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.

CNHA is a national association of Native Hawaiian organizations. Operating an active Public Policy Center, Grants Training Institute, Community Development Consulting Services, and the Hawaiian Way Fund, we unify our members around solutions that embrace the strength of Native culture and knowledge in meeting community challenges. CNHA coordinates the Annual Native Hawaiian Convention in Honolulu every year to bring practitioners, community and policy makers together around issues important to Hawaiians.

July 5, 2006

• Native Hawaiian firms have billion-dollar clout
• Latest Census Report Confirms Growth of Minority Businesses
• Call For Nominations – 2006 Native Hawaiian Business Award
• Poll shows Akaka has edge in Senate race
• Educational Symposium on Native Citizenship & Governance Engages Participants
• Hawaiians win in land dispute
• "Akaka Bill" Key to Preserving Culture, Native Hawaiians Say
• Elections need federal watch?
• Hawai'i Poll: High marks for Hirono
• Indian vote affected if crucial act expires
• Lingle 'encouraged' by enormous early lead
• Department of the Treasury Names EyakTek 'Small Business Partner of the Year'
• 2 panels to advise mayor on Wai‘anae issues
• Students paint against meth
• OHA now holds title to Waimea Valley on Oahu's North Shore
• Dentists group OK with aides in villages
• PBS covers conflict over Mauna Kea
• Foundation donates to mausoleum
• Senate Appropriations Committee Approves $1,625,000 in Akaka Project Requests
• Sociologist: Indian women in prison need respect
• Feds freeze housing grants to Indian groups
• Keeping It Real
• Helping hands
• St Paul woman helps Indian adoptees find their way home
• Rural students getting a leg up on college life
• POLICY CENTER ALERTS: 
• Public Comment Period Extension:  Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) – July 28, 2006
• 2006 Elections Present 101 Seats for Voters to Decide
• Quiet Title Notices

June 29, 2006

Native Hawaiian firms have billion-dollar clout

The Census releases new data detailing the size of the growing sector

By Nina Wu
nwu@starbulletin.com

Companies owned by native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders on Oahu passed the $1 billion revenue mark in 2002, according to newly released data by the U.S. Census Bureau, which found 5,052 of those firms.

The survey data, released yesterday by the bureau, also revealed growing economic clout of the native businesses, tallied for the first time in a separate category.

In the five-year span between 1997 and 2002, the number of native Hawaiian- and Pacific Island-owned businesses grew 49.4 percent nationwide, more than triple the overall average of 10.3 percent.

The 28,948 businesses nationwide generated about $4.3 billion in revenue, 3.4 percent higher than in 1997.

More than half -- or 58 percent -- were native Hawaiian-owned businesses.

The survey also counted the number of firms owned by Guamanians, Chamorrans, Samoans and other Pacific Islanders.

Of all the categories of business, construction seemed the most popular, accounting for 21.2 percent of all native Hawaiian- and other Pacific Islander-owned business revenue.

A significant number -- nearly 21,000 -- operated health care and social assistance-related businesses. Others fell into retail trade, professional and technical services, administrative support and waste management.

Being counted in their own report was significant for many native Hawaiian leaders and business owners, such as Maile Meyer, co-owner of Native Books/Na Mea Hawaii.

Haunani Apoliona, chairwoman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, applauded the U.S. Census for issuing separate estimates. Apoliona, who served on the bureau's race ethnic advisory council, said the data shined a light on the success and leadership role of native Hawaiian businesses.

The 2002 survey took data from a sample of more than 2.4 million businesses.

The bureau defined native Hawaiian- and Pacific Islander-owned business as those with a 51 percent or more ownership. In August, the bureau will issue data by gender of ownership by all race groups and people of Hispanic or Latino origin.

STATISTICS ON NATIVE HAWAIIAN BUSINESS

» Native Hawaiian firms with paid employees generated $3.5 billion and created 29,000 positions across the nation.

» A total of 727 native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander-owned firms had receipts of $1 million or more.

» Honolulu county tabulated 5,052 firms generating a total $1 billion in receipts.

» Hawaii and California accounted for 62.3 percent ($2.7 billion) of all native Hawaiian- and other Pacific Islander-owned business revenue.

» The state of Hawaii had the highest number of native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander owned firms (8,359), followed by California (7,074), New York (3,005), Florida (1,480) and Texas (1,391).

June 29, 2006

Latest Census Report Confirms Growth of Minority Businesses

Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders far outpaced the national startup average.

From: Inc.com

By: Peter Hoy

The number of Native Hawaiian- and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses in the U.S. grew  49.4% between 1997 and 2002, according to a new Census Bureau report.

The latest installment of the bureau's 2002 Survey of Business Owners, released Thursday, found that the estimated 29,000 businesses owned by Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders generated $4.3 billion in business receipts in 2002. 

Earlier this month, the bureau also released data on American Indian- and Alaskan Native-owned businesses, which numbered more than 200,000 and brought in $26.9 billion in 2002 revenue. (Data on American Indian- and Alaskan-owned businesses cannot be directly compared to previous years because of changes in survey methodology, according to the bureau.)

Combined, American Indian-, Native Alaskan-, Hawaiian- and Pacific Islander-owned firms comprise just 1% of all American businesses, and their combined revenue only make up 0.14% of total U.S. business receipts. But with a 50% jump over five years, the number of Native Hawaiian- and Pacific Islander-owned firms grew at almost 5 times the national average of 10.3%. 

Overall, the figures are consistent with a trend of high growth in the number of minority-owned businesses.

Only 12% of all American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned firms, and 13 percent of Hawaiian- and Pacific Islander owned firms had paid employees in 2002, accounting for 82 percent of the groups’ total revenues. 

Warren Asing, president of the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce, called the report “encouraging.” “Since 2002, there has been even more interest, lots more new startups and far more successes in Native Hawaiian entrepreneurship,” he said.

Jane Sawyer, public information officer and business development director of the Small Business Administration 's office in Honolulu, attributes much of the growth to an economic turnaround in the late 1990s. “Between 1997 and 2002, Hawaii experienced a business turnaround that the mainland had experienced much earlier,” she said. 

In fact, 53% of Hawaiian- and Pacific Islander-owned businesses are based in Hawaii and California, and minority business organizations have been springing up in their wake.  The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, the Native Hawaiian Economic Alliance and the Asia Pacific Islander Small Business Program in Los Angeles have all been formed in the last five years. 

Sawyer cited low-interest SBA loans and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs -- a representative agency for indigenous Hawaiians -- as factors in the growing number of startups among the native population.

July 5, 2006

Call For Nominations – 2006 Native Hawaiian Business Award

Honolulu, HI – Since 2004, American Savings Bank (ASB) and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) have been recognizing Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs who play vital roles in building our communities and our economy.  We are excited to announce the nomination period has opened for the 2006 Native Hawaiian Business Award.  The recipient of this award will be recognized during CNHA’s 5th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention, September 25 – 29, 2006, at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.

The 2006 Native Hawaiian Business Award will recognize a business that is Native Hawaiian owned and/or serves the Native Hawaiian community.  Judges will consider community involvement, promotion of Native Hawaiian values, innovation, business growth in the past three years, and the need or demand for venture.  Past award recipients include: Manu Manuheali‘i, Inc. in 2004 and Native Books/Na Mea Hawai‘i in 2005.

To request a nomination form please contact Blaine Cacho, ASB Community Development Specialist at:  bcacho@asbhawaii.com. Completed forms may be returned via e-mail to, at bcacho@asbhawaii.com or faxed to 808.539.7239 by Friday, July 21, 2006.  If you have any questions, please call Blaine at 808.539.7131.

Posted on: Sunday, July 2, 2006

Poll shows Akaka has edge in Senate race

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Government Writer

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka and U.S. Rep. Ed Case have impressive job approval ratings, a new Advertiser Hawai'i Poll has found, but people who say they may vote in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in September give the advantage to Akaka.

The statewide poll found people think both candidates are doing a good job with the challenges facing Hawai'i, and see the importance of Akaka's seniority and Case's belief it is time for a transition to a younger generation.

But asked to choose now, Democratic primary voters favor Akaka over Case 51 percent to 40 percent, with 9 percent undecided. The margin of error among the 342 registered voters was 5.3 percentage points.

Interviews afterward with several people who participated in the poll showed that the concepts of experience and leadership transition, and not the differences between Akaka and Case on public policy, were driving their decisions. The interviews also showed that many have found it difficult to choose between two popular Democrats in the unusual primary.

James Remedios, a retired city worker who lives in Kane'ohe, has supported both Akaka and Case in the past but believes the younger Case may be too anxious. "Maybe I'm old school, but I know for a fact that seniority has a great role in the U.S. Senate. I just feel that Akaka may be able to deliver more. To me, it's just a matter of maybe one more term and Case would automatically walk in.

"Something inside told me, 'Hey, why is this guy so anxious to move up?' In my opinion, it would probably hurt us in the short run."

Geoff Goeggel, an 'Aiea engineer, believes it is time for transition. "From my perspective, what Case is saying is right," he said. "It's time for a new generation. I'm not quite sure Akaka can survive another six years. Maybe now is the time to start putting in politicians who can put together a track record."

AKAKA BILL INTERRUPTION

Ward Research Inc. conducted the Hawai'i Poll for The Advertiser among 602 registered voters on June 8 and between June 21 and June 27, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points. The interruption was because Akaka's Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill lost a procedural vote in the Senate on June 8, and Ward Research and The Advertiser did not want news coverage about the bill to unduly influence the poll's results.

The Hawai'i Poll found Akaka's job approval rating at 64 percent, a dramatic contrast to a separate monthly tracking poll taken by SurveyUSA right after the Senate vote, which showed Akaka's rating dipping to 48 percent. The Hawai'i Poll had Case's job approval rating at 60 percent.

The Hawai'i Poll asked people to select a party primary in September, and 57 percent — or 342 people — picked the Democratic primary. Those people were then asked to choose between Akaka and Case. The 30 percent who said they would vote in the Republican primary and the 13 percent who did not know which primary they would vote in were not asked to decide on Akaka or Case.

The questions were designed to try to identify Democratic primary voters from the larger sample.

Broken down demographically, the poll found that Akaka and Case are running closer on O'ahu than on the Neighbor Islands, where the support for Akaka was wider. The liberal Akaka also had more support among low-income people, Hawaiians and Japanese-Americans, while the moderate Case did better among Filipino-Americans and Caucasians.

