the school year with everyone else, but that's not gonna happen."

However, Grant was optimistic that Doe will attend the private school this year, possibly as early as September, because he believes Kamehameha's request for an en banc rehearing will be denied.

"The next step is the court will get Kamehameha's rehearing petition and take two to four weeks to consider it, and we expect it will be denied, at which time the case will become final and go back to the District Court in Hawaii," Grant said.

Kamehameha Schools has repeatedly said it would not admit the boy until all appeals are exhausted and a final court decision is rendered. Kamehameha could appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Also yesterday, Kamehameha's attorneys filed a motion opposing Grant's request that the 9th Circuit hand the matter back to U.S. District Court Judge Alan Kay, who originally heard the case and found the admission policy was not a violation of anti-discrimination laws.

Soon after Kamehameha filed its opposition, its motion was made moot by the 9th Circuit decision not to send the case back to the Hawaii court. However, the school's filing does provide insight into their thinking.

Kamehameha argued that the boy's attendance at the school for his senior year is not "an emergency situation" that justifies altering the judicial process.

Kamehameha's attorneys argued that the boy is not experiencing "irreparable harm" and that the school should not be forced to accept him before a final decision because his admission would bring "prejudice, disruption and chaos" to Kamehameha Schools, "its students and its admission process."

The motion said the student "is not being denied an education; he simply has not been admitted to his school of choice." The filing said the "inability to attend a school of one's choosing does not by itself constitute irreparable harm."

In its filing, Kamehameha's lawyers were optimistic the school would be granted a rehearing with the 9th Circuit, a rare event. The filing said its petition "will not be legally frivolous," a legal reason the court can use to strike it down.

Kamehameha noted that the 9th Circuit's own decision said the case is precedent-setting and that the issue "is a significant one in our statutory civil rights law."

The filing noted it is "the first decision nationwide to invalidate a remedial race-conscious admissions policy program of a purely private educational institution" under civil rights laws dating back to the post-Civil War South.

Under such federal laws, a "remedial race-conscious program" is a kind of affirmative action aimed at righting past discriminatory wrongs against a group. Kamehameha has argued that to right wrongs against native Hawaiians, it needs an admission policy based on racial preference.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, August 11, 2005

 

Alumni planning march in Bay Area

 

By Gordon Y.K. Pang

Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Kamehameha Schools alumni and other supporters will hold a rally and march in downtown San Francisco next week in support of the school's Hawaiians-first admissions policy, according to one of the organizers.

 

At least several hundred are expected to attend. They will be joined by Kamehameha chief executive Dee Jay Mailer and at least one school trustee; members of the 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition, a Native Hawaiian rights group; and others.

 

The march, set for noon Aug. 20, will go by Seventh and Mission streets, where the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sits. The court, in a reversal of a lower-court ruling, decided 2-1 that Kamehameha's preferential admissions policy constitutes unlawful race discrimination.

 

The case was brought by a boy known only as John Doe who is starting his senior year of high school this fall. Kamehameha is appealing to have more judges of the 28-member court review the decision made by the three judges.

 

Noelani Jai, a 1983 Kamehameha graduate and an attorney who lives in Southern California, said she was bothered by the court ruling when she read it. After exchanging e-mails with other Kamehameha alumni in California, she quickly realized she isn't the only out-of-state Hawaiian who is unhappy and, on Friday, she decided to talk with others about the march.

 

"All of the sudden it occurred to me one night that we live in California, we live near the 9th Circuit Court, and so I thought it would a perfect opportunity for kanaka maoli on the Mainland to represent those who are in Hawai'i by marching on the court," Jai said.

 

The word has been going out primarily via e-mails and online bulletin boards and chat rooms.

 

Jai said she expects at least 30 to 40 people, including herself and her 11-year-old daughter, Kehaulani, to fly to San Francisco for the march.

 

Since the expected turnout has been growing steadily, the Northern California alumni chapter and school public relations staff in Honolulu are helping put the event together, Jai said.

 

Last Saturday, an estimated 20,000 people attended rallies and marches statewide in Hawai'i. That included 15,000 who gathered at 'Iolani Palace, most of whom formed a sea of red T-shirts that marched up to Mauna 'Ala, the Royal Mausoleum.

 

Sacramento-based attorney Eric Grant, who is representing John Doe in the case, said on Saturday that he did not think it was likely that the judges would be swayed by shows of disapproval.

 

But Jai said that influencing the judges was not the main point. "More than that, we just want to educate folks across the continent, and not just San Francisco," she said. Jai said she hopes to get 300 to 400 at the march although some have suggested as many as 1,000 could show up, given the number of Kamehameha alumni in California.

 

Vicky Holt Takamine, president of 'Ilio'ulaokalani, said about six members of her group intend to join the San Francisco effort. The group, which was instrumental in setting up last week's Honolulu march, intends to take along about 2,000 T-shirts to sell for $10 apiece. 'Ilio'ulaokalani sold out its stock of 3,000 to 4,000 shirts at last Saturday's rally, Takamine said.

 

Jai said that besides the march, alumni chapters are talking about holding candlelight vigils Aug. 19 that would be conducted simultaneously across the country. There are more than a dozen chapters on the Mainland, including those in Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

 

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, August 11, 2005

 

‘Pedagogy of aloha’ drives charter school’s success

 

By Kevin Dayton


Advertiser Big Island Bureau

 

WAIMEA, Hawai'i — Kanu o ka 'Aina's library and its cramped space for language arts instruction were fashioned out of two old shipping containers.

 

Some of the charter school's main campus classrooms are in tents, and the rest are housed in half of a warehouse loaned to the school by the University of Hawai'i's College of Tropical Agriculture.

 

The main campus is on space at the college's Lalamilo Research Station, and Kanu's administration operates from an old three-bedroom caretaker's house.

 

The humble facilities forced the school to cap enrollment at 125, and now there is a waiting list of about a dozen students trying to get in.

 

Something is happening here, and Big Island parents are hearing about it.

Students who were left far behind in more conventional schools have leaped ahead by multiple grade levels in their reading abilities, said school director Ku Kahakalau. All seven of the school's spring graduates went on to college or other higher education, she said.

 

She also points to other accomplishments such as the three children's books that were written by current or former students and are being published by Kamehameha Schools' Press, and an annual hula drama so powerful it leaves some spectators in tears.

 

Between 92 percent and 94 percent of the students are part Hawaiian, and Kahakalau said instruction is driven by the "pedagogy of aloha," a term coined by school staff to describe an approach to education based on Hawaiian traditions.

 

For example, expectations for student behavior are reinforced through Hawaiian proverbs. Group work is stressed over individual work, acknowledging the "affiliation orientation" in Hawaiian culture that differs from the "achievement orientation" of Western culture, she said.

 

Kanu also is helped along by millions of dollars in research and educational grants the school has been able to tap, and a partnership with Kamehameha Schools under which Kamehameha provides technical support and a dollar of funding for every $4 provided by the state Department of Education.

 

"What the kids say is the difference is aloha. They say for the first time, somebody cares about them, and that's the part that's so exciting," Kahakalau said. "The magic bullet is a really, really easy thing in some ways. It's really the personal attention grounded in a cultural way of interacting, giving them their culture, make them proud of who they are."

 

Standardized test scores are not stellar, but they are steadily improving, she said. But Kahakalau worries the school is being judged on the performance of students who have just arrived at Kanu after years of struggling in conventional public schools.

 

"We thought our measuring stick would be the students that started with us in kindergarten in 2000," she said. "That should be what we should be accountable for, not a 10th-grader who comes to us from the DOE with third-grade reading levels and then takes the test, and (then the system concludes that) it's our fault that he's not reading at 10th grade. And that's happening right now.

 

"We just feel that we need more time."

 

The school is preparing for a $25 million capital drive to pay for construction of new facilities on 30 acres of Hawaiian Home Lands in Waimea.

 

What are you most proud of? Ongoing growth of students and staff academically and culturally as a result of a research-based "pedagogy of aloha."

 

Best-kept secret: Kahakalau said Kanu is home to the only Hawai'i public school students to be published professionally. School projects enable students to write and illustrate bilingual books about Hawai'i using the expertise of local artists and writers.

 

Everybody at our school knows: Everybody, and we relate to each other as an 'ohana.

 

Our biggest challenge: Procuring funding to finish our multimedia laboratory.

 

What we need: Tutors and volunteers to help us get struggling readers up to grade level.

 

Special events: Annual Hula Drama in May, involving all students in grades K-12. This comprehensive ho'ike shares with parents and the public what students have learned throughout the school year as part of their assessment.

 

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, August 15, 2005

 

Outreach plan on track

 

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

 

In the past five years, since Kamehameha Schools was reorganized under a new board of trustees, the trust has spent $197.8 million on outreach programs in an attempt to extend its reach beyond its three campuses and help far more Hawaiian children.

 

Under a new strategic plan established in 2001, the money has gone to help pregnant and new mothers, preschool children and public schools, college students and adult dropouts, with some of it spent on non-Hawaiians.

 

Kamehameha's statistics show it is reaching thousands more children and others than the 5,400 attending school on its campuses, and has already met and exceeded many of its outreach goals for the first five years of the new strategic plan.

 

And the plan calls for spending $55.2 million this year on outreach — the biggest such annual expenditure thus far and a 50 percent increase since the strategic plan was launched.

 

Experts say the trust, which has been criticized for failing to reach more of the children Bernice Pauahi's will pledged to help despite its $6 billion in assets, is making up for lost time.

 

"What most pleases me is the trend over the last few years and the clear new direction this board of trustees is going in terms of serving more children and partnering with the Department of Education and other entities," said Randy Hitz, dean of the College of Education at the University of Hawai'i.

 

"Using their money to leverage other money and vice versa — that's exactly the right direction to go," said Hitz, who also is a member of a large informal advisory committee for Kamehameha. "They're going to serve a whole lot more kids that way, which is what a foundation of that size should be doing."

 

But even school officials say it's far from adequate.

