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.

 

 

 

 

May 5, 2006

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, April 27, 2006

 

In Oregon, a life of aloha

 

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

There actually is a town in Oregon named "Aloha."

 

But about 15 miles away, there is another small Oregon town where for the past 24 years, a Hawaiian from Wai'anae taught a mostly white community exactly what that word means.

 

Henry "Bumpy" Kaulia died in a single-car accident April 9 in Gaston, Ore., leaving behind a legion of grieving former students and players he taught and coached there and a family back in Hawai'i that knew little about the impact he had on a generation of kids some 2,500 miles away.

 

"We were amazed, overwhelmed," said younger brother Nu'uanu Kaulia, who traveled with his mother from O'ahu to a memorial service at Gaston Jr./Sr. High School that drew more than 800 people.

 

"We never thought there would be something like that. All this time, we knew he was a teacher and coach, but we thought he just did his job and it was nothing special. When we saw all those people take turns at the microphone and say how much he meant to them, we were touched."

 

Henry Kaulia's life story is an unlikely one, an inspiring journey that took him from a poor single-parent home on O'ahu's Leeward Coast to rural Oregon, where he graduated from college and coached football, basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball to kids from youth level through high school.

 

He did not just teach physical education and sports — he preached discipline, love and respect.

 

And the message got through.

 

"One thing about Henry, his upbringing was tough," said Kyle Kobashigawa, a longtime friend from Wai'anae who owns a sporting goods store in nearby Forest Grove. "I mean, the lifestyle he had growing up, for him to overcome all those obstacles and have an impact on so many lives ... it's awesome."

 

PATH OUT OF POVERTY

 

Henry Pali Kaulia was born in Honolulu on Aug. 14, 1960, to parents whose ethnicity was 100 percent Hawaiian.

 

"That's what we were told," said Nu'uanu, who was born nine years later. "My tutu always told us, 'You guys are pure Hawaiian.' "

 

The low-income family moved from place to place on the Leeward Coast, and things inside the house were just as unstable. According to Nu'uanu, their father, who died in 1986, had problems with alcohol and sometimes took out his frustrations on his two boys, verbally and physically.

 

Eventually, his parents divorced and Henry — still a teenager — suddenly became the man of the house.

 

"My brother raised me," Nu'uanu said. "My dad left, and my mom was hardly home because she was working all the time."

 

Money was so tight, Nu'uanu said, Henry's "brown bag" lunch to summer fun often consisted of shoyu and rice.

 

Despite the circumstances, Henry became an honor student and standout football player at Wai'anae High School. In 1977, as a 5-foot-10, 204-pound defensive lineman, he earned All-State honors and helped the Seariders win the Prep Bowl, predecessor to the state championship.

 

"He was a good kid, one of the better ones we ever had," said Larry Ginoza, Henry's coach at Wai'anae. "He was tough, and he played with smarts. But besides being a good football player, he was a good student and a good person. He was solid all around."

 

Watching his mother struggle to earn a living, Henry knew that education would be his path out of poverty. So with six of his Wai'anae teammates, he boarded a plane in the summer of 1978 to join the football team at Pacific University, a small private college in rural Forest Grove.

 

Eventually, all but one of the seven Seariders returned home before graduating. All but the 'pure Hawaiian.'

 

SPREADING THE ALOHA

 

"Henry came to Pacific with nothing in his pocket," said Mike McCartney, a former state senator from Windward O'ahu who was Kaulia's college teammate. "When all the Hawai'i kids would get together at someone's apartment to cook food, Henry would bring one can of Spam. He didn't have much, but he always would give whatever he had."

 

One thing Kaulia always had in big supply was the aloha spirit. He became president of Pacific's Hawai'i Club, and he made friends with students of all races and backgrounds.

 

"He was a true Hawaiian," McCartney said. "He was never about money or status, and he spread the aloha to everybody."

 

On the football field, Kaulia dropped down to 176 pounds but stayed at nose guard, often taking on opponents 50 or 60 pounds heavier. As he did in other facets of his life, he ignored the obstacles and pushed forward.

 

"One game, he came running to the sideline and told me, 'Eh, go get me some (medical) tape,' " McCartney said. "I looked at his arm, and it was broken. I grabbed him by the jersey and yelled at the coach to hurry and get help, but Henry got mad at me because he wanted to just tape it and go back into the game."

 

RESPECT, DISCIPLINE

 

Kaulia graduated from Pacific in four years with a bachelor's degree in education, and his mother — who never finished high school — attended the ceremony.

 

"He showed our family that it was possible to go to college," said Nu'uanu, who also earned All-State honors at Wai'anae and earned a full scholarship to play football at Hawai'i. "Growing up the way we did, nobody in our family had gone to college and we always thought that was something other people did."

 

Kaulia took a job as a P.E. teacher in the Gaston School District and began a long career that included coaching roles in football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and softball. He coached all ages — from youth basketball, to varsity softball, to college football (as an assistant at Pacific).

 

Some teams won championships, others didn't, but the one constant was Kaulia's firm but caring coaching style that stressed discipline, teamwork and respect. He patterned himself after Ginoza, who built a football dynasty at Wai'anae in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.

 

"He always said the two people he looked up to most were my mom and Coach Ginoza," Nu'uanu said. "Coach Ginoza always taught respect, and that's what (Henry) taught his players. Respect and playing hard was more important than winning."

 

But Kaulia's greatest gift may have been his off-field contributions. Kobashigawa said Kaulia often would spend his coaching stipend on equipment or team functions, and he established the "Special K" fund to help athletes who did not have money for fees or other team-related expenses.

 

"Sometimes budgets were tight, so he would contribute his paycheck," Kobashigawa said. "He would buy equipment, or help set up a summer tournament."

 

Kaulia also would donate time to help kids with personal problems.

 

"He just had a knack for knowing what to say to kids, especially the 'at-risk' type of kids," said Kobashigawa, who coached the Gaston softball team to a state championship with Kaulia as his assistant. "Whether you were a star or on the bench, he treated you the same. He would always tell them, 'You can, you can.' One kid (at the Oregon service) said he was very shy, but he said 'Coach K. always told me, 'You can do it; you just have to give it your best effort.'"

 

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

 

After the accident, word spread quickly throughout Gaston and Forest Grove. A makeshift memorial was set up at the crash site, and lei soon appeared. As a tribute to Kaulia, people all over town picked a day where everyone would wear aloha shirts, his trademark attire.

 

Word is Kaulia would wear an aloha shirt and shorts every day, regardless of the weather.

 

"My brother was a simple guy, he didn't need much," Nu'uanu said. "He lived in the same apartment ever since college, and he never changed the phone number."

 

At the Oregon service, an official from Pacific presented Kaulia's mother with the diploma for the master's degree in education that he was scheduled to earn this summer. That drew a standing ovation from the gym's capacity crowd.

 

"We were blown away," Nu'uanu said. "My dad couldn't even read or write, and here (Henry) was getting a master's degree."

 

But it made his family even prouder to learn about the huge impact Kaulia made on a community so far away.

 

"I always felt he was exactly the kind of person these people said he was," Nu'uanu said. "But I didn't know so many others saw in him what I saw in him.

 

"I missed him all those years he was away, but at least now I know that all the times I was missing him, he was making a difference somewhere else.

 

"And those people appreciate the time he spent with them."

 

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

April 27, 2006

 

NCAIED Applauds Successes & Urges Consultation on Tribal Business Development Program

 

WASHINGTON, April 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Research just released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows successes in Tribal business development, fulfilling Congressional intent, said American Indian business leaders today in commenting on the GAO's report on Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporate participation in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Section 8(a) business development program.

 

Speaking for the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED), President/CEO Kenneth Robbins said: "Every day we see the successes of the SBA 8(a) program on the ground and in our communities. Just as SBA's 8(a) business development program was created to assist disadvantaged businesses compete in the federal market, Congress saw the potential for the 8(a) program to helpTribes provide for their tribal members" noted Robbins. "Tribal 8(a) companies can create higher skilled and better paying jobs, and generate revenues to benefit all the hundreds or thousands of members of a Native community. The GAO report's data indicates that the 8(a) provisions for Tribes and ANCSA corporations are having the intended effect of fostering self-sustaining economic enterprises and self-reliance in many Native communities that historically have suffered from poverty and lack of economic stimulation," he added.

 

"Tribal communities are unique and our value systems dictate that the benefits of our tribal enterprises should be returned to and shared with the whole community rather than just an individual," observed NCAIED Board Chair, Ronald Solimon. As former CEO of Laguna Industries in New Mexico, Mr. Solimon oversaw the company's certification as the first Tribal 8(a) program participant. Since its graduation from the program, Laguna Industries has continued as a successful government contracting company.

 

"We recognize the need to review and improve programs. As NCAIED works daily with the 8(a) and other procurement programs, we want to part of any assessment effort, just as the Tribes must be consulted in accordance with the Executive Order on Tribal consultation" Robbins said. "Economic development in our communities is vital for self-sufficiency, for the future of Indian Country, and as part of the federal trust obligation to Indian people."

 

NCAIED operates Native American Business Development and American Indian Procurement Technical Assistance Centers. Its business management organization helps develop and expand the American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian business sectors, promotes reservation communities' diversification, and counsels tribal and individual Native businesses on their business operations and procurement strategies in order to succeed in the commercial and government marketplaces.

 

 

 

 

May 2, 2006

 

Council Extends Presence in Nation’s Capital

 

Washington DC – Today, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) announced a partnership with the National Coalition of Asian and Pacific Americans in Community Development (CAPACD) to open an office in the nation’s capital. 

 

“CAPACD has been a tremendous partner for more than 3 years and has been instrumental in assisting the CNHA Public Policy Center to stay abreast of legislative issues,” said Lisa C. Oshiro, CNHA Senior Policy Analyst.  “It’s a natural next step that our working partnership with CAPACD would lead to extending our presence to Washington, DC, in their offices.”