Questions that tried to decipher whether people are responding more to Akaka's seniority argument or to Case's calls for leadership transition seemed to cancel each other out. Sixty-two percent strongly agreed or agreed that seniority was extremely important, while 66 percent felt the same way about leadership transition.

The results of questions about the war in Iraq, an issue where Akaka and Case have increasingly different opinions, also appeared to give both candidates opportunities. Akaka opposed the war and has called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by July 2007. Case has said he likely would have supported the war if he had been in Congress at the time and believes troops should not be withdrawn until the country is stable.

The poll showed that 52 percent do not believe the war has made the world safer for the United States, but 58 percent want troops to stay until a stable democracy is in place.

"My feeling is one of gratitude to the people of Hawai'i," Akaka said of the overall poll results. "I really appreciate their feelings of support of my work and my service to the people of Hawai'i, and look forward to continuing to support them through this re-election campaign."

Asked what he would say to those who believe it is time for a leadership change, Akaka emphasized the value of seniority in the Senate. "I feel that people need to realize that in the U.S. Senate, seniority plays a huge part in what happens and how things are carried out," he said.

Case, who may have political appeal among independents and Republicans, said he believes a larger percentage of voters will participate in the Democratic primary than was reflected by the poll. He said he would continue to tell voters who want change that their choice is in the primary, not the general election.

"We are the underdog and we're going to be the underdog until Election Day," Case said. "And I wouldn't really have expected us to be anywhere else right now. I'm happy that the basic themes that I'm going to run on are clearly on voters' minds."

Akaka and Case have tried to show their differences on public policy, particularly on Iraq, the USA Patriot Act, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and President Bush's tax cuts. But many of the people who responded to the poll said it was the questions of experience and transition that have motivated them so far.

There also was still some curiosity — five months after Case first announced his campaign — about why Case would challenge Akaka in the primary when Hawai'i incumbents in Congress have been virtually unbeatable since statehood.

WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK?

Hanalei Brown, a retired Air Force veteran who lives in Wailuku, said he had been leaning toward Akaka because of the senator's experience but switched to Case after talking with his wife, who prefers the congressman.

"I kind of agree with her now that it's time for a change," Brown said. "He's younger. He has experience; not as much as Akaka does, but Akaka is already up there in age. It's time for the younger people to take over so the older ones can retire."

Kathleen Correia, a healthcare manager who lives in Waikele, recognizes Akaka's experience but said he is the same age as U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye — 81 — and has not done enough to distinguish himself to warrant another six-year term.

"I think we need somebody who is a little younger who can learn from Inouye," Correia said.

Pauline Raposas, a Wai'anae housewife, is not ready for Akaka to go. "I kind of like what Akaka has been trying to do with the Native Hawaiian bill," she said. She had nothing negative to say about Case other than he might not be seasoned enough for the Senate. "Not yet, anyway," she said.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.

June 29, 2006

Educational Symposium on Native Citizenship & Governance Engages Participants

Honolulu, Hawaii – Over 175 Native Hawaiian leaders and representatives came together at a 2-day event held at the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel on April 17-18, 2006.  The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s (CNHA’s) Policy Center organized the Educational Symposium on Defining Citizenship as a project with the UCLA School of Law’s Native Nations Law and Policy Center and its Tribal Learning Community and Cultural Exchange program.

The Symposium was sponsored by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and presented in partnership with the ‘Ahahui Siwila Hawai‘I O Kapolei, I Mua Group, Inter-tribal Economic Alliance, Native Hawaiian Economic Alliance, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Native Hawaiian Legal Defense and Education Fund, State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations and UH Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law.

CNHA established a relationship with the UCLA School of Law and its Native Nations Law and Policy Center in 2002 and presented the results of their first research project together at the Educational Symposium on Constitutions in February 2004.  Participants rated that Symposium as a great success and asked for more.  Professor Pat Sekaquaptewa, Director of the Native Nations Law and Policy Center, and Professor DeAnna Rivera, Director of the Tribal Learning Community and Cultural Exchange, oversaw the research of topics identified with CNHA over the course of two semesters.

Professor Rivera and five students traveled to Honolulu to present an overview of nine topic areas, including citizenship and membership, eligibility and criteria, base rolls, constitutions and statutes, and fairness and due process.  Facilitators from the community helped to elicit and document valuable manao in the breakout sessions that followed each plenary presentation.  Participants also heard from a host of dynamic speakers, including U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka, State Senator Colleen Hanabusa, Hawaiian Homes Commissioner Quentin Kawananakoa, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustees Dante Carpenter and Oswald Stender.

Ninety-four percent of the evaluations rated the overall Symposium experience as very good to excellent, and ninety-six percent agreed that the Symposium provided a valuable educational opportunity on defining citizenship and expanded their knowledge of the areas that Native Hawaiians should consider in contemplating this aspect of self-determination.

Participants examined a variety of approaches used by other Native governments which are federally recognized to define citizenship or membership and the criteria for such membership.  “It’s great to see a diverse group of leaders share their ideas about citizenship and how that relates to the overall structure of governance and the well-being of Hawaiian culture in our state,” observed Robin Danner, CNHA President and CEO.  “This is an important time in Hawaii, for everyone in the state.  Native Hawaiian self-governance isn’t just about the past – it’s very much about the future and how all of the people of Hawaii value the importance of Hawaiian culture.”

Many participants asked when the next Educational Symposium will be and what topics CNHA will cover next.  “There is tremendous interest and energy around self-governance and its success in other states around the country in strengthening Native language, culture and knowledge, as well as advancing educational and economic development,” said Lisa C. Oshiro, Senior Policy Analyst in CNHA’s Policy Center.  She indicated that CNHA’s Policy Center has several active initiatives, and that community interest in its Native Government Research Project has always been very high.

“Our intent is to share with our community and the larger Hawaii community about the experiences of self-governance in more than 30 states that have Native governments located within their boundaries,” Oshiro added. “Self-governance is not just a theory.  It is a very real policy in which many Native communities are engaged and making tremendous strides across the country.” 

CNHA will continue its support and work with interested member organizations to develop Native governance structures that represent their values and priorities.  “That’s really what government, whether a county, state or federal government, is all about,” Danner remarked.  “It’s all about functioning to advance and represent the well-being of its citizens, their priorities and what’s important to them.  Native governments in this country, and there are more than 560 of them, are no different – providing outstanding tools to ensure that the Native cultures of our country not only survive, but thrive for the benefit of everyone.”

CNHA is a statewide and national association of Native Hawaiian organizations. Operating an active Policy Center, Grants Training Institute, Community Development Consulting Services and the Hawaiian Way Fund, we unify our members around solutions that embrace the strength of Native culture and knowledge in meeting community challenges. CNHA coordinates the Annual Native Hawaiian Convention in Honolulu every year to bring practitioners, community and policy makers together around issues important to Hawaiians and the state.

July 1, 2006

Hawaiians win in land dispute

The state high court rules beneficiaries can pursue land claims and monetary damages

By Alexandre Da Silva
adasilva@starbulletin.com

More than 2,700 native Hawaiians can seek monetary damages from the state for its alleged mismanagement of the Hawaiian Home Lands program, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

Upholding a lower court's ruling, five judges also concluded that as many as 2,721 beneficiaries can pursue land claims that were once up for consideration by a review panel suspended in 1999, said Thomas Grande, attorney for the plaintiffs.

The suit, brought by three women, argues that the homesteading program set up under the 1959 Statehood Admissions Act mishandled thousands of land claims under an extensive wait list. It also faults the land trust for allegedly awarding properties lacking access to water, damaged by illegal grading or other work.

State Attorney General Mark Bennett could not say yesterday whether the state would appeal the 64-page decision, but that his staff would review it. Lloyd Yonenaka, spokesman for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, referred questions about the case to the Attorney General's Office.

Attorneys say the ruling would allow applicants to file claims for rent paid while waiting for a Hawaiian Homes lease. Also, those with land awards could make claims for not being able to build a house or a farm because of a lack of improvements.

One of the plaintiffs, Raynette Nalani Ah Chong of Kahaluu, said the ruling will allow her to revisit an application filed in 1966 by her father, Joseph Ching, who died in 2001.

"I'm overjoyed that we finally won the battle he was fighting. Now, that my father is not here, I have to fight for his portion so that I can pass this to my mother," said an emotional Ah Chong, 48, whose mother, Wehilani Ching, lives in Hawaii Kai. "He waited long and hard for this."

The land disputes date to 1991, when the state set up the Hawaiian Homes Land Trust Individual Claims Review to investigate allegations of breaches in cases between 1959 and 1988, Grande said. But when the panel crumbled in 1999, only two cases were heard, leaving more than 2,700 challenges unresolved, he said.

The Legislature tried to keep the panel active for another year, but then-Gov. Ben Cayetano vetoed the measure. Soon after, Circuit Judge Victoria Marks ruled that claimants could sue the state for ending the review process. The state appealed, and the case wound up before the high court.

"It's been a six-year battle in the Supreme Court and the decision that was rendered today allows us to now go back to Circuit Court and to pursue these claims for monetary damages," Grande said.

The federal government set up the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in 1921, eventually reserving 200,000 acres statewide to benefit native Hawaiians. As of May 31, there were 18,784 people waiting for leases, Yonenaka said.

But Alan Murakami, attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., said the state has not adequately funded the program. He pointed to a graph that showed the department's share of state general funds decreasing dramatically in the past 20 years.

"What do you think happens as a result of that small of a budget for this big of a mission?" he asked. "This is an example of how the state has given very little priority to the most important and fundamental mission of the state as a result of joining the federal union."

Dianne Boner, a plaintiff from Waipahu, said her application has been pending since 1971. Because agency staff originally assigned to her claim are long gone, Boner said it's hard to check the status of her case.

"Just to get our claims, we have to research and file it to the claims office," said Boner, 58. "They lost my paper and I had to reapply. ... It was a lot of stress."

Gov. Linda Lingle had no comment on whether her administration has given the agency enough funds, said her spokesman, Russell Pang.

The 2,721 outstanding claims range from people who argue they were given deficient land to those who believe they've been on the waiting list for an unreasonable amount of time, said plaintiffs' attorney Carl Varady. It's unclear when the claims will be presented in court, but lawyers say the state should cooperate, noting that some beneficiaries have been waiting up to 40 years for an answer.

