Bringing you today’s stories on issues important to Native communities. NewsClips is a complimentary service of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. For information and updates on our training workshops and events, please visit our Web site at: www.hawaiiancouncil.org.
March 1, 2006
- Court gives hope to Kamehameha Schools
- Court decision gives Akaka Bill more time
- Community Meetings - Impact of Tourism on Native Hawaiians
- Ruling Underscores Role of Kamehameha
- A note to American journalists: More balance, please
- Court to Rule En Banc on Kamehameha Schools’ Admissions Preference for Native Hawaiians
- Prime Contractor and Native Hawaiian
- Charters await legislative help
- Native-owned businesses celebrate 20 years of RES
- Indian-owned firm spreads its wings
- Diabetes prevention books gifted to students
- UH adds education degree
- Chamorro culture takes stage
- Plans move forward on cultural center
- Reducing barriers to health care
- A head for feathers
- How grass-roots efforts stopped a 'runaway train'
Posted on: Thursday, February 23, 2006
Court gives hope to Kamehameha Schools
By Ken Kobayashi and Gordon Y. K Pang
Advertiser Staff Writers
Supporters of Kamehameha Schools are hoping for a new court ruling that will uphold its 120-year-old admissions policy that favors Hawaiians.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced yesterday that it would rehear its ruling that the admissions policy is a violation of federal civil rights law.
But legal observers and lawyers involved in the case believe it's risky to predict that the rarely granted rehearing of a case will result in a different decision from last year's. That decision by a three-judge panel of the appeals court said the admissions policy violates the law by absolutely barring non-Hawaiians from the school.
The rehearing will be before an "en banc" panel of 15 of the appeals court's judges.
Alexander Silvert, a public defender who has handled at least 30 cases before the appeals court, including one before an "en banc" panel, said he could not read into yesterday's decision whether it signals that the earlier ruling will be affirmed or set aside.
Yesterday's decision could mean the appeals court judges who voted for a rehearing had concerns about the earlier decision or it could simply mean the case is considered important enough that the judges want the larger panel to decide the issue, he said.
"It's not necessarily the case that simply because the court (ordered the rehearing by the larger panel), it's going to reverse the three-judge panel," Silvert said. "To venture a guess would be impossible."
Still, the development is considered significant for the school and a possible prelude to the appeals court declaring that the admissions policy is valid. And for the unnamed non-Hawaiian student who challenged the policy in an attempt to enter the school before he graduates from high school this year, the decision was a setback and disappointment.
"We are pleased to be able to present our arguments to a larger court panel," said Robert Kihune, chairman of the Kamehameha board of trustees. "It signals that the appeals court agrees that this lawsuit raises unique issues of exceptional importance to Native Hawaiians."
Eric Grant, the
"They had lost, and now they could win," Grant said.
He said he knew the chances for his client enrolling at Kamehameha dwindled with each passing week. Now it's clear the student won't be able to attend the school because a ruling by the larger panel isn't expected for months until after the teenager graduates from a public high school, Grant said.
DECISION NULLIFIED
Yesterday's ruling nullifies the 2-1 decision issued Aug. 2 that set off an uproar among Kamehameha Schools supporters, who held rallies and marches to protest what they believed was another attack on Hawaiians. The $6 billion charitable trust that operates the school was set up by the 1884 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. It runs the flagship campus at
The school's lawyers argued that the unique circumstances of the school justified its admissions policy to address the social, economic and educational disadvantages of Hawaiians as compared with other ethnic groups. But Grant argued that the refusal to admit non-Hawaiian students was discriminatory and a violation of federal law.
The majority in the 2-1 decision agreed with Grant.
The school asked for the rehearing, which essentially halted enforcement of the 2-1 decision that would have allowed Grant's client to enroll at Kamehameha.
A wide range of individuals and groups filed legal briefs endorsing the rehearing request. They included the four members of
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
Kihune, chairman of the Kamehameha trustees, called yesterday a great day for Kamehameha, Hawaiians and the state. He wouldn't, however, say the ruling was a sign of the school's success before the larger panel.
"I'd like to be optimistic but we've got to be cautious about this because we just don't know how this thing is going," he said. "It's great that we've got some fresh eyes looking at the case now."
Pono Shim, president of the Association of Teachers and Parents at Kamehameha Schools, said he hopes that the judges will understand that the preference policy is about helping those who are disadvantaged.
"There is so much need that has to be addressed and (the aid) is not coming from anyplace else except Kamehameha," Shim said. "It is vital that we continue on the mission that Pauahi started."
But Ken Conklin, a former teacher and longtime critic of Hawaiians-only programs, said programs that are racially exclusionary should be eliminated. He pointed to federal court rulings in recent years against Hawaiians-only funding or programs. Also, efforts to pass the Akaka bill, the first step toward establishing a Native Hawaiian government, have stalled in Congress.
"It's a wall of apartheid and it needs to be dismantled," Conklin said. "Either we dismantle it with a bulldozer or we dismantle it one brick at a time. And (Kamehameha) is one of the largest bricks in the wall."
Jan Dill, a board member with the Kamehameha support group Na Pua a Ke Ali'i Pauahi, said Hawaiians and their supporters, who are discouraged by some rulings in the fight to keep Hawaiian entitlements alive, should be buoyed by yesterday's decision for a rehearing.
"I think anybody would recognize that there's been a less-than-positive support for indigenous rights," Dill said. "This is something we will have to struggle to achieve."
Jon Van Dyke, a
He said the ruling means a number of judges thought the case deserved more consideration. "It certainly opens up the possibility that they will reach a different result," he said. "But, of course, you can't guarantee that."
Van Dyke said that in its case the school will try to further develop the historical context that led to the formation of the school to emphasize why the 2-1 majority erred in relying on an 1866 law designed to prohibit contracts that discriminate against blacks.
'WE THINK WE'LL WIN'
Although the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the law applies to private schools, its decision dealt with an all-white school excluding black students, he said. Van Dyke said they will argue it shouldn't apply to Kamehameha, which is aimed at helping native people.
Grant also said one can't read anything in yesterday's development as favoring one side or the other.
The lawyers did not know about the 9th Circuit's en banc track record in whether it tends to overturn, modify or uphold earlier three-judge rulings.
Grant guessed that the larger panels probably slightly favor at least modifying the earlier ruling because the judges wouldn't have voted for a rehearing if they were satisfied with the prior decision.
But he said he's prepared to file more legal arguments and reargue the case. "We still have the facts on our side; we still have the law on our side," he said. "We still think we'll win."
Both sides have indicated that if they lose at the 9th Circuit, they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.
Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.
February 25, 2006
Court decision gives Akaka Bill more time
THE ISSUE
A federal appeals panel has agreed to rehear a case against Kamehameha Schools' Hawaiians-only admission policy.
KAMEHAMEHA Schools has won at least a temporary reprieve from a three-judge appellate panel that found its admission policy to be illegally discriminatory against non-Hawaiians. School officials were overjoyed by the decision granting the school's request for a rehearing before a 15-judge panel. However, congressional action remains needed, although not so urgently, for federal recognition of Hawaiians and protection of the school's policy.
In a split vote, the smaller panel ruled last August that Kamehameha's exclusion of non-Hawaiians violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a law aimed at ensuring freedom to former slaves. In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the law is binding on private schools and protects whites as well as minorities.
The Supreme Court has made clear that American Indian tribes can discriminate against non-Indians in school admissions, noting that "the preference is political rather than racial in nature." In the landmark Rice v. Cayetano case in 2003, the high court ruled that Hawaiians lack such political standing and that "ancestry can be a proxy for race."
A bill sponsored by Senator Akaka would fill that need by placing Hawaiians on an equal legal standing with Native Americans and Alaskan natives. Enactment of the Akaka Bill would allow the school to argue definitively that the admissions policy is political, not racial.
In the absence of such legislation, adversaries of the admissions policy will be free to argue that the opposite also is true. The Supreme Court rulings in the Civil Rights Act cases and the Rice case support their view.