 

With more than 140 members, mostly Native Hawaiian community development organizations working in healthcare, education, housing, environment or social services, CNHA operates its Public Policy Center to provide information relevant to its member organizations and conduct education on the federal government processes and departments.  

 

“Legislative knowledge is vital to operating any community development program,” Oshiro went on.  “If national policies are shifting, our members here in Hawaii must know how their services will be affected, in order to communicate with policy makers on what the impact may be on communities back here in Hawaii.”

 

The majority of the current legislative issues being tracked by the CNHA Public Policy Center include the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, small business legislative initiatives, amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, affordable housing and education.  In addition, the Public Policy Center has conducted community education workshops on the different federal departments, roles and programming.  Recently, CNHA produced a comprehensive policy brief on Native Hawaiian Charter Schools to help orient federal government officials and their staff on this growing sector of community development in Hawaii. 

 

“Our activities at the Public Policy Center are built to complement the efforts of our member organizations and to give them an extra resource in the policy arena,” added Jade Danner, CNHA Vice President.  “Access to information helps Native Hawaiian nonprofits to achieve their mission.  This is really what the Public Policy Center is all about.  Having a part-time presence in DC is a small step, and our hope is to increase our ability to provide good information to our members that helps them serve the Native Hawaiian community.”

 

The CNHA DC office is located in the heart of downtown DC at 1001 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 730, Washington, DC 20036, and will be staffed periodically when Congress is in session.  To reach the office, please call 202.223.4880.  For more information, contact CNHA at info@hawaiiancouncil.org or call the CNHA Main Office in Honolulu at 808.521.5011.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, May 1, 2006

 

Akaka bill may be heard by Senate

 

By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau

 

WASHINGTON — The Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill may come to the Senate floor this month, eight months after hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced the Senate to postpone a vote on it and six years after it was introduced. Photo courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser

 

But even if successful in the Senate, the bill must still clear the House and time is running out for approval in both chambers this year.

 

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he wanted to bring the bill up after clearing other legislation for Iraq war spending, immigration changes, small business health plans and medical malpractice caps.

 

Frist said the Native Hawaiian bill — also known as the Akaka bill after its prime sponsor, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i — would come up at about the same time the Senate will work on a permanent repeal of the estate tax.

 

Akaka said Frist "kind of assured me" that the bill's supporters would be able to try to bring up the bill after the Senate deals with the other bills.

 

"We don't have a definite time," Akaka said. "We're trying to bring it up before the Memorial Day recess."

 

Toni Lee, president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, said supporters of the bill are hopeful it will be heard soon despite the delays caused by the hurricanes and other issues.

 

Thurston Twigg-Smith, who has long opposed reparations or sovereignty for Hawaiians stemming from the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, said he is skeptical the bill will be heard this session. Akaka, who is running for re-election and faces a primary contest against Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, is simply politicking, Twigg-Smith said.

 

"Obviously, the senator believes that he better appear strong and favorable on this," said Twigg-Smith, who added that his gut feeling is that with so much going on in Washington, the bill won't be heard.

 

The bill, first introduced in 2000, would create a process for a Native Hawaiian government to be recognized by the U.S. government, similar to the political status given to Native Americans and Alaska natives.

 

A group of conservative Republican senators stalled the measure in July over concerns that it was unconstitutional because it would create a race-based government. Other objections also were raised, including the possibility that it would allow Native Hawaiians to become involved with gambling.

 

A procedural move — known as cloture — to force the bill to the floor despite the opponents' objections was postponed in September because the Senate needed to deal with disaster assistance.

 

Akaka said he hoped Republican opposition would not stop the bill from coming to the floor this time.

 

"But if someone on the other (Republican) side continues to find ways of holding it up, as they have now for six years, we may have to ask for a cloture vote to get over that," he said. "Right now, I feel optimistic that we can pass it."

 

At least 60 votes are required to bring the bill to the floor.

 

Akaka said he believed all 44 Democratic senators and the one independent — Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont — would support the bill, as would the bill's five Republican co-sponsors. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also said he supports the bill.

 

But the Republican conservatives who have blocked the bill are not showing signs of giving up.

 

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, is an opponent of the bill but said he would vote to bring it to the Senate floor for debate. He plans to offer a number of amendments.

 

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who opposed the bill last summer, said he still had concerns about the measure's constitutionality because it created a race-based government. He remains opposed to it.

 

"I don't think short of a constitutional amendment, you can fix it," he said. "You can't ignore a constitutional violation, and that is really my objection."

 

Sen. Gordon H. Smith, R-Ore., one of the bill's sponsors, said that while he still supports the bill, he sees "tremendous opposition" to it in the Senate.

 

"Procedurally, it's in real peril," he said. "I wouldn't bet the pineapples on it (passing this year)."

 

Congress is set to recess in early October for the November elections. If both chambers haven't passed the bill and President Bush hasn't signed it into law by the end of the year when the current two-year Congress ends, supporters will have to start all over next year.

 

"Every day that goes by makes it that much harder to pass it in the House," Case said. "It's an absolute competition at this point for (House) floor time."

 

But Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said he was optimistic about getting the bill through the House, if the White House signaled that it would accept it.

 

"The question has always been, do we have the White House support?" Abercrombie said. "If we don't, then what good is it to pass it if it's only going to get vetoed? Obviously, we can't overcome a veto."

 

The Justice Department under Bush has consistently raised doubts about whether Congress can recognize Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people similar to Indian tribes. The Justice Department under President Clinton had supported the bill.

 

Bush has not yet indicated his position.

 

Advertiser staff reporter Gordon Y.K. Pang contributed to this report. Contact Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.

 

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, April 27, 2006

 

Cec Heftel says he misspoke about Hawaiians' learning

 

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

 

Board of Education member Cec Heftel said he misspoke Tuesday when he told an audience of Rotarians that " ... we have a huge Hawaiian population that doesn't learn as easily as the typical Caucasian."

 

Heftel, 81, made the statement in a luncheon speech to the Rotary Club of Honolulu billed as a "Report Card on the BOE." Later he said that he meant to say Hawai'i's public education system, for whatever reason, "isn't appropriately addressing the needs" of Hawaiian children to the extent Hawaiian families are moving their children in droves into charter schools.

 

"The greatest amount of dissatisfaction is coming from Hawaiians," Heftel said. "That's not a racist statement. It's what I was trying to say when I misspoke."

 

Heftel, who spoke to the Rotary Club without notes or a text, said that currently the "backbone" of the charter school movement is made up of Hawaiian families.

 

"A great percentage of the charter schools have been formed by Hawaiian parents and educators because the Hawaiian children were not getting adequately educated in our traditional public schools," he said.

 

Jim Shon, charter schools executive director for the state Department of Education, said about one-third of the approximately 5,744 students in Hawai'i's charter schools are of Hawaiian ancestry and 14 of the 27 charter schools are Hawaiian focused, teaching the language and culture, among other elements.

 

Heftel said that he doesn't know the reasons some Hawaiian families are dissatisfied with traditional education, but "that's what we've got to find the answers to."

 

Heftel said the state has to continue to provide access to charter schools for families dissatisfied with the public schools, but the board also must find out what is missing for those families in the traditional education system.

 

About 3 percent of Hawai'i's 182,000 public school students overall attend charter schools.

 

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

April 27, 2006

 

Akaka Introduces Legislation to Perpetuate Native American Languages

 

Washington, D.C. -- Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) today introduced legislation to promote the rights and freedoms of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American languages. The bill, the Native American Language Amendments Act (NALA) of 2006, is cosponsored by Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) and Max Baucus (D-MT).

 

"This bill is of particular importance to me because as a young child, I was discouraged from speaking Hawaiian and practicing Hawaiian customs and traditions because I was told that it would not allow me to succeed in the Western world," stated Akaka. "Through this legislation I am working to ensure that our children and families in Hawaii and across the country are never put in a position where they are forced to relinquish their language or culture."

 

According to Senator Akaka, Native Hawaiian Language Immersion schools in Hawaii are achieving great success by shaping our youth who are steeped in not only the language, traditions, and knowledge of their ancestors, but who are also empowered and equipped with the tools to combat contemporary challenges that confront our communities.

 

Senator Inouye added: "Language is the heart of all cultures. When a language withers, so, too, does its culture. Hawaii has shown that when there is renewed interest in the native language, the native culture flourishes.

 

"This legislation will ensure that native languages and native cultures will have the opportunity to thrive and flourish. It also encourages elders to teach our future leaders about their unique cultures."

 

The NALA Amendments Act of 2006 will:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Action and investment in the preservation of Native languages is needed," said Senator Akaka.

 

 

 

 

April 27, 2006

 

Alaska Federation of Natives

 

Anchorage, AK (April 27, 2006) – Today the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its Report on Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Corporations participation in the Small Business Administrations 8(a) Business Development Program.

 

Julie Kitka, President of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) states, “AFN agrees with the GAOs findings that Alaska Native corporations are providing extraordinary benefit back to Alaska’s rural Native communities and making a positive impact in the lives of 120,000 Alaska Native people.” 

 

AFN supports the SBA and strongly encourages any additional funding that may be allocated to their agency to increase staffing and provide stronger oversight of this vital Native business incubation tool.

 

AFN helped lobby Congress to settle the traditional land claims of Alaska Native people, which resulted in December 18, 1971 with the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).  In exchange for thousands of acres of their traditional lands, Alaska Natives received ANCSA corporations – for profit corporations based on the western business model with additional social and cultural obligations to their Alaska Native owners – called “shareholders” by the congressional act. 

 

“ANCSA was an experiment, a new Federal Indian policy, to settle the traditional land claims of Alaska Native people.  Instead of the reservations of the lower 48, Alaska Natives received for-profit corporations designed to thrust us into the western economy while meeting cultural and social obligations as well.  ANCSA corporations’ ability to participate in the 8(a) program has truly helped shape their futures, and the futures of thousands of Native shareholders,” said Kitka.