"For this older, and perhaps more vulnerable segment of our native Hawaiian population, they've waited too long for their day in court for them to get their piece of justice," Grande said.

*CNHA  Note:  To download a PDF copy of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s opinion in this case, click on the following link:  http://www.state.hi.us/jud/opinions/sct/2006/24784.pdf. You will need Adobe Reader to view the file.  You may download Adobe Reader for free from www.adobe.com.

June 28, 2006

"Akaka Bill" Key to Preserving Culture, Native Hawaiians Say

By civilrights.org staff

civilrights.org

Since the United States overthrew their government in 1893, Native Hawaiians have been struggling to preserve their vibrant culture. Many Native Hawaiians hope that a Senate bill that would grant Congressional recognition to Native Hawaiians will make the struggle easier.

The "Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005," nicknamed the "Akaka Bill" after its sponsor, Sen. Daniel Akaka, (D-HI), would provide the means for Native Hawaiians to create a system of self-governance, similar to many American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments.

The U.S. Constitution grants Congress broad authority to officially recognize indigenous peoples. Congress has granted such recognition to Alaska Native tribes and more than 560 American Indian in the continental United States.

Opponents of the Akaka Bill argue that differences between Native Hawaiians' culture and American Indians' cultures restrict Congress' authority to extend recognition to Native Hawaiians. Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett, however, said that such differences do not and should not prevent Congress from exercising its constitutional power to pass the "Akaka Bill."

"Given their shared common experience of a severe loss of their lands and self-governance, and a wholesale disruption of their cultural practices, Native Hawaiians only want to be treated the same way all other indigenous native Americans have been treated," said Bennett, at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hearing.

At a June 8 press conference, Haunani Apoliona, chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), rejected the challenge that granting recognition to Native Hawaiians is unconstitutional race-based legislation. "It is offensive that the opponents of the 'Akaka Bill' are suggesting that extending this same policy to Native Hawaiians, the indigenous, native people of the 50th state would lead to racial balkanization," Chairperson Apoliona said.

Supporters argue that the "Akaka Bill" recognizes Native Hawaiians' inherent sovereignty as indigenous peoples, rather than using race-based classifications. "After more than a century of injustice, it is long past time that Congress formally acknowledge the Native Hawaiian right to self-determination," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, in a recent letter to the Senate.

Similar legislation has given American Indian and Alaska Native tribes' sovereignty, which allows them to enact programs specifically designed to perpetuate their cultures, after centuries of encroachment on their autonomy.

According to a New York Times editorial, Native Hawaiians "...make up 20 percent of the state's population but are disproportionately poor, sick, homeless, and incarcerated..." Supporters state that the Akaka Bill will better enable Native Hawaiians to confront these problems.

According to the OHA, funding for programs and services that benefit and improve the lives of Native Hawaiians are "at stake" if the bill doesn't pass. Without official recognition from Congress, challenges to Native Hawaiians' rights will continue to threaten the Native Hawaiian Education Act, University of Hawaii tuition waivers, and 200,000 acres of land, among other resources.

On June 8, the Senate attempted to bring the Akaka Bill to the floor, but opponents blocked it from coming up for a final vote.

Sen. Akaka has pledged to continue his efforts to bring the bill to a vote before the session ends. "We must continue to move forward for Native Hawaiians, the people of Hawaii and everyone in this country who believe that ours is a nation which treats all of its people with an equitable hand," Sen. Akaka said. 

Posted on: Friday, June 30, 2006

Elections need federal watch?

By Mark Niesse
Associated Press

Hawai'i, a state without a history of voting discrimination complaints, could become the only state fully covered by a law requiring federal oversight of elections.

A proposed amendment to the Voting Rights Act would change the law to apply to states with less than half of eligible voters going to the polls in any of the past three presidential elections.

Hawai'i had the lowest voter turnout in the nation in the past two presidential elections, with 44 percent of eligible voters participating in 2000 and 51 percent in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

No other state had turnouts of less than 50 percent, so the act if amended would apply only to Hawai'i statewide. The act still would apply to individual counties in other states that have low turnout.

The Voting Rights Act, which was passed by Congress in 1965 and primarily was aimed at ending abuses that prevented black citizens from voting, is up for renewal.

One amendment, proposed by Georgia Republican Rep. Charlie Norwood, has been passed out of the House Rules Committee for consideration by the full House. There is no guarantee it will be attached to the final bill.

"We're concerned over whether or not there is a correlation between turnout and perceived violations" if the amendment passes, said Rex Quidilla, Hawai'i's voting services coordinator. "The elections process in Hawai'i has a long reputation of being open, honest and secure."

Federal oversight of Hawai'i's elections would mean that the state couldn't change its election laws without federal approval, and elections would be monitored by the U.S. Department of Justice. The law currently affects jurisdictions in 16 states, mostly in the South.

"The whole point of the Voting Rights Act is to get to states and jurisdictions that have historic and ongoing problems of discrimination," said Deborah Vagins, policy counsel with the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. "In the currently covered states, there is still ongoing discrimination against minorities."

Vagins said the proposal would weaken the Voting Rights Act by enforcing it in states where it isn't needed and removing it from areas where it is.

Hawai'i Reps. Ed Case and Neil Abercrombie, both Democrats, voiced reservations about making changes to the Voting Rights Act.

Case described the act as among the most significant pieces of legislation of the past half-century. He said the act is necessary to prevent states originally targeted from sliding backward and said it should not be amended to affect states like Hawai'i.

"Unfortunately, we have a low voter turnout, but it is not the result of any systematic effort to exclude segments of our population," he said.

Abercrombie supports the current law and doesn't think Hawai'i has the same tradition of election problems found in other states, said his spokesman, Mike Slackman.

Supporters of the amendment see the need for fairness in determining statewide federal oversight, which has mostly applied to Southern states.

"It provides uniform enforcement nationwide so the whole country would be judged under the same rules," said John Stone, a spokesman for Norwood.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said yesterday that President Bush wants the Voting Rights Act renewed in its present form. The act expires in 2007.

Gannett News Service contributed to this report.

July 3, 2006

Hawai'i Poll: High marks for Hirono

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Government Writer

In a primary contest so crowded that name recognition could make the difference, an Advertiser Hawai'i Poll shows that all 2nd Congressional District candidates have more work to do, with former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, former state Sen. Matt Matsunaga and state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa garnering the strongest favorability ratings.

The other five prominent Democrats vying for the opportunity to represent the Neighbor Islands and outlying areas on O'ahu in Congress are all within range of one another, although they clearly have a way to go to catch the front-runners.

The poll, conducted by Ward Research for The Advertiser between June 8 and 27, asked respondents whether they had favorable or unfavorable opinions of the eight best-known Democratic candidates for the U.S. House seat in the 2nd Congressional District being vacated by U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who is running for the U.S. Senate. Respondents could also say they were not familiar enough with the candidate to have an opinion.

Only 165 of the 602 respondents in the poll lived in the district and said they planned to vote in the Democratic primary, making for a large margin of error — 8 percentage points — that might not reflect the actual mood of all registered Democratic voters.

"It's still something you can consider to be valid," said Tammy Chang, a project director for Ward Research.

The margin of error means that the results, if everyone planning to vote Democratic in the 2nd District were polled, could vary by as much as 15 percentage points, but still not be statistically significant, she explained.

However, despite the room for error, she expects the results would be similar with a larger sample.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The results show Hirono with the highest favorable responses — 52 percent — followed by Matsunaga at 46 percent and Hanabusa at 39 percent.

While the respondents were not asked to rank candidates or indicate who they would vote for, Hirono enjoyed considerably more name recognition than anyone else — with only 24 percent of respondents not familiar enough with her to form an opinion.

By contrast, 43 percent of those responding were unable to form an opinion of Matsunaga, 48 percent on Hanabusa and 40 percent on state Sen. Clayton Hee. Unfamiliarity ratings for the others ranged from above 50 percent to more than 80 percent.

Hirono's disapproval rating was fairly high — 24 percent — but on par with that of state Sen. Ron Menor. Hee had the highest "unfavorable" rating at 27 percent of those who had an opinion about him.

Still, Hirono is in an enviable position.

"I would rather be Mazie at this stage with name recognition and a relatively large disapproval rating than be where the other candidates are that don't have much disapproval but people don't know them at all," said University of Hawai'i political science professor Neal Milner.

However, Milner warned that the poll results can't be translated into whether respondents are likely to vote for one candidate over the other.

"This is just one poll, and it's a snapshot," he said. "You can't tell much from one poll in a situation that has so many candidates."

A RISK WORTH TAKING

State Rep. Brian Schatz, who had only 15 percent of respondents form any opinion of him, said the general public hasn't started paying attention to the race yet and candidates still have time to get their messages across.

"It's still early in the campaign and we're going to work hard on the grassroots level to get our name in front of people," he said. "This is where a lot of winning candidates have been at this stage in the game."

Schatz, who decided to run for this congressional seat instead of for re-election in the state House, has put more on the line than any of the other Democratic primary candidates, but Milner said the 33-year-old is young enough to take risks without damaging his political future.

"This is an opportunity that doesn't come around that often in a state like this," Milner noted. "You risk that you get 16 voters and 14 are from your family, but hell, it's a chance to get into Congress."

REPUBLICAN PROSPECTS

With only 94 respondents who said they are likely to vote in the Republican primary and a margin of error of 10 percentage points, the differences between state Sen. Bob Hogue and former state Rep. Quentin Kawananakoa were not statistically significant, but political observers think both have a shot at claiming the seat for the Republican Party.

"I think there's a good chance," said veteran pollster Don Clegg. "This is not a slam-dunk Democratic seat, although people may think because a Democrat is coming out of it, it is," he said.

Case, a moderate Democrat, appeals to independents and Republicans. "People who have supported him might very well vote Republican," Clegg said.

Case's run for U.S. Senate is pulling some Republicans into the Democratic primary, which could have a spillover effect on the House race.

For instance, Republican Linda Baseman, of Kailua on the Big Island, plans to vote for Case, but is still waiting to hear what the House candidates have to say before she picks a favorite.

"I've heard some of the names, but there's so many of them that I don't know if one is better than the others or if one is worse than the others," she said.

The difference could come down to "if I hear something or I see them and I like the looks of them and the way they sound," said the 57-year-old housewife.

On Kaua'i, Mark Gregory, 44, a computer consultant, said he likes Kaua'i Sen. Gary Hooser, although he's not 100 percent sure he'll vote for him.