Either way, the failure to gain enactment of the Akaka Bill will virtually ensure that the Kamehameha Schools case will be appealed to the Supreme Court.
March 1, 2006
Community Meetings - Impact of Tourism on Native Hawaiians
Tourism, the number one industry in Hawai‘i, has created strains on the state’s natural, physical, cultural and human resources. NaHHA believes Native Hawaiians will make significant contributions toward addressing these challenges and influencing the future of tourism when we participate and are genuinely engaged by visitor industry leadership.
The series of meetings is part of a formalized and comprehensive process that affords participants an opportunity to provide input and design strategies to address the impact of tourism. The successful future of tourism demands genuine cultural experiences and respect for the host land and culture.
In the next phase, NaHHA will convene a statewide tourism conference with Native Hawaiian individuals and organizations, the visitor industry and other stakeholders on May 2-4, 2006, at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort. Results of the sessions and other information gathering processes will be used to develop a Hawaiian Strategic Plan. NaHHA and interested parties will then work with key stakeholders and policymakers to implement agreed upon recommendations.
Posted on: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letters to the Editor
LAWSUIT
Ruling Underscores Role of Kamehameha
The Kamehameha Schools Alumni Association, Northern California Region, applauds the recent decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear Doe v. Kamehameha.
We're gratified that the court understood the significant and far-reaching implications of the lawsuit against our alma mater. It is not just about one teenager challenging the schools' admissions policy; at risk is the very fabric of what makes Kamehameha Schools so valuable an educational opportunity for Native Hawaiians.
As alumni, we appreciate and treasure Princess Pauahi's gift to us. Who we are today may not have been possible without the privilege of attending Kamehameha. We want and need future generations to have the chance to attend the schools and develop the talents and leadership that will help uplift the Native Hawaiian community.
Laureen Kim
President, KSAA Northern
Posted: February 24, 2006
A note to American journalists: More balance, please
by: Editors Report / Indian Country Today
Indian country is much more than the dealings of Jack Abramoff and the six tribes he enveloped in his web of dishonest power-mongering. And while the issue of appropriating Indian names and identities - the mascot controversy - is important, it, too, is a minor focus in the fundamental issue of tribal sovereignty survival and the preservation of tribal cultural integrity.
Indian country's history, relative to and within the
The American Indian tribal population is a small minority, but it is indigenous to the
The justification used to legalize the forced taking of Indian lands and resources - the ''discovery'' by Christian nations of ''heathen'' peoples, cited again in a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision - might be seen to be severely ethnocentric, a justification for the illegal taking of the property of others.
In its own quest to develop as a just society, the
How it treats its first and most dispossessed of citizens - the Native peoples who still reside and exist within its territories - is hugely important for
''Great nations, like great men, should keep their word,'' wrote Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, in his dissent on the Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation case in 1960. Dominated but not defeated or destroyed, the distinct Native nations exist, even after giving and relinquishing to the
The tribal gaming era is relatively young and touches just over a third of Native nations. Of those, maybe two dozen have experienced super-windfalls. All support tribal services in education, health, governance, energy and environmental quality. The rest of Indian country is still in serious poverty, facing the bigotry of ignorance in reservation border towns and the most incompetent and recalcitrant federal bureaucracy ever assembled. In the Abramoff scandal, of the six tribes involved, some were duplicitous while others were certainly duped by the Republican operative and associates. These, ''the tribes in question,'' are but a small sliver in the universe of the 562 American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, of which 220 tribes run gaming houses, and hardly represent the more than 500,000 Native families in reservations and urban areas throughout the country.
Is it too much to ask that perhaps one or another of the hundred or so talking heads that get regular national television time could just once say: ''A handful of Indian tribes, six out of nearly 600 Native nations and tribes in the country, are involved in the Abramoff case''? Is it too much to hope that just one of the major news channels would profile Indian country issues with more depth? That something could be done to get the media beyond the superficiality and distortion of Indian country?
The tribes involved with Abramoff relied on a lobbyist who was extremely well-connected, and let him direct a good chunk of their charitable and political contributions. The tribes in question naively connived with a master conniver and, like a run-over skunk on a lonesome highway, now permeate the universe of Indian community- and nation-building endeavors.
Yet the reality, even for these tribes, is that the proximity to Abramoff over a period of two to four years involved just a few tribal officials and usually was contested by other groups within the tribes. At best, it is but a temporary if embarrassing blip in historical time. These are correctable mistakes - honest or dishonest - and should not tarnish ongoing governmental process as long as measures are taken to clean up the poor decision-making and accountability that produced the costly mistakes. This is best done and/or suggested by the tribes' own legal initiatives.
Some pundits have come quickly to the arena armed for combat with ''the Indians.'' With the Abramoff affair brewing, the attack is on the general intent of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which is consistently misinterpreted for the general public. No matter that the tribes in question, while skirting ethical standards, have not been indicted for illegal acts, from The Wall Street Journal to the National Review the knives are flying about the supposed rampant corruption among the gaming tribes.
When it comes to American Indians, all manner of cheap shots are tolerated - and not just from the right. From the left, liberal publications seem to strive to prove their conservative balance by beating up on the concept of Indian tribal sovereignty and self-government, without examining that this policy is precisely what has allowed some measure of justice to the American Indian populations.
The normally balanced New York Times weighed in Feb. 19 with a sensational and horribly directed front-page article that pretends to indict a whole Mohawk community for the actions of a particular criminal sector. The unfairly focused article by Sarah Kershaw, ''Drug Traffickers Find Haven in Shadows of Indian Country,'' is an invitation to media gang-banging on Indian sovereignty and may ultimately prove more destructive than the Abramoff scandal.
That criminal activity Kershaw described involves the type of border smuggling operations that are replicated throughout the length of both Canadian and Mexican borders, as well as through the huge gaps in coastal security. It is real enough, but Kershaw breathlessly hyped its cause as tribal sovereignty and the Indian people generally, completely ignoring how severely despised this criminal element is by the large majority of reservation families, the Mohawk tribal government and the traditional longhouses.
The language of termination is heard by the ideologically driven critics. In these pages recently, we analyzed the consistent language of termination introduced by prominent writers such as Holman Jenkins Jr., a member of the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, who railed against those ''defunct tribes'' and their ''enduring nonsense of Indian 'sovereignty.''' Jenkins bemoaned the surprising resilience of any ''Indian sovereignty,'' pining for an illusive termination from Indian friend, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., an unlikely prospect. ''[B]ut even that may come,'' Jenkins hopes, because the ''backlash'' against tribal sovereignty ''[is] already on the way.'' This is intense anti-Indian tribal rights argumentation. It is being heard across the country and the chorus will continue to croak in the lineup - a dangerous mantra that the media herd too willingly now carries as ''truth.''
We welcome the participation of Indian journalists and all journalists in the debate surrounding the Abramoff case and other easy ''beat up on Indians'' stories. As easy and erroneous references and skewed angles are used when Indian country sectors are covered, it is crucial that all Indian country pens be ready to answer the intent of the coverage and the terms of analysis employed on all Indian-related issues. We welcome all emergent opinion leaders into the active defense of the legal and historical bases for tribal distinctiveness and self-government.
American Indian peoples are in a serious fight again this time. A media stampede in the wrong direction can set the conditions that will trample our rights and our realities. The left flank normally represented by The New York Times just bolted Feb. 19, following the path of using a story on a negative situation about drugs and smuggling into an attack on the right of tribal government and even on the very character of the whole population of a tribal nation.
No doubt, media hype can usher an ugly, bigoted time for Indians. Solid strategies and a great deal of creativity - and a strong campaign kitty - are required to make our better cases to the media, and directly to the American public.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Court to Rule En Banc on Kamehameha Schools’ Admissions Preference for Native Hawaiians
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday agreed to decide en banc whether the exclusive Kamehameha Schools’ admissions preference for descendants of the aboriginal peoples who occupied
In a brief order signed by Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder, the court said that a majority of its unrecused active judges had voted to reconsider an Aug. 2 panel decision in favor of a white student who was turned down for admission in 2003.
Judge Richard Clifton, the only Ninth Circuit judge from
“Courts ought to be instruments of justice, not of injustice,” the governor said in a statement. “I am glad the State was able to help Kamehameha Schools obtain this decision to have the full Court of Appeals review this matter, and I remain hopeful that Kamehameha Schools will ultimately win this case which is of such great importance to Hawai’i and our citizens, Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian alike.”
The Kamehameha Schools, located on the islands of Oahu, Maui, and
The princess created a testamentary trust for the benefit of the schools, and the trust came to own about 10 percent of all Hawaiian land prior to the passage of state land reform legislation that required it be sold. The Bishop Estate is now one of the world’s wealthiest charities, with assets of about $6.2 billion, and the schools are its major beneficiary, educating more than 16,000 children from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Admission is prized because the schools offer rigorous educational standards and low tuition, with about two-thirds of the students on full or partial scholarship.
While the Bishop will does not restrict students by race, the trustees have long implemented a policy under which qualified native Hawaiians are given preference over members of other races. That policy violates 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1981, which grants all persons the equal right to “make and enforce contracts” without regard to race, Judge Jay Bybee wrote for a divided panel last summer.
The policy, Bybee said, “operates in practice as an absolute bar to admission for those of the non-preferred race.”
At the heart of the matter is the question, which has also been litigated in other contexts, as to whether
Bybee reasoned that under Sec. 1981, which was enacted by Congress after the Civil War and amended as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, a private school has no more right to discriminate on the basis of race than a public school system does under the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.
Congress, he said, has not authorized special treatment for native Hawaiians as it has for Native Americans. While Congress has passed a number of measures that create benefit programs for native Hawaiians, including legislation authorizing grants to the Kamehameha schools to prepare native Hawaiians for college, “Congress has never even considered the racial bar to admission in place at the Kamehameha Schools, and we cannot infer implicit approval from a statute that merely authorized financial support for college-bound native Hawaiians,” Bybee wrote.
Bybee acknowledged that there was “abundant evidence demonstrating that native Hawaiians are over-represented in negative socioeconomic statistics such as poverty, homelessness, child abuse and neglect, and criminal activity; they are more likely to live in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and attend low-quality schools; and, because of low levels of educational attainment, they are severely under-represented in professional and managerial positions, and over-represented in lowpaying service and labor occupations.”
The trustees, however, are perpetuating racism, Bybee said, by suggesting “that of all those who are found in poverty, homelessness, crime and other socially or† economically disadvantaged circumstances, only native Hawaiians count.”
Senior Judge Robert Beezer concurred in the opinion.
Graber, dissenting, agreed with the U.S. District Judge Alan Kay that native Hawaiians have a special status that permits a private entity such as the Kamehameha schools to grant them preference in order ”to remedy abysmal socioeconomic and educational conditions.”
Public officials in
The American Bar Association’s House of Delegates voted to support that bill, the proposed Native Hawaiian Recognition Act, at the ABA Midyear Meeting last week.
The case is Doe v. Kamehameha Schools, 04-15044.
February 25, 2006
Prime Contractor and Native Hawaiian
Honolulu, HI – Pueo Group, a social enterprise of the nonprofit Native Hawaiian Economic Alliance (NHEA) will work on a third project in as many months with CH2M Hill, a local and international contractor specializing in environmental, engineering and construction projects.
Formed in 2002 by a handful of Native Hawaiian business owners, the NHEA now has over 70 affiliate firms unified to strengthen contracting capacity and promote local hire in
Pueo Group has accepted and completed multiple subcontracts from CH2M Hill for construction and telecommunication tasks serving military clients in
Since 2004, the Pueo Group enterprise has assisted on more than half a dozen projects involving local firms and performing on deliverables for federal agencies. “The goals of NHEA, and its approach of putting local and Native Hawaiian companies together is very appealing,” remarked Derek Sakaguchi, Pueo Group General Manager. “There’s a lot of talent in our small business community, and regardless of the size of the contract, small or large, any project that stays home in
The affiliate firms of NHEA range in size from 5 employees to 400 employees with diverse capabilities, including construction, telecommunications, information technology and professional services. Sakakguchi stated that with only a year of operations, Pueo Group has assisted in projects totaling over $1.5 million and is putting projects together in excess of $7 million for the 2006 calendar year.
The Pueo Group is a Native 8(a) firm certified by the Small Business Administration, owned entirely by Native communities. As a social enterprise, all net profits are directed toward educational and Native cultural programming. For more information about NHEA, becoming an affiliate or for information on Pueo Group, contact NHEA via telephone at 808.792.7700, via e-mail at info@nativealliance.com or visit our website at www.nativealliance.com.
Posted on: Sunday, February 26, 2006
Charters await legislative help
By Loren Moreno
Advertiser Staff Writer
The first home for the students of Ka Waihona Public Charter School was a 4,000-square-foot renovated chicken coop in Makaha.
The rent was cheap, but students were sometimes distracted by chickens fluttering at their feet, and the ceiling leaked when it rained.
In its four years of existence, the school has had three different homes, finally settling into traditional facilities at the old
"It is probably the most debilitating challenge that charter schools must face," said Alvin Parker, Ka Waihona principal.
Unlike traditional public schools, charters are on their own when it comes to finding — and paying for — a home. Not only do charter schools receive less money than regular public schools, but a significant portion of what they do receive must go to facilities instead of inside the classroom.
But three bills at the state Legislature would give charters extra money specifically for facilities.
Susan Deuber, principal at
"If you look at the size of our budget and how much goes into facilities, at a regular school that money would go directly into programs," said Deuber.
Voyager is housed in a renovated Kaka'ako warehouse where paintings and children's artwork soften the reality of attending classes in the middle of an industrial area. With no walls and only short partitions to divide classes, the noise can often travel and distract other classes.
But Voyager has one of the better facility situations of the 23 startup charter schools.
Four charter schools converted from public schools and retained their traditional public school campus. The startup charters have rented warehouses, pitched tents or even converted old Matson containers into classrooms and spent a lot of money to make the spaces safe for children.
Voyager took out a $450,000 loan to convert its warehouse space into a school and now spends nearly $30,000 a month on rent and loan repayment, said Deuber.
Schools receive their money from the state via a per-pupil allotment. Last year charters received $5,600 per student, said Jim Shon, executive director of the Department of Education's Charter School Administrative Office. Estimates of the amount of money DOE schools receive in comparison to charter schools vary depending on the source, said Shon. But "from the charter perspective, we are getting significantly less," he said.
"We should be getting twice as much on a per-pupil basis," he said.
Each charter school can use its per-pupil funding any way it chooses, but most must use a significant chunk on facilities.
"It's been a real struggle," said Shon. "I think that the earlier expectations of per-pupil funding was that it would have provided more funds for these kinds of things but they had fallen short."
One bill in the state Senate would create a second per-pupil allotment specifically to be used for rent, leases or other facility costs, said state Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Moanalua,
Another bill, with versions in both the state House and Senate, would provide tax credits to landlords who rent to charter schools and also give charters access to state land, said Sakamoto.
"The per-pupil (funding) covers everything a school needs — electricity, water, all the expenses a regular school has — except it doesn't cover capital improvement or building a new school," said Sakamoto. He said the two bills would help by giving charters money for facilities that they normally miss out on by being autonomous from the DOE.
None of the bills would build schools, said Shon, but "all of them would offset some of the costs (charter) schools face."
Many charter schools have struggled with financial issues or have had to overcome management challenges to stay open, and their locations have led to problems for some schools.
When Waters of Life School on the
In 2001, Waters of Life held classes at the Naniloa Resort Hotel in
In all, Waters of Life has moved from five different locations in the past six years, said principal Katheryn Crayton-Shay. The school is currently housed in three different locations — a community center, a Girl Scout hall and two greenhouses.
The greenhouses, home to Waters of Life's middle-school students, have limited bathroom and water facilities, so portable restrooms and water need to be brought in. Their classes are also separated by hanging cloth, said Crayton-Shay.