 

AFN is concerned that critics of Federal Indian policy and government set aside programs may try to alter, or remove ANCSA and Tribal participation from the 8(a) program even though, according to the GAO report, ANCSA corporations are operating within the 8(a) program and ANCSA exactly as Congress intended. “ANCSA Corporations and Tribes must be consulted on any changes that may be proposed to the ANCSA/Tribal 8(a) program as required by Federal Indian policy,” Kitka said. 

 

 

 

 

April 25, 2006

 

With enrollment up, need for public schools growing

By EDWIN TANJI, Staff Writer

The Maui News

 

LAHAINA – While two West Maui private schools appear to be embroiled in a competition for students, the region’s public schools remain bursting at the seams.

 

With 744 students this year, King Kamehameha III Elementary School is squeezed by inadequate buildings as well as a lack of space to expand, said Complex Superintendent Ron Okamura.

 

Complicating the situation, Kamehameha III is in the Lahaina Historic District, which makes it difficult to plan any new buildings.

 

At Princess Nahienaena Elementary, Principal Kaipo Miller said the campus can handle the school’s enrollment of about 680 students, although its designed capacity is for 650. And, there is anticipation of major growth in the area and a need for another elementary school soon.

 

Among the major additions to the population are new homes being built in the Villages of Leali’i project district acquired by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands that will be occupied within the next year.

 

Miller said he could not predict the effects of the near-closing of the West Maui Carden Academy, since it wasn’t clear how many students may be seeking to transfer to the public schools.

 

“What will cause an impact is if we have more kids coming by the busload, 40 or 50 kids at a time. That will make an impact,” he said.

 

He also said he was not sure if Princess Nahienaena was losing students to the planned Maui Preparatory Academy grade school scheduled to open Aug. 1 in Napili.

 

“We’ve not had any of our students give any formal notice, to fill out the form for a transfer of their records,” he said. “I just wish them well. I look forward to someone else opening a school.”

 

The West Maui Carden Academy had 60 students in the grade school, but only about 18 to 20 were reported still in classes Monday.

 

Enrollment at Sacred Hearts School hit a high of 187 this year, Principal Susan L. Hendricks said. She is projecting a drop to 150 next school year because of the Maui Prep Academy grade school. Maui Prep is expected to open with 60 to 80 students in its new grade school.

 

Okamura, who oversees the outlying school complexes in the Maui District, was concerned about loss of students, noting that student enrollment is what determines school staffing. A significant shift of students from the public schools to a private school would mean loss of teaching positions, he said.

 

But the Department of Education also is projecting significant growth in West Maui, not only from the Hawaiian Homes project but also with Maui Land & Pineapple Co.’s plans for the Pulelehua project at Mahinahina.

 

ML&P’s plans include designating 13 acres for a new school, with the company donating about 6 acres.

 

Vice President Bob McNatt said ML&P had been willing to donate the entire parcel, but “the DOE has a different way of doing things.” He said the company was asked to donate only a portion of the land, with the state purchasing the remaining acreage for $2.4 million.

 

The state also would build a school, although McNatt said ML&P is prepared to offer to design and build the school.

 

“We’re looking at some way to get it done quickly,” he said, to be able to accommodate families moving into the new homes planned in the project by 2009.

 

Edwin Tanji can be reached at editor@mauinews.com.

 

 

 

 

We could not agree more with Ka`ohua Lucas who wrote the following letter to the editor published in the Honolulu Advertiser.  We honor the work of Kumu Hula Leinaala Heine and the halau of Na Pua Lei O Likolehua, a partner recipient of the Hawaiian Way Fund, dedicated to the perpetuation and celebration of Hawaiian culture and knowledge.

 

Sunday, April 30, 2006

 

For gracious ladies of hula, age proves an asset

 

By Ka'ohua Lucas

 

"Sheez, Mom," my youngest exclaimed. "I didn't know you could still dance hula."

 

"Eh, this luahine (old lady) still has the moves," I said, performing a quick hula step in front of him called an 'ami kuku. ('Ami kuku are three fast revolutions using the hips.)

 

It's about 10 years since I was active with a halau, and 43 years since I first began dancing hula.

 

"Ma," my 15-year-old teased, "you're ancient."

 

Ancient or not, the "mature" ladies who perpetuate this cultural tradition deserve to be recognized.

 

I would like to applaud the mostly fortysomething women of Na Pua Lei O Likolehua for their flawless performance at the Merrie Monarch hula festival in Hilo last weekend, even though they were not one of the overall winners.

 

Viewing the hula festival on television is like watching a slow motion replay at the Super Bowl. Every eye movement, hand motion, foot placement is scrutinized with the camera's eye. The lens captures an image that the naked eye can easily miss.

 

As our 'ohana sat glued to the TV set, we watched the unbelievable performances of each halau. But what caught our eye was Na Pua Lei O Likolehua and their kumu, Leinaala Heine.

 

"Look, Mommy," my 12-year-old said. "They don't even look scared."

 

It was true. The ladies' eyes exuded confidence, their posture erect. The placement of their hands was in alignment with their neighbor's.

 

When they entered the stage, there were no involuntary eye movements. No sheepish grins. No nervous laughter.

 

There's something to be said about "mature" hula dancers. Each movement is precise. The group moves as one. My kumu hula always reminded us that we should strive to be a cohesive unit.

 

"Not a single person should stand out," she would say. "You are to work as one."

 

One of Hawai'i's premiere hula dancers was the late 'Iolani Luahine. The dancer, chanter and cultural practitioner was known to many as a high priestess of the hula who possessed exceptional powers, she danced into her 60s.

 

In an interview, "Auntie" Dottie Thompson, cofounder of the Merrie Monarch festival, describes her friend, 'Iolani:

 

"Her dance was her life and her story itself," she said. " 'Io was such a beautiful person, an extraordinary dancer. She seemed like she would go into a trance. And her movements were like nobody else's."

 

Each halau competing at the festival last weekend gave an amazing performance. You could see that hula was a big part of their lives. But the gracious ladies of Na Pua Lei O Likolehua performed with the grace, dignity and fervor comparable to the great 'Iolani Luahine.

 

Reach Ka'ohua Lucas at Family Matters, 'Ohana section, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Hono-lulu, HI 96802; or at ohana@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

April 30, 2006

 

Conference focuses on Natives and HIV/AIDS

 

MARY PEMBERTON

Associated Press

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - HIV/AIDS is a silent killer moving through Native communities around the world, says Rick Haverkate.

 

"It is not being talked about until it is too late," said Haverkate, an American Indian who hopes to change that with a conference on HIV/AIDS among Natives in the United States and Canada.

 

More than 800 people are expected to attend "Embracing Our Traditions, Values and Teachings: Native Peoples of North America HIV/AIDS Conference" in Anchorage from May 2-6.

 

The conference aims to provide Native people with information on HIV/AIDS research, while establishing networks to tackle the problem that organizers say disproportionately affects about 2.6 million Natives in the United States.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says American Indians and Alaska Natives account for less than 1 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Overall, American Indians and Alaska Natives in 2004 had a diagnoses rate of 11.1 per every 100,000 people. That compares to a rate of 76.3 among blacks and 29.5 among Hispanics. Whites were 9 per 100,000.

 

While the numbers for American Indians and Alaska Natives aren't impressive at first glance, conference organizers say it is important to remember that the disease is impacting some very small communities.

 

To make matters worse, the number of American Indians with HIV is being underreported, said Michael Covone, program manager for the HIV prevention program with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, who will conduct a couple of conference workshops.

 

"A lot of American Indians have been classified as Hispanic," he said. "We are missing a whole bunch of people."

 

That means that the problem has not received the attention it deserves when it comes to federal funding for prevention and treatment models, Covone said.

 

"Communities that are most affected receive the most funds," Covone said. "Alaska Native and American Indians have not been a focus for prevention... nothing has been done to meet the needs of that community in particular."

 

Conference participants include American Indians and Alaska Natives from over 600 sovereign nations, as well as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, researchers, elders and spiritual leaders from more than 40 states, Canada and New Zealand.

 

Nearly 80 presenters will give lectures and workshops, with more intimate talking circles available for people with specific common interests. Conference participants can even visit a sweat lodge while in Anchorage if they wish, Haverkate said.

 

"We really want to foster spiritual and cultural grounding," he said.

 

Lecture topics are numerous and include Understanding the Trends in HIV/AIDS Among Native Peoples, Adapting New Treatments to Native Settings, Special Populations and Stigma, Risky Behaviors and Defining Native Identity.

 

Many times Alaska Natives don't find out they are HIV-positive until they have AIDS, perhaps dying just a few months later, Covone said.

 

The problems can be as basic as how to test for HIV in the villages, he said.

 

"How do you get a nurse to do the testing without everyone knowing it?" Covone asked.

 

On top of that is the lingering stigma of being Native and a feeling of being cut off from the rest of the world, Covone said.

 

"There are layers and layers of issues and HIV just becomes another one of them," he said.

 

Even without the stigma of being HIV positive or having AIDS, it can be particularly tough to be gay and American Indian or Alaska Native, said Haverkate, who is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe and director of the health services for the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Inc.

 

"It is a very scary issue. A lot of our Native youth who are gay or lesbian leave the reservation. They don't feel like there is a place for them."

 

Tommy Chesbro, one of the conference's keynote speakers, said traditionally Native populations have been more accepting of homosexuality, but that has been increasingly lost with Natives being assimilated into white society.

 

"Some Native peoples have lost those traditional values relating to that specific issue," he said.

 

Chesbro points to a tradition in Native cultures of the "two-spirited individual," a person with both masculine and feminine aspects.

 

"In many tribes there were roles in their societies for those gay and lesbian individuals," he said. "Oftentimes those individuals, because they could walk in both roles, would be mediators in the tribes between the men and the women."

 

Chesbro said it is important to remember that AIDS has gone far beyond being a gay problem.

 

The HIV infection rate among American Indian and Alaska Native women at 7.7 per 100,000 is more than twice the rate of white women, according to the CDC. The rate for American Indian and Alaska Native men at 20.8 per 100,000, was slightly higher than the rate for white men.

 

The factors at play for HIV transmission in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are the same as elsewhere, and have more to do with drug and alcohol use and having unprotected sex, said Chesbro, who is vice president of education for Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

 

Chesbro, who is gay and HIV-positive for almost 21 years, said American Indians and Alaska Natives have to do a better job of working together as one people on the problem.

 

"When you have a group that has been marginalized and their voice taken away, as in a way we have, sometimes it can be hard to find that voice again. This is something we really need to find that common voice on," he said.

 

 

 

 

April 28, 2006

 

Waianae High takes journalism title

 

The program earns top honors while Best Overall Issue goes to Farrington for the eighth time in the last nine years

 

By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com

 

WAIANAE and Farrington high schools, which have been named as the top journalism programs in the past, were once again in the running for the top spot in the 37th annual Hawaii State High School Journalism Contest.

 

Waianae came out on top -- in a newly created top prize called Best Overall Journalism Program in the awards ceremony at the Pagoda Hotel.

 

Two years ago the two schools tied for Best Newspaper -- then the top prize in the contest.

 

This year, that category has been renamed as Best Overall Issue, and Farrington won. This was the eighth time in the last nine years that Farrington's Governor has bested the others in this category.

 

Thirty-two schools, public and private, competed in the contest, sponsored by the Hawaii Publishers Association, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser.

 

Lorraine Gershun, teacher/adviser of Ka Leo O Waianae, was not surprised at the win, although her staff was.

 

"I'm just so proud of them. ... They're hard-working and dedicated students," Gershun said. "They took ownership of what they did -- they chose the stories, the angles of the stories, designed the layouts. They're very multitalented."

 

She said many of her students are also her yearbook students who transferred their talents for photography and design to the newspaper course, which she has taught for the past 10 years.

 

A large load was carried by the three seniors on her staff who brought four years each of news-writing and yearbook experience, Gershun said. The seniors are Editor in Chief Chonte Fujioka, Jazlyn Wandasan and Sheryl Dumancas (also named Waianae's Most Valuable Staffer); and they all want careers in journalism.

 

Fujioka said the newswriting course trained them to do "a lot more writing and was deadline-driven, fast paced. There was emphasis on the facts and keeping our opinion out of the story.

 

"We worked really hard, and because we're seniors we wanted to make this year our best," Fujioka said.

 

Gershun said her students are aware that Waianae and other rural schools have a reputation for social and economic ills.

 

"Our kids, knowing that reputation, say, 'We want to change that. We want to show people that great things happen in Waianae.'

 

"Working for the newspaper is one way to do that. That's what I like about this group. They want to take on the real issues. Waianae is a diverse community -- not just what you read in the headlines," Gershun said.

 

FARRINGTON Co-Editor Dova Rabusa said, "There was a lot of pressure for us to repeat (as top winner), but we did our best. Now we know we have to be more careful." Copy editor Shazarae Kaanehe explained that "we failed to recognize that the conclusion of a story was cut off" during the transition to a new page design system.

 

Jo-Ann Mastin, adviser/newswriting teacher for Farrington, said her students' willingness to work their hardest no matter what the circumstances "makes me the most proud."

 

"(And) I'm so proud of the public school system -- that we can produce great things. There's a lot of winners from public schools here ... and I'm just so proud of Waianae," she said.

 

People say they won't put their kids in a public school because they won't achieve excellence, Mastin said, "but we can do as much as anyone if we work hard and are devoted."

 

Jay Hartwell, adviser of the University of Hawaii student newspaper and a contest judge, said the competition was so close in the Best Overall Journalism Program category that the third-place winner, Nanakuli High, was only 10.5 points behind Waianae's top score of almost 129 points (out of a possible high of 165 points).

 

Farrington and Kamehameha Schools tied for second place in the Best Overall award and were only 1.4 points behind Waianae, Hartwell said.

 

Merit awards for best "established" newspaper went to Mililani; for "intermediate," Iolani; and for "beginning," Waialua.

 

Ahromi Wang of Pearl City High won the $150 design award for the cover art on the contest's program.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, May 1, 2006

 

$60M gift for Leeward O'ahu

 

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

 

The Salvation Army in Hawai'i is expected to announce today that it has received a philanthropic gift of at least $60 million to build and operate a state-of-the-art Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center in Kapolei, a gift believed to be the largest awarded to a local nongovernmental agency.

 

A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. today. Graphic courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser

 

While Salvation Army officials declined to confirm the news, sources familiar with the planning who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak, said a center for Hawai'i would be announced. In addition, Gov. Linda Lingle's schedule released Friday shows she is participating in a news conference "regarding the new Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center-Hawai'i in the Kapolei-'Ewa area."

 

The center will provide a place for athletic, recreational, educational, artistic and cultural activities.

 

"The prospect of a Kroc Community Center being established in Hawai'i has the great potential of changing young lives and making a positive impact on those children and families for a lifetime," said Maj. David Hudson, the Salvation Army's Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division commander.

 

Kapolei High principal Alvin Nagasako, who is familiar with the Hawai'i KrocGraphic courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser Center plans, agrees.

 

"It will provide venues to learn and display cultural and artistic opportunities, which we lack right now," Nagasako said. "This is a growing community, and the impact of such a center is it addresses a critical need for family recreation, in Kapolei and Leeward O'ahu.

 

"We will also have opportunities to create a healthy environment to support early childhood development through the center, which is much needed in our community," Nagasako added.

 

While the Salvation Army in Hawai'i requested $60 million in its bid proposal, it is expected to receive an award today that is larger. Even at $60 million, the gift is enormous.

 

"Sixty million dollars is going to blossom a hundredfold in the way it will touch our youth, our future and the keeping of a sense of family in our area," said George Yamamoto, a recently retired police captain and member of Neighborhood Board 34 (Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale), which supported the Kroc Center project.

 

"The center will provide jobs in the area, lessening the impact of traffic, and hopefully, its preschool will give our children a good head start," Yamamoto said. "We have Kamehameha Schools doing outreach out here but we welcome more services that provide opportunities to our keikis. It's really a fabulous project."

 

The center will be on 10 acres of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' property near the agency's planned $12 million office building and site of the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu campus.

 

The Advertiser reported in March 2005 that the lease agreement, in part, is for 65 years at $10 per year, with other considerations involved. The Kroc Center will feature separate areas for aquatic, athletic, performing arts and cultural events.

 

Among its components are a 25-meter pool for competitive swimming events; a college-standard-size gymnasium; a preschool for more than 100 children; an outdoor area dedicated to cultural arts that will include a pavilion for staging performances, such as hula; a performing arts theater with seating for about 1,000; a worship center; and a youth sports complex with baseball fields.

 

There also will be multipurpose rooms for meetings and social-services programs, a center for worship and fitness/training areas. The facility will cover more than 100,000 square feet.

 

Local officials expect to open the center in 2010, when the entire project is completed, rather than opening in phases.

 

Securing a 10-acre site in an underserved area in Leeward O'ahu satisfied a key element that allowed Hawai'i to compete for a share of the $1.6 billion bequeathed to the Salvation Army's national office by philanthropist Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald's Corp. founder Ray Kroc, for the specific purpose of building up to 50 neighborhood community centers nationwide.

 

Joan Kroc, who died in 2003, wanted designs of the new neighborhood centers to reflect the communities where they are built.

 

Planning for a cultural activities component at Hawai'i's Kroc Center included a canoe-building facility and hula mound, which are consistent with Kroc's vision. There's also no major theater to stage or showcase performing arts in West O'ahu, another component included in the Hawai'i proposal.

 

As the operations officer, Hudson worked with Mrs. Kroc from 2000 to 2002 on the development of the 12-acre Kroc Corps Center in San Diego before coming to Hawai'i in June 2004.

 

"Her dream was to see these centers across the country," Hudson told The Advertiser in December 2004, when he started organizing the Kroc Center bid.

 

The $1.6 billion gift to the Salvation Army is solely for the construction and operation of Kroc Centers and not for any programs. Kroc believed that communities where Kroc Centers are built must also share in the operational expenses.

 

Hawai'i reportedly submitted a proposal requesting $30 million for construction plus the matching endowment for operating costs. The amount may have changed, but when Hawai'i's center opens, only interest from the $30 million matching endowment can be used to pay for operating expenses and to provide scholarships to children to take advantage of programs at the center.

 

By March 2005, the Salvation Army in Hawai'i had secured support for its project from the Hawai'i Business Roundtable, made up of CEOs of the 50 largest local companies, as well as community and state leaders.

 

The planning has been so organized that Don Horner, president and CEO of First Hawaiian Bank, has been working on a fundraising plan to offset operating expenses for over a year as a member of the Salvation Army's East Kapolei Kroc Center steering committee.

 

Kroc's gift was divided equally among the Salvation Army's four territories in the United States, with each territory receiving $375 million. As of yesterday, none of the finalists in any territory had been awarded a Kroc Center.

 

In addition to Hawai'i, the Salvation Army Western Territory finalists were Salem, Ore.; Concord, Calif.; San Francisco; Aurora, Colo.; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Long Beach, Calif.; and Phoenix South Mountain, Ariz.

 

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

• Correction: First Hawaiian Bank president and chief executive officer Don Horner’s name was misspelled in a earlier verison of this story.

 

 

 

 

April 27, 2006

 

Native veterans hold ceremony for memorial's move

 

Alaska Native veterans led a purification ceremony yesterday in Juneau for the moving of memorial stones set up four years ago to honor them.

 

The stones had been moved from their original location at Sealaska Plaza into temporary storage without a ceremony.

 

The memorial is on its way to a new site, likely near the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall.

 

The regional Native Corporation says it put the memorial in storage during construction on the corporation's grounds.

 

The veterans drank juice made from the devil's club plant before sprinkling seawater over the ground where the memorial and two flagpoles once stood.

 

The veterans said they plan to hold a similar ceremony at the memorial's new location.