Hooser has greater popularity among Neighbor Island residents at 18 percent, compared with 11 percent across the entire district.

Gregory said the Neighbor Island ties could work in Hooser's favor. "It's very important," he said. "I think that a lot of the people on the Neighbor Islands feel that they're not represented as much as the people on O'ahu."

Jon Dusza, 38, an architect in Kamuela on the Big Island, said he is not familiar enough with any of the candidates to form an opinion.

"I'd just like to know what their views are on the future of Hawai'i and my focus is really on being a sustainable economy," he said.

He said he'll be relying on the media to help him figure out which candidate best represents his views, and he's waiting for more active campaigning.

"I haven't received anything in the mail and they haven't really been out here," he said.

June 30, 2006

Indian vote affected if crucial act expires

Measure plays role as watchdog, activists say

PETER HARRIMAN
pharrima@argusleader.com

Landmark provisions in the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 soon could expire, taking away powerful deterrents to discrimination against Indian voters in South Dakota and threatening to halt an upward trend in voter turnout on reservations.

In the past 30 years, the provisions have forced South Dakota to submit 3,048 voting law changes in Todd and Shannon counties for approval by the Department of Justice and have required Lakota speaking interpreters at polling places in 11 counties.

Provisions of the Voting Rights Act are the underpinning of a renaissance in Indian voting, resulting in a 122 percent increase in turnout in Shannon County on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and a 139 percent increase in Todd County on the Rosebud Reservation, between 2000 and 2004.

They have helped Indian candidates get elected to local, county and state offices, said a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union and a founder of the LaCreek Civil Rights Committee.

But they've had little practical effect on South Dakota elections, Secretary of State Chris Nelson said.

Whatever their impact, they hang in the balance as Congress attempts to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act this summer. The effort is being held hostage by a handful of House members from Georgia and other Southern states who want those states exempted from Justice Department scrutiny of election procedures. Republican House leaders will not let the reauthorization bill come to the floor until that issue is resolved.

The Voting Rights Act requires the Justice Department to approve or "preclear" election law changes in jurisdictions that have a past history of voter discrimination. The ACLU used that provision of the act in three key federal lawsuits affecting South Dakota. It successfully sued to force Buffalo County to redraw county commission lines so the majority of Native American voters were not packed into a single district.

Preclearance cases

In the Alfred Boneshirt and Elaine Quick Bear Quiver v. (then Secretary of State) Joyce Hazeltine lawsuits in 2002, the ACLU was able to extend preclearance to Todd and Shannon counties.

The verdicts in those suits triggered Nelson to submit to the Justice Department the thousands of changes in election rules in Shannon and Todd counties, going back to 1972, with a rationale explaining why those changes were not discriminatory. The Justice Department has upheld every one, Nelson said.

"It's clear those counties needed to be doing the preclearance work. It's unfortunate we had to go through the legal process to get to that. If the ACLU had come to us and asked, we could have done it without litigation," Nelson said.

But Jennifer Ring, executive director of the ACLU of the Dakotas, said "we consider preclearance a critical check in the Voting Rights Act because of something you can't see - jurisdictions complying with the law."

Because of the successful litigation, election officials have refrained from making changes that would have harmed Native American voters, she said, because they knew those changes would not be precleared.

Ring cited as an example the South Dakota Legislature discussing eliminating legislative District 28B in Harding, Butte, Meade, Perkins and Corson counties, and 28A in Ziebach, Dewey and Corson counties, and going to an at-large system.

Those districts, comprising the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River reservations and nearby counties, have a high probability of electing Native American legislators. Eliminating them would reduce the chances of Native Americans being elected, Ring said.

"Frankly, because they knew it would not preclear, they ended up not doing it," she said. "If we lose preclearance, that would be a significant step backward."

Lakota interpreters

Having the Justice Department scrutinize election changes "at least levels the playing field," Craig Dillon said. He's a founder of the LaCreek Civil Rights Committee that has registered thousands of Native American voters in Shannon, Todd and Bennett counties since 2002.

"We need to continue with preclearance and with interpreters. Basically leave the Voting Rights Act intact, the way it is. If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Dillon said.

Because of the Voting Rights Act, the state this year took on the task of providing instructions in Lakota for using computerized voting machines in 11 counties near reservations.

"It was much more difficult than we anticipated," because there are not Lakota words that directly describe computers and computer functions, Nelson said. "But we got it done for the primary."

"The reports we've got back are, 'Yeah, you got it right.' "

Because of the Voting Rights Act, auditors in those counties also are responsible for ensuring that Lakota speakers are on hand at the polls to explain voting procedures to voters who want such instruction in that language.

While Nelson said auditors tell him the interpreters are not widely used, Dillon insisted that "in Indian Country, where I'm from, the interpreter, I think, is essential. We still have a large number of Native American people who go to the polls who speak only Lakota."

Ring said: "It's not that they don't understand any English. They do. It's that they understand better in their own language."

Gerald Betelyoun, an Oglala Sioux Tribe member and Bennett County Commissioner, said: "The Lakota people are kind of shy, the elderly especially. If they see another Native sitting there that can speak Lakota, they usually go up and ask questions about where to vote."

What would change?

Nelson does agree that interpreters play a valuable role in welcoming Indian voters into the state electoral process by honoring the Lakota culture and language. If the Voting Rights Act is not reauthorized before next year, he does not know if auditors will look to shed a complicating factor in putting on an election by doing away with interpreters.

"I would hope you would have a debate on a local basis," Nelson said, and Native American constituents would let auditors know they value interpreters.

But Nelson thinks Congress will reauthorize the Voting Rights Act this summer.

If the provisions affecting Indian Country are allowed to expire, "it not does not mean everything that has been done over the last 40 or 50 years is not there anymore," Ring said. "It means a level of protection disappears. It probably means more litigation."

Betelyoun, who was elected in 2002 and is running again this year, credited the Voting Rights Act with helping him get elected. His experience on the county commission is an illustration of the value of bringing Native American voters into the state political process.

Betelyoun said he decided to run to address huge Native American dissatisfaction with a former Bennett County sheriff. Once he became a commissioner, Betelyoun became a member of the committee that oversees law enforcement.

"It's been pretty good since I've been on there," he said. "The sheriff's deputies treat everybody equal. They do not just pick on the Natives."

Reach reporter Peter Harriman at 575-3615.

Posted on: Monday, July 3, 2006

Lingle 'encouraged' by enormous early lead

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Staff Writer

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle is in fine position to glide to an easy re-election this year, and holds an intimidating 46-point lead over her nearest announced rival at the outset of the campaign season, according to the Hawai'i Poll.

The poll shows Lingle, the first Republican elected governor of Hawai'i in more than 40 years, has built and maintained support well beyond her own party.

More than 70 percent of voters who consider themselves independents said they would cast ballots for Lingle if the election were held today, and nearly 48 percent of those who said they usually vote for Democrats also said they would vote for Lingle.

Lingle has overwhelming support within her own party, with more than 90 percent of the people who usually vote for Republicans saying they would vote to re-elect the governor if the election were held today.

The poll numbers came as no surprise to Kapolei resident Stanley Lacaden, a part-Hawaiian warehouse worker. "I don't think anybody can get close to her," said Lacaden, 60.

He said he voted for Lingle in 2002 and plans to support her again.

"She does a terrific job," he said. "Personally, I think anybody who does a good job, let her have it. ... I'm a Democrat, but you gotta go with the people who are doing the job. Right now, to me, party doesn't mean anything."

Lingle said she believes her strong showing among voters outside of the Republican Party may reflect her efforts "to approach all issues with a blind eye toward what one party believes or one political party thought, and just do what's right for the public."

"I'm very encouraged by it," Lingle said of the poll's results. "I think it reflects a lot of hard work by a lot of people in the administration, and it shows the results we've achieved over these past four years are being recognized."

The two Democrats vying for the right to oppose Lingle in the general election both stressed that the poll was taken early in the campaign season.

Former state Sen. Randall Iwase, who is running for governor as a Democrat, said the history of Hawai'i political campaigns shows the numbers may be much different on Election Day. The Hawai'i Poll suggests Lingle commands more than three times the support that Iwase has today, but this is only the beginning of the contest, he said.

"It's not surprising. We started in January, and we have to keep working, and our campaign against the incumbent Republican will just continue," Iwase said. "We're going to go out there and present our case to the people and show that this administration has been nothing more than a public relations machine with no substance, and that will affect the numbers."

William Aila Jr., who visited Kaua'i last week on what he called his first interisland campaign stop, said he wasn't discouraged to be 59 percentage points behind Lingle.

"I think that's pretty good considering I haven't started campaigning yet," he said.

Aila, the Wai'anae harbormaster and an activist on Hawaiian issues including the treatment of ancient Hawaiian remains, announced he was running for governor as a Democrat in late April.

Big Island Mayor Harry Kim has said he is considering entering the race for governor, but was not included in the poll because he has not formally announced his candidacy. Kim said Friday he still has not made a decision on his candidacy, and said the poll results won't change his thinking.

"My decision to run is not going to be based on who's running or what the polls show," he said. "I don't believe in giving a definitive yes or no unless I'm absolutely yes or no, and I really don't know what I'm going to do."

Not only is Lingle considerably more known and popular than her rivals headed into the campaign, she also has millions of dollars available to spend to make her case for re-election to the voters.

The governor reported she had $3.17 million tucked away for the upcoming campaign at the end of last year. Aila and Iwase have not yet filed state reports detailing their campaign finances in the governor's race.

Money may be a critical factor in reaching out to voters such as Kalihi resident Myrna Ordinado, who doesn't care for Lingle but isn't familiar with the other candidates.

Ordinado, 58, believes Lingle is partly to blame for high gas prices, and said the state's gas cap law made things worse.

"Look how much it's gone up," she said. "I don't know much about Iwase, but I don't like what Lingle is doing now."

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.

June 30, 2006

Department of the Treasury Names EyakTek 'Small Business Partner of the Year'

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/06/19/1686179.htm

RESTON, Va., June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Eyak Technology, LLC (EyakTek), an ANC (8) technology consulting firm announced that the Department of the Treasury named the Company as "Small Business Partner of the Year". The award was presented to EyakTek for its support of the Department of Justice's Wireless Management Office expansion and implementation of the Integrated Wireless Network Land Mobile Radio communications system for federal law enforcement users. EyakTek's work-to-date on this contract includes radio systems engineering, systems integration and provisioning as well as civil site acquisition, Architecture/Engineering/Civil design, and complete site development.

The award recognizes EyakTek's ability to help the government meet rigorous delivery schedules in a cost effective manner. The award also applauds EyakTek for maintaining its focus and commitment to quality in a true government-contractor partnership.

"We are honored to have received this award," said Quang Le, EyakTek's General Manager and Chief Financial Officer. "We have enjoyed our two-year relationship with the Departments of Treasury, Justice, and Homeland Security and are pleased that their respect has earned us this Award. I also want to applaud the hard work of our professional staff who helped EyakTek meet or exceed these agencies' expectations."

About EyakTek

EyakTek, established in January 2002 as a subsidiary of The Eyak Corporation has its operations headquartered in Reston, VA and provides information technology solutions to government agencies. EyakTek is an Alaska Native Village Corporation (ANC) certified by the BIA. The U.S. SBA recognizes EyakTek as an 8(a) firm and a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB). EyakTek is CCR registered and Pro-Net registered, as well as a member of the IAC and of AFCEA. For more information, please visit EyakTek's web site at http://www.eyaktek.com/ .

About The Eyak Corporation

The Eyak Corporation is a 30-year-old ANC based in Cordova, Alaska, from where the Eyak people originate. Today, The Eyak Corporation operates multiple subsidiaries and engages in construction, environmental services, property management, and information technology solutions activities. For more information, please visit The Eyak Corporation's website at http://www.eyakcorporation.com/ .

Posted on: Thursday, June 29, 2006

2 panels to advise mayor on Wai‘anae issues

Advertiser Staff

Two community groups have been asked to advise Mayor Mufi Hannemann on the Wai'anae Coast, identifying priority needs and working on issues related to the city landfill.

Hannemann asked the first group, the Community Benefits Advisory Committee, to gather and evaluate requests for funding from nonprofit organizations serving the Kapolei-to-Makaha area and to identify pressing needs in the area for the city Department of Parks and Recreation and Department of Community Services.

Members and their neighborhoods include Ku'ulei Jolonino, Honokai Hale; Georgette "Jo" Jordan, Wai'anae; John Kaopua, Nanakuli; Aimoku McClellan, Ma'ili; Mark Suiso, Makaha; Patty Teruya, Nanakuli; Nettie Waiamau Nunuha, Nanakuli; and Roy Wickramaratna, Makakilo. Carolyn Golojuch of Makakilo is an alternate. Former Councilman John DeSoto, a Makaha resident, is an ex-officio member.

The second group, the Oversight Advisory Committee, will provide oversight for the city landfill at Waimanalo Gulch by working with the contractor, Waste Management Inc., and the city to address complaints and concerns about operations.

That committee is made up of David Akina, Nanakuli; Polly Grace, Wai'anae; Pearl Lewis, Nanakuli; Lorraine Martinez, Honokai Hale; T. George Paris, Nanakuli; Allen Parker, Ko Olina; Alex Santiago, Makaha; and Albert Silva, Makaha. Jackie Spencer of Wai'anae and Kerin Paris of Nanakuli will serve as alternates. DeSoto will be an ex-officio member of this group as well.

Hannemann said members were selected with recommendations from neighborhood boards, community associations, the two council members from the area, and individuals and groups that were invited to offer nominations.

Published on Friday, June 30, 2006.

Students paint against meth

By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff

WORDEN -- Students attending the Huntley Project Summer Migrant School are speaking with one voice, in four languages, in the campaign against methamphetamine.

Twelve students in the summer school have been working on a 12-by-8-foot painting that will be their entry in the Montana Meth Project's "Paint the State" competition. In addition to the students' own design, the painting will include the meth project's main slogan -- "Meth: Not even once" -- in English, Spanish, Blackfeet and Crow, the languages spoken by the students.

Mike Reiter, owner of the Project Merc in Worden, has agreed to let the students display their mural on the side of his store during the judging period, July 10-15.

Teacher Kathy Wilkinson said she heard about the competition at a statewide migrant education convention, then talked to her students about it when the summer session began on June 5. The project sounded fun, and potentially lucrative. The Montana Meth Project, bankrolled by software billionaire Tom Siebel, is offering $3,000 to first-place winners in each Montana county, with a $10,000 grand prize for the winner of the statewide contest.

"That got them a little excited," said Ron Scherry, director of the Worden migrant school.

The stark painting, in black, white and bright green, says "Light up meth," then "Light up death" beneath it, next to a skull painted with glow-in-the-dark paint. Along the bottom is the "Not even once" message: "Meth ni una vez" in Spanish; "Saa-tsi-nits-inii" in Blackfeet; and "Xaa-wiik-dia-saa-laa" in Crow.

Entries in all 56 counties will be displayed July 10-15 and judged during that period by county commissioners. Livingston artist Russell Chatham will choose the statewide winner on Aug. 9.

The Worden program is one of seven migrant schools in Montana, open to children whose parents move across borders, state and county lines or from one school district to another because they were working at a temporary or seasonal agricultural job.

Scherry oversaw the program at McKinley Elementary in Billings for a couple of years and has been in Worden since 2000. He has 58 students in preschool through 12th grade attending the Summer Success program, which runs from June 5 to July 14. Scherry said some of the students hail from Mexico, but most are from other states or are part of Montana families that travel for farm work.

Migrants do more than hoe beets in Eastern Montana and pick cherries at Flathead Lake. They also pick huckleberries, gather mushrooms, thin trees and engage in fencing, irrigating, shearing, branding and calving.

Sheylin McKay, a 14-year-old Blackfeet who lives in Huntley, said one job her parents have held is picking and braiding sweetgrass. McKay said it's been fun to work with so many other people on the painting, and she's looking forward to having her family see it when it's on display at the Project Merc.

Liz Maya, also 14, is from Billings. She said she was born in Mexico and moved to the United States when she was 7 or 8, when her parents came here to be migrant farmworkers. They opened a restaurant, Los Mayas, in Billings last year, but students can attend the migrant school for three years from the date of enrollment, regardless of changes to their family's status.

Maya pointed out with some pride that she came up with the "Light up meth, light up death" slogan, but only after she and her fellow students concocted and considered dozens of slogans and possible designs. The students decided on their own to adorn the painting with messages in their four languages. Only those older than 13 at the school have been working on the painting; all needed to obtain their parents' permission.

Wilkinson said the students have been enthusiastic about the project, telling their parents and siblings about it and devoting a lot of time to the work. One student works four days a week but has been coming in on her day off just to work on the painting, Wilkinson said.

Contact Ed Kemmick at ekemmick@billingsgazette.com or 657-1293.

Jun 30, 2006

OHA now holds title to Waimea Valley on Oahu's North Shore

http://hawaiihealthguide.com/

HONOLULU Earlier today, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs became the legal owner of Waimea Valley, after months of negotiations and hard work. The 1,875-acre valley located on O'ahu's North Shore between Kawailoa and Püpükea is rich in historical and cultural significance. The National Audubon Society currently manages the property and will continue to do so as long-term management plans are negotiated.

On Dec. 7, 2005, the Honolulu City Council considered a settlement offer which would have subdivided the valley. Faced with large protests from the community and many organizations, including OHA, the council rejected the settlement and renewed negotiations over the fate of the valley began. On Jan. 5, 2006, the OHA Board of Trustees authorized the purchase of Waimea Valley, committing an amount not to exceed $2.9 million for that purchase. Later that month, Waimea's former owner, New York developer Christian Wolffer, accepted a $14 million offer to settle the long-running lawsuit over the city's 2002 forced purchase of the valley through condemnation.

In addition to the $5 million the city placed in escrow to pay for the valley, the remainder of the $14 million purchase price was shared by OHA ($2.9 million), the U.S. Army ($3.5 million), the state Department of Land and Natural Resources ($1.6 million) and the National Audubon Society ($1 million, advanced by OHA pending lease negotiation).

OHA Administrator Clyde W. Nämu'o stated that, "We are very grateful to all of our partners in this transaction who have worked so hard to protect this sacred place. After the headlines in January that announced that a basic settlement had been worked out, thousands of hours were spent by scores of people to make this transaction happen. We acknowledge the contributions of the City Council and the Mayor; the Legislature, Governor and BLNR Chair Peter Young; the Trust for Public Land and the U.S. Army Garrison Hawai'i; and the National Audubon Society in making this happen. In each of our organizations, many staff have been working on this since January, and they should be gratified to know that work has come to bear fruit."

"The bottom line is that the ahupua'a that is this valley is going to remain intact," said OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona. "OHA will ensure that Native Hawaiians will have a direct benefit and relationship with Waimea Valley. OHA will also ensure that the people of O'ahu, the State of Hawai'i, the nation and the world grow in respect for, are renewed by, care for and support, learn from and celebrate this land of our ancestors, Waimea Valley."

OHA's holding title to Waimea Valley ensures protection and preservation of cultural and natural resources for Native Hawaiians, the entire Hawai'i community and the world.

A rededication ceremony is being scheduled for early August to mark the transition of ownership.

June 30, 2006

Dentists group OK with aides in villages

BILL: Association changes stance, favors authorizing assistants.

By LIZ RUSKIN

Anchorage Daily News

WASHINGTON -- The American Dental Association has softened its once-vehement opposition to an Alaska Native health program that sends specially trained health aides to drill and extract teeth in Alaska villages, where severe tooth decay is epidemic.

"We still believe that patients are best served by a licensed dentist," said William Prentice, a lobbyist for the ADA in Washington, D.C. "But we're trying to do everything we can to try to respond to the tribes' concerns on getting dental care in frontier Alaska."

The national dental organization is now backing a federal bill that says Alaska dental health aides, if they consult with a dentist on certain types of cases, can perform work the ADA had previously insisted must be done only by dentists.

"This is somewhat of a breakthrough," said Dr. Mark Kelso, dental director at the Nome-based Norton Sound Health Corp. He oversees two dental health aides who are being dispatched to Savoonga and Unalakleet, Bering Sea villages of about 700 people each.

Rural Alaska, like most of rural America, lacks dentists. Dentists visit some Alaska villages only once a year. Many villages don't have fluorinated water or a tradition that emphasizes brushing, and soda is ubiquitous.

The rate of tooth decay among Natives is more than twice the national rate, and a greater percentage of Native adults have lost all their teeth. Sixty percent of Native children 5 and under have severe dental decay, according to research the ADA cites.

In response, Native and federal health organizations launched the dental health aide program in 2003. It is an offshoot of Alaska's community health aide program that the Indian Health Service started in the early 1960s.

The ADA has been insisting that non-dentists should not be allowed to perform any irreversible procedures, like pulling or drilling teeth, citing concerns about the quality of patient care. In January, the ADA sued the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and eight dental therapists for performing services the association says violate state dental licensing laws.

As recently as last week, the ADA was hoping Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, would insert an amendment to an Indian health bill to prohibit dental health aides from performing irreversible procedures.

"The ADA has received assurances from Rep. Young that he will seek to amend the bill to include language that ensures that no dental health aide is certified under the program to perform treatment of dental caries, pulpotomies or extractions of teeth," one of the organization's lobbyists wrote in a Washington update posted on its Web site June 20.

But in Washington, it ain't over until it's over. The next day, after negotiations between the two sides, Young had the bill amended in the House Resources Committee to say that health aides can do "pulpal therapy" -- root canals, according to the lobbyists -- and extractions, but only if a consulting dentist agrees it's a medical emergency that pain relief can't resolve.

The bill does not address fillings, nor does it define "medical emergency." Consultation is required only for adult teeth.

Young said he was happy the two sides were able to reach a compromise.

"The (dental health aides) will continue their important role in rural Alaska and perform specific dental procedures to help alleviate the dental crisis in our great state," he said in a written statement June 21. The bill has to go to other committees before it hits the House floor.

The ADA and Native health leaders say they are happy too.

"It is some additional restriction, but it does not undermine the vitality of the program," said attorney Myra Munson, who lobbies for the Native health corporations.

The ADA is emphasizing the restriction, saying on its Web site that the compromise bill would "prohibit" the health aides from performing pulpal therapy and extractions without consultation with a licensed dentist.

"It hopefully will limit the times that a dental health aide will have to perform one of these services just to medical emergencies," said Prentice.

The organization will continue to press its lawsuit, he said, to reinforce the importance of state licensing laws. "We believe very strongly in state oversight in health care," he said.

Kelso, the Nome dental director, said the Young amendment in the House bill wouldn't change current practices much. The health aides consult with dentists on serious or questionable cases all the time, he said. They would never do a root canal, he said, although they do some of the initial work.

The main effect of the bill, as far as he could see, is that a dental health aide would have to call a dentist even when the need for an extraction is completely obvious.

Consulting "would be an unnecessary step for some teeth," he said.

Both Prentice and Kelso said the conflict over the outer limits of dental health aide work has put too much emphasis on drilling and extractions. They say they're more enthusiastic about the preventative work the aides deliver -- fluoride treatments, sealants, education.

"We didn't want them to be the village tooth pullers," Kelso said. "We wanted to be maintaining teeth for a lifetime."

The dental aide in Savoonga, he said, plans to start a brushing program in the school. Children who grow up in homes where oral hygiene isn't a priority tend to have low expectations for their teeth, he said. They figure they'll lose them, as their parents did. Kelso wants to establish a new role model.

The Savoonga aide, like the one in Unalakleet, is charismatic, motivated, Native and has family ties in the community. And, he said, she has teeth to aspire to. "We want to change people's expectations," he said.

July 3, 2006

PBS covers conflict over Mauna Kea

Associated Press

HILO » The conflict between spirituality and astronomy will be highlighted in an upcoming PBS program featuring Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in Hawaii.

The 13,796-foot mountain is one of the most significant lands of the former Hawaiian Kingdom, a place that should be treated with reverence, said producer Puhipau.

"Mauna Kea is first born of cosmic forces, connecting Hawaiians to the beginning of time," he said. But astronomers regard Mauna Kea as one of the best places in the world to view the stars.

The show, titled "Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege," airs at 8 p.m. July 13 on PBS Hawaii's production "Pacific Showcase."

Many native Hawaiians would prefer that there was no development at all on the mountain's summit, said Hanalei Fergerstrom, a practitioner of Native Hawaiian religion.

"I imagine we can coexist if communication was better," said Fergerstrom, who wants astronomers to be asked to leave the mountain when their leases expire.

But Paul Coleman, a native Hawaiian with a doctorate in astronomy, said Hawaiian tradition and science can complement each other at Mauna Kea. "As a scientist and a native Hawaiian, I can look at astronomy on Mauna Kea with a unique point of view," Coleman said. "No one is making money up there. ... Rather, people are attempting to answer fundamental questions that will help us understand our place in the universe."

Posted on: Thursday, June 29, 2006

Foundation donates to mausoleum

Advertiser Staff

A nonprofit group is the recipient of a $150,000 grant from the First Hawaiian Bank Foundation for restoration and renovation efforts at Mauna 'Ala, the Royal Mausoleum in Nu'uanu.

It's the latest in a series of pledges going toward the project, said Leinani Keppeler-Bortles, executive director of Hawai'i Maoli.

The organization was formed in 1997 by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs to pursue grants, contracts and donations for projects that promote Hawaiian culture, economic development and well-being.

Keppeler-Bortles said the project also received pledges of $150,000 each from the Charles Reed Bishop Trust, Kamehameha Schools, Queen Lili'uokalani Trust and The Queens' Medical Center. It also got a $500,000 grant from the state, $50,000 from the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and $90,000 in individual donations.

In all, donors have committed to nearly $1.4 million. The original project cost was estimated at $1.6 million and Hawai'i Maoli continues to seek grants, Keppeler-Bortles said. The Legislature this year also committed to a one-time $180,000 infusion in ceded land revenues to the state for repairs and maintenance of Mauna 'Ala, the final resting place for nearly all of Hawai'i's monarchs.

June 29, 2006

Senate Appropriations Committee Approves $1,625,000 in Akaka Project Requests

Washington, D.C. - Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) announced today that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved four Hawaii project requests that total $1,625,000.  The Akaka projects now advance to the Senate floor. 

The projects include:  $300,000 for Preconstruction Engineering and Design investigations for the Laupahoehoe Harbor on the Big Island; $200,000 for the restoration of the Waialua-Kaiaka Watershed in Central Oahu; and $125,000 for the Nawiliwili Deep Draft Harbor project in Kauai.  

“The two harbor projects are critical for enhancing their usage and assisting in economic development in the surrounding communities of the Big Island and Kauai,” stated Senator Akaka.

“I am particularly pleased for the funding approved for the restoration of the Waialua-Kaiaka Watershed because multiple communities in and around Wahiawa will benefit.  Wise stewardship and management at a watershed level has a significant impact on the health and quality of numerous natural resources.” 

The Appropriations Committee also approved $1 million to upgrade electrical and emergency generator infrastructure at Hawaii’s major trauma centers.

“Hurricane Katrina demonstrated how detrimental it can be for major medical centers to lose power,” said Senator Akaka.  “If New Orleans hospital generators had not flooded, the hospitals could have continued to serve the public.  Hawaii could see a far greater loss of life if a major hospital ceases to function during a disaster because patients may not be able to seek care anywhere else.  This funding would enable the proper upgrades to ensure uninterrupted medical service during natural or man-made disasters.”

June 28, 2006

Sociologist: Indian women in prison need respect

By JOHN STROMNES of the Missoulian

ARLEE - The foremost sociologist at the Montana Women's Prison spoke to the state Department of Corrections Advisory Council on Tuesday, offering advice on how better to rehabilitate American Indians, who make up a disproportionate share of the burgeoning women's prison population.

Luana Ross, a professor at the University of Washington, offered this main prescription: Respect the Indian women as human beings, and honor their culture, traditions and family values.

“Eliminate the repression of Native culture that goes on in the women's prison,” she said, referring to it as “racism.”

“Let (American Indian) prayer leaders go into the prison,” she suggested. “I witnessed a prison staff member that called Native religions ‘voodoo.' ”

Ross' suggestions to the council ventured from the specific to the ideological, from promoting the hiring of women guards for night shifts to seeking treatment instead of punishment for substance abusers.

“If you are really serious about corrections, we need a focus on rehabilitation. Prison is not doing (addicts) any good,” Ross said.

Ross, a Salish, grew up on the Flathead Reservation and received her doctorate in sociology from the University of Oregon in 1992. Her research more than a decade ago at Montana Women's Prison resulted in the book, “Inventing the Savage: The Social Construction of Native American Criminality.” It has received wide academic acclaim.

She was drawn to this research by her personal experience growing up on the Flathead Reservation.

“Native Americans disappear into Euro-American institutions of confinement at alarming rates. People from my reservation appeared to simply vanish and magically return. (As a child) I did not realize what a ‘real' prison was and did not give it any thought. I imagined this as normal; that all families had relatives who went away (to prison) and then returned,” she said in a poignant preface to the book.

On Tuesday, Ross brought her niece, Lucy Leptich Cruz, 32, to give the state policy-makers and bureaucrats a first-person account of life behind bars for a meth addict and mother whose cultural heritage is Native.

“I spent my whole life being proud of being Native. But it didn't take very long (for corrections officials) to reverse that pride,” Cruz said.

She said derogatory remarks and abusive behavior dehumanized her and trivialized her Native values.

“Lowering (a prisoner's) self-esteem through violence and humiliation does no good,” she said.

As Mary Lucille Leptich, Cruz pleaded guilty in 2002 in Lake County on a charge of methamphetamine possession with intent to sell. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison with eight suspended. She served 10 months in the Montana Women's Prison in Billings, where she received some helpful addiction treatment and counseling, she said.

She was transferred to a halfway house for further rehabilitation - a vital step in recovery, she said - and eventually qualified for supervised probation. She now lives in Great Falls with her 14-year-old daughter, and her spouse, whom she married since leaving prison.

Although she is a recovered addict, she carries the lifetime stigma of “convicted felon” - a difficult label to overcome, she said, and which severely limits her economic opportunity, no matter how hard she tries.

“I feel I have a lot to offer” society, she said.

Corrections officials at the meeting responded and were sympathetic to much of what Ross and Cruz said.

But they said much has changed for the better since Ross did her original studies in the early 1990s, and even since Cruz was imprisoned just four years ago.

While the commission is not considering a major policy shift in the war on drugs, such as decriminalizing possession of small amounts of methamphetamines or other recreational drugs, they are considering what Ross and Cruz are pumping.

“There has been no discussion to decriminalizing this activity (drug abuse),” said state Sen. Steve Gallus, D-Butte, who chaired Tuesday meeting in the absence of Lt. Gov. John Bollinger. “But there has been a lot of discussion of diverting offenders from prison to treatment.”