"A lot of times just the wind blowing in the air can be a disruption for them," not to mention the property owner's dogs, which often run free, she said.
But Crayton-Shay said the facility challenges are worth the autonomy and freedom that the school has.
"Even though it is a very difficult struggle, if in some way we continue to impact the children's lives, it's worth the battle," she said.
"We would love to be able to rent state-owned land or property not being used."
Crayton-Shay, who took over as principal in late 2004, has said that the school has undergone sweeping management changes.
Shon, of the Charter School Administrative Office, said that problems Waters of Life had with the DOE and the Board of Education have been cleared up, though the staff is still dealing with some financial issues.
Construction of two other school buildings is under way, but for now, some teachers are holding classes in tents.
This is the first time Woerner's school will be paying rent, and she estimated that facility costs will "take a significant portion" of the school's budget.
"It could impact us in terms of what we can actually afford in the way of staff that we hire," said Woerner, adding that currently there are two to three teachers in a class.
Parents are often heavily involved in charter schools through fundraising and other support. Bobbi Smith, whose daughter and son are in the fourth and fifth grade at Innovations, said that when the school was moving, she was painting, pulling weeds, even installing windows at the new site.
"I've spent many an hour volunteering up there just so the teachers can have the best opportunity possible for these kids," said Smith.
Smith said she hasn't thought twice about sending her children to the school. "I've never met teachers more dedicated," she said.
Randall Yee, chairman of the state Board of Education, said the board supports the charter school facility bills in full.
"We do recognize that (the current funding) certainly puts those schools at a disadvantage," he said.
Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.
February 23, 2006
The group labored in the oxygen-thin air to replace the rock base and the wooden pole frame over the ahu lele built in 1997
By Sally Apgar
sapgar@starbulletin.com
With a snowstorm stinging their faces, 17 people climbed to the summit of
With winds from the west reaching 35 mph and temperatures dropping below zero, the group labored in the oxygen-thin air to replace the rock base and the wooden pole frame over the ahu lele built in 1997 at the summit of the 13,796-foot mountain sacred to Hawaiians and prized by astronomers.
"This was definitely a desecration," said Alii Aimoku Alii Sir Paul Neves of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, which built the ahu.
"It was planned. They had to take a tool, a machete or a hacksaw, and climb to the summit in bitter cold February weather," said Neves, adding, "It wasn't far from a parking lot, and they had to know when people (workers who attend the site's 13 telescopes) were around."
"It was done very maliciously and this is a crime scene, and someone put thought and effort into this desecration," Neves said.
Last weekend, an ahu on the grounds of
At
He said the poles, personal offerings to ancestors and rocks were scattered or cast over a cliff.
Neves explained that the lele was built on the summit because it is a sacred place where the Hawaiian gods meet, and the Royal Order wanted to establish a place where people could offer prayer and offerings. In the last few years, those offerings have included the military tags of a native Hawaiian who died in combat in
Neves said the decision to build the lele was made "because we felt our sacred things and spiritual places would fall into the wrong hands."
In Hawaiian religion,
Among native Hawaiians there has been some disagreement over whether the ahu lele is temporary and should be torn down or allowed to grow under the offerings of various pilgrims.
Neves said the order is leaving the investigation to the state, "but we are keeping our eyes open. It is a matter of time before someone says something."
Posted: February 22, 2006
Native-owned businesses celebrate 20 years of RES
by: Ryan Slattery / Indian Country Today
Tribal businessmen and women have been coming together once a year at RES to share ideas, build new relationships and strengthen old ones, and there is no doubt that the convention has been a key to economic success throughout Indian country.
It's that bond between business leaders that was emphasized at this year's conference, held in
''This has never been so true in Indian country as it is today,'' Ken Robbins, Standing Rock Sioux and the
Since its debut in 1986 as an informal meeting place for American Indian business leaders to exchange ideas, RES has grown into a massive business seminar for Native entrepreneurs. From the start, its purpose was to aim those wanting to start their own business in the right direction and steer them toward contacts that could bring success. RES has always been about networking, and through its series of seminars it lays the foundation for success as proven business strategies are shared in
''It's all about networking. Hopefully you go home with a handful of business cards,'' said National Center Chairman Ron Solimon, Laguna Pueblo, in his welcome speech at an opening morning breakfast. In a letter provided in the conference manual, Solimon stressed the togetherness factor.
''History dictates the message that indigenous people stick together or get threaded apart. These are increasingly challenging times for our homeland - the United States of America, and our heartland - the Tribal Nations to which we belong,'' Solimon wrote. ''Together we can face the challenges of our Nations and businesses. In doing so, one People's struggle is another People's struggle ... What's good for Indian business is good for
As in years past, the convention was broken into four tracks with a series of informative sessions under each topic. The first was on information and communications technologies and how individuals can unlock the doors to success in a 21st century global economy. There were also tracks on maintaining competitiveness in today's business market with seminars offering tips and strategies to stay ahead of others in the field, and on purchasing trends in corporate
And lastly, this year RES offered a track on energy and economic development. Kicking off the energy topic was Interior Department Secretary Gail Norton, who told attendees that President Bush ''is committed to creating jobs in Indian country as well as all of
In her speech, Norton stressed the importance of internal energy development, noting that Bush made the topic one of his three key issues in his State of the Union address.
''This is a great opportunity for tribes who have energy resources, clearly in renewable energy,'' Norton said, pointing out the advances some tribes have already made in this area and announcing a budget increase of $2 million to help tribes diversify their energy portfolio. ''I don't have to tell you there is a lot of talent in Indian county. Wind energy, biomass and other alternative energy sources'' are out there.
Greg DuMontier, president and CEO of S&K Technologies and vice chairman of the Native American Contractors Association board of directors, praised tribal members for their work in advancing Native businesses but said to attendees: ''We still have a huge gap we need to close. We are still the poorest of the poor. Our challenge is to find our voice.''
February 23, 2006
Indian-owned firm spreads its wings
Something Different ...
By Rocky Wilson
A growing
The woman, Jo Ann Kauffman, says she became frustrated in college with the high mortality rates and poor living conditions of American Indians and has worked for the past 16 years to improve them.
First as a
“We don’t represent Indian groups, but act more as an intermediary between the hundreds of tribes in the
Currently, about 95 percent of the company’s business is focused on American Indian issues, and that overall emphasis won’t change, even though the U.S. Department of Education also is beginning to hire it for other purposes, Kauffman says.
She says her Native American background provides a real-life cultural perspective into tribal communities and gives Kauffman & Associates an edge when seeking federal contracts in which a “sensitivity” to Indian needs is a plus.
While in
It was the desire to move the family away from the congestion of
Because of the same family-first thinking, the family and business moved again, to
The move to
Originally from
She says she travels about three times a month on three- to five-day trips to
In addition to
Kauffman says the business has become a niche provider of management services to American Indians and now spends about one-third of its time on conference planning and logistics, about one-third on outreach and communication, and about one-third working with community businesses and organizations.
“When we registered with the SBA, they said we were the only Native American management consulting firm in the state of
Much of Kauffman & Associates’ work outside the scope of American Indians is coming as the DOE contracts with it to book, plan, and convene conferences and national conventions. Because of competence it has shown in arranging such events for American Indians—including a 700-person gathering of educators, tribal members, and students in Albuquerque, N.M., requested by President Bush—the DOE is currently asking the firm to schedule and plan other non-Indian events, says Kauffman.
“We are now handling from 10 to 15 federal government contracts ranging in value from $25,000 to $1 million,” she says.
Kauffman says her company had revenues of $3.2 million last year, is contracted for revenues of $5 million or more this year, and could expand that figure to as high as $25 million and have as many as 200 employees in the next five years, as it expands its service base.
The biggest project Kauffman & Associates currently is working on is as a $1 million subcontract on a giant sexual abstinence program. In that effort, the company began working for a
“We see the need to target the message to the parents of youth so they can have meaningful discussions with their children,” she says. “That message could resonate in Indian Country.”