 

 

 

 

April 26, 2006

 

Veterans Win Senate Support of $430 Million Addition to VA

 

Washington, DC - In a fight for veterans on the Senate floor, Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) won passage of an amendment adding $430 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Cosponsoring the amendment were Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), John Kerry (D-MA) Mark Dayton (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Barack Obama (D-IL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Joseph Biden (D-DE), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Richard Durbin (D-IL).

 

The $430 million sum is specifically designed to supplement direct health care, mental health care, and prosthetics services at VA. VA projected it would treat 110,000 returning veterans this Fiscal Year, but VA has already treated 74,000 just in this quarter.

 

Senator Akaka stated, "Time and time again, we have been told by mental health advocates that VA's capacity is simply not enough. With a recent study finding that 35 percent of returning Iraq veterans have sought mental health services, we must prepare VA to handle this demand."

 

"Our men and women in uniform deserve healthcare, job training and transition assistance -- all of the things our country promised them when they volunteered to serve. Despite the increase in veterans coming home from war, the VA is still not budgeting for these real needs and our veterans are paying the price on waiting lists and in unemployment lines," Senator Murray said. "Today, thanks to Senator Akaka's leadership, we achieved a victory for our nation's veterans. Our amendment is about owning up to the cost of war. Caring for our veterans when they return home is not just a promise it's our nation's solemn duty."

 

Senator Kerry added, "We must keep faith with America's veterans, and securing this funding for mental health and PTSD programs is the least we can do. When our troops come home after serving with honor, we owe them more than a polite thanks and best wishes. The wounds of war are not always visible. We need to stand by our troops during and after their service."

 

Evidence continues to mount that shortfalls are having a direct impact on patient care.

 

The amendment includes:

 

 

The amendment passed by a vote of 84 to 13. It was modified to require the President to request and designate the emergency funding.

 

 

 

 

April 30, 2006

 

Hawaiians look for balance in paradise

BY KIRSTEN SCHARNBERG
Chicago Tribune

 

HONOLULU - On the surface, it seems Hawaii is a worker's paradise.

 

It boasts the nation's lowest rate of unemployment.

 

Pay, for even the most menial jobs, including fast-food service, can soar as high as $12 an hour as businesses increasingly scramble to lure and retain employees.

 

With unemployment hovering at 2.4 percent, so many companies are in search of employees that some are offering hefty hiring bonuses, free gym memberships and payments of up to $10,000 for managers who stay on for more than three years.

 

"The employment picture here is rosy not just by Hawaii standards but by the standards of anywhere in the U.S." said Byron Gangnes, a professor of economics at the University of Hawaii.

 

But the good news regarding employment figures belies much of the reality of living - and working - in this island state where housing costs are among the highest in the nation, where grocery prices are exorbitant because everything must be shipped from the mainland, and where the average cost of gasoline is routinely the most expensive in the country. Average annual pay remains below the U.S. average, meaning that many - if not most - of the jobs available in Hawaii do not pay enough to cover basic expenses.

 

"What has happened to Hawaii?" Alice Lenchanko, a frustrated Oahu resident, wrote recently in a scathing letter to the editor in a local newspaper. "Local people are moving out of this state because they can't afford to live here. Young families have to live with family because homes are unreachable for the working class. Homeless families are living on the beaches because they can't afford rent."

 

Such assertions are not unfounded. Census data released recently reveal that while Hawaii overall has gained population because of immigration and its birth rate, the state lost more than 126,000 residents to the mainland since 1990. The city of Honolulu recently cracked down on homeless squatters - including families that had at least one adult who worked full time - who were living on beaches and in parks all around the famous tourist destination of Waikiki. And home prices on Oahu - the most populated island and home to the bulk of the state's jobs - have doubled in just five years, making the price of a median single-family dwelling nearly $600,000.

 

Hawaii, where the traditional industries of sugar cane and pineapples are now essentially ancient history and tourism is the new king crop, is not alone in its struggle to strike a balance between catering to visitors and remaining affordable for residents. Other tourist centers - the tony Hamptons on New York's Long Island, Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts and upscale ski destinations such as Colorado's Aspen - all have unveiled plans in recent years to try to raise salaries or build more affordable housing for local workers who form the backbone of any tourism industry.

 

But Hawaii's challenges are unique.

 

Because Hawaii is the most isolated archipelago in the world, workers cannot simply live elsewhere and commute to their jobs.

 

"There is a joke about Hawaii," Gangnes said. "It's a high-priced place to live, but at least you can always count on low wages.

 

"In all seriousness, though," he said, "that translates to the fact that there is a real dichotomy between the people who have a lot of money to live in and visit this place and the people who are working two jobs and barely making ends meet."

 

The essential truth in Hawaii today is that tourism and the U.S. military - there are more than a dozen military installations on the islands - are the foundation of the state's economy. Although state estimates differ on how many jobs are tourism-based, the most accepted range is 25 percent to 33 percent. That means a significant portion of the jobs available are for positions such as hotel housekeepers, wait staff in fancy resort restaurants, hotel desk clerks - all jobs that traditionally are low-paying.

 

It is not uncommon for Hawaiians to have more than one full-time job and still be unable to afford rent or purchase a home in this market where a median-priced home's mortgage would require an annual income of about $100,000 and a down payment nearly equal to that. Even average statewide gas prices are likely to rise after lawmakers on Wednesday reached an agreement to suspend the nation's only cap on gas prices.

 

"Essentially you have a whole class of people who are working all day, every day, who still can't buy a house," said Paul Brewbaker, an economist for the Bank of Hawaii. "They look around and realize, `Hey, life's so good here that I can't afford to live it.' "

 

Still, those who choose to leave often do so very bitterly. Hawaii, which like Alaska is not only a geographical entity but the historical home of native tribes, has many who feel a tie to their islands that does not exist most places in America.

 

Because the islands were annexed by the U.S. after an overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, large numbers of native Hawaiians never supported becoming the 50th state in 1959. Today, many Hawaiians are deeply resentful of an economy they feel has become overly dependent on tourism.

 

"Our native people have been essentially confined to a servant class," said Haunani-Kay Trask, a native Hawaiian and professor in the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii. ". . . Our people are just trying to have an everyday life - house, job, food - but to do nothing but wait on others on your own soil becomes demoralizing after a point."

 

Trask has even proposed a voluntary ban on tourism to Hawaii, a move that if implemented overnight would cause the state's economy to collapse and that only a small portion of Hawaiians would support.

 

But as much as tourism is castigated as a force that drives Hawaii's economy on the backs of its native and working-class citizenry, it also has been heralded as the industry of opportunity for the thousands of immigrants - from throughout the Pacific Rim and Asia - who migrate to Hawaii for wages far higher than what they could make at home. Even more, tourism proponents have asserted that local Hawaiians struggle not because of the visitor industry but because the state's school system, ranked one of the worst in the nation, fails to adequately educate its children.

 

The bottom line, chief state economist Pearl Imada Iboshi points out, is that it is hard to say that Hawaii's 2.4 percent unemployment rate - compared to the national average of 4.7 percent - is anything but a good thing. Certainly it is only part of the puzzle, she said, "But I don't think anyone can complain about having such a significant portion of our population employed."

 

Economists warn that even this much-debated employment bubble may burst, as it did in the late 1990s when tourism fell off, when foreign investments in Hawaii had begun to dry up, when the housing market peaked and corrected itself. Housing prices will drop during such a downturn, said Brewbaker, the Bank of Hawaii economist, and the smart people "will buy their piece of dirt or lava then before prices soar . . . and the whole cycle begins again."

 

"Hey, I remember not so long ago when there was about 12 percent unemployment on the Big Island," he said. "Yeah, land and houses were dirt-cheap, but you couldn't get a job to save your life. Now people can quickly get three job offers but they can't afford to live there. Somewhere in the middle would probably be good, but one extreme or the other is just typical Hawaii."

 

 

 

 

April 24, 2006

 

Native American teens learning about HIV, AIDS

 

Native Americans face challenges when it comes to fighting the disease, including a high poverty rate, a young population, limited access to HIV testing and treatment, and the misconception that AIDS is a "white man's" disease.

 

Allysa Adams

Spero News

 

Most weekends you'll find 14-year-old Janyse Collins hanging out with her friends or chatting online about almost anything. But this weekend, Janyse and her friends are tackling a subject matter that doesn't normally pop up on their computer screen: AIDS.

 

"I haven't heard of too many people I know who have AIDS," Janyse says, "but I think it's a serious problem for our people."

 

Janyse's people are Native Americans, and HIV/AIDS is becoming a serious problem in her community. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Native Americans have the third-highest infection rate of any U.S. population. Native Americans face some unique challenges when it comes to fighting the disease, including a high poverty rate, a young population, limited access to HIV testing and treatment, and the misconception that AIDS is a "white man's" disease.

 

"I always think it's somebody else," Janyse admits. "I never thought our native people would do stuff to get the disease." But the CDC numbers highlight a stark reality: Native Americans have seen higher infection rates than whites since 1995.

 

So on a Saturday in mid-March, Janyse and 14 of her friends are sitting in the Fort Yuma United Methodist Church on the Quechan Reservation in southern Arizona getting the facts about sex, disease and HIV. They are all participating in a four-day Teen Empowerment program designed for Native Americans.

 

Making better choices

 

Christina Allen, who works for the Quechan alcohol and drug abuse prevention program leads the seminar on this day.

 

"Do any of you know about HIV and AIDS?" she asks. The kids shake their heads in silence. "Good, because we're going to learn about that today."

 

Throughout the rest of the day the kids role-play, take quizzes and talk about everything from sexually transmitted diseases to peer pressure. There's some nervous laughter, along with a few red faces, but the teens listen intently.

 

"I want to protect these kids," says Allyson Collins, Janyse's mom. "I know they'll make their own decisions, but I want to at least give them the opportunity to give them information so they can make better choices for themselves."

 

Collins is a member of the Fort Yuma United Methodist congregation. She organized the seminar with Janyse and her 13-year-old sister, Jessica, in mind. "Probably what motivated me were my daughters and the age that they are at."