 

"Yes, we are rebuilding our culture and redefining and re-understanding who we are as a native people, and in the process we're rebuilding pride and we're rebuilding dignity," trustee Nainoa Thompson told an emotional crowd of 15,000 at a rally in support of the school last weekend.

 

"But I say no, it ain't enough," Thompson said.

 

On Aug. 2 the Kamehameha Schools was dealt a major blow when the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the school's policy of preference for Hawaiians for admission to its three campuses violates federal civil rights laws and amounts to racial discrimination.

 

Kamehameha is appealing the ruling, but many, including Thompson, say the school is at a crossroads as it struggles to educate Hawaiians in the context of rebuilding cultural pride, and overcoming drug abuse, criminal behavior and unhealthy habits.

 

"It ain't enough until we deal with those who are in poverty," Thompson said.

 

"Eighty-five percent of our kids are outside of our campuses, so we've got to be there," he said later.

 

In Kamehameha's most recent annual report, Kamehameha chief operating officer Dee Jay Mailer notes that fulfilling the schools' educational mission "includes easing the financial burden of education for needy families."

 

One of the school's primary goals is to reach 10,000 keiki from birth to 4 years old by the end of fiscal 2006. But there's still a ways to go to reach the goal.

 

By the end of last year, the school had served 3,800 pre-schoolers above the 1,500 enrolled in Kamehameha's own pre-schools, which have existed since the 1970s but are being expanded.

 

With many of the Kamehameha preschools maintaining waiting lists, Kamehameha also now offers tuition scholarships for 345 Hawaiian children annually to attend other preschools.

 

"Somewhere around 6,000 young ones are born every year just within the Hawaiian community and our preschools are serving around 1,500, so clearly we're not meeting the need," said Charlene Hoe, who heads outreach programs for Kamehameha.

 

"Even statewide there clearly are not enough spaces available for all children in the 3- and 4-year age group. There's one space for every two children in general across the state. But in some of our communities it's as scarce as one space for every 15 children."

 

Jaylene Lum said she felt lucky to get a space in Kamehameha's Waimanalo preschool for her daughter, Jaymie, who is now a 7-year-old in second grade. "It was perfect. It got her ready for school and helped her socialize," Lum said.

 

And now she's grateful that her 4-year-old, J.C., is enrolled.

 

"It's so close," said Lum of the school that provides priority to homestead families such as hers. "It provides more for her than I'm able to."

 

Said CEO Mailer: "The preschools are run with the same criteria that we run our campuses. There are Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians who attend the preschools ... There is no restriction on the funding to the non-Hawaiians. They get the same amount of funding as the other students are getting."

 

Jan Dill, who heads the nonprofit Partners in Development, would like to see Kamehameha do more to address the needs of families.

 

"We're doing a good job with school readiness and tutu skills, but the larger issue is the whole family function — to bring families together to sort through education issues, employment issues, health issues and family dysfunction issues," said Dill, whose nonprofit works in many poverty-stricken rural communities and is partnering with Kamehameha to expand the Tutu and Me Traveling Preschool to Moloka'i and the Big Island.

 

"It's absolutely essential that the Hawaiian community make a major investment in the education and preparation of zero to 8-year-olds. It will transform our community," Dill said.

 

To that end, Kamehameha launched a new program in January to help new families bond and has reached 50 families so far.

 

Piloted in Waimanalo, the Hi'ilani Early Childhood Collaborative drew new mothers and their babies, including Li'i Wright and her 9-month-old son, Reynold Keli'iholokai Makua. The mothers learned how to give their infants Hawaiian massage — lomilomi — in six sessions over three weeks.

 

For Wright it was an experience that brought her whole family closer and created an evening ritual of massage and togetherness before both the baby and her 2-year-old, Samuel Ka'iliuli Makua, drift off to sleep.

 

"He'll come up to me and say 'Mom, lomilomi,'" said Wright of Samuel, who joined her for the classes and practiced massage on a doll.

 

"It calms him down. He just lays there and he looks at me and we talk, and he eventually falls asleep," Wright said. "He likes that closeness."

 

On the other end of the spectrum, $20 million in outreach funding in 2004 went to financial aid and scholarships for about 7,750 recipients. In addition, the school is serving more than 27,000 people through a variety of extension education and had extended its reach to 117,000 adults in the past five years for lifelong learning programs, according to the 2004 annual report.

 

"We're trying to be very focused in our approach to make the greatest impact," Mailer said. "Beyond that we want to support the public school system, so we're working with the Department of Education and charter schools to see how we can supplement their efforts even more."

 

The school is already supporting students in the public schools through reading programs for students in kindergarten to third-grade, tutoring and enrichment programs for those in middle and high school, and scholarships to about 2,000 Hawaiian public and private high school graduates annually.

 

Many of Kamehameha's outreach programs were canceled by former trustees in the mid-1990s. But now the trust is preparing another set of five-year projections and goals through 2011, hoping to reach more people.

 

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Friday, August 12, 2005

 

Native Hawaiian census numbers down

 

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

The number of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders living in Hawai'i declined during the past four years even as all other race categories increased, according to estimates released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

 

The Census Bureau estimated that on July 1, 2004, there were 279,651 people who could consider themselves Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. That was down 1.3 percent from the 283,430 in the category on April 1, 2000.

 

Statewide, the 2004 estimates show total population rising to 1,262,840 in 2004, about 4.2 percent higher than the 1,211,537 posted as the official population in the 2000 U.S. Census.

 

The 2004 estimates also showed that the four other race categories — Asians, whites, blacks/African-American, and Native Americans/Alaska natives all increased their numbers in Hawai'i.

 

Eugene Tian, an economist and research and statistics officer for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said the decline in the number of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders is a significant one.

 

And while there is no hard evidence, Tian said an analysis of the numbers indicates that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders may be leaving Hawai'i.

 

He noted that the age groups on the decline are children and adults of prime child-rearing age, between 20 and 40. "From the data, it looks like they're migrating out of the state," he said.

 

State Health Director Chiyome Fukino said information her staff gathered could back up Tian's theory.

 

The birth rate and death rate for Native Hawaiians have remained "fairly constant" over the last four years, Fukino said.

 

"It can be presumed, but not proven, that out-migration, meaning the movement of people from Hawai'i to the Mainland, is possibly contributing to this decrease in the population," she said.

 

However, Clyde Namu'o, administrator of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are either moving out of the state or simply not reporting themselves in the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander category.

 

For the first time in 2000, the Census had a separate Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander race category, and the count showed more than twice as many Hawaiians as had been estimated a decade before.

 

Also for the first time, people had the option of choosing from one of 63 race options, also including "white," "black or African American," "American Indian and Alaska Native" and "Asian."

 

Tian said that in coming up with its 2004 estimates, the Census Bureau looked at birth and death statistics to calculate what's known as natural growth. To measure migration and immigration, it evaluated federal tax returns, school enrollment figures, Medicare membership and a questionnaire conducted by the Census Bureau itself known as the American Community Survey.

 

The new statistics come as Native Hawaiian organizations — from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to Kamehameha Schools — are fighting legal challenges to their Hawaiians-first or Hawaiians-only programs.

 

Tian pointed out that the biggest drop for Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders was in the age group between 0 and 4 years old, which went from 29,574 in 2000 to 23,755 in 2004, or about 20 percent. He speculated that was caused by the number of those in the 20-to-40 age bracket who are moving away. That would also explain why all other age categories involving children also saw a decrease, he said.

 

Up through age 39, the only Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders age category that saw an increase was those who are 20-24. The number of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 40 and over appear to be increasing, with the exception of those in the 65-69 and 70-74 age groups.

 

Tian said it's hard to determine whether the trend is long-term because there are no numbers with which to compare. It wasn't until the 2000 Census that people were allowed to specify more than one racial category when they stated they were of more than one race.

 

"They're apples and oranges," Tian said, when asked if he could compare 2000 numbers with those of the 1990 Census.

 

Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, a professor with the University of Hawai'i's Hawaiian Studies Program, said the statistics saddened her but were not surprising.

 

"It's not that they want to leave, but Hawaiians are needing to leave Hawai'i because of economic reasons," Kame'eleihiwa said.

 

Others in the Hawaiian community said that if Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are leaving in large numbers, they are only part of an out-migration to the continental United States that is also being felt by other races.

 

Jade Danner, Information & Government Affairs Manager for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, noted that a number of key age categories among Asians in Hawai'i also saw a decrease, although she added "the exodus is most apparent in the NHPI populations."

 

Danner echoed Kame'eleihiwa's concerns. "Our young people are leaving because of a lack of economic opportunity, plain and simple," she said. "We must find a way to strengthen our existing economies, and diversify into new areas."

 

Namu'o, the OHA administrator, said if a significant number of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are leaving the state, it makes sense they are doing so because of the high cost of living. Many may be moving to California, Nevada or other locales where homes, and other needs, cost less, he said.

 

Kathy Tibbets, who is with the policy analysis and system evaluations arm of Kamehameha Schools, said the census and DBEDT numbers appear to be "a little low" compared to the numbers her staff has been tracking.

 

Tibbets said her numbers showed that births dipped between 1990 and 1997 and have since gone back on the upswing.

 

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, August 11, 2005

 

Hawai'i stands out in racial diversity

 

Advertiser Staff and News Services

 

Hawai'i maintained its status as the nation's most racially diverse state in the latest population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

 

According to the estimates, 76.7 percent of Hawai'i's population identify themselves as minorities, the highest proportion in the nation.

 

Three other states and the District of Columbia also are "majority-minority": Texas, which has a growing Hispanic population, California and New Mexico.

 

In Hawai'i, Asians are the largest group, with 58 percent of the state's population, which also is tops in the nation. Hispanics make up the largest minority group in Texas, California and New Mexico, while in the District of Columbia African-Americans make up the largest group.

 

Hawai'i had the largest number and largest proportion of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders: 279,700, or 22 percent of the state's population. The City and County of Honolulu led all other U.S. counties in the estimated population of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders at 183,200.