The company’s on-the-ground approach to the problem is to set up 10 outreach efforts this year to disseminate sexual-abstinence information and share that message at major Indian events. She says federal funding for the second year of the abstinence project has been authorized.
A second large contract deals with the Indian population and substance abuse. Kauffman says the company is doing a series of studies on what interventions are effective in preventing bullying, violence, and suicide, each of which she says can be closely related to substance abuse.
Another example of a smaller, “more gratifying” project Kauffman & Associates has under contract is Project Jump Start, a program in which the Spokane-based company finds and assists businesses owned by American Indians. Two years ago, Kauffman & Associates provided marketing analysis information, gave imaging (such as logo design) direction to, and helped launch Web sites for 50 Indian enterprises. A second phase of that project to give the same type of assistance to 40 more businesses is currently under way in the Eastern Washington-North Idaho area,
The two phases of Project Jump Start have been funded for $250,000 each. At a $500,000 total to find and work with 90 companies, that amounts to about $5,500 for each company, causing Kauffman to assert, “The federal government is getting a pretty good deal.”
Part of Kauffman & Associates’ ongoing role with the Department of Education is to provide specific outreach and communication services to about 1,200 school districts in the
Last year, Kauffman & Associates bought the two-story, 22,000-square-foot former Spokane Care Services’ detoxification center at 165 S. Howard, and now is remodeling it at a cost of about $500,000 to put its local employees under one roof.
“The type of work we do requires a high degree of collaboration and creativity, and working at one location will save us a lot of time and money,” Kauffman says.
Next month, Kauffman & Associates plans to occupy the 7,000-square-foot second floor in the building, lease out the ground floor, and let the new Howard Street Boxing Club, of which the Kauffman’s youngest son is an active member, use the basement.
Baker Construction & Development Inc., of
Kauffman & Associates currently employs 21 people in about 2,000 square feet of space at 425 W. First, and seven more in about 700 square feet of space at 10 N. Post, where last year it bought and retained the staff of Insight Web Design Inc., of Spokane.
“They (from Web Design) have dramatically improved our in-house ability for communications, and enhanced our ability to reach beyond Indian tribes,” says Kauffman.
Contact Rocky Wilson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at rockyw@spokanejournal.com.
Web posted Sunday, February 26, 2006
Rutter and Wilbanks also buys
By Margaret Bauman
A
Bill Rutter III, of Rutter and Wilbanks Corp. in
Rutter said that the leases, which lie south of Fire Island off the west coast of the Kenai Peninsula, were acquired by Prodigy more than three years ago. According to oil industry sources, the geological structure for natural gas extends from under the Tyonek platform south onto the Prodigy lease area.
Rutter also said his company is optimistic about natural gas prospects in the
While a discovery at that location would be insignificant to the world, it would have a noteworthy impact to Glennallen and to Southcentral
This spring, Rutter and Wilbanks hopes to establish communication between the wellbore and reservoir, Rutter said. When the well was drilled in 2005, "we had to use such a heavy mud - because of the terribly high pressure we encountered - to keep from having a blowout," he said. "We forced a lot of mud into the formation and it set up and formed like concrete barriers.
"It is what you call 'skin damage' or reservoir damage. We intend to overcome it, get into the formation and hopefully use a new technology which hasn't been used in
The technology, which will be provided by Blast Energy Services Inc., of
"We have spent a lot of money already and we don't have the answer," he said. "It's kind of like being in a poker game. You need that last hand, and you can't afford to fold."
Exploration interests in the area dates back to the 1960s, when Amoco Oil Co. drilled an offset well about a half-mile from the current site, according to Bill Penrose, a partner in the Fairweather Group, the project engineering and management contractor for Rutter and Wilbanks. Since then, new seismic information has been acquired. That, in addition to the discovery that a geological high structure was not penetrated by the old Moose Creek No. 1 well, brought renewed interest to the area, Penrose said.
Ken Johns, chief executive officer of Ahtna, meanwhile remains optimistic over plans to try different ways to penetrate the gas formation.
Ahtna's lease agreement with Rutter and Wilbanks contains language dictating care of the surface area during exploration, particularly because of the subsistence lifestyles of many area residents. The Nelchina caribou herd, numbering about 40,000, winters in the area.
The Alaska Native corporation wants to make sure the deal maximizes benefits to Ahtna shareholders, and protects the land and subsistence practices at the same time, Johns said.
One benefit has been that a dozen Ahtna shareholders are getting training as roughnecks on drilling rigs.
Rutter and Wilbanks arranged for a dozen Ahtna shareholders to get training at
"They are definitely above average workers and the college is happy to have them here. The industry is desperate for workers in drilling wells and any earth science," he said.
"Oil field workers get whipsawed when the price of oil and gas goes up and down, and the price of oil has been fairly low until about two years ago," he said. When the price went through the roof, the demand for workers came screaming back and the supply was low. The shortage of trained roughnecks is the main bottleneck in getting wells drilled, he said.
Rutter said he would like to see Ahtna get into the drilling business. "They have been really good to us, and I think they think we've done what we said we would. It is a good relationship and we'd like to expand it," he said.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
Posted: February 23, 2006
Diabetes prevention books gifted to students
by: Dave Baldridge
Indian Country Today
ISLETA
''I need to eat more good stuff, like vegetables.''
''We've all gotta listen to the elders.''
Fourth- and fifth-graders Timmy Yazzie, Vanessa Bitsilly and Akkiio Herrera reacted immediately and strongly to hearing a new book about health, ''Through the Eyes of the Eagle,'' read by Isleta elder Eleanor Abeita. ''We really liked it!'' they concluded.
It did not escape them that their grade school's mascot is an eagle. ''They loved the eagle character,'' said fourth-grade teacher Emelda Chimoni. ''Most of them took the books home to share with their families.''
In mid-December, the three Indian students, along with 30 of their classmates at
Then, as a surprise from the elders, each child received a copy of the ''Eagle'' book as they sat on the floor in a circle around elder Eleanor Abeita, who read the story aloud.
The series of four books, written by Georgia Perez of Nambe Pueblo, is hitting the national education spotlight - including a feature article in USA Today - thanks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Native Diabetes Wellness Program, based in nearby
In 2001, the Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee (sponsored by the IHS) first suggested creating a book series to teach children about preventing diabetes. Now that dream has become a reality.
The books, written for Native children aged 5 to 8, offer timeless messages about the importance of good health, diabetes prevention, physical activity and healthy eating. ''They are relevant for children of all ages and ethnic groups,'' according to Anita Blankenship of the CDC.
The book series features a young Indian boy, Rain That Dances, who learns from the wise eagle that long ago, Indian people worked hard to take care of each other and had strong, healthy bodies. ''Now as I fly around,'' the eagle continued, ''I do not see the children playing and moving around like the Old Wise Eagle used to see ... [but instead are] eating foods that are not good for them. That makes me sad.''
Mr. Eagle and Miss Rabbit encourage Rain That Dances and his friends, Thunder Cloud, Little Hummingbird and Simon, to consider what they can do to be healthy while having fun. They are reminded of the wisdom of elders and of the traditional ways of their people, including living healthy, staying active and being grateful for the gifts of mother earth.
The CDC is printing 200,000 books to be provided free of charge to Indian children across the nation. Distribution plans, currently being finalized, include a partnership with First Books, a nonprofit distributor specializing in delivering new books to disadvantaged children. Registered nonprofit organizations, government entities and Title I schools can apply for books (free except for shipping charges) at www.NationalBookBank.org or by calling (866) 393-1222. Plans also include distribution through intertribal councils and health boards, nearly 400 IHS Special Diabetes grant programs, and 170 Indian Head Start programs across the nation.
As distribution plans are finalized regionally, Indian country's primary school teachers, administrators and tribal leaders will all be advised as to how to obtain the books. Tribal governments or other tribal organizations seeking to obtain the books can call Dave Baldridge at (505) 232-9908. Single copies of the books can already be requested by a home or school by calling (800) CDC-INFO.
