Aloha Kalanianaʻole... 1918 to 2009

Chairperson Haunani Apoliona invited Leimomi Khan, President of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, to write this month's column. The association celebrates the vision of Hawaiian Civic Club founders, leaders and members who continue that legacy for the generations present and future.

On April 18, 2009, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the "Association" of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, which is the result of a growth of clubs nationwide since the establishment of the first, the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, on Dec. 7, 1918.

We live Prince Kūhiō's vision and like him remain an advocate in the communities we reside.

Prince Kūhiō at the age of 22 participated in a rebellion against the Republic of Hawaiʻi for which he was sentenced to prison. Later, he went to South Africa to fight in the Boer War against missionaries because he was unable to do the same in Hawaiʻi. When he returned to Hawaiʻi, he became active in the Home Rule Party, which represented native Hawaiians and continued to fight for Hawaiian independence. Subsequently, he joined the Republican Party and was elected as a delegate to the U.S. Congress, where he steered the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.

State Sen. Brickwood Galuteria and members of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, including Leimomi Khan, second from left, who is also the president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary April 18. The Senate and House on March 24 honored the civic clubs for their work celebrating the host culture and perpetuating the vision of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi, a former Congressional delegate and founder of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu in 1918. PIctured from left are: Anita Naone, Khan, Charlie Rose, Momi Clark, Galuteria, Civic Club of Honolulu president Leatrice Kauahi and Manu Boyd. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

One of the reasons for forming the civic clubs was Kūhiō felt he had to find a way for Hawaiians to get together to talk, in safety. For years after the overthrow and so-called annexation, Hawaiians were forbidden to assemble in groups. They lived in fear of retribution via job loss and other kinds of unwritten policies directed toward them. Hawaiians at the time were like captives in their own land. Kūhiō devised a way to bring people together to ostensibly talk about social issues and concerns, but underneath it all to discuss the political future of a people who had been subjugated to the loss of their nation. This man was profound and visionary.

Hawaiian Civic Clubs' general membership meetings and the Association's annual convention are "safe places to talk" where civic club members gather to debate issues, to plan programs and to formulate strategies addressing issues. These topics include nation building, education, health, economic development, housing and others.

Civic club members are active in their communities. They can be found as caretakers of such sacred lands as:

• Kūkaniloko (Wahiawā HCC)
• Ulupō Heiau (Kailua HCC)
• Haʻikū Valley (Koʻolaupoko HCC)
• Iosepa (Kauwahi Anaina Hawaiʻi HCC (Utah), and
• Puʻukoholā Heiau (Waimea HCC)

Performing community service, such as:

• Kalihi Pālama HCC feeding the homeless
• Prince Kūhiō HCC adopting a charter school where 80 percent of its students are from homeless communities
• Waimea HCC initiating the first charter school on Hawaiʻi Island
• Pearl Harbor HