Introduction

Aloha mai kākou e nā ‘ōiwi ‘ōlino mai Hawai‘i a Ni‘ihau a puni ke ao mālamalama. Aloha e nā kūpuna, nā mākua, nā ‘ōpio, nā keiki a me nā kamaiki e ‘ākoakoa mai nei, ma kēia hale pule la‘ahia ‘o St. Andrew’s Cathedral, a maloko i ko kākou mau hale ‘ohana a puni ke ao mālamalama.

Aloha e nā kama‘āina a me nā malihini kekahi. Aloha nō kākou a pau loa. Aloha.

(Translation: Greetings to our esteemed fellow Native Hawaiians from Hawai‘i to Ni‘ihau and around this brilliant world. Aloha to the elders, adults, youth, children, and toddlers who have assembled here at this sacred church, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, in your family homes, and around this brilliant world.

Greetings to longtime residents and newcomers alike. Greetings to us all. Aloha.)

Welcome to the 5^th annual gathering relating to the State of OHA and the Hawaiian community.   We are very honored to share this time with you here in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, as well as with those who are joining us throughout our state, the nation and the world.

We are pleased to share our message from this prominent sanctuary and pu‘uhonua in Hawaiian history with ties to King Kamehameha IV (Alexander Liholiho ‘Iolani) and Queen Emma in 1862, who commissioned the building and construction of this Cathedral of Saint Andrew (St. Andrew’s Cathedral) nearly 150 years ago.

The Status of OHA

The year 2007 marks OHA’s 27^th anniversary since the swearing in of its first board of trustees. These near thirty years have presented crossroads to paths unchartered as well as rough roads, seemingly endless, full of obstacles and challenges. We pause today to reflect on possibilities just three years away from the close of this decade.

The very bedrock of Native Hawaiian self-determination, quasi independence, was shaken by the U.S. Supreme court ruling against OHA declaring the “OHA election of Hawaiians by Hawaiians” as unconstitutional. That happened at the end of 2000. Since that time, emboldened opponents of Native Hawaiians continue to wield the hammer of the Federal Courts to shut us down once and for all; but, so far without success.

Native Hawaiians and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have stood steadfast well into this decade of change and we will continue to stand steadfast “mau a mau.”

We have reached out to those of common mission and values. We have reached out to those to stand with us on common ground, Native and non-Native, kamaʻāina and malihini alike have worked together for Native Hawaiians and for Hawaiʻi during this tumultuous decade of change, and we will continue to do so “mau a mau.”

Particularly over the past six years, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, trustees and staff together have diligently and intentionally worked to reach new levels of professionalism with our partners and our community.   Trustees and staff together have worked to hone our discipline, our political will and our focus, working from the facts and doing our homework in as objective a manner as possible.

OHA’s experienced administrator Clyde Nāmuʻo, in his tenure, has nurtured stability and performance by the working hands of an Office that some, in years past, predicted was on the brink of “implosion.”

Since 2000, Native Hawaiians have faced some of our most difficult legal and political challenges. We have won some court cases while other cases continue. We know those who question our right to exist as a unique, aboriginal, indigenous, native people will continue to file lawsuits against OHA and other Hawaiian entities. Political risks still exist as well.

With that as our context, I would like to highlight a few of OHA’s challenges and accomplishments this past year, then focus on where we could direct our energies as Native Hawaiian people.

I would like to share three (3) premises, ʻekolu manaʻo haʻi, ʻekolu manaʻo nui, with you today.

1. Manaʻo nui ʻekahi. The first premise is that:
   Just by the nature of who we are as Native Hawaiians, we can make Hawaiʻi and the world a better place.

   What do I mean by “the nature of who we are”?

   Throughout the world there is great concern about survival of the planet, global warming, the environment, and our quality of life. Native Hawaiians, just by virtue of stepping forward, can help with those concerns.

   Our island lifestyle and respect for limited natural resources has been the legacy of our ancestors, generation to generation. We are experts in caring for the environment.

   Mālama ʻāina goes to the core of who we are as a people.   Our cultural practices and our values are all about caring for the ʻāina, loving our motherland, not just to use, but to conserve and replenish. These traditions and values coincide with the global desire to protect the environment to secure and sustain a certain quality of life for future generations.

   At OHA, opportunity has emerged for us to play a direct role in caring for Hawaiʻi’s natural resources by holding title to key properties in the Hawaiian culture spectrum, to mālama ʻāina, Wao Kele O Puna on Hawaiʻi island and Waimea Valley on Oʻahu.

   Concurrently, we have joined the County of Maui, community advocate groups and Hawaiian beneficiaries in a contested water case being heard before a hearings office of the State Water Commission for eventual review by the State Water Commission, a case that may not be resolved until well into 2008 and likely will be challenged in State Circuit Court and the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court.

   This is an economic and political milestone, a historic moment for determining who controls the public trust asset we know as water: is it a public entity or a private corporation?

   Indeed as an island native and non-native community, we are on the cusp of significant resource management and stewardship questions and policy implications.

   Native Hawaiians by virtue of the traditions and values of our ancestors are in a position to demonstrate how caring for the environment is done.