A 50-bed “assessment and sanction center” now within the women's prison walls is being moved to a private facility at the former Howard Johnson Motor Inn in Billings - an environment more conducive for the program's mission and which will provide more room in the women's prison for inmates.

The WATCh program, or Warm Springs Addictions Treatment and Change program, is a private therapeutic alternative at the Warm Springs State Hospital. It has had considerable success in treating repeat drunken-driving offenders who are convicted of felony DUI, for example, Gallus said.

Similar addiction treatment centers specifically targeting meth addicts are planned to open soon, one in Boulder for women and one in Lewistown for men.

And although progress in changing racial attitudes and stereotypes is slow, it is gaining more attention, officials said.

Although American Indians account for only about 6 percent of the state's population, they make up about 17 percent of male inmates and 26 percent of female inmates in the state's correctional system, according to Corrections statistics provided at Tuesday's meeting.

Reporter John Stromnes can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at jstromnes@missoulian.com

Council make-up

The Department of Corrections Advisory Council is a 24-member advisory body appointed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer last fall to address specifically Indian correctional issues. Legislators, a judge, law enforcement officers, tribal social workers and others are represented.

Ultimately, it will make recommendations for policy and funding changes to the governor for the state's correctional system, where costs have spiraled out of control, and prisons fill up about as fast as new beds are provided.

June 29, 2006

Feds freeze housing grants to Indian groups

By SAM BISHOP News-Miner Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON--Federal officials have frozen grants to Indian housing authorities, including some in Alaska, in reaction to a Colorado court decision.

Marty Shuravloff, chairman of the National American Indian Housing Council and executive director of the Kodiak Island Housing Authority, told the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Wednesday that the freeze could force small housing authorities to close or even default on loans if it does not end soon.

Shuravloff, who was elected the national chairman in May, said the Kodiak authority is not in imminent danger because it operates on federal money received the previous year as a hedge against this type of disruption. The Kodiak authority's entire $4 million grant for fiscal year 2006 has been halted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, he said. Steve Ginnis, who runs the Interior Regional Housing Authority in Fairbanks, said the HUD action shouldn't affect his organization. It submitted its annual plan earlier, so won't be caught in the freeze, he said.

The authority, which acts as an umbrella for 28 tribal groups in the Interior, receives about $11 million from HUD, Ginnis said.

Like Kodiak, the IRHA has enough reserves to operate for a period without interruption, Ginnis said. That may not be true for a number of smaller, village-based authorities, though, he said. Several Interior villages operate their own housing programs, with annual federal Indian housing block grants of just over $100,000 in some cases.

Indian housing authorities, using mostly federal money, operate a variety of programs to reduce housing costs and encourage home ownership for tribal members. Federal funding has been flat in recent years.

HUD Assistant Secretary Orlando Cabrera notified tribal officials of the freeze in a June 9 letter.

Cabrera said a May 25 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch of Colorado forced the action. Matsch ruled against HUD in favor of the Fort Peck Housing Authority, the tribal housing arm on Montana's Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

Agency officials, following up on an inspector general's report, concluded they had overpaid the Fort Peck authority for tribal housing during several years earlier this decade and they asked for repayment.

Fort Peck sued, saying HUD misinterpreted the law and had no authority to ask for repayment. Matsch agreed that HUD had not followed the 1996 Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act.

The law says payments to Indian housing authorities shall be based partly on need but also partly on an authority's housing stock, which was defined as "the number of low-income housing dwelling units owned or operated at the time pursuant to a contract between an Indian housing authority for the tribe and the secretary (of HUD)."

Matsch concluded that the phrase "at the time" meant Sept. 30, 1997, the day before NAHASDA became effective. So "the number" of housing units used in calculating payments to an authority cannot fall below the number that existed at that date, the judge said.

"The implications of this," said HUD Assistant Secretary Cabrera, "are potentially far-reaching, and this ongoing litigation may result in a significant recalculation of all (Indian Housing Block Grants), both for fiscal year 2006 and past (fiscal years)."

HUD wants a stay or modification of the judge's order, Cabrera said. Until then, though, "the department is unable to process any further fiscal year 2006 Indian housing block grant awards."

The decision froze about $300 million of a $620 million pool nationwide.

Washington, D.C., reporter Sam Bishop can be reached at (202) 662-8721 or sbishop@newsminer.com .

June, 2006

Keeping It Real

Three 30-somethings are mending more than sore backs at their Native Hawaiian healing center

By Scott Radway

Hawaii Business

http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/

There is a style of massage that uses hot rocks, says Keola Kawai‘ula‘iliahi Chan, one of three owners of Moku Ola, a Native Hawaiian healing center in Hawaii Kai. “It was developed in California,” Keola says. Then, one day, a shrewd businessman in Hawaii thought, “Why don’t we use Hawaiian rocks and call it pohaku?” Today, what is often described as Native Hawaiian hot rock massages is offered all over these Islands.

It’s very profitable.

“But it’s not Hawaiian,” says Keola, 30. “I am not going to lie, it does feel good. But don’t sell it off as our culture, because you want to turn a profit. If you are going to do it, give praise to those who created it. You take away from them and you also degrade our culture.”

Keola is explaining the heart of Moku Ola, a business he, cousins Pi‘ilani Wright, 36, and Aoi Wright, 37, opened at Koko Marina in November so they could offer what is truly Native Hawaiian massage and medicinal treatments. “For me, there were just so many spas that over-glorified so many things that are Hawaiian practices,” says Keola, who like Aoi and Pi‘ilani, is a lomi practitioner and licensed massage therapist. “In Hawaiian, we have a word called maoli, which means real, without over-glorifying or sugar-coating things. Real. This shop is pretty much what it is. This gave us the opportunity to do things as it was passed down to us.”

That is much more than an ideological statement at Moku Ola, that’s a business model. Aoi says decades ago the Waikiki experience was colored by the warm and natural exchange between locals and visitors. Somewhere along the way, Aoi says, Waikiki became so profit driven what made the place special was lost. Somewhere, pohaku massage became Hawaiian.

“Money got in the way,” says Aoi.

At Moku Ola, people are treated the old way, like friends, not customers. “As you come through the door, it’s like coming into our house,” Keola says. The result has been a growing base of clients that are mostly kama‘aina who relish a non-rushed massage experience steeped in Hawaiian traditions. Keola expects that strong local base to become a strong attraction for visitors. Like in old Waikiki, visitors liked to go where locals went.

Aoi says in the first year they expect to pull in only about $80,000 in revenue. In the second year, Moku Ola should collect $160,000 and more than double that number in the third year. Aoi says the expectation is to struggle in the first years, partly surviving on savings, but the shop in Hawaii Kai has the potential for more than $500,000 and the trio is in discussions to open a second store at Honolulu Airport or Kahului Airport.

Not that the trio is trying to get rich. Though they have a strong business plan — one that American Savings Bank backed — the idea is simply to share their culture and provide for their families and staff. Aoi says, when business is good, there are times when they don’t charge clients, who perhaps can’t afford the treatment but need it, particularly the kupuna.

Keola explains: “That is a Hawaiian concept. When you go fishing, you only fish for what you need. You don’t scrape the entire ocean and leave nothing there for the next person, or the next day. And if you did catch more than you needed, you give to the next person that needs it more.”

So it goes with Moku Ola. “Sure, we’ll never be millionaires,” he says. “But it is nice when you walk around and people say ‘Hey you the guy who took care of my grandmother. She felt so good.’ Sometimes that is better than having $40, $60 in your wallet.”

June 30, 2006

Helping hands

Navy sailors replant several native species at Kapena Falls

By Alyssa S. Navares
anavares@starbulletin.com

HIS SOIL-COVERED hands dug deep into the hills of Kapena Falls as Marvin Lim planted a palapalai, a rare Hawaiian native fern.

Usually, Lim is busy repairing helicopters aboard the USS Denver.

"This is what serving our country is all about," said the 22-year-old Navy sailor, who, along with 30 of his peers, joined volunteers from the Friends of Kapena Falls, Outdoor Circle and Department of Land and Natural Resources yesterday in replenishing the historic Hawaiian site with native plants.

The Navy crew, based in California, is one of several vessels in the Rim of the Pacific maritime exercises, which continue through July 28. Seven nations are participating.

The volunteer project in Nuuanu was put together in less than 24 hours when the Navy requested the crew take part in a community service project a day earlier.

"I had all these native plants and no one to plant them," said Jackie Ralya, DLNR horticulturist. "It couldn't have been more perfect."

More than 400 native plants were purchased and donated to DLNR by the television series "Lost" after filming at Kapena Falls twice in the past two seasons.

The project was Phase I of an ongoing effort to target erosion problems, a concern some residents feel was due to filming.

"We want to give back and leave the area even better than we found it," said Jim Triplett, location manager for the show.

In addition to dragging heavy film equipment through the rocky trail, 50 television crew members worked near one of Nuuanu's largest pools.

The "Lost" production also donated a sprinkler system to a Japanese cemetery last year.

Yesterday's project was one of several restoration efforts by the television crew. Another major one included work at the Kaiwi Reserve, where "Lost" staff collected abandoned cars that filled four 40-yard trash containers.

Many locals are pleased with the Kapena Falls undertaking, including Nuuanu resident and Friends of Kapena Falls President Nessa Vierra.

Vierra took action three years ago when a jeep was pushed over the falls for a movie stunt.

"I asked why they could do that, and they said because the pond didn't have a guardian," Vierra said. "In a second, I said, 'Now she does.'"

July 3, 2006

St Paul woman helps Indian adoptees find their way home

A St. Paul woman has made it her life's work to help Indians adopted into white families reconnect with their cultural roots.

Curt Brown, Star Tribune

When Sandy White Hawk was a toddler, her mother passed her through the window of a pickup truck and into the arms of a Christian missionary woman.

Her adoption story was all too familiar. From the 1870s to the 1970s, thousands of Indian children were adopted by white families in hopes finding better lives for them away from impoverished reservations -- in White Hawk's case, the 1950s squalor of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation on the South Dakota plains.

"People had no cars, no electricity, no phones, no nothing -- but family, relatives, ceremony, culture and everything that makes you who you are," she said.

Now White Hawk, 52, runs the First Nations Orphan Association out of her St. Paul home, working as an advocate for reconnecting Indian adoptees and foster children with their cultural identities.