Posted on: Thursday, February 23, 2006
UH adds education degree
By Loren Moreno
Advertiser Staff Writer
A new bachelor's degree program in early childhood education at the
"Research shows that a professional with a (bachelor's) degree in early childhood really does her profession well in the classroom," said Liz Chun, executive director of the Good Beginnings Alliance.
Chun hopes the degree program will produce more well-qualified teachers for preschool classrooms, but she also hopes it will help with the "huge teacher shortage" in preschools across the state. "We've got to be really clear that there is a crisis in locating early childhood teachers," she said.
The UH-West O'ahu program that begins this fall will be the public university system's first offering of a four-year degree in early childhood education.
The program solves a major problem local childhood professionals have had — access to education, said Joseph Mobley, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs at UH-West O'ahu. Since the announcement of the program last month, dozens of inquiries have been pouring in to the college, Mobley said.
Chaminade University of Ho-nolulu began offering a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education in fall 2004 and in December graduated its first four degree candidates, said Skip Lee, director of accelerated programs at Chaminade. There are 45 students enrolled in the bachelor's degree program at the local private university, Lee said.
Study after study has proven that teachers well trained in early childhood education and development benefit young children more than preschool teachers who lack training, Chun said.
Teachers who come out of an early childhood degree program are able to contribute to the social, emotional and intellectual development of young children, Chun said. They are able to facilitate children's ability to learn to function in groups, develop good communication skills and be better prepared for social relationships.
Also, teachers who come out of degree programs often have the most valuable piece of knowledge in the field — the understanding of childhood development, said professor Stephanie Feeney, an early childhood specialist at UH-Manoa.
"The finest teachers really know a great deal about development and use that as a lens for what they are doing," Feeney said. She said these teachers know how to relate to children and "create quality experiences" that help them grow emotionally and intellectually.
The new UH-West O'ahu program comes as Congress is considering requiring that 50 percent of teachers in the federally funded Head Start program hold a bachelor's degree by 2010.
Terry Lock is the dean of Early Childhood Education at Kamehameha Schools, where since the 1980s preschool teachers have been required to hold a bachelor's degree. Lock said a bachelor's degree requirement for the federally funded Head Start programs would make it harder to recruit teachers.
Kamehameha has been successful in recruiting quality teachers because it has attempted to align its pay scale to that of K-12 grade teachers, Lock said. But "with this West O'ahu degree there is at least a possibility of teachers staying on island and being able to access the training," she said.
Noelle Granato, Head Start director of Parents and Children Together, a nonprofit family service agency, said recruiting teachers with a bachelor's degree can be difficult because of the pay and because of the lack of academic programs locally.
"The difficulty other programs would have — or we would have if we lose these teachers — is that there are only certain bachelor's degrees we can take and there is only one university (in Hawai'i) that has a bachelor's degree in early childhood education," she said.
Granato said the UH-West O'ahu degree program will help in locally producing qualified teachers.
"Most of our teachers, including myself, received our bachelor's degree on the Mainland," Granato said.
When the program begins in the fall term, Mobley, UH-West O'ahu's interim vice chancellor for academic affairs, expects about 20 students to be enrolled, with hundreds of others taking lower-division courses at Maui, Kaua'i, Hawai'i and Honolulu Community Colleges. Students at community colleges are expected to transfer to UH-West O'ahu to finish their upper-division courses to earn their bachelor of arts degree in social science with a concentration in early childhood education, Mobley said.
By the program's third year, Mobley estimates enrollment will be 60 to 80 students.
Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Article published Feb 26, 2006
Chamorro culture takes stage
School, family help pass on local traditions
By Oyaol Ngirairikl
Pacific Sunday News
ongirairikl@guampdn.com
Anita Nededog is proud to be a Chamorro.
Though she lives in a westernized community where English is the main language, Nededog is most comfortable when she is able to speak her language with her family and friends.
"I learned how to speak Chamorro, how to be Chamorro from my grandmother and mother," Nededog said. "I'm so proud to be able to speak Chamorro, ... read and write in Chamorro, ... and proud that I know and understand the values that we as a Chamorro people have."
And she continues to pass those values to her daughter and granddaughter. Nededog made it a point to speak Chamorro to her daughter growing up at home, and now that her daughter has a daughter of her own, Nededog said she speaks Chamorro to her granddaughter whenever she visits.
Ronald Laguana, acting administrator for Guam Public School System Chamorro Studies and Special Projects Division, said teaching the language is an integral part of sharing the Chamorro culture with the younger generation and ensuring its survival.
The theme of this year's cultural festivities is "Pås yan guinaiya i lina'lå'-ta," which Laguana said means "Promote peace and love within our lives".
"We want peace and love in our world, in our government and between our people," Laguana said. "We want everyone to come together in peace."
This year's celebration will start with a prayer and Mass at the Saint Jude Catholic Church in Sinajana today. Kicking off the annual celebrations and activities with a Catholic Mass denotes how the Catholic religion, over hundreds of years, has become an important aspect of the Chamorro culture.
Nededog said she's glad
"But it's not enough for the schools to teach it," she said. "What's the use of having a 30-minute Chamorro language class when the rest of the (school) day you're speaking English. Then you go home and you're speaking English and watching television where everything is in English."
Nededog said she's worried that unless Chamorro parents and grandparents, as well as island leaders, do more to perpetuate the Chamorro language and culture, it will fade away.
Laguana said parents who are interested in learning the Chamorro language may sit in at their children's Chamorro language classes.
"Like any other course, Chamorro language class can use parent participation," Laguana said, adding that parents can continue what's taught in their classroom at home. "We need the help of the entire community to mold our children."
February 24, 2006
Plans move forward on cultural center
By STEFAN MILKOWSKI
Staff Writer
Friday, February 24, 2006 - Work on the Morris Thompson Cultural and
Project developers have acquired all but one piece of the land needed for construction of the roughly 38,000-square-foot center and have secured more than $19.1 million of the $26 million needed for the project.
The building is a joint effort between the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau, the
Schumaker outlined the project for the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce's transportation committee Thursday morning. She said the center, dubbed the "Gateway to Interior Alaska" and intended to celebrate the area's land and people, is not just for tourists but locals as well.
TCC plans to use the space to house cultural exhibits and hold cultural programming. Denakkanaaga, the regional elders organization, recently accepted a TCC invitation to move into the new space.
Project developers promise to paint a picture of a diverse Alaskan culture. Felix Pedro, the Italian miner who first found gold near
"Our culture is snowmachining and bunny boots and dog mushing," Schumaker said. "Maybe there's a soccer mom, maybe there's a politician."
A giant three-dimensional map will point out villages, roads and the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and compare
The project has secured $16.3 million in federal funds and $1.1 million in state funds. Gov. Frank Murkowski has proposed allocating an additional $2.9 million in his 2007 budget, which would bring the state's total to the requested $4 million or just over 15 percent of the total cost.
Schumaker said a promise from the state would guarantee that work could begin this spring. Planners hope for a grand opening in time for the tourist season in 2008.
Private donors have contributed $1.7 million of the $7 million needed from private sources. The Alaska Native community has donated about $1 million, or nearly 60 percent of the $1.7 million, Schumaker said. Doyon Ltd. donated $500,000 to the project in 2004.
The project got started years ago when the visitors bureau and the
U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, after being approached by the three groups about funding for projects, suggested they consider building together and sharing space, Schumaker said.
Stevens also suggested using the center to honor Morris Thompson, the Native leader from
"We want this building to be a legacy to him," Schumaker said.
"He walked so well, whether it was in the village, on the river, hunting, or in the most formal meeting in
Nicole Jordan, one of Thompson's daughters, is on the project's board of directors and will help make decisions about design and use of the new center.
One example of the "synergy" Schumaker said defines the project will be the sharing of a single conference room by the building's tenants. The
Charles Bettisworth and Co. Inc., the Fairbanks-based architecture firm, is drafting plans for the center.
Developers will rely on a relatively new construction model called "construction management at risk." By hiring a builder before the design is complete and based on experience rather than lowest bid, planners hope to increase collaboration between architect and builder and minimize cost overruns.
Construction of the project, including site development, is expected to cost between $10 million and $12 million, Schumaker said. Estimated operating costs of $650,000 will be covered through fees to the building's tenants, an endowment and grants and annual membership funds.
In addition to exhibit and programming space, the building will contain office space for project tenants. A large parking area will allow easy access to riverfront trails and a log cabin built near the turn of the century will remain near the building's entrance as a historical display, Schumaker said.
Staff writer Stefan Milkowski can be reached at smilkowski@newsminer.com or 459-7577.
Posted: February 23, 2006
Reducing barriers to health care
by: Richard Walker / Indian Country Today 
Grants help women access breast cancer screening, treatment and education
At Lower Elwha Klallam, 10 breast cancer survivors will carve canoe paddles and participate in the Canoe Journey in July. Just as canoes rendezvous with those from other American Indian nations during the journey, pullers in the Pink Paddle Project canoe will join with breast cancer survivors along the way.
''It's a healing journey,'' said Roberta Kimberly, Lower Elwha Klallam and coordinator of the Pink Paddle Project. ''We're going to build a network. Native women don't have a place where they can talk about their cancer and get resources.''
All told, the Puget Sound affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation awarded more than $1.2 million in grants to 22 western
''We know we're making a difference in our community by helping these worthy organizations deliver programs that educate medically underserved women about breast cancer, as well as reduce the barriers for women to access life-saving breast cancer screening and treatment,'' said Cherie Skager, the foundation's director of grants and education.
For example, a 2005 grant enabled Family Planning of Clallam County to bring mobile mammography to the Makah Tribe as part of a project to provide breast health education and screening to tribes on the Olympic Peninsula.
Makah ultimately received a certificate of achievement from the Portland Area IHS for the ''highest percentage of female patients who have received a mammogram.''
''Komen funds directly eroded access barriers in rural communities to obtain mammography,'' said Cherie Reeves Sparr, Family Planning's director of programs and operations. ''Komen allowed [Family Planning] to provide private, culturally respective care in the Makah community, including transportation and child care. We could not have done this without the Komen Foundation.''
The grants are funded by the Komen Seattle Race for the Cure, the Seattle Hotel Association's Evening of Hope Gala, Tacoma Lunch for the Cure and other private giving activities.
Among the recipients:
* Family Planning of Clallam County, ''Honoring Women's Health Project'' (www.family
planningofcc.org). This program will provide breast health services, education and outreach across the Olympic Peninsula. It will reach low-income, rural medically-underserved American Indian and
* Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, ''The Pink Paddle Project'' (www.elwha.org). American Indian women living around or on Lower Elwha Klallam land will have access to a support system for new breast cancer patients as well as navigation into breast cancer education and screening programs.
Besides paddle-carving and participating in the Canoe Journey, the grant will also fund a mobile mammography unit.
* Positive Women's Network, ''For Women Only'' (www.pwnetwork.org). This project provides breast health education, outreach and coordination of mobile screenings to low-income, rural American Indian and Latina women living in Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties.
* South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency, ''Komen Screening Fund/Native Women's Wellness Program'' (www.spipa.org). A $27,000 grant will provide screening mammograms to low-income women who are not eligible for other no-cost screening services.
The grant will also provide diagnostic services for women who need additional follow-up and care.
This program reaches about 300 women a year, said Carmen Kalama, Nisqually and the agency's community services manager. ''Before the program, women didn't get mammograms.''
* South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency, ''Native Women's Wellness Program.'' A $37,684 grant will fund breast cancer outreach and education to more than 2,000 American Indian women. The agency serves Chehalis, Nisqually, Skokomish,
The program also provides funds for transportation, clinical breast exams and child care for women getting screening or treatment.
In addition to these programs, Northwest Indian women would likely benefit from other grant-recipient programs, such as the
Richard Walker is a correspondent reporting from San Juan Island,
February 28, 2006
A head for feathers
Her long, loving labor with haku leis wins honors at this year's Holoku Ball
By Nancy Arcayna
narcayna@starbulletin.com
"ENJOY LIFE and eat dessert first" is Aunty Ethelreda Kahalewai's mantra.
It reflects this master crafter's ebullient attitude -- as well as her art form of feather work: vibrant, gently soft and light in texture and spirit.
Faced with many challenges -- from the loss of her husband to an illness that left her in a wheelchair -- Kahalewai still maintains that positive attitude. It is as though she has no time for negatives. "The door swings both ways. If you don't like something, you can always walk out the door."
This weekend, Kahalewai, a longtime member of Ewa Pu'uloa Hawaiian Civic Club, is among honorees at the annual Holoku Ball, acknowledged for her contributions to the native arts.
Other honorees are kumu hula John Keolamaka'a-inanakala-huiokalanino Kamehameha'ekolu Lake, for his work enriching the community through education and cultural preservation, and Mary Smith for her dedication to the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu.
Kahalewai is making feather leis for the two other honorees. "The leftover feathers will be used to make my own lei," she said. "They should have the beginning and I have the end."
THE FIRST Holoku Ball was held nearly 80 years ago as a scholarship fundraiser. It continues to provide financial assistance for Hawaiians to pursue college degrees.
"We should all give back to the community," Kahalewai said. "No matter what we are doing, we had to get inspiration from somebody."
Kahalewai herself became more involved in community and cultural activities after her husband's death, and this led to her becoming a haku hulu, a master of traditional Hawaiian feather work.
A requirement of one of her club's was to participate in a feather-work class. "I really didn't want to go," she said. But that is where she met her teacher, Mary Lou Kekuewa, in 1974.
"I was hooked on it," she said.
The hobby led to her opening a feather shop, the Royal Feather Co. in
Her shop closed in 1996 when she began to experience health problems, but she still teaches and, of course, makes her leis. "It's so relaxing that I don't even answer the phone when making leis," she said.
That positive attitude remains essential. "I need to do this when I'm in a good mood. If I think bad thoughts, I need to take the whole thing apart. It comes out ugly at the beginning or in the middle ... never where you are working."
An average lei takes between 12 and 14 hours to complete, with the most time-consuming task involving cutting the feathers. "I stopped counting the hours," she said.
Kahalewai also washes all of the feathers before using them. "Washing the feathers gets rid of any excess dye. The feathers have more shine if the dirt and dust are rinsed off them."
Once students learn the basics, she said, they can improvise and find their own personal style.
Now that the feather shop is closed and she has retired from her job at the Department of Health, Kahalewai had hoped to become a "lady of leisure."
She chuckled, "Famous last words."
Instead, along with teaching, she regularly involves herself in community activities, including refurbishing the kahili at Princess Pauahi's home, Haleakala, on the Kamehameha Schools campus. The kahili are replicas of those made by Queen Liliuokalani for Princess Pauahi.
In her spare time, she works on lau hala projects and quilts.
Seventy-three year old Kahalewai is a mother of six children and has 19 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. Her grandmother also created feather leis. "I'm still trying to replicate her stitches. Maybe one day."
Although many would consider her leis works of art, Kahalewai wants them to be handled. "I want them to be used and enjoyed, not just kept in a box."
An annual scholarshiop benefit event of The Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu
Holoku Ball
Benefit event: 5:30 p.m. Saturday
Place:
Admission: $150; $2,500 to $10,000 for table of 10
Attire: Hawaiian formal
Call: Reynold Freitas, 284-3462, or Leatrice Kauahi, 535-2710
Web: hcchonolulu.org
February 26, 2006
How grass-roots efforts stopped a 'runaway train'
A new book documents the rise, slide and rescue of land-rich Bishop Estate
By Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com
IT was the worst of times for Bishop Estate, and many people would just as soon forget the scandal and struggle that swept the trustees of Kamehameha Schools from their koa-paneled board room six years ago.
But Samuel P. King, a senior federal judge, and trust law professor Randall Roth think there is much to be learned by examining the epic tale of a princess' legacy gone awry and the Hawaiian community's fight to reclaim it.