 

Breaking silence

 

Respecting and listening to elders is an important part of the Native American culture, but Collins knows this is one reason AIDS is still a taboo subject. "Just in our own culture," she says, "we don't discuss those things with our elders."

 

At the seminar, the teens discuss everything. The Teen Empowerment program teaches abstinence, but no subject is off limits. During one role-playing game, the teens are assigned letters and then asked to shake hands with three others. The hand shaking represents sexual activity. The teens soon discover that some of the teens they've shaken hands with represent people with genital herpes, and a few others represent people infected with HIV. Though some used condoms, the only two people who come out disease-free are the two girls who were told not to shake any one's hand. They practiced abstinence. The rest of the group applauds the girls.

 

"Each one of these kids is a leader in their own way," Collins says. "I know that what they learn from this class they can take it back to their circle of friends."

 

In another room at the church, a group of Native American parents is making a list of teen terms. "Rad," says one mom. "Cool," says another. They're getting a lesson in how to talk with their kids about sex and disease so that the conversation doesn't end when the seminar wraps up.

 

Before the seminar, Janyse had said she wanted to come to "get knowledge of what's going on in the Indian country and see what's taking over our Indian kids." She had noted with seriousness that "if they keep dying of HIV then we're not going to have any more native people."

 

Still, Janyse isn't worried about the long-term impact of AIDS. "Kids are getting smarter now." Through programs like Teen Empowerment, they are.

 

UMNS. Adams is a freelance writer and producer in Phoenix.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, April 29, 2006

 

OHA suit dismissal affirmed

 

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

 

For the second time, the state Supreme Court yesterday affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit by the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs seeking from the state hundreds of millions of dollars related to ceded lands once held by the Hawaiian monarchy.

 

The high court last year unanimously affirmed Circuit Judge Gary Chang's dismissal of the suit in 2004, but agreed to reconsider its ruling, paving the way for yesterday's decision.

 

The court, however, in its 64-page opinion, also repeated its position that the state Legislature has authority to determine how much the state must pay OHA to fulfill its constitutional obligation of paying a portion of the income from ceded lands to OHA.

 

The portion is 20 percent under state statute, the court said.

 

The state has recognized that it owes OHA a portion of the revenues from ceded lands.

 

State lawmakers are to vote on a measure next week that would provide OHA with a lump sum of $17.5 million and annual payments of $15 million.

 

OHA's lawsuit dealt with revenues that the state disputes should go to the Hawaiian organization.

 

OHA contended the revenues are related to ceded lands — such as income from the Duty Free Shoppers Waikiki store that is not on ceded lands but is related because Duty Free's headquarters are at Honolulu International Airport, which is on ceded lands.

 

OHA contended the state breached its obligations to OHA by not doing enough to halt the passage of a 1998 federal law that essentially negated the basis for OHA's claims to the disputed revenues.

 

"From the beginning of the history of this case, I have believed that the claim is legally meritless, and I am gratified that the Circuit Court's dismissal was unanimously upheld on appeal by the Hawai'i Supreme Court," Attorney General Mark Bennett said.

 

Robert Klein, OHA's lawyer, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

 

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

April 20, 2006

 

President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Conducts Technical Assistance Conference in Honolulu, Hawai’i.

 

On Saturday, May 13, 2006 the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders will conduct a free Technical Assistance Conference in Honolulu, Hawai’i that focuses on the economic and community development issues affecting Native Hawai’ians and Pacific Islanders.

 

The State of Hawai’i represents the nation’s largest population of Native Hawai’ians and Pacific Islanders.  Hawai’i is also where native Hawai’ians and other Pacific Islanders make up the largest proportion (22 percent) of the total population.  This will be the first Technical Assistance Conference held by the Commission in the State of Hawai’i.

 

The Commission will be conducting a series of panels and workshops that focus on small business development, access to federal resources and grant opportunities, financial literacy, and opportunities in federal employment.  The Small Business Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency will be among the federal agencies represented at the conference. 

 

The Commission will also be holding a tree planting ceremony with local officials, Pacific Islander youth, Special Guests, and leaders from the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC).

 

Commissioners William Afeaki (Salt Lake City, UT), William Kil (Los Angeles, CA), and Martha Ruth (Agana Heights, Guam) will be attending the conference.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, April 27, 2006

 

Sustainable tourism proposals unveiled

 

Advertiser Staff

 

Legalizing and better regulating bed-and-breakfast and vacation rentals, and preventing the over-development of tour operations, are among the recommendations of a state-financed study on sustainable tourism.

 

The final report, posted yesterday on the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Web site, looks at how to maintain the benefits of tourism while sustaining the quality of Hawai'i's natural resources, infrastructure and community. Officials decided to fund the $1.2 million project during the 2001 legislative session.

 

The report has dozens of recommendations. Among them:

 

 

To view the Sustainable Tourism Project, see www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats/sustainable-tourism-project.

 

 

 

 

April 27, 2006

 

FEMA Must Be Restored as Independent Agency, Says Akaka

 

Washington, D.C. -- Today the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman and Ranking Member released a report on its Hurricane Katrina investigation, which included a proposal to restructure the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), a senior member on the Committee, said the recommendations do not go far enough in some areas.

 

"Unless FEMA has a direct line to the President, the people of Hawaii and the nation are at risk. We must ensure that the head of FEMA has access to the President not only in times of crisis but during the budget process. This report recommends a dual reporting system that will likely be confusing and ineffective. FEMA must be restored as an independent agency in order to serve the American people effectively," remarked Senator Akaka.

 

Last November, Senator Akaka introduced S. 2040, the Department of Homeland Security Qualified Leaders Act, which requires that Senate-confirmed leaders throughout DHS, including FEMA, demonstrate executive level management experience and significant expertise in their field.

 

Senator Akaka praised Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) for agreeing with him that FEMA's senior leadership should possess management and emergency response experience, and looks forward their support of his legislation.

 

Senator Akaka has also strongly argued that DHS regional offices should be established throughout the country, which was one of the report's key recommendations.

 

"My first priority is ensuring the lessons of Katrina are applied to help protect Hawaii and that means establishing a DHS regional office in the Pacific," said Senator Akaka. "I am pleased that the Committee's report agrees with me that DHS needs regional offices for effective preparedness and response."

 

 

 

 

May 1, 2006

 

OHA provides $50,000 for fishpond project

 

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

 

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has made a $50,000 grant to help revitalize the Heeia Fishpond, an 88-acre project in Kaneohe Bay that aims to combine ancient Hawaiian practices with modern commercial aquaculture techniques.

 

Using the OHA funding, Oceanic Institute, an affiliate of Hawaii Pacific University, will provide about 1,000 moi fingerlings in quarterly batches for the fishpond. The moi are tagged to allow for their release and future identification.

 

Oceanic Institute will also assist with training of 10 members of the staff of Paepae O He'eia, which oversees the fishpond. The institute will also help the group develop a business plan for selling the fishpond products.

 

The National Marine Fisheries Service is also providing a one-year $130,000 grant to Paepae O He'eia for the project.

 

 

 

 

April 27, 2006

 

Passing the Gift

By KEKOA CATHERINE ENOMOTO, Staff Writer

Ka’anapali

 

The Maui News

 

West Maui native Ed Lindsey has become the face of Honokowai Valley, and now a video gives an aspect to the five-year project undertaken by Lindsey and others to restore the archaeological treasures of this valley, the former “breadbasket” of Ka’anapali.

 

Lindsey retired from teaching social studies and Hawaiiana at Iao Intermediate School after 25 years, and the Honokowai restoration effort was the result of “a vision that was transmitted” from his gut to his spirit – from “the na’au connecting up with the ’uhane,” he said.

 

With wife Pua, he has mobilized hundreds of volunteers who laboriously cleared, mostly by hand, 15 acres of lo’i terraces and other archaeological sites, where the three-mile-long Honokowai Stream once irrigated taro, sweet potato and other crops.

 

The film “Passing the Gift: Malama Honokowai” documents this initiative that sprang from Lindsey’s multigenerational connection to West Maui.

 

“We are a kama’aina family and our roots go deep and that’s why we care,” he said last week by phone. “Our family in all the things we do, it’s important that we maintain our cultural identity and that we be pono about things – and to share, you know, we share.”

 

Valleys are where water passes from the mountaintops to the lush lowlands and, therefore, were natural magnets for ancient communities. During the plantation era, stream waters were diverted from valleys via irrigation systems to cultivate sugar and pineapple. But now “industrial agriculture is out,” Lindsey said.

 

So “it’s important to maintain presence in all the valleys, because that’s where our cultural sites lay dormant. In every valley throughout the state we had water running through our cultural sites, and the people throughout the state need to take care of these things.

 

“You go to Kaua’ula, Launiupoko, Ukumehame, Waiehu, Waihe’e, Mahinahina – every one of the valleys, any valley in East Maui – you’re going to have cultural sites. And as people buy these places out, if they’re not kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian), they go in with a bulldozer and so we lose it.

 

“So it’s up to us to educate people, because those archaeological sites give testimony to who we are,” he said.

 

The Honokowai restoration project has succeeded because it is an inclusive, community-based endeavor, he affirmed.

 

“We have been very successful because Honokowai started out with Ka’anapali 2020 (community visioning process) and the preservation of our cultural resources through community-based planning. And word has gone out to many of the other developers, who now are looking at community-based planning to different degrees; so the old system we have been in has ruptured.”

 

Regarding inclusiveness, “We want to share our cultural heritage with (others), so they become part of us; so we can outnumber any kind of assault on our culture and natural resources.”

 

Lindsey said “Passing the Gift: Malama Honokowai” is unique because it is a film about habitat restoration – not only of the environment for endemic and indigenous plants, but also for human understanding.

 

“People need to talk story so they can understand each other, and we need to look at each other as a living, breathing individual with a spirit, so those needing to be resuscitated can be through education; so they can have their spirit revitalized, because most of Western philosophy is about money and possession.