Her team of tribal elders and singers has crisscrossed North America and ventured as far as Australia and Japan. Their forums bring together social workers and tribal experts to better understand what she calls "the cultural rape of forced assimilation."

"We try to address the grief and isolation caused by separation," she said. "As Indian people we're not saying, 'Feel bad for us because we're victims.' But by at least acknowledging what has happened, we can begin the healing process by welcoming people back to their spiritual homes."

With the help of Dakota spiritual adviser Chris Leith and Oglala Lakota singer Jerry Darling, White Hawk has helped add a Wiping of the Tears ceremony and a song welcoming orphans to traditional powwows.

"In Lakota, the word for orphan means 'broken apart from and into nothing,' and that's how I felt," said White Hawk, who was reunited with her Rosebud relatives and Sicangu Lakota roots after 33 years apart.

By then, it was too late to meet her mother, Nina Lulu White Hawk, who had died after being persuaded that giving up her six children would be better than raising them on the Rosebud reservation.

While many welfare agencies and adoptive parents might have had the best intentions, White Hawk fears her mother was among those who were manipulated into surrendering their children.

A 1969 study by the nonprofit Association on American Indian Affairs showed that more than one-quarter of Indian children had been given to non-Indian families. That began to change when federal laws were adopted in the late 1970s to curtail that trend.

"Nearly all adoptees, not just Native people, feel compelled and pulled to find their true identity," White Hawk said. "They will dream and think they're crazy, but through our blood and DNA, we want to know and want to see where we came from and who we are."

A 45-year reunion

James Werner is the latest of numerous Indian adoptees grateful for White Hawk's work. The 47-year-old school-maintenance worker from Minneapolis was born in a Yupik tribal village in Alaska and adopted and raised by a white family near Chaska.

After years of dead ends, he finally set out on a trek to Alaska a few weeks ago with White Hawk and her husband, George McCauley, to find his family. When he heard people speaking Yupik, Werner's heart started to race.

Then, for the first time in 45 years, he greeted his sister Lorraine. After years of isolation, he felt whole.

"She said my family thought of me often and knew I was in the lower 48 states, they just didn't know where," he said. "It was an amazing experience that changed my life."

Werner credits White Hawk.

"Being an adoptee herself, she shows what it feels like to have something missing and to feel pulled away from your culture and family," he said. "She gives other people hope about getting reconnected."

The fuller life

In White Hawk's case, the long trip home came after years of abuse growing up in her adoptive home in Wisconsin. She became an alcoholic, and her marriage failed.

When counselors urged her to reconnect with her Rosebud roots in 1988, White Hawk's life slowly improved. She has been sober for several years.

She moved to St. Paul in 2003 after falling in love with McCauley, and then charged into helping others find their own way home.

"She's assertive, and she has a healthy way of life that permits her to do this work, bringing people back to the center where they belong after being stolen," said Leith, 71, a Prairie Island Dakota elder who cofounded the First Nations Orphan group and serves on the National Indian Child Welfare Association board.

Anna Sherwood, 29, works with teens and adults at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. She was removed from her Alaska tribal home at the age of 1 and adopted by a white family in Colorado.

She met White Hawk while videotaping one of her forums a few years ago.

"Hearing her story became so emotional for me, I had to get someone else to take over the camera," she said.

At her first Wiping of Tears ceremony, Sherwood said she was overwhelmed as tribal members circled her, shook her hand and hugged her.

"Sandy pushed me and so many forward to step out of that isolation we had created for ourselves to where we feel ready, spiritually and emotionally, to go on to a fuller life," Sherwood said.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Rural students getting a leg up on college life

By ROBINSON DUFFY
Staff Writer

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Keane Richards hasn't exactly had an average high school experience.

The soft-spoken 16-year-old has never attended a public school, instead being home-schooled at his family's homestead on the Kandik River, a tributary of the Yukon. The closest phone is 50 miles away in Eagle.

But this summer, Richards is getting a glimpse of education on a substantially larger scale. He is one of 47 students from rural communities throughout Alaska participating in the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Rural Alaska Honors Institute, which runs until July 12.

The program was founded in 1982 to help rural students like Richards make the often-difficult transition from small high schools to large colleges. The students spend six weeks at UAF--living in the dorms, eating in the cafeteria, taking college classes--experiencing college life firsthand. They leave the program with eight to 10 college credits, said Denise Wartes, the program's director.

The students are in class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They all take a college-level writing class and a study skills class in addition to one of several specialty classes such as math, geoscience, biochemistry, rural development or Native psychology. Every student also takes either a swimming class or a Native dance class.

"It's very intense," Wartes said of the students' workload.

It's more than Richards expected.

"They say in college you should do two hours of homework each night for every hour in class," he said. "We'd be up all night if we did that at RAHI."

Each student in the program is required to attend two hours of study hall per night. The heavy load of homework eats into some students' free time as well.

"Sometimes you have to study before study hall and after study hall to get all the work done," Allen Ulroan said, a 19-year-old from Chevak in Southwest Alaska.

But the extra work is worth it for Ulroan, who said he applied for RAHI so he could get a jumpstart on college before shipping off to basic training for the Navy. And besides, he said, he and his fellow classmates knew what they were getting into.

"We're here to expand our horizons," he said.

And to have a bit of fun, he said. Ulroan is one of the students enrolled in the Native dance class.

The students are learning Yupik, Inupiat and Tlingit songs and dances. Since most of the students are Alaska Native, it gives them a chance to explore and share their own culture and learn the cultures of other Alaska Native groups.

"You get to express yourself traditionally," Ulroan said.

In the university's Salisbury Theatre one day last week, the motion of about 30 RAHI students livened the stage while some of the other students play the drums and led the singing. The dances are a mix of traditional ones depicting scenes from village life--like driving a dog team--while others have a more modern twist, literally, as the kids do a '60s dance twist move to one of the songs.

"I like seeing them trying it on their own and having fun with it," said Bernadine Keyes, who teaches the class of about 30 students.

Keyes said she tries to get the students to teach each other the dances of their cultures.

"I pretty much let them teach themselves," she said. "I show them what to do, and then I let them go on by themselves. I let them step up and be leaders."

And the students are all enthusiastic, asking questions about other cultures and answering questions about their own. Ulroan said he enjoys getting to share something that's so important to him.

"I grew up dancing from preschool to now," he said.

Even Richards, who isn't Native, was getting into it. "I've never done anything like this, but it's fun," he said.

Keyes said she was impressed with the students, both on and off stage. She knows their schedule this summer is demanding but said they are all up to the challenge.

"They have the motivation to get it done," she said. "They're really great students, I'll tell you that."

Staff writer Robinson Duffy can be reached at 459-7523 or rduffy@newsminer.com .

Public Comment Period Extension:  Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) – July 28, 2006

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) has extended until July 28, 2006, the public comment period on the draft “Policy Statement Regarding Treatment of Burial Sites, Human Remains and Funerary Objects.”

That draft was published for public comment in the Federal Register on March 14, 2006 (71 FR 13066-13070). That notice is available on the ACHP website at www.achp.gov.

The ACHP’s Task Force on Archeology will use the public input it receives to finalize the draft policy before presenting it to the full ACHP membership for consideration and possible adoption.

Please address all comments to the Archeology Task Force, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Suite 809, Washington. DC 20004.  Fax (202) 606-8672. Comments may also be submitted by electronic mail to:archeology@achp.gov. Please note that all responses become part of the public record once they are submitted.

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:

• 3 Federal Offices
• 1 Senate seat currently held by Senator Daniel K Akaka
• 2 House seats currently held by Congressman Ed Case and Neil Abercrombie

• 71 State Offices
• 2 Executive Branch currently held by Governor Linda Lingle and Lt Governor James Aiona
• 13 State Senate seats currently held by 3 Republicans and 10 Democrats
• 51 State House seats currently held by 10 Republicans and 41 Democrats
• 5 Office of Hawaiian Affairs seats currently held by Rowena Akana, Oswald Stender, John Waihee IV, Boyd Mossman and Dante Carpenter

• 31 County Offices
• 2 Mayor’s for Kauai and Maui County
• 9 Hawaii County Council seats|
• 9 Maui County Council seats
• 7 Kauai County Council seats
• 4 Honolulu City & County Council seats

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.

CIVIL NO. 06-1-0135 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT STATE OF HAWAII SUMMONS TO: HEIRS AND ASSIGNS OF KANAKAOLE; HEIRS AND ASSIGNS OF GEORGE H. AWAI, also known as GEORGE HOOMANAWANUI AWAO, SR., HERMAN K AWAI; ELIZABETH KAPEKA NONOKA; YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiff KAU HOLDING COMPANY, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, claims fee simple ownership to the land described as: All of apana 1 and 2 of R.P. 5409, LCA 7553, to Kanakaole at Kahilipaliiki, Kau, Island and County of Hawaii, State of Hawaii, TMK's (3) 9-5-007-005 and (3) 9-5-007-008 YOU ARE HEREBY FURTHER NOTIFIED that Plaintiff KAU HOLDING COMPANY, a Delaware limited liability company, has filed a Complaint to Quiet Title in the Third Circuit Court, Hilo, Hawaii, requesting that title to the above-described real property be de-termined. YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear in the courtroom of the HONORABLE GLENN S. HARA, Judge of the above-entitled Court, 75 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawaii on Wednesday, the 19th day of July, 2006, at 8:00 a.m., or to file an answer or other pleading and serve it before said day upon Plaintiff's counsel, TOM C. LEUTENEKER, Carlsmith Ball LLP, attorneys for Plaintiff, whose mailing address is One Main Plaza, Suite 400, 2200 Main Street, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, 96793, to show cause, if you have any, why the prayer of said Complaint should not be granted. Unless you file an answer before the time aforesaid or appear at the Third Circuit Court, Hilo, County and State of Hawaii, at the time and place aforesaid, your default will be recorded, and said Complaint will be taken as confessed and a judgment by default will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. DATED: Hilo, Hawaii, May 12, 2006. E. YAMABE CLERK OF THE ABOVE- ENTITLED COURT CARLSMITH BALL LLP TOM C. LEUTENEKER 721-0 One Main Street, Suite 400 2200 Main Street Wailuku, Maui HI 96793 Telephone: (808) 242-4535 Attorneys for Plaintiff (Hon. Adv.: June 6, 13, 20, 27, 2006) (A-448606) Posted on 6/6/2006

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