 

Author Tom Coffman, who has written several books that discuss the role of race in Hawai'i's society, said the state's modern history has been marked by diversity.

 

"When Hawai'i was annexed by the United States (in 1898), its population was 3 to 4 percent Caucasian, which is a very little-known fact," Coffman said. "It was 2 percent American and American-descendant Caucasians. And it was a couple of percent Caucasian and 95 percent-plus nonwhite — Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, etc."

 

As a heavily nonwhite state, "Hawai'i has been and is the pacesetter in terms of what a multiracial democracy really means," he said. "While Hawai'i hasn't been perfect, I think Hawai'i has created a model for bringing people together in increasingly democratic ways."

 

The Census Bureau said five other states are close to being majority-minority states. Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona each have about 40 percent minorities. Blacks and Hispanics are the largest minority groups in those states.

 

Public policy analysts said these states and the country as a whole need to bring minority education and professional achievement to the levels of whites. Otherwise, these areas risk becoming poorer and less competitive in the world market.

 

With the nation's under-18 minority population already nearing that of whites of the same age group, the nation should be more than half minorities by 2050, said Steve Murdock, a demographer at the University of Texas-San Antonio.

 

William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., said bringing minorities' education and salary levels in line with whites should be a top priority and needs federal support.

 

This demographic shift, which Frey and other experts attribute to Hispanic immigration, also could lead to more bilingual education. The demand already exists and is not being addressed, said Tatcho Mindiola, director of the University of Houston's Center for Mexican American Studies.

 

Mindiola said the country should expect to see an eventual political shift, which is likely to include more Hispanics running for public office at all levels of government.

 

 

 

 

August 17, 2005

 

America Supports You: Wounded Warriors Join Native Americans for Powwow

 

By Michael E. Dukes

Special to American Forces Press Service

 

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2005  - Nine Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for war wounds and other ailments joined Native Americans from across the continent to participate in a sacred celebration of American Indian culture and pride - the 2005 National Powwow at the MCI Center arena here on Aug. 12.

 

The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian invited the soldiers as honored guests to march in the Grand Entry behind the honor guard and attending American Indian dignitaries. According to news reports, more than 800 dancers and color guard members performed at the Aug. 12-14 event, which drew thousands of attendees.

 

"On several occasions before the powwow I had some discussions with Native American veterans who felt that it was important to honor individuals who have served their country but, most importantly, folks from Walter Reed (and other places) who have made significant sacrifices," said the museum's Terry Snowball . "Native Americans hold their veterans in high esteem and it has long been an honorable tradition to serve as protectors of their people."

 

Throughout the history of America and its conflicts there has been a Native American presence, Snowball said. They've served in campaigns as scouts against other tribes and in the service of the various republics and nations who were here. "They've served America during the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and so on," he added.

 

"Collectively I believe that all of the tribes that were present and the people in the audience were honored to be in the presence of individuals with such courage and selflessness," Snowball said. "Everyone, as soldiers of one great nation (native and non-native alike), serves their country with honor and that's what Indian people respect and that is what they wished to share with the folks at Walter Reed."

 

As the Grand Entry kicked off the powwow, the master of ceremonies introduced the hundreds of participants  in the event. Dressed in colorful outfits, Native Americans of all ages performed dances and songs to the beat of traditional drums. The honored guests - patients from Walter Reed - sat in reserved seats a few feet from the performance near the reviewing stand.

 

Performers put on their best show as they danced in front of the recovering war wounded. Throughout the event, Native Americans and other attendees came over to the soldiers, shook their hands and thanked them for their service to the United States.

 

"I thought it was awesome," said Sgt. Debra Oliver, an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran at the event. "It was a great cultural experience."

 

Oliver said she was honored to be a part of her first powwow. "The spirit in the room just moves you and everybody there was so friendly," she said.

 

(Michael E. Dukes works for Walter Reed Army Medical Center Public Affairs

Office.)

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Friday, August 12, 2005

 

Mary Naone Adams strung meaning into lei

 

By Wanda A. Adams
Assistant Features Editor

 

Services are Sunday and Monday for leimaker Mary Naone Adams, who died Wednesday at her Kane'ohe home.

 

Adams, born Sept. 15, 1929, spent her days in the airy family room or out in the carport of her home, a tray of pua kenikeni flowers in her lap. Meanwhile, her lei went halfway around the world with hula halau such as Aloha Dalire's Keolalaulani Halau Olapa O Laka and Chinky Mahoe's Halau Hula 'O Kawaili'ula, to the Mainland and Japan. She also was the leimaker to the Honolulu Advertiser's 'Ilima Awards gala.

 

Entertainer and kumu hula Manu Boyd often stopped by to pick up lei from the woman who was universally known as "Auntie Mary."

 

"Of all the pua kenikeni lei-makers in Kane'ohe and elsewhere, you could always tell Auntie Mary's leis. She packed the lei with flowers," he said. "It's so easy to be stingy, but she wasn't like that."

 

Auntie Mary didn't make a huge number of lei, so getting one was special, he said: "She represents the real, fast-vanishing breed of Hawaiian leimakers you just don't see anymore — her hospitality, her generosity." The leimaking trade is fast being taken over by immigrants, Boyd said, but Mary Adams was among those who understood the kaona — the inner meaning — of a lei as a metaphor for a beloved child, a treasured creation.

 

The Adams family compound off William Henry Road and the nearby homes of relatives and friends have dozens of large pua kenikeni bushes. In an interview Sunday, Mary Adams said many of the neighborhood plants were air-layered from those in the yard of her Adams in-laws.

 

But her leimaking days began long before her marriage to the late Joseph Kanehoa Adams in 1947. Leimaking was a side business for her mother, a maid at the Alexander Young Hotel. Living on Prospect Street in the 1930s, the girls and their mom would get up early; pick plumeria, bougainvillea and other flowers to make lei, then dress up in their holoku and papale (hats) and walk down to the pier, she said.

 

"Two fo' quahtah! Two fo quahtah!," she sang, imitating her own once-childish voice. "And we would sell 'em all, you know," she said with a characteristic lift of one eyebrow and a comical sideways look.

 

Though ill and tired, Adams couldn't keep her hands from the flowers her son placed in her lap, instructing a visitor in leimaking as she had generously done to many others. The five-petaled pua kenikeni is a simple blossom but there is an art to sewing the lei so that the flowers are evenly arranged, and to tying multiple strands so they spiral and sit high on the shoulders, she explained. As she talked, she expertly trimmed the stems at an angle and speared them with a foot-long needle threaded with the three-strand cotton she preferred. "You have to fit one flower into the other. Then no more hakahaka (gaps, like missing teeth)," she said.

 

Adams charged $8 for a single-strand pua kenikeni. "You go to town, they charge $10 but I felt that, since it's all just at home here, I can't make it too high," she said. "Oh, yes, I enjoy making lei. It keeps me busy."

 

In fact, Boyd said, she often gave lei away, or declined payment, asking only for a little talk-story, and a kiss at parting.

 

Adams, who had discontinued treatment for cancer in order to have some quality of life and time with her large family, was one of 16 children. She and her surviving sisters, Violet "Nani" Souza and Julia Lagunero of Honolulu, were fixtures at family parties at her eldest son's home down the street. There, she would preside, nursing the half-size Miller "pony" beer she enjoyed, and offering greetings and hugs to all.

 

In addition to her sisters and an aunt, Mary Naone of Waipahu, Adams is survived by her children, Priscilla "Puanani" Dumlao, Joseph K. Jr. (Rowena), Colleen "Ipo" Tilton (Leonard), Kimo L. and Ihi, all of Kane'ohe, and Isaac E.K. (Lisa) of Surprise, Ariz. She also had 20 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

 

Visitation is planned for 10 a.m. Sunday at Borthwick Mortuary with a service at 1 p.m. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Greenhaven Memorial Park; aloha attire is suggested.

 

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

August 13, 2005

 

Law and Labor

 

Chamber raises awareness of American Indian firms

 

By:  Alana Roberts/Staff Writer

 

With all of the talk by Las Vegas Valley business leaders about the importance of supplier and workplace diversity, some members of the American Indian population are saying the business community should pay more attention to them.

 

"Native Americans are one of the least served of all ethnic groups," Debra Sillik, president of the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Nevada, said. "I believe because they're smaller, and I also believe they're very private people. They're not going to go out and ask for help. What I'm seeing is a lot of them are out of their element. They've come to this big city and they don't have the spiritual/cultural connection."

 

Sillik works as a volunteer for the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Nevada, and has been working for about seven months to put together a board of directors and to plan events for the group.

 

The American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Nevada is a group that first began operating eight years ago, she said. The group, which came under her leadership about seven months ago, didn't meet consistently and had more of a social function. Sillik said the group will now focus on actively working to provide networking and other opportunities for American Indian business people.

 

The group's first monthly luncheon under Sillik's leadership is set for September. She said membership is open to anyone who wants to help Native Americans in such areas as employment, self-employment and education.

 

Sillik said the number of American Indian business openings in Nevada is growing along with the growth of that population here. According to 2003 U.S. Census Bureau statistics there are 9,556 American Indian and Alaska Native people in Clark County. American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses in Nevada grew by 56 percent between 1997 and 2002 from 1,231 in 1997 to 1,915 in 2002, according to the Census Bureau.

 

She said the group will have more of a holistic approach to providing opportunities to American Indians such as employment opportunities and educational opportunities. In addition to the monthly meetings, Sillik said the group will offer educational workshops.The group, with the help of Citibank, will host workshops this fall and winter on first-time home buying in both Reno and Las Vegas.

 

Sillik said she also hopes to target American Indian youth by providing them with employment and scholarship opportunities.

 

"I know they have a high dropout rate," she said. "We're hoping to partner native youth with corporations so they'll get a taste of corporate life."

 

Sillik said the Las Vegas Valley's business community has been receptive to the group's mission. She said the group now has about 50 members and a board made up of representatives from such companies as MGM Mirage, Boyd Gaming Corp., Citibank, the Nevada Minority Business Council, McCarran International Airport and Harrah's Entertainment.