 

“In an island situation the focus is on us – not one person, not one entity. It’s all of us, we’re in a canoe in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. To say who owns the canoe, you’re gonna have a loser-loser situation.

 

“It’s all of ours, so we need to take care of this.”

 

Lindsey – the face, and the heart, of Honokowai Valley – added he’s “not interested in ownership, in possessing. I’m most interested in taking care, sharing, and allowing people to come and find their goodness.”

 

Kekoa Catherine Enomoto can be reached at kekoa@mauinews.com.

 

 

 

 

May 2, 2006

 

Waimea Valley names new director

 

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

 

Rona Rodenhurst, who has worked for the past 19 years with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, is the new director of the Waimea Valley Audubon Center on Oahu's North Shore.

 

Both the National Audubon Society and OHA were key players earlier this year in securing $14 million in financing to prevent development in the valley. OHA will assume ownership of the valley and the Audubon Society is negotiating an operating agreement to continue managing the center.

 

Rodenhurst, who began her new duties Monday, holds a bachelor's degree in Hawaiian studies and a master's in curriculum development in secondary social sciences.

 

The 1,875-acre valley attracts approximately 175,000 visitors annually. It is operated by a staff of 40 employees and hundreds of volunteers.

 

 

 

 

May 1, 2006

 

Canoes expand horizons of Maui public education

 

By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

 

LAHAINA » Ke'eaumoku Kapu said growing up in Papakolea, he had no interest in studying and staying in school.

 

But that changed as he traveled to several Pacific islands as a crew member of the voyaging canoe Hokule'a and learned about canoe-building cultures. When he returned, he began sharing his knowledge with youths.

Photo courtesy of the Honolulu Star Bulletin: Gary T. Kubota

"I've experienced a lot and hope to give back what I have to the younger generation," he said.

 

Kapu, 41, is a leader of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua, a nonprofit group that offers youths an opportunity to learn about Polynesian voyaging canoes and Hawaiian culture.

 

Kapu and other members provide an educational tour for students through their facility at Kamehameha Iki Park in Lahaina, where they store a double-hulled Hawaiian canoe and are building a larger one.

 

Curriculum booklets for the group's canoe voyaging educational program are provided by the state Department of Education.

 

The group's 42-foot-long Hawaiian voyaging canoe Mo'olele, built in 1975, is scheduled to replace the former brig Carthaginian in a slip at Lahaina Harbor and serve as a sailing and educational vessel.

 

The Mo'olele has sailed to a number of Hawaiian islands, including Oahu and the Big Island.

 

Kapu said the Mo'olele will not be available for tour rides, but his group will be allowing members who pass its navigational certification course to participate in helping to sail the vessel.

 

Hui Wa'a is also building the 62-foot-long voyaging canoe Mo'okiha. Kapu hopes the Mo'okiha eventually will travel to other Pacific archipelagos, such as Tahiti, and help youths learn about other Pacific cultures.

 

He said the group is applying for grants and planning to expand its membership to help to raise funds to complete the construction of the Mo'okiha.

 

About 70,000 yards of rope will be used to build the Mo'okiha, Kapu said.

 

But lashing the canoe is an art and requires a perfect tie, and canoe builders will not hesitate to cut away a day's worth of work if a weakness in the lashing is detected. So extra rope is needed -- some 100,000 yards from New England -- and that costs about $4,500.

 

Kapu said there are few Hawaiians with the knowledge of how to make the traditional kind of rope for canoe building, and it would take years for them to make enough rope.

 

Kapu, a former construction worker, said he moved to Maui in 1996 to help his father, who had decided to return to the family's land in Kauaula Valley, south of Lahaina.

 

He said moving to Maui helped to bring him in touch not only with the history of his ancestors who have lived in Lahaina for more than 200 years, but also Lahaina's past and its ties to native culture.

 

Just across Front Street from the group's canoe house is the site of the former Mokuhinia Pond and Mokuula Island, where King Kamehameha I established his residence on the Valley Isle and the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom until the mid-1800s.

 

There is a legend of a lizard goddess, or moo, who lived in the pond -- a story that is also mentioned in the oral history of islanders of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island in the Southeastern Pacific.

 

Kapu said while native Hawaiians did not have the natural resources to make metal implements, they knew how to read the currents and stars and had acquired a knowledge of how to sail thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean.

 

Inquiries or donations to Hui Wa'a may be made through its office at 525 Front St., Lahaina 96761; or by calling 808-667-4050.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, April 29, 2006

 

Search for artifacts to resume

 

By Gordon Y.K. Pang and Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Staff Writers

 

Efforts to enter the Big Island's Forbes Cave complex and retrieve 83 priceless Hawaiian cultural objects will resume in the wake of a failed mediation of the dispute, U.S. District Judge David Ezra said yesterday.

 

Abigail K. Kawananakoa — a descendant of Hawaiian royalty and one of those seeking the return of the objects to the Bishop Museum — dismissed the four-month mediation as a "farce." She said Edward Halealoha Ayau, the leader of the group Hui Malama I Na Kupuna o Hawai'i Nei, should be sent back to federal prison for failing to disclose where the objects are buried.

 

Ayau said that Hui Malama is willing to assist in a return to the cave complex to ensure that the objects have not been disturbed, but only if the caves are found to be structurally sound, and if the court and the group's opponents agree to leave the items there. Formed in the 1980s, Hui Malama is dedicated to the repatriation of Native Hawaiian remains and the objects that accompanied them.

 

The Bishop Museum and Hui Malama were sued by two Hawaiian organizations seeking the return of the objects, which were transferred by the museum to Hui Malama in late 2000. Rather than returning them as requested by the museum, Hui Malama officials said they buried the objects in caves on the Big Island from where they were taken in 1905 by David Forbes and other Western explorers. The objects are known as the Forbes Collection.

 

Na Lei Alii Kawananakoa and the Royal Hawaiian Academy of Traditional Arts want the items returned. The two groups and others contend that they have not had an opportunity to weigh in on what should happen with the items as allowed under the federal Native American Graves Protection Act.

 

NOT A FAILURE

 

Ezra yesterday said that the "Hawaiian mediation process" had been worthwhile.

 

"I am, of course, disappointed that the matter was not resolved to a conclusion," Ezra said. "But that doesn't mean I think the process was a failure."

 

Noting that the opposing parties were able to agree on some issues, he added, "I do not believe that all chances for a resolution have been lost."

 

Ezra and U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang praised Nainoa Thompson, the Hokule'a navigator and Kamehameha Schools trustee, and Earl Kawaa, a family education specialist for the Hi'ilani family education program, for their voluntary efforts.

 

The court will now direct appointed engineers to determine whether the cave complex is structurally sound enough to enter. Ayau and other Hui Malama members have maintained that it is not safe.

 

Ezra declined to release a timeline to retrieve the objects, pointing out that such disclosure could be valuable to potential grave-robbers.

 

He referred to the recent indictments against two men in connection with the theft of burial objects at Kanupa Cave, which is near the Forbes Cave complex in the Kohala section of the Big Island.

 

"I don't want anybody to get their hands on these sacred objects, if they are in the cave," he said.

 

In late December, the judge held Ayau in contempt of court for refusing to pinpoint the whereabouts of the items. Ayau had contended that divulging the location would violate his cultural and religious beliefs. He was jailed at the Federal Detention Center for three weeks before being released to participate in the mediation.

 

Ezra said yesterday that while Ayau remains in contempt he sees no "legitimate purpose" in putting him back in jail. Ayau will remain confined to his home on Moloka'i, except for work-related travel that must be approved by the court.

 

Kawananakoa, who turned 80 this month and has made few public appearances in recent years, said she was "devastatingly disappointed" by the results of the mediation, which she described as "a complete farce."

 

The Campbell Estate heiress questioned Hui Malama's explanation that the objects are funerary and interred with Native Hawaiians in the cave. "We have documents to prove that what (Ayau) contends ... is completely and utterly false," she said. She said she and others tried to persuade Hui Malama members that "they have done a heinous thing to our possessions. ... They are not theirs."

 

When asked to further explain to whom she referred when she spoke of "our possessions," she said, "the Hawaiian people." She described Hui Malama and its supporters as "a small group that has convinced whomever that what they're doing is correct."

 

She added, "They had no right to take it. It was under false pretenses. It was a theft."

 

'A GREAT LOSS'

 

The items, which have been appraised at more than $10 million, were the personal deities of Kamehameha the Great and hidden in the cave for safekeeping, she said. "There's no question that they should never have been put down there," she said.

 

Among the items is the Kilawahine, a carved 18-inch wooden figure of a Maui goddess who was an aumakua to Kamehameha. Kawananakoa said it is one of the most sacred objects known to Hawaiians.

 

"People cannot use it for their own studies. It is not available. Do you think that is right to put things like this and bury it in a cave with very little care for their maintenance? These are fragile. They're priceless."

 

As a descendant of the Kawananakoa and Kamehameha families, she said, she has a duty to ensure that such objects are preserved for future generations of Hawaiians. "Even if they are securely sealed in there, it's the climate, the conditions in there. They are being destroyed right now as we speak. They're disintegrating. It's such a great loss."

 

Kawananakoa said she has spent the last three to four years researching the issue with the help of Roger Rose, an anthropologist who spent more than two decades with the Bishop Museum.

 

Rose said, "The preponderance of evidence suggests that these items are not funerary. They were hidden away at the time of the abandonment of the traditional (Hawaiian) religion or shortly after that. They are cultural items of great importance. I believe they were associated with Kamehameha the Great."

 

Kawananakoa also asserted that Ayau should be returned to jail.

 

"It's a great disservice not to punish these people for what they have done up to date," she said.

 

In response, Ayau said, "I'll be willing to go back to prison, if she's willing to drop the lawsuit and leave the kupuna alone." Ayau added that he has yet to see documentation to back up the argument that the cultural objects are not funerary.

 

NO RIGHT FOR REMOVAL

 

Ayau said Hui Malama has offered to cooperate with the court's request to check on the condition of the items. The group, however, maintains that it will not participate in a court order that involves removing of the objects.

 

"The focus of our proposal ... was to verify that the moepu were back where they were taken from," he said. "At the same time, we maintain the position that we don't have the authority, we don't have the mana or the right — and we contend nobody does — to order their removal."

 

Hui Malama bases its assertion that the items are burial objects on the group's own research, which shows that they were placed in the cave complex with human remains as was customary.

 

"The primary issue is maintaining the integrity of the kupuna," he said. "It is our hope that all Hawaiians share in that. If the plaintiffs feel somehow that we've wronged them and they need to be made whole again, well, then direct your attention at us — not at the kupuna. Don't take it out on them. They're the ones who were looted."

 

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com and Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

May 2, 2006

 

Miss Aloha Hula "Talks Story" With Senator Akaka

 

Washington, D.C. - Today on Capitol Hill, Senator Daniel K. Akaka met with Miss Aloha Hula 2006, Bernice Alohanamakanamaikalanimai Davis-Lim and Kumu Hula Leialoha Lim Amina of Na Lei O Kaholoku.

 

"It was very exciting for me to come here and meet Senator Akaka," said Davis-Lim. "I really appreciate the knowledge he shared and everything he does for Hawaii."

 

Senator Akaka presented Davis-Lim with a Certificate of Recognition for her accomplishment in the 43rd Annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. During their meeting Senator Akaka asked Davis-Lim about her experience on stage and they discussed the legends of Poliahu, the snow goddess. At last month's contest Davis-Lim performed dances in honor of Poliahu.

 

"This is a very important achievement in your life that will undoubtedly shape your future, you are a leader," Senator Akaka told Davis-Lim. "Cherish these memories and pass them on to our keiki so that they too can learn from you."

 

This past weekend, Davis-Lim and Amina gave a hula workshop attended by more than 50 participants. Davis-Lim also performed her award-winning dances for them. This is their first trip to Washington, D.C. and their first time meeting Senator Akaka.

 

"I got chicken-skin! When I came into his office I saw the existence of aloha," remarked Amina. "Senator Akaka is certainly the ambassador of aloha. I am truly humbled by being here."

 

After their meeting they toured the Capitol building and visited the Old Post Office in downtown D.C. where students of Na Pua Maeole from Pahoa High and Intermediate School were performing.

 

In reflecting on the presence of hula in the area, Davis-Lim said, "It's nice to see hula flourishing here. The folks here really have a passion for the hula and that makes me appreciate hula even more."

 

 

 

 

April 29, 2006

 

Young Lawyer of the Year has full docket

By Elizabeth Neff
The Salt Lake Tribune


Salt Lake Tribune - Sean Reyes is a partner handling billion-dollar cases at Utah's largest law firm, a husband, and a father to his four young children. That's work enough for many.

But it just wouldn't be in his nature for Reyes to stop there.

One of Utah's first major law firm partners of color and the child of parents who overcame adversity, Reyes is a strong voice for Latino businesses and political power in the state. He's also known as a mentor for law students of color who is exceptionally generous with his time.

"I don't want to do things just to have my name on them," he said. "I really want to make a difference - that was my dad's mantra, 'Do a job well or not at all,' so I try to adopt that into my life."

This week, the Utah State Bar named Reyes, 35, Young Lawyer of the Year, a top honor in connection with Law Day and a recognition of his efforts to encourage diversity on Utah's legal scene.

Around 3 percent of Utah's bar members are minorities and more than 90 percent of Utah's judges are white - disproportionate figures, considering 15 percent of Utah's 2.2 million residents are minorities.

Gilbert Bradshaw, president of the Minority Law Student Association at the Brigham Young University's law school, nominated Reyes. He recounted Reyes' efforts to spur him and other students on.

"I remember Sean took one particular student under his wing and answered his questions for nearly an hour," Bradshaw said. "I watched as that particular student pulled his grades up at his junior college, transferred to the University of Utah, and started working at a law firm. He later told me that the conversation that he had with Sean was crucial."

Reyes brings in judges and attorneys to hobnob with minority students, but also ensures they meet individually, Bradshaw said.

Reyes recalls his first job fair for students as an eye-opening experience.

"The thing that struck me the most is how few of them have confidence in their abilities and a true picture of the opportunities available to them," he said.

He tells students they must focus early on getting good grades - and has followed through, including arranging tutors. Reyes also urges students to not let fear of failing stop them from trying.

Growing up in Southern California, Reyes was encouraged by his parents to try it all, from sports to poetry.

Reyes' father was a teenage singer, actor, artist and heartthrob in the Philippines who was related to the country's president. But when Ferdinand Marcos rose to power, Norberto Reyes came to the United States on a student visa and overstayed, avoiding immigration trouble for three years before he was arrested.

While in a detention camp awaiting deportation, he won a national art contest to commemorate the death of Martin Luther King - and caught the attention of Coretta Scott King and her lawyers. They prevented his deportation and he later became a movie producer and entrepreneur.

Reyes' mother, of Japanese and Native Hawaiian heritage, was a teacher, administrator and principal during her 40 years in the Los Angeles public school system. Annette Reyes expected nothing less than A's from her son.

"They were examples of people who would never let anything inhibit them," said Reyes.
After graduating from Brigham Young University in 1994 with a degree in English, Reyes attended law school at the University of California at Berkeley and married his wife, Saysha, in his second year there. Reyes earned his law degree in 1997 and returned to Utah to begin his career at Parsons Behle & Latimer, the same firm where he is a shareholder today.

As immediate past president of the Utah Minority Bar Association, Reyes helped the group to blossom, persuading many of Utah's law firms to sign a pledge to diversity and honoring the first 50 minority lawyers in Utah.

Among his other community work: helping create the Utah Hispanic Business Leadership Foundation, which awards scholarships to college and trade school students; and volunteering with the bar's Young Lawyers Division, the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly and the Utah Hispanic/Latino Legislative Task Force.

Some have suggested he consider politics - something he hasn't ruled out.

Add to all this a stint as a bishop for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, coaching Junior Jazz and leading a Boy Scout troop.

Attorney Ross McPhail wrote in his nomination that it is the balance Reyes has found in life that sets him apart. Reyes and his wife live in Cottonwood and their children range from 7 months to 8 years old.

"Sean has sought to maintain an equal balance between a full and active professional career, his commitments to the community, and the family that he loves," said McPhail.
Reyes doesn't take the praise he often hears too seriously. He gives most of the credit to his wife's support, and has a down-to-earth manner that makes students feel at ease.
And in his garage is a gold sports car with a license plate that makes him smile.

It reads: "Blingin."

 

 

 

 

 

 

2006 Elections Present 101 Seats for Voters to Decide

 

WHAT:  Activating Voter Registration in 2006 to weigh in on 101 seats at the federal, state and county levels is on the minds of many in Hawaii today.  The seats that will come before the electorate in the fall of 2006 include the following:

 

 

 

 

For more information and a complete list of 2006 Contests and Incumbents, visit the Hawaii State Office of Elections Website at:  http://www.hawaii.gov/elections/

 

To register to vote:  http://www.hawaii.gov/elections/voters/registration.htm

 

 

 

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 KAAHALAMA (k); KAHULANUI (w); PALEA (k); KAUAINA PALEA (k), aka KAUWAINA PALEA (k), aka S.B. KAUAINA (k); MOELUHI (k); MALIE KAMALU PAAHAO; LEHOULA (k); CHARLEY KALEIKAU; CHARLES KALEIKAU JR.; LAVENDA OPPIE; IWALANI PAQUETTE; JANE DAVIS; MARK OPPIE; WAYNE OPPIE; ELMINA OPPIE; ELROY OPPIE; DAVID KALEIKAU SR.; DAVID KALEIKAU JR.; AUSTIN KALEIKAU; BETTY KALEIKAU; LINDSEY KALEIKAU; LYLE KALEIKAU; LAYTON KALEIKAU; LAUREE GILL-KALEIKAU; LISA KALEIKAU; ABRAHAM KALEIKAU; ESTHERELLA OLSZOWKA; HERMAN KALEIKAU; WILLIAM KALEIKAU; BERNADEEN VALDEZ; MADELINE LEE; FRANCIS KALEIKAU; KALOUKOA (k), aka KALAUKOA (k); KAHAIKI (k), aka KUHAIKI (k), aka KUHAIKU (k); their respective heirs or assigns; and ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiff Jeff John Silva has filed a complaint in the Third Circuit Court, State of Hawaii, Civil No. 06-1-98, to quiet title to: Land Commission Award No. 7310 issued to KAAHALAMA (k) on May 10, 1852, situate at Hionaa, Kau, County and State of Hawai i, within TMK No. (3) 9-5-015-5; Land Commission Award No. 10084 issued to MOELUHI (k) on May 10, 1852, situate at Hionaa, Kau, County and State of Hawai i, within TMK Nos. (3) 9-5-015-10 & 14; and Apana 2 of Land Commission Award No. 9564-B, issued to KALOUKOA (k) on May 10, 1852, situate at Hionaa, Kau, County and State of Hawai i, within TMK No. (3) 9-5-015-11. YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear in the courtroom of the Honorable Greg K. Nakamura, Judge of the Third Circuit Court, in his courtroom at 75 Aupuni Street, Courtroom No. 1, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, on June 6, 2006 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, 1000 Bishop Street, Suite 1200, Honolulu, HI 96813. If you fail to do so, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. DATED: Hilo, Hawai i, April 5, 2006. P. TANAKA CLERK, THIRD CIRCUIT COURT (Hon. Adv.: Apr. 23, 30; May 7, 14, 2006) (A-394416) Posted on 4/23/2006

 

 

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http://hawaiianwayfund.org

 

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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 U.S. Department of Education. Education through Cultural & Historical Organizations, also known as ECHO, provides educational enrichment to Native and non-Native children and lifelong learners.