"It's a story that ought to be told," said King. "You've got to tell it, not just bury it. You don't want it to happen again."
The authors hope to spark community debate with this weekend's release of their book, "Broken Trust: Greed, Mismanagement and Political Manipulation at
The book reaches back more than a century to the days of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who left more than 378,000 acres of land in trust for the children of
The book's title echoes the "Broken Trust" essay published in the Star-Bulletin in 1997 by King, Roth and three Hawaiian elders alleging that the "sacred trust" had degenerated into a "political plum." Three days later, Gov. Ben Cayetano opened an investigation. In 1999, the trustees were pushed out by Hawaiian outrage and the muscular hand of the Internal Revenue Service, which threatened to revoke the estate's tax-exempt status.
The book puts the recent conflict into historical context, tracing tensions back generations, such as whether the schools should serve more needy Hawaiian children and how much money should go to trustees, who at one point each collected close to $1 million a year. It moves beyond the headlines to recount what happened behind the scenes versus what trust law requires. Some information in the book has never before been made public.
Among the book's highlights:
» Trustees treating the multibillion-dollar estate like a "personal investment club," as the IRS put it, at the expense of Kamehameha students;
» People in positions of oversight submitting fawning reports;
» Internal Bishop Estate papers on efforts to manipulate trustee selection by the Supreme Court;
» Campus interference, such as trustee Lokelani Lindsey's decree that every kindergartner learn to identify trustees by name and picture;
» The refusal of Supreme Court justices to cooperate with then-Attorney General Margery Bronster in her investigation of Bishop Estate;
» A court settlement that put a lid on the controversy by sealing files and requiring no compensation to the trust for misuse of assets by former trustees or their lawyers.
"Broken Trust" arrived in bookstores only this weekend, so most of the players in it haven't read it yet and reserved comment. Ousted Bishop Estate trustee Henry Peters, however, dismissed King and Roth as "pseudo experts" who would force the estate to sell its land to spend money on the schools to the point where the trust could wither away.
"I know what I've done at Bishop Estate and
Peters called Cayetano's investigation purely political, a chance for the governor to boost his re-election chances with a popular cause. Colbert Matsumoto, the first court-appointed master to publicly criticize the trust, had campaigned for Cayetano, Peters noted. And Cayetano had crossed swords with Peters and trustee Richard "Dickie" Wong back when all three were state legislators.
"Politics was the basis for our removal," Peters said. "It had nothing to do with our track record."
"We were exonerated," he added, noting that criminal charges were dismissed against him and Wong. "We didn't beat them once or twice, we beat them on numerous occasions. Where were all the headlines then?" 
Robert Kihune, who was named an interim trustee in 1999 and is now chairman of Kamehameha Schools' board, declined to be interviewed before reading the book. Judiciary spokeswoman Marsha Kitagawa said Chief Justice Ronald Moon and his colleagues who were on the Supreme Court at the time also declined to comment.
Oswald "Oz" Stender, the former Bishop Estate trustee whom many saw as a white knight in the struggle, would rather leave the saga behind him.
"I'd just as soon forget the whole thing," said Stender, now a trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. "It was a difficult time for me. As far as I'm concerned, it's mission accomplished and it's all over ... The point was to bring to light the issues that were interfering with the educational process at Kamehameha. That's been fixed. The school is back on track."
Kamehameha Schools emerged last year from five years of oversight by the Internal Revenue Service. During that probation, an independent auditor reported regularly to the IRS, the attorney general, and the Probate Court, which now selects trustees for Kamehameha Schools.
Jan Hanohano Dill, who contributed an afterword to the book, said the story it tells evokes both grief and hope for him. Dill is a board member and past president of Na Pua a Ke Alii Pauahi (The Children of Princess Pauahi), the group of alumni, parents and students that rose up on behalf of Kamehameha Schools and challenged the trustees.
"It is a story of great courage, vision and perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds," he said. "I think all people of
"It's not perfect, but I think it's a good first slice at trying to get all the facts together and I think that, long term, it will serve the community well," he said.
He values the book's historical sweep. It notes that the estate's first board of trustees were all haole annexationists, and the schools reflected that, cutting students off from their rich culture and holding them in low esteem, Dill said.
As early as 1916, Kamehameha alumnus Charles E. King and his classmates publicly criticized the school for low educational standards. Probate Court Judge Clarence Ashford then tried to appoint King as the first Hawaiian on Bishop Estate's board but was overruled by the Supreme Court.
Issues that came to a head at the end of the century had roots long before. In 1943, for instance, territorial Sens. William Heen and David Trask accused the trustees of acting like "landed barons," collecting big fees while treating Hawaiians like beggars, according to the book.
Those who have reviewed "Broken Trust" say it underscores the need for public vigilance when vast concentrations of wealth are controlled by a few people. It offers a manual for trustees, lawyers, government and public and government officials in "what not to do," said
"This is a seminal case," said McCue, chairman of the Charitable Planning Committee of the
McCue represented the alumni of a school for orphans endowed by the multibillion-dollar Hershey Trust in
Roth, a professor at the
"People who care about the trust need to be informed and vigilant if they hope to protect and preserve Princess Pauahi's legacy," he said. "How is the trust served by taking vital information about what happened and sealing it forever?"
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.
CIVIL NO. 05-1-0415 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT STATE OF HAWAII SECOND SUMMONS TO: HEIRS OF NAIWIELUA (K); also known as J.M. NAIWIELUA; CHITARO NAIWIELUA; HEIRS OF E. VON HAO (K), also known as E. VAN HAO; WRIGHT VAN HAO; HEIRS OF KAHANA (K); HEIRS OF L. KAMAKA (W); HEIRS OF PUHULULU KEAWE (W), also known as PUHULULU; HEIRS OF KEAWE (K); HEIRS OF WAH CHONG SUN (K); HEIRS OF MEHEULA (K); HEIRS OF J.K. MEHEULA (K); HEIRS OF KEAHI; HEIRS OF KIMO KEAHI (K), also known as JAMES KEAHI; HEIRS OF HALEKEALOHA (W); HEIRS OF NUINUIMAKUA (K); HEIRS OF KAUAINA (K), also known as KAUWAINA, also known as S.B. KAUAINA, also known as S.B. KAUWAINA, also known as KAUAINA PALEA; KAMALIIKANE (K); KAMALIIWAHINE (W); KAAIHUE (K); and Heirs of persons named above who are deceased, or persons holding under said Heirs, and spouses, assigns, successors, personal representatives, executors, administrators, and trustees of persons named above who are deceased; DOES 1 through 100; and all other persons unknown claiming any right, title, estate, lien or interest in the real property described and TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiff EWM INVESTMENTS, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company, claims fee simple ownership to the land described as: Portion of Land Commission Award Number 8786:2 to Kuaana; all of Land Commission Award Number 9112:2 to Kahana; portion of Land Commission Award Number 9225-B to Keawe; all of Land Commission Award Number 10170 to Meheula; portion of Land Commission Award Number 10886 to Nuinuimakua; all at Poupouwela, Island and County of Hawaii, State of Hawaii, bearing Tax Key (3) 9-5-008-portion 010. YOU ARE HEREBY FURTHER NOTIFIED that Plaintiff EWM INVESTMENTS, LLC, a
-----------------------------------------------------------
Please visit the CNHA family of organizations
-----------------------------------------------------------
ANA Grant Training Pan Pacific
Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP)
Full Service Document Digitization
Supporting 2,000 Years of Good Ideas!
Annual Native Hawaiian Conference
http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/Conference
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
Phone: 808.521.5011 Fax: 808.521.4111
To Unsubscribe
Please click this link: http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/unsubscribe_eresources062305.htm
To Subscribe
Please click this link: http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/signupdatabasehj030104.htm
Please do not respond to this email as responses will go into an unmonitored mailbox.
In recognizing that ka olelo makuahine o Hawaii nei was an oral language and that there were varying dialects among the islands, CNHA has adopted a policy of excluding diacritical markings in our publications.
This project is an initiative under the Office of Innovation and Improvement of the