 

"The corporations have been very open to working with us, as have the casinos," Sillik said. "The response to the American Indian Chamber has been with open arms, which was surprising."

 

She said local corporations have assisted in many ways, such as helping her to network in the business community, by inviting her to events and by sponsoring luncheons and a planned awards banquet set for November. She said the Golden Eagle Feather Award banquet will honor Nevadans who have worked to help American Indians.

 

Sillik said many of the American Indian business leaders in her group are artisans, but many work in a variety of industries.

 

One member, Alonso Magallanes, is an owner of Hang on Time Signs, a local company that designs logos for T-shirts, banners and posters. He said he has worked in the valley on his own as a logo and sign designer for about 12 years. About two months ago he merged with Hang on Time Signs. Magallanes said he is optimistic that the group will help him acquire more business opportunities.

 

"I think it'll put me out there where these other businesses are, where I'll have some exposure," Magallanes said. "That's what I'm looking for, trying to get into the big bucks. I believe the chamber will help me do that."

 

Dianne Fontes, president of the Nevada Minority Business Council, said she thinks the group is off to a good start. The group is renting space through the council's incubator program, which helps small businesses get started.

 

"I feel it's going to go somewhere because she (Sillik) put together the right ingredients," Fontes said. "She put together a good board of directors and she's putting together some programs like a business. That's the difference to me, that's why it's going to work this time."

 

Irene Bustamante, director of national diversity relations for MGM Mirage, said the company has an employee who serves on the American Indian Chamber of Commerce's board of directors and it also has been active in helping Sillik to network in the business community.

 

"Our commitment to them is to help them create business opportunities for the Native American population," Bustamante said. "We see it as our corporate responsibility to assist chambers. Most of them are volunteer-based and so we do our part to outreach to them as well. That will be part of our serving on the board. It's (not just) to give a monetary contribution, but to be a responsible corporate citizen."

 

Alana Roberts covers courts and labor relations for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached by e-mail at alanar@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4059.

 

 

 

 

Aug. 13, 2005, 5:41PM

 

Tribe is hoping to trade ordnance for tourists

 

By CARSON WALKER
Associated Press

 

RED SHIRT, S.D. - Oglala Sioux Tribe leaders hope the removal of unexploded ordnance from a former bombing range on the Pine Ridge reservation will clear the way for tourists who want to visit and learn about Indian culture.

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of removing the bombs, which the military dropped from 1942 to about 1963 on what was then the Badlands Bombing Range.

 

"Cleaning it up is the priority," said tribal President Cecelia Fire Thunder.

 

The tribe envisions using the 534-square-mile parcel of land for campgrounds, a museum and places where visitors can learn about Lakota history and culture. The goal is to train tribal workers as park rangers and have them tell the story of the Lakota people, Fire Thunder said.

 

Besides increasing tourism, the Oglala Sioux hope to allow family members to return to the land from which tribal members were uprooted when the bombing range was built.

 

The land was returned to the tribe in 1977, although the Air Force still controls about 4 square miles in the northern part of the range, which also includes part of Badlands National Park.

 

Federal funding to clean the site started in 1995. The Corps of Engineers said roughly $20 million has been spent and $5 million is set for this year and next year.

 

Most of the wayward bombs are around various targets on the range.

 

The priority is finding and removing anything dangerous near houses, where curious children play.

 

 

 

 

August 10, 2005

 

For Native American tribes, business diversifying pays

 

By Tom Kenworthy, USA TODAY

 

WINNEBAGO, Neb. — The future of the Winnebago Indian tribe is emerging on a 40-acre site carved from a former cornfield.

 

Modular houses are lined up to be installed. Workers are hanging drywall in apartments above a full block of new retail space. Employees are filling catalog and online orders of Native American crafts in a new two-story stone building.

 

This development, called Ho-Chunk Village, will include 110 housing units, a retail district and an arts center when completed in about four years.

 

Ho-Chunk Village is the most visible sign of an economic transformation underway on this reservation of 1,500 Winnebago Indians in northeast Nebraska. The change began a decade ago, when Lance Morgan, 36, a tribal member educated at Harvard Law School, returned and established a corporation that now employs 400 people and generated $94 million in revenue last year.

 

This type of economic progress is becoming more common among the 562 federally recognized Indian tribes as they invest in businesses as diverse as wind energy and luxury golf resorts and rely less on income from gambling.

 

"Tribes are starting to make it on their own," says Jonathan Taylor, an economist who co-wrote a Harvard University study this year that tracked economic gains in Indian country during the 1990s.

 

Gaming money leveraged

 

The Winnebago corporation, called Ho-Chunk Inc. after a traditional tribal name, began in 1994 with $9 million in seed money from the tribe's lone casino. A short time later, competition from riverboat gambling in Iowa caused the tribe's annual gambling revenue to plummet 80%, Morgan says.

 

Ho-Chunk brought economic diversification to the tribe. Its businesses include construction, modular housing, office products, computer networking and hardware sales, marketing, grocery and gasoline sales, wholesale tobacco products and native crafts.

 

Most of the profit earned by Ho-Chunk goes back into its businesses, though in recent years 10%-20% has gone to the tribal government, which owns the corporation.

 

Tobacco and gasoline sales account for about half the corporation's revenue. Morgan says that share is steadily declining because the goal is to "shift away from those controversial businesses." Selling gas and cigarettes can be lucrative for tribes, because as sovereign powers they can set their own tax rates in lieu of state taxes.

 

Ho-Chunk's growth has had a dramatic impact on reservation life, says Vincent Bass, 53, a former tribal council member. "Native Americans have had this handout mentality," he says. "Now we are breaking away from that. ... With employment comes quality of life, education and self-esteem. I see people working who've never worked in their life."

 

Ho-Chunk "puts Winnebago tribal people to work," says David Redhorn, 37, a tribal member who switched from a railroad job that often kept him far from home to being head stocker at a grocery store begun by the corporation.

 

Redhorn bought one of the first houses built in Ho-Chunk Village. He received $20,000 in grants to help with the $137,000 purchase in November. All tribe members can get grants of $15,000 from Ho-Chunk's non-profit arm if they complete a 40-hour home-buying course. Low-income members can receive an additional $5,000.

 

Redhorn had been sharing a two-bedroom house with his wife's sister and her family — as many as 11 people. Now Redhorn, his wife and their three children still at home have a three-bedroom house with a full basement and two-car garage. In the garage: a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am, bought through Ho-Chunk's used-car company, Rez Cars.

 

The 1990s brought significant gains in the median household income and lower poverty rates in Indian country. But even amid the successes, poverty, public assistance and unemployment rates remain well above U.S. averages.

 

"I don't think anybody can be complacent and say, 'Hey, we've licked this tribal poverty thing.' But there's been some significant improvement," says Stephen Cornell of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona.

 

He says a key factor is that tribes are increasingly adept at governing themselves. Instead of having most aspects of reservation life controlled by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribes now run their own governments, police forces, courts and economic development and housing agencies.

 

Golf courses, wind power

 

Tribal gambling operations, authorized by Congress in 1988, draw in nearly $17 billion a year for about 200 tribes. That money has spurred the growth of other businesses.

 

"There's an enormous amount of plowing gaming revenues back into housing, economic diversification and so on," Harvard's Taylor says.

 

Some examples:

 

•Tribes in the Southwest have taken advantage of the region's success as a tourist destination. The Gila River Indian Community outside Phoenix has built three 18-hole golf courses and a 500-room resort managed by Sheraton.

 

•In the northern Plains, wind power is increasingly attractive to tribes long locked in poverty. The Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota completed a 750-kilowatt wind turbine in 2003 that produces power for about 250 homes. In the works: a 30-megawatt wind farm that would spread 15 turbines over 800 acres and produce power for about 9,000 homes.

 

•There are now 20 Indian-controlled banks — most formed in the past decade — that control $1.5 billion in assets and helped stimulate "the creation of a middle class in Indian country just in my lifetime," says J.D. Colbert, president of the North American Native Bankers Association.

 

•Another funding source has been the rapid growth in community development financial institutions that use foundation grants and investors. A pioneer in this field is the Lakota Fund on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Founded 19 years ago, it has loaned $3 million to tribal members, helping create 1,600 jobs and finance 500 businesses.

 

Elsie Meeks, a Lakota fund founder who now runs First Nations Oweesta Corp., says: "Our communities are going to start looking more like other communities, providing businesses and services and employment for our families."

 

 

 

 

August 16, 2005

 

Charter school accents Native culture

Organizers are aiming for up to 190 students

Associated Press


FAIRBANKS - Robert Na-o liked what he heard about Fairbanks' new charter school - especially the 10 a.m. starting time that would allow him a few hours more sleep.

 

The small size and an emphasis on Alaska Native culture also helped the decision for Robert, 14, who is Hawaiian and Athabascan.

 

"I get to learn more about the (Athabascan) side of my culture," he said. "I think it's cool."

 

The Effie Kokrine Charter School opens Thursday with an emphasis on Alaska Native and Alaska cultures, governance and environment.

 

Organizers want an enrollment of at least 150 students and are aiming for 190 for the new middle and high school.

 

"It is exciting. It has taken a long time but it is going to happen," said Ken Buggey, head of the school's academic policy committee. "It should have happened a long time ago."

 

The Effie Kokrine Charter School is the idea of Native educators, leaders and parents.

 

It will be housed at the former Howard Luke Academy and will be open to all public schools students. As a charter school, it is not bound by the curriculum, scheduling and policies of a traditional public school.

 

Charter schools are governed by an academic policy committee, which has a contract with the district.

 

Rather than taking an assortment of subject-specific classes, students will enroll in 12 three-week multidisciplinary thematic units, or modules, each year.

 

Most of the teachers are of Native descent.

 

"Number one, because we are a Native-focused (school) ... I was looking for teachers who had a lot of experience and understanding of Native ... culture," said head teacher Eleanor Laughlin. Finding them was a challenge, she said.