   If there is the will and discipline, we are also in a position to lead on these issues for the good of Native Hawaiians and Hawaiʻi.

   There exists a global yearning for better relationships, spirituality, and the essence of inner mana. This is a basic need of human beings yet it is difficult to find on a broad level in any nation or culture.

   Our ancestors were experts in relationships with the universe.   They knew how to balance man, nature, and god. They understood that harmony and balance meant survival and well-being. True to our nature, Native Hawaiians strive to live with deep regard and reverence to this concept, lōkahi, through which we seek to keep these major life forces in balance.

   What we bring from our culture as Native Hawaiians, as native people, is what the world and what this nation sorely need. As Native Hawaiians, we hold this gift. Just by “the nature of who we are,” holding close to our cultural values, we can help to make Hawaiʻi, the nation and the world a better place.

2. Manaʻo nui ʻelua. The second premise I would like to leave you with today is that: We Native Hawaiians are on the threshold of critical decisions.

   What kind of decisions am I speaking of?

   • Probably the most critical decision we face, is organizing our Native Hawaiian government, our 21^st century political system. The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act (Akaka Bill) passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives in October of this year and will be heard in the U.S. Senate.

     Allies and supporters, Native people and non-Native people who support justice and fairness, are working diligently to inform and enlighten Republican Senators to support the bill and urge President Bush to sign it.

     But even as we await passage of the Akaka Bill, we are moving forward toward building our nation, continuing with Kau Inoa registrations nearing 80,000 and sketching preliminary plans for a nation-building convention in 2008.

     Our formal Native nation, will enhance the opportunity to manage our assets and make decisions as a group, using this self-determined process to include Native Hawaiians, wherever they may reside.

   • Another threshold for decision is the looming possibility of a State Constitutional Convention in 2010. Certain sectors in the community are promoting the issue and fanning the fire for a State convention.

     How might a State Constitutional Convention affect Native Hawaiians? Will it be helpful or not?

     If a State Constitutional Convention is held, Native Hawaiians must be in the mix. We must determine now, how we will get involved so the Native Hawaiian voice is heard regarding what happens to our homeland, to our native people and our natural, public, social and economic resources for the good of all of Hawaiʻi.

     We can run as state con con delegates. We can support Native Hawaiians who will run as state con con delegates. We can be instrumental in raising issues and providing solutions that don’t scare others away. We can help to garner support for issues by organizing our communities and even organizing our families. And, we must vote.

     The 1978 State Constitutional Convention produced some great advancements for Native Hawaiians, such as, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi as the official second language of the State of Hawaiʻi; the constitutional mandate for upholding traditional and customary native gathering practices; the constitutional mandate instituting Hawaiian studies in public education; and the establishment of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

     A 2010 State Con Con, if there is one, could build upon that beginning, OR, it could reverse progress and eliminate these past Constitutional advancements.

     I believe the group that continues to sue and litigate against Native Hawaiians in the Federal Court will be mounting a strategy to accomplish elimination of these constitutional mandates that I mentioned.

   • Another threshold for critical decision-making is one that will make or break the ultimate survival of our Native nation, and the success or failure of our self-determination efforts ---- What will be the fibers that run through our decision-making as we form a nation?   What aspects of our history and culture will we draw upon to make decisions to benefit all of Hawai’i nei?

     Will we bring the best from our past into the future?

     Will we have the courage and the will to guide our decisions for nation, policy and motherland, that elevate our cultural values, our spiritual values, balance of god, man, and nature --- lōkahi--- and weave them throughout---for the well-being of Native Hawaiians and for the well-being of Hawaiʻi and all who live here.

3. Manaʻo nui ʻekolu. The third and final premise I would like to leave you with today is that: We must seize the moment and stop grumbling.

   ʻAʻapo mai i ka ʻike, ʻaʻapo mai i ka maopopo pono, ʻaʻapo mai i ka lei o ka lanakila. Mai namunamu, he mea hoʻopaumanawa kēlā. E kūkulu aʻe kākou no ke ea o ka ʻāina me ke aloha a me ke aho nui.

   The political climate and the social and economic demands unfolding before us, light a pathway of opportunity for the Native Hawaiian community. But the experience will only be an opportunity if we are prepared and ready.

   We must reflect seriously and commit in a measured timeframe to do all that we, individually and collectively, can do to stay informed.

   We must do our homework because before too long, we will be in the formative stages of re-establishing a Native nation of our choosing.

   We will need spiritually mature, culturally grounded, reasonable and results-oriented Native Hawaiian thinkers and leaders --- driven by service --- not self-service --- for the Hawaiian community; and, we will need wise and compassionate leaders in the greater community at large.

   Certain sectors of our community have done a phenomenal job of displaying leadership and pushing for achievement against all odds.

   One example is in Hawaiian education.

   On their own, without a nation, and with minimal funding, the Native Hawaiian education community has established

   • Hawaiian language pre-schools;

   • Hawaiian language immersion schools for K-12;

   • Audio and video libraries of kūpuna who are native speakers;

   • Hawaiian language radio programs and newspaper columns;

   • A Hawaiian language lexicon committee;

   • A Center for Hawaiian Studies within the University of Hawaiʻi;

   • B.A., Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in Hawaiian language and culture;

   • Its own indigenous college at UH Hilo;

   • After-school science and culture-based programs;

   • Hawaiian teacher training programs;

   • Hawaiian language websites;

   • Culturally-appropriate college preparatory programs, LSAT preparation programs, alternative high school programs;

   • And Hawaiian culture-based charter schools; that are all exhibiting a track record of success.

   The opportunities are there as evidenced by those in Native Hawaiian education. If we want to be leaders in Hawai’i, we must broaden that span of social and economic influence by increasing participants and initiatives.

   As Native Hawaiians we hold an important key to Hawaiʻi’s future. We must recognize it, believe it, handle it with respect and exercise humility while working in a unified effort.

   The key is a gift at the core of what we value as a people embodied in our kuleana that has been passed to us from generations before us. This gift will not flourish by force or demand, but rather will grow and mature by living and being the nature of who we are.

   We can call on these values and traditions for balance and well-being, not only for Native Hawaiians but for all. But we must lead, on an individual basis, then on a collective basis, until it affects all of Hawaiʻi, the emerging critical mass driven by this certain spirit of our ancestors and culture.

   We can begin by having respectful interaction and exchange, instead of standing on the outside and saying, “How come?” Or, “Who said”?

   We must take responsibility for ourselves. We gotta “get a grip” and “leave a legacy,” as Auntie Mālia Craver would say.

   What is needed is thoughtful, focused, disciplined, compassionate and humble collective effort. Our success means the rest of Hawaiʻi benefits. If Hawaiians are doing better, there is a positive impact on everyone. Life will be better for all of us.

   It is with that intent OHA has supported through grants and other actions the numerous outcomes listed in the 8-page supplement of 2007 OHA actions attached to this message.

   We proudly announce that OHA increased its annual budget to $42 million, with 70% of expenditures going directly to program services.

   In 2007, the OHA Board of Trustees completed four rounds of grant approvals along with board initiatives to include the multi-million dollar appropriations to support community empowerment.

   The following are but a few of the hundreds of outcomes cited in the written supplement provided to you with these remarks. OHA:

   • Awarded nearly $4 million to 78 projects providing services and programs that impact the Hawaiian community and funded 14 Trustee initiatives totaling more than $6 million for projects addressing needs on all islands.

   • Launched the Mālama Loan Program in a restructured Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund of $29 million to assist Native Hawaiian businesses, education, and home improvements.

   • Provided grants of $100,000 each to Family Promise of Hawaii, Institute for Human Services, Catholic Social Services, and ALU LIKE’s Hoʻāla Hou division to address outreach to homeless families, emergency homeless shelter, Homeless Transitional Project, and incarcerated Hawaiian youth and adult services.

   • Provided $500,000 in funding to several community health groups to meet health needs in the Hawaiian community.

   • Approved $1.5 million to Hawaiʻi Habitat for Humanity for a 5-year project to assist Hawaiian families statewide in a first-time homeownership program with up to $20,000 in matching funds for each home loan.

   • Awarded over $300,000 in scholarships and program assistance to pre-schoolers attending Wai’anae Coast Early Childhood Center and the Tūtū and Me program on Moloka’i.

   • Provided the final third year of funding for Native Hawaiian Charter Schools in the amount of $2.2 million (a total of $6.6 million).

   • Provided $903,000 in scholarships to Native Hawaiians pursuing a college degree; and granted $500,000 to College Connections Hawai’i for 500 students in their Native Hawaiian Scholars program.

   • Awarded a two-year $500,000 grant for rehabilitiation and renovation of Kalanianaʻole Hall, on Molokaʻi homestead land in Kalama’ula.

   • Awarded a two-year $750,000 grant to support Hoʻokulāiwi: ʻAha Hoʻonaʻauao ʻŌiwi Center for Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Education, based at UH Mānoa and leeward Oʻahu, Nānākuli.

   • Awarded $500,000 to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to support the Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP).

   With OHA’s assets, present and future, and what OHA has been able to help catalyze for the Hawaiian community in recent years, the moment is now.

   We need to seize this opportunity. No one can do it for us. We need to do it ourselves. Pau grumble. It is time for realism and maturity. It is a matter of stewardship and kuleana, to seize this moment and not squander it, for it will not come again.

Closing

As I close let me say, these manaʻo nui leave many things to think about it.   But we can no longer just think about them.   We must commit and we must act.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Administrator Nāmuʻo and all our OHA staff from Hawaiʻi to Washington D.C., we say mahalo, thank you for working with us throughout the year and for having faith that those of us who are lucky enough to work at OHA in service to our community and Hawaiʻi will continue our diligence and commitment to our mission, our responsibility, our kuleana, to better the conditions of Native Hawaiians.

From the third verse of Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī........Let us bear the message for our song not yet complete.

“Hawaiʻi ponoʻī, e ka Lāhui ē, ʻo kau hana nui, e ui ē.”

Those true to Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian people, your great duty is to prevail.

Mahalo and aloha.