 

"There were a lot of good teachers that interviewed but I just didn't feel there was enough experience or understanding of the Native culture," Laughlin said. "I am really happy with this group of teachers."

 

Laughlin said students will have a homeroom teacher and will have some specific classes such as math and English, but will rotate among teachers every three weeks for the thematic units.

 

The school hopes to embrace "learning styles." A teacher and student will decide how that student best learns, such as visually, auditorily or kinesthetically. The teacher will tailor instruction and assignments to that student's needs.

 

The school schedule also will differ. The school day is shorter, about 5 1/2 hours, and eventually the school will switch to a seasonal year-round calendar, with students having lengthy breaks periodically throughout the year.

 

Laughlin said she and the staff are still working out some of the practical aspects of the program.

 

"We are not naive enough to think we will start off with everything perfectly," she said.

 

Superintendent Ann Shortt said she is comfortable with where the school is in its development process, especially after sitting in on staff training.

 

"I think it is pretty natural that it would not be planned 100 percent," she said. "They have got those (first) modules laid down and know exactly what they are doing."

 

The school's budget, at $1.5 million annually, is based on an enrollment of 190 students. For charter schools in Alaska, a key number is 150. At that number of students or higher, a charter school is counted as a small, standalone school. Schools with enrollments of 149 or fewer are counted as part of the largest school in the district.

 

That's important because state per student education funding is higher for small schools than for large schools.

 

If the Effie Kokrine school enrolls 150 students, as of the four-week count period in October, it would receive about $1.26 million in state funding, said Mike Fisher, chief financial officer for the district. If they have 149 students, that funding drops to $722,000.

 

"That one student is worth $538,0000," he said. "It's a big deal to make 150 students."

 

As of late last week, Laughlin said the school was within 40 students of that number, with applications coming in steadily each day. Shortt said it's typical for new or alternative programs to start the year with fewer students than they eventually have by the count period.

 

 

 

 

August 14, 2005

 

UH hopes for partner in building new sites

 

The development of two campuses on the Big Isle may be tied to other projects

 

By Craig Gima
cgima@starbulletin.com

Hawaii Community College is hoping two new campuses on both sides of the Big Island can be built and financed through the development of up to 500 acres of state land in Kona and a 267-acre state parcel in Hilo.

If the deal can be worked out, it will be the fourth public/private partnership on a major construction project being pursued by the University of Hawaii system.

The project took a step forward last week with the selection of three finalists to develop both campuses.

Rockne Freitas, the chancellor at Hawaii Community College, said he hopes a development team will be selected for approval by the Board of Regents at its October meeting in Hilo. Plans call for construction to start next year and for classes to be held in both new campuses in three years.

The Legislature appropriated $18.2 million for the planning, design and infrastructure development for what was projected to be a $200 million campus at Komohana and Puainako streets in Hilo.

Freitas said the developer selected will be able to use the state money to start planning and designing the Komohana campus and for water, sewage and other infrastructure improvements.

But most of the cost of both projects is expected to come from the development and management of the land surrounding the campuses and tax credits instead of state tax money.

The Kona campus site is on 500 acres mauka of the Keahole Airport next to the recently approved $305 million Hiluhilu project. That plan calls for homes, a golf course, a 120-room hotel, commercial space and a "University Village Center" on 725 acres of land, a project being developed by stock brokerage owner Charles Schwab and local builder Guy Lam.

The University Village Center plan also includes about six acres that Hawaii Community College can lease for class and office space.

The Hilo site is expected to serve the equivalent of 3,000 full-time students and the West Hawaii site will be built to serve 1,000 full-time students.

Freitas said the developers will have wide leeway to determine the size of the campus and how much of the state property needs to be developed to pay for the new facilities. The project could also include housing and child care facilities for students and faculty.

The developers will also have to show how they would preserve archaeological sites on the properties.

The proposal is basically, "here's these two plots of land. Tell us what you can do," Freitas said.

Five developers submitted their qualifications to the university last month. The three finalists who will put together a preliminary proposal are Big Island Campus Development Group, headquartered in Honolulu and El Paso; Hawai'i Campus Developers, headquartered in Honolulu and Atlanta; and Place Properties, headquartered in Honolulu and Atlanta.

Even after a developer is selected, there is still a long process before construction can begin. First a contract has to be worked out and the developer will undertake a feasibility study to see how practical the plan is. This will include determination of how to handle ceded land revenues. A more detailed management plan for the long-term development of the areas must then be put together and approved by the regents.

Revenue generated from ceded lands, or former Hawaiian crown lands, goes to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Besides Hawaii Community College projects, UH is also negotiating development agreements with private companies to build new dorms at UH-Manoa, a new Cancer Research Center in Kakaako and to build a new UH-West Oahu Campus in exchange for development rights on 500 acres in Kapolei.

 

 

 

 

Posted: August 16, 2005

 

Elders teach Catawba youth

 

by: Jim Largo / Indian Country Today

 

CATAWBA INDIAN RESERVATION, S.C. - On one end of the campus at the Catawba Indian Cultural Center, children in a classroom learned how to speak their language. In the next building in another classroom, students listened to a storyteller, telling them Catawba stories from ancient times. Not far from there was a class for pottery making, an art that has never left the Catawba Indian life.

About an hour before lunch, some young children gathered around a drum in the main hall. They began to drum a pow wow dance beat. Then high-pitched young voices sang a Catawba song.

''They are getting better,'' a teacher said, looking at them.

In pottery-making, Catawba children worked with clay, some making pots like their ancestors did. Others made caterpillars, little snakes, turtles and little canoes.

These and other classes were held three days a week for eight weeks for 25 students during the summer break. Other classes included bead loom work, shawl making, pow wow dancing, singing and drumming, arrowhead making, regalia making and quilting. Most of the classes were taught by tribal elders.

The program was the result of a six-year, $6.9 million matching grant from the U.S. Department Health and Human Services through the state of South Carolina to the Catawba Mental Health Center of Rock Hill, S.C. The Mental Health Center, through a program known as ''Youthnet,'' then subcontracted with the Native American Prison Program and John E. George, Catawba, who heads NAPP. With the contract, George, working from his home office, set up the program to include tribal social services and the Catawba Indian Cultural Center.

During a meeting, John L. Wilson, director of the Catawba Mental Health Center, explained the center's approach in the grant. ''You can't take an opposite approach,'' he said, talking about the center's thinking. ''We came into this community, asking where were the strengths and what were the challenges. We did not approach it from the negative, on 'what's your problem' or on 'what's wrong with you.'''

Wilson explained that matching the grant would be one dollar for every three that the government gave, and much of that could be in in-kind services.

At the meeting, Catawba Chief Gilbert Blue said, ''The Catawba Nation over the years has learned to cooperate and enlist the help of various agencies in the community and the state to enhance the lives of our people; not only the elderly but the youth as well.

''We have found that there are programs that naturally come with federally recognized tribes. Certain ones that come down the pike, for instance, better serve our Indian societies. What we have learned through experience is that there are many agencies in the state and local government that can add to these programs that we have. That's why we take advantage of those things.''

In the same meeting, George said, ''In Indian country, a lot of people talk about the elders being the keepers of the wisdom, the children being the future of the tribes. They need to be together, but in reality very few were put together.''

When setting up the program, George convinced Wilson to allow Catawba elders to be a key component of the grant. As mentors for the children, the elders would teach their life experiences to the children. George continues to advertise for more Catawba seniors to get involved.

For the summer, the Catawba mentor program hired 12 people for administration and teaching. Some of the funds were used for materials and payroll.

They kept the children all day, with breakfast at 8 a.m. and classes beginning at 8:30 a.m. Activity ended at 4:30 p.m. The children took breaks and sometimes naps during the morning, after lunch and in the afternoon.

''The program is a summer program, and after school program. A culture mentor program,'' George said. ''The children will learn everything that is Catawba - that will include language, Catawba drumming, Catawba songs, and as close as we can to the Eastern Woodland regalia instead of the western Plains regalia. We are trying to instill pride in being Catawba and to be proud of who we are.''

George's plan is to continue the program through the school year and into next summer. Another 25 Catawba students are participating in the after-school program.

George said the program will continue for three years and at the end, the Catawba youth may put on a pow wow to show the regalia they have made, the songs and drumming they have learned and the dance steps they have mastered.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Wednesday, August 17, 2005

 

The Auntie of Bishop Museum

 

By Zenaida Serrano
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Tucked away in a narrow room at the Bishop Museum, 85-year-old Pat Namaka Bacon spends hours on end listening to voices from Hawai'i's past — a melodic flow of native tongues sharing vivid memories of life in the Islands long ago.

 

For more than a decade, Bacon has listened to these oral histories on more than 100 audiotapes, transcribing and translating the Hawaiian recordings into Hawaiian and English manuscripts to make available to the public. There are hundreds more to transcribe.

 

"What I'm doing, I will never finish," Bacon said, sitting among a foot-high stack of files and notes on her desk. "I'm just scratching the surface."

 

The Bishop Museum last month honored Bacon, the hanai daughter of late Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui, with the Robert J. Pfeiffer Medal for her dedication to the advancement of Hawai'i's cultural heritage.

 

Bacon, who first joined the museum in 1939, now serves as its senior adviser for cultural affairs.

 

Bacon followed her hanai mother's footsteps in working at the museum. Pukui began translating Hawaiian writings into English for the museum in 1928.

 

The transcriptions Bacon is working on are largely the results of her mother's efforts. Pukui recorded the Hawaiian-language oral histories statewide throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

 

"Her mother was the Hawaiian presence in the museum — brought up Hawaiian, open to and understanding of lots of different Hawaiian traditions and practices — but also very open to seeing how changes come about," said Betty Lou Kam, vice president of cultural resources at the museum. "Auntie Pat is like that. She gives the museum its Hawaiian presence."

 

While those who work with Bacon say she is one of the museum's treasures, the soft-spoken Manoa resident is humble about her contributions. "Our grandma (Pa'ahana Wiggin) said, 'You don't put yourself over this person or that person. They know what they know; we know what we know,' " Bacon said.

 

LIVING THE CULTURE

 

During a recent walk-through tour of the museum's oldest building, Hawaiian Hall, Bacon made her way through a group of schoolchildren studying artifacts housed in the koa display cases.

 

"It's nice to see that they're interested," said Bacon, who stands barely 5 feet high and wasn't much taller than the visiting students.

 

Bacon's dedication to preserving the Hawaiian culture for future generations stems from her mother's influence.

 

"She was passionate about things Hawaiian," Bacon said.

 

Bacon learned early on her mother's commitment to perpetuating the native language and hula.

 

"When we went anywhere and she would see a flower or tree or something, she would say, 'This is the English name and this is the Hawaiian name,' so the next time we went by, I had better know it," Bacon said, laughing.

 

"And if I didn't remember, I had to go and look it up. So soon I remembered things, because I was tired of looking things up."

 

Bacon's formal hula training began when she was 13, when she joined her mother for sessions at the home of noted hula master Keahi Luahine. "She told me we were going there for (hula) preservation and it was not for entertainment," Bacon said. "So our focus was always on getting this information and keeping it intact for the next person who might be interested in it."

 

Puakea Nogelmeier, a Hawaiian language professor at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, calls Bacon a wonderful resource and role model.

 

"Her mother worked to make her the repository, and that was not just for hula, the language and the quirks of the language, but of just traditional practice, what is the Hawaiian way," Nogelmeier said.

 

MUSEUM MEMORIES

 

Bacon's work area is past heavy metal doors in a restricted wing of Paki Hall. She's surrounded by metal cabinets with index cards and black-and-white photographs, wooden bookcases filled with videotapes, and early 20th-century wooden trunks. Other than the faint whirring of an air conditioner, the room is quiet, and with its sweet mustiness, smells like an old library.

 

Her desk is neat, with a pile of folders, a few reference books (including a Hawaiian dictionary and "Place Names of Hawaii," books her mother helped compile), a telephone, tape player and magnifying lantern. But there's no computer. Her work has and will always be done with pencil and paper — it's a system that has worked just fine for decades.

 

"I don't know how to run a computer," Bacon said.

 

Wearing a lavender dress with purple flowers, and a rosy shade of lipstick, Bacon's face brightens up as she recounts memories of museum life, recollections as colorful as her childhood.

 

She began her stint at the museum when she was 19 years old, working as a telephone operator and bookstore employee.

 

"World War II broke out when Dr. Buck (Peter Buck, the museum's third director) was director, and so we all had to go around with our gas masks," she said. "The people from the Army would come every now and then, and we'd have a practice (putting the masks on)."

 

The employees' attempts were less than graceful, Bacon recalled.

 

"One of the fellows shook his head and said, 'You all will be dead before you got your gas masks on.' We were just clumsy, I guess," she said, laughing.

 

Bacon left the museum in 1945 to start a family, then returned in 1959 and eventually became secretary of the anthropology department. Today, the museum has 236 full- and part-time staffers; back then, it was a little more than 100, Bacon said.

 

"During Dr. (Alexander) Spoehr's time (as the museum's fourth director), we didn't have a restaurant here, so we all brought our own sandwiches," Bacon remembered. "Out on our courtyard, we had a hau tree growing, so there were two benches and everybody brought their lunches. ... We all sat out there, from the director down to the janitor, whoever wanted to, and it was like one big family."

 

Bacon has worked under five of the museum's nine directors. Through the decades, Bacon has witnessed the museum's many controversies, including claims to old artifacts. But she knows better than to get involved.

 

"I keep out of it," she said.

 

Bacon finds her work satisfying, knowing she's carrying on her mother's endeavors. And Bacon has no intention of quitting any time soon.

 

"As long as I have my cookies in the jar," she said, pointing to her head and laughing.

 

The Bishop Museum honored Auntie Pat last month for her cultural contributions.

 

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

August 11, 2005

 

Astronomy museum melds past, present

 

By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

HILO » The Mauna Kea Astronomy Education Center will bridge "the voyages of ancient and modern Hawaiians with those of astronomers," a center brochure says.

"If we achieve this, we will have something to teach the world about how to take the best of modern science and indigenous culture," said Peter Giles, introduced by the University of Hawaii at Hilo this week as the center's new director.

Giles takes over Sept. 1 with the goal of supplying the Hilo museum with exhibits and opening it to the public by the end of the year.

He replaces director Marlene Hapai, a university biology professor who gave birth to a concept in 1993 that led to the 40,000-square-foot museum and who has been in charge of its construction since January 2004.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye has been a major force behind the center, channeling $28 million to it through NASA. As early as 1995, Inouye linked Hapai's science idea to displays of Hawaiian concepts of the universe.

There have been some differences, such as the criticism by some Hawaiians of observatories on Mauna Kea.

Giles said the museum will show "science can be pursued without losing the powerful qualities of being Hawaiian."

Every exhibit in the museum will be described in Hawaiian as well as English. In the Kumulipo exhibit, showing the Hawaiian view of the creation of the world, the audio narration will be in Hawaiian with English in subtitles only, Hapai said while giving a tour of the building.

Even the landscaping of the museum's nine acres on the UH-Hilo campus is done in Hawaiian cultural zones, such as the lowland "realm of people" and the upland "realm of the spirit."

Coming from California's Silicon Valley, Giles has bridged cultures before. He recalled the challenge he faced as president of the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif., from 1987 to 2005.

"People were living within a stone's throw of the most advanced technology in the world and having not a clue about what was going on inside," he said.

The goal now will be to make the Mauna Kea museum an economic success, finding $3 million a year in operating money, he said.

A goal of 250,000 visitors per year will be sought, with a third, at most, coming from the Big Island. Cruise ship visitors are expected to be a large component.

Museums like this normally get only half their income from attendance fees, with the rest coming from government grants and private donations, Giles said.

 

 

 

 

August 11, 2005

 

Meth wreaks havoc on reservations

 

By BRODIE FARQUHAR

Star-Tribune correspondent

 

LANDER -- Parents and community leaders on the Wind River Indian Reservation need to learn when to say "no" and when to say "yes" if they hope to deal with a burgeoning methamphetamine problem, an expert says.

 

Parents need to say "no" to domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse, said Jean Nahomni Mani, and "yes" to setting boundaries for children, pride in native culture, education and responsibility.

 

Mani -- a meth recovery counselor, member of the Hunkpati Sioux, resident of the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation in South Dakota and coordinator for the Crow Creek Coalition -- spoke here Wednesday at the Wind River Native American Conference.

 

Mani and her extended family have had their own battles with alcoholism and drug abuse, but meth addiction is increasingly in a class by itself.

 

Robert Murray, assistant U.S. Attorney for Wyoming and an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, said his father, grandfather and great-grandfather all struggled with alcohol, "but they all survived. I don't know if this generation will survive meth."

 

Mani painted grim pictures of meth addiction, how it unbalances brain chemistry, ultimately negating the ability to feel pain or pleasure.

 

Meth can be found in any corner of society, she said, including rodeo, where meth is used by some cowboys who drive long distances between rodeos and have to be equally alert whether they're driving at 3 a.m. or are climbing aboard a bucking bronc.

 

"People started finding piles of Coke cans behind rodeo chutes," Mani said. Contestants weren't drinking Coke, but putting meth inside empty cans, heating the bottoms and inhaling the fumes to get a burst of energy, she said.

 

"Lots of women try meth in order to lose weight," Mani said. But considering that meth addicts pick their skin raw, lose their teeth and compulsively pluck out their hair, meth isn't the way to go if you're concerned about how you look.

 

Why do people use meth? The answers, Mani said, fall into such categories as escape from one's problems, the desire to feel good, peer pressure, a way to cope with working longer hours and the progression of addiction.

 

"I've known people who were drinking heavily, and they swore they'd never do meth," Mani said. If nothing was done to deal with their addictive behaviors, they'd wind up doing meth, she said.

 

"A lot of it comes down to self-medication" for people who've been traumatized by physical, emotional and especially sexual abuse, she said.

 

What's especially tragic, Mani said, are the children of meth addicts, who rapidly stop caring about anything beyond their next fix. Meth labs in homes can be so toxic that children absorb meth and other chemicals through the air they breath or through their skin, not to mention the risk of fire and explosion.

 

"You think you're going to be concerned about feeding your kid when you're on a meth high?" Mani asked.

 

South Dakota police found 11 children in one meth house, she said, one a year old and weighing only 12.6 pounds.

 

Way too many children grow up and find gateways to meth addiction via smoking and alcohol, Mani said, and way too many parents can rationalize that children's behavior isn't that bad.

 

"If your kid isn't home in the middle of the night, go out and look for him and bring him back," said Mani, who acknowledged that she used to sneak out at night herself. And if your child is already in jail, leave him there -- it is safer than home and is a consequence for unacceptable behavior, she said.

 

Mani told her audience of counselors and social service workers that meth is so damaging to cognitive thought, it is pointless to counsel a "high" client. Better to wait until the addict comes down and expresses the desire to get help and treatment.

 

She gave safety tips for those who do have occasion to speak to meth addicts when they're high. Keep your distance and don't have bright lights, she said. Speak and move slowly and keep hands to your side, she added. Meth addicts can be wildly paranoid, so try to keep the addict talking, because a quiet addict can erupt into paranoid violence.

 

 

 

 

Thursday, August 11, 2005

 

Federal lawsuit postpones Superferry

 

Groups seeking an environmental assessment hold up project financing

 

By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU » Hawaii Superferry Chief Executive Officer John Garibaldi called a federal lawsuit filed against his venture "unfortunate," and said his company still plans to be in service in early 2007.

"What we're seeing is groups of special interest trying to impose special rules on the Hawaii Superferry," he said. "It's unfortunate for the people in Hawaii. ... We're still moving forward to get it resolved."

The lawsuit was filed last week in U.S. District Court on behalf of the Sierra Club, the Friends of Haleakala National Park, Maui Tomorrow Foundation Inc. and the Kahului Harbor Coalition.

Defendants include the Superferry, the federal Maritime Administration and its parent, the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Attorney Isaac Hall, who represents the Sierra Club and other groups, said they feel the Hawaii Superferry should be required to conduct an environmental assessment because of its potential impact on various islands.

The County Councils for the Big Island, Maui and Kauai have passed resolutions calling for environmental studies, said Hall, who also contends that the state has not adequately explained how it intends to protect the islands from the introduction of alien species.

Garibaldi said those filing the lawsuit were groups with special interests and that Maui Circuit Court Judge Joseph Cardoza ruled July 6 that the parties do not have standing and are unlikely to prevail in their litigation.

Garibaldi said that until the federal lawsuit is resolved, the litigation in U.S. District Court is expected to hold up some $58 million in equity financing and the Maritime Administration's guarantee of a federal loan of $140 million.

The financing is needed for the project, including payment to a shipbuilder in Mobile, Ala., who has completed 40 percent of the first of two ferries, he said.

Garibaldi said the financing was initially scheduled to close on June 30 but was pushed back because of the state lawsuit. Now, Superferry officials will have to wait until the federal lawsuit is resolved.

He said those who filed the lawsuit are trying to get his company to do an environmental study, even when the same requirements have not been imposed on other businesses, such as interisland barges and ships.

Hall said the Hawaii Superferry officials are making residents choose between its ocean passenger service and environmental laws.

"I'll choose our environmental laws each time, because somebody will come along to do a Hawaii Superferry project and an EA if they're not going to," he said.

 

 

 

 

Posted: August 09, 2005

 

Hearing spells out troubled home ownership process

 

by: Gale Courey Toensing / Indian Country Today

 

WASHINGTON - Congressmen at a joint committee hearing July 19 got a two-hour education on the complexities of home ownership procedures for American Indians.

The process is bogged down by duplicate paperwork, snagged by inter-agency bureaucratic requirements and delayed by a backlog of non-computerized data, probate cases and the BIA's perennial underfunding and understaffing.

Combined, these elements can cause delays of up to two years for American Indians seeking the ''American dream'' of home ownership.

The House Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Resources co-sponsored the hearing, where talk centered on the problems involved in issuing the BIA's title status report. The document compiles all of the data regarding ownership, liens and other legal information on a parcel of reservation or trust land and is required for home mortgages processed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Public and Indian Housing.

Roger Boyd, deputy assistant secretary for HUD's Office of Native American Programs, testified that some progress has been made since last year when his office and the BIA signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a quicker way of issuing land title searches for home ownership in Indian country.

New regulations and guidelines, due to be released later this summer, ''will provide a uniform process that supports mortgage financing [and] the creation of a centralized process will enhance the leasehold lending process by eliminating the different policy interpretations that occur on a regional basis,'' Boyd said.

The goal is to turn around applications within 30 days, said Arch Wells, acting director of the BIA's Office of Trust Services.

But the office is mired in a Catch-22 situation. The staff is in the midst of converting more than a century's worth of ''pencil and paper'' data on land ownership into an automated computer system. Homeowner loans can't be issued without a certified title service report. Wells' staff can't process a certified TSR quickly not only because all of the records haven't been ''cleaned up'' and automated, but also because there is a huge backlog of probate cases to be processed.

''We've got 144 people working on strictly probate. That's not nearly enough and I've had to extract those people to function on TSRs,'' Wells said.

Wells estimated that the conversion would be completed in eight months.

Rep. Barney Frank, I-Maine, grasped the situation as a personnel shortage immediately.

''So, basically the Native Americans who want to take advantage of these programs are being doubly victimized - historically, things got screwed up, and now, because the people who should be helping them do documents are busy unscrewing things up,'' Frank said.

Under questioning, Wells conceded that the situation is exacerbated ''to some degree'' by the Cobell v. Norton case, which has diverted money from the agency.

Once the new system is in place, it will ensure better management of trust accounts by tracking titles and leasing, forestry and grazing lands and other agreements.

''It will allow you to manage most of the resources throughout Indian country in automated fashion hooking into the land title - the title is key. If you don't have correct title data, what do you have? That's the reason we're doing this tremendous task in cleaning up the data,'' Wells said.

But some congressmen were more interested in killing the messenger than hearing the message.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said the information provided was unacceptable. ''All I hear from you is excuses. I think you'd better do a better job of unraveling the problem and proposing a solution because we're out of patience and so are the American tribes,'' Wasserman Schultz said.

Jim Matheson, D-Utah, suggested a solution that echoed the termination policy of the 1950s. ''Just give the land to the people it belongs to, take it out of trust, write them a deed, hand it back to the tribe and say they administer their own problems instead of having a trust status,'' Matheson said.

Frank wanted to know how many people would be needed to solve the problem.

Wells, who has been in the position for only one year, said he is developing a needs proposal that will justify a budgetary request.

Privatization is not an option, because the trust responsibility remains with the government; and in any case, a private company would be faced with the same data and the same daunting task ''with less corporate memory to understand it,'' Wells said.

Under questioning from Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., Boyd said that HUD would consider accepting a single TSR generated by the BIA or one of its eight regional offices rather than the two or sometimes three documents required.

Baca noted that Indian land continues to be lost through condemnations, eminent domain, foreclosures and transfers. He asked what could be done to prevent further loss.

The BIA has attempted to ''stem that tide dramatically'' by taking more fee land into trust, Wells said. ''As far as compensation other than what the BIA is attempting to do right now, I have no other answer,'' Wells said.

''And we continue to steal from them,'' Baca said.

Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., the hearing's co-chair, arranged for another hearing in eight months; ''and then maybe during budget season you guys come over and see me,'' he said to Boyd and Wells.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, August 15, 2005

 

Heiau to be focus of Manoa center

 

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

 

According to legend, Kuka'o'o Heiau in Manoa Valley was built by menehune in the 17th century. After defeating the menehune, O'ahu chief Kuali'i rebuilt the structure as an agricultural heiau for rituals to increase crops in the fertile valley.

 

After centuries of use, the 40-by-45-foot heiau was abandoned and overgrown with weeds.

 

Today, the heiau is seen as the central feature of the Manoa Heritage Center, a new educational center planned to give elementary school children a firsthand look at what life was like in Manoa before it became a residential neighborhood.

 

"Students can really benefit from visiting a historic site," said Victoria Kneubuhl, director of educational programs. "Since our site is an agricultural heiau, for students doing Hawaiian studies, it's an incredible opportunity for them. I've worked in the museum field for a long time and have seen how children respond when you take them to a real place. You can't get that from a textbook or in a classroom. That is what makes historic sites so valuable in our community."

 

The nonprofit Manoa Heritage Center filed an environmental assessment last week and is seeking a conditional use permit to operate in a residential neighborhood. If approved, the center hopes to start giving free tours to students in October.

 

Miki Beamer, who lives across Manoa Road from the center, took a tour of the site in May with other area residents.

 

"We think it is a wonderful project," Beamer said. "It is going to be teaching students about Manoa, about Hawaiiana. I'm all for it."

 

Beamer said her concerns about traffic congestion were eased after learning that vehicles used by visitors will be parked on the property.

 

"I don't think it is going to cause any traffic problem," she said.

 

The center is comprised of five separate parcels totaling about three acres that include the heiau and a garden of indigenous plants, the home of Samuel and Mary Cooke called Kuali'i, another residence and two vacant lots.

 

John Whalen, consultant for the project with Plan Pacific Inc., said the Cooke's Tudor style home was built in 1911 by Charles Montague Cooke Jr., but the property did not include the heiau. His grandson bought the property and restored the heiau in 1993.

 

The heritage center will run the operation, The property is held under another nonprofit called the Kuali'i Foundation.

 

The smaller residence will be used for a caretaker's home and as a meeting facility, which is why the conditional use permit is needed, he said.

 

"The Cookes bought that lot and two others to try to protect the heiau and its immediate environment," Whalen said. "They saw the value in it. It was really fortunate that they did."

 

A staff of five people will run the center and maintain the grounds with a group of docents greeting visitors and giving tours between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

 

An average of about 120 students and 50 adult visitors are expected to tour the site each week.

 

Kneubuhl said a resource book has been developed for teachers to prepare students before they visit the site. The goal is to preserve the heiau and garden and enhance community awareness of the history and culture of the Hawaiian people in Manoa.

 

"We will talk about the natural history of the valley, how it was formed, and give a broad overview of what happened in the valley," she said. "When it was settled by humans, how it has been used and how it ended up being a residential neighborhood."

 

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

August 14, 2005

 

Nihoa voyagers explore grasshopper problem

 

Two archaeologists on the trip will also document ancient Hawaiian ceremonial sites

 

By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

ABOARD THE HI'IALAKAI » The Island of Nihoa lives up to its Hawaiian name, which means rigid or jagged.

The sheer cliffs of the 156-acre island drop vertically into a rich, deep-blue ocean that really does feel like the middle of nowhere.

Five participants in an educators' voyage to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands left the comforts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Hi'ialakai yesterday to spend the next week on this windswept rock.

Two archaeologists, two biologists and one teacher will sleep in pup tents, eat canned food heated on a camp stove and drink only the water they brought with them.

But they didn't get off at Nihoa to be comfortable. Everyone going ashore has a job to do.

» Scott Kekuewa Kikiloi, a University of Hawaii doctoral candidate in archaeology, and archaeologist Kehaulani Souza will map several ancient Hawaiian ceremonial sites.

» Beth Flint, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist, will check the well-being of plants and birds on the island, something she has done seven times before.

» Pete Oboyski, an insect biologist with the University of California at Berkeley, will see if a ravenous grasshopper that ate most of the island's plants in 2002 and 2004 has returned.

» David Boynton, an environmental resource teacher at Kokee Discovery Center on Kauai and a photographer, will spend some time with each of the groups.

Oboyski will count the invasive gray bird grasshoppers (Schistocerca nitens), and he'll check on the 36 local native insects known to live on Nihoa.

Even if the grasshoppers -- which are related to the "locusts that wrought plagues of biblical proportions" -- are not there this year, they may have taken a toll, he said.

The grasshoppers are on all the main Hawaiian islands and have been seen on French Frigate Shoals and Mokumanamana (Necker) Island, but had never been seen on Nihoa in such warming numbers until 2002.

Other insect biologists reported that "most of the vegetation was completely chewed off," in 2002 and 2004, Oboyski said.

Oboyski will test five "flavors" of oils for their use as possible attractants for the grasshoppers. One will be orange oil, because a scientist who opened a fresh orange on Nihoa found that he was surrounded by grasshoppers within minutes, where before there had been none.

That anecdote about the sometimes serendipitous progress of scientific discovery set off a lively discussion among teachers on this voyage and the scientists who are sharing their research with them.

Teachers Barbara Mayer and Maggie Prevenas were so excited by the grasshopper saga that they crafted an online exercise for their students, asking them to guess what might have caused the population explosion.

They'll ask Oboyski to share what he observed on Nihoa with their students online, when the Nihoa five are picked up Saturday.

One possible silver lining in the dark cloud of grasshopper overpopulation may be that one of Nihoa's rare birds, the Nihoa Millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris kingi), seems to have increased in numbers over the grasshopper years.

Flint, ever the cautious scientist, said it's not clear whether the larger Nihoa Millerbird numbers are because they've reproduced well on a diet of grasshoppers, or if it's simply easier to spot the secretive birds on bushes devoid of leaves.

Taking advantage of the unusually calm waters around Nihoa, the other nine teachers on this voyage snorkeled in its waters and circled the island in an inflatable boat.

They saw several of the sights that are just about guaranteed on a trip to Hawaii's most remote islands: monk seals, a shark and marine debris.

Two of those sights, unfortunately, were in the same eyeful. The small gray reef shark "was wearing a piece of debris rope around its middle like a halter," said Prevenas.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Sunday, August 14, 2005

 

Get on your lu'au feet ... go to Ma'ili

 

By Brian McInnis
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Besides a large outdoor screen, local entertainment, fresh air, and food from community businesses, there's another good reason to check out Sunset on the Beach as it continues today in Ma'ili.

 

Where else can you find a "biggest rubber slipper" contest?

 

For residents of the Wai'anae Coast, the two-day Sunset on the Beach is much more than a place simply to watch a movie outside. It's a place to meet friends, old acquaintances and talk story.

 

And for the record, a size 14 won the slipper contest at Ma'ili Beach Park yesterday.

 

The Wai'anae Coast has embraced its Sunset on the Beach, which is in its fifth year. Last year, more than 60,000 people turned out.

 

The park gates open at noon today and events go to 10:30 p.m. Tonight's free movie, "National Treasure," starts at 8:15.

 

Wai'anae resident Ron Lopez was there with his family yesterday.

 

"I've been to all of them," said Lopez, a 37-year-old elementary school teacher. "It's the community atmosphere. Everyone comes together to have a good day at the beach."

 

More than a dozen businesses from the area are participating. Five musical groups are scheduled to be on hand for performances. There are also kids' inflatable bouncers, rides and games — even McGruff the crime dog was there yesterday.

 

Now that the city no longer pays to stage the event, it's been up to the local community to come up with the money. The Valley of Rainbows, a Leeward Coast nonprofit volunteer group, footed the $96,000 bill.

 

After expenses, all profits will go toward youth scholarships for sports programs and other community activities in the Leeward Coast area, said Valley of Rainbows president Denice Keli'ikoa.

 

"There's no carnivals, no movie (theaters) here," Keli'ikoa said. "It helps rekindle friendships and get everyone involved."

 

This is the first year that the group footed the bill completely on its own, although the city still helped to coordinate with permits and security.

 

Patty Kahanamoku Teruya, the special events coordinator for Mayor Mufi Hannemann, was pleased to help put this weekend's festivities together. She's a Leeward Coast resident herself.

 

Hannemann, who attended the festivities yesterday, said he was happy about the turnout. "It's just fantastic. We're going to try to keep partnering with the private support."

 

After Ma'ili, the next Sunset event will be at Waimanalo Beach Park on Sept. 10 and 11.

 

 

 

In an effort to increase the usefulness of this service to our subscribers, CNHA is now including a section for Quiet Title Notices at the end of each NewsClips.

 

 

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT STATE OF HAWAII SUMMONS TO DEFENDANTS KAIAMA (k); HAO (w), also known as HAO KELA; LAUKAIEIE (w), also known as LAUKAIEIE KUIKAHI; SAMUEL K. PAAHAO; MRS. KINI OLEPAU; EMMA GABRIEL HITCHCOCK; Z. PAAKIKI (k); J.N. KANALULU; their respective heirs or assigns; DOE DEFENDANTS 1-20; and ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiff, THOMAS K. LALAKEA, has filed a complaint in the Third Circuit Court, State of Hawaii, CIVIL NO. 05-1-0222, to partition and quiet title to the portion of Apana 1 of Land Commission Award 7872 to KAIAMA, situate at Kukuihaele, Hamakua, Hawaii, containing an area of 1.300 acres, more or less, within TMK (3) 4-8-007-010. YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear in the courtroom of the Honorable Greg K. Nakamura, Judge of the Third Circuit Court, on September 16, 2005 at 8:00 A.M., or to file an answer or other pleading and serve it before said day upon Plaintiff's attorney, Philip J. Leas, whose address is Cades Schutte LLP, Suite 1200, 1000 Bishop Street, Honolulu, HI 96813. If you fail to do so, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Com-plaint. DATED: Hilo, Hawai i, July 18, 2005. C. OKAWA CLERK, THIRD CIRCUIT COURT (Hon. Adv.: Aug. 3, 10, 17, 24, 2005) (A-162283) Posted on 8/3/2005

 

 

 

 

SUMMONS CIVIL NO. 05-1-0178(3) IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SECOND CIRCUIT STATE OF HAWAII TO: HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KULA (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAIWI; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAMEHAME (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF WILLIAM RINGER; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF WILLIAM RINGER, JR.; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF MELE KAHEWAHEWANUI (w); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF MARY SYLVA, aka MARY KEANU; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KEALOHA (w); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAHOOKANO (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAMAHA (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAPULE; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KALAUAO (w), aka KALAOAO (w); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF PAELE; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KALAWAIA KAUWAI (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF TERUBBABEL KAAUWAI (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KA-PAHI (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KEONIANA (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAUWAHINE, aka KAMAHINE (w) or KAWAHINE (w); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KEKUHINE (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF MAOMAO; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF J. LANI (k), aka JOHN LANI; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KANOHOHAOLE, aka KANOHOHAOLE AINA (w); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF MANUELA LANI (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAELEMAKULE LANI; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAHOLOKAI MAOMAO; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KALIULA KALANITHOOKAHA; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KEALA MAOMAO; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KALIULA (k) aka KALIIULA (k) and LIIULA (k); HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KAALOA, aka S. KAALOA; HEIRS OR ASSIGNS OF KALOPA; DOES 1 through 100, and all other persons or corporations unknown claiming any right, title, estate, lien or interest in the real property described in Plaintiff's Complaint adverse to Plaintiff's ownership and TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiff HALE MUA PROPERTIES, a Hawaii limited liability company, claims fee simple ownership of all of the following real property: (a) LCA 3432 to Kula, 3.530 acres, more or less; (b) LCA 2426 to Kaiwi, 55/100 acres, more or less; (c) LCA 2447 to Kaawa, 1-58/100 acres, more or less; (d) LCA 2572 to Naheana, 16/100 acres, more or less; (e) LCA 3275-T to Kahookano, 6.80 acres; (f) LCA 3275-U to Kaiolani; (g) LCA 3327 to Naialaolao, 2.360 acres, more or less; (h) LCA 3374 to Paele, 1-74/100 acres, more or less; (i) LCA 3436 to Kapahi, 13-7/100 acres, more or less; (j) LCA 3437 to Kaliiula, 6.700 acres, more or less; (k) LCA 3441 to Kapaula, 8.600 acres, more or less; (l) LCA 3444 to Kalopa, 1-40/100 acres, more or less; all of which real property is located in Wailuku or Waiehu, Maui, Hawaii and all of which parcels are portions of Tax Map Key 3-3-02-1(2) YOU ARE HEREBY FURTHER NOTIFIED that Plaintiff HALE MUA PROPERTIES, a Hawaii limited liability company, has filed a Complaint to Quiet Title in the Second Circuit Court, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, requesting that title to the above-described real property be determined quieted as to any and all adverse claims not presented and/or adjudicated in this action. YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear in the courtroom of the Honorable Joseph E. Cardoza, Judge of the above-entitled Court, Hoapili Hale, 2145 Main Street, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, on Wednesday, the 14th day of September, 2005, at 8:30 a.m., or to file an answer or other pleading and serve it before said day upon Plaintiff's counsel, TOM C. LEUTENEKER, Carlsmith Ball LLP, 2200 Main Street, Suite 400, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, 96793, to show cause, if any you have, why the prayer of said Complaint should not be granted. Unless you file an answer before the time aforesaid or appear at the Second Circuit Court, Wailuku, County of Maui, State of Hawaii, at the time and place aforesaid, your default will be recorded, and said Complaint will be taken as confessed and a judgment by default will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. Dated: Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, July 25, 2005. C. CASIL CLERK OF THE ABOVE ENTITLED COURT CARLSMITH BALL LLP TOM C. LEUTENEKER 721-0 2200 Main Street, Suite 400 Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii 96793 Telephone No. (808) 242-4535 Attorney for Plaintiff HALE MUA PROPERTIES, a Hawaii limited liability company (Hon. Adv.: July 28; Aug. 4, 11, 18, 2005) (193456) Posted on 7/28/2005

 

 

 

 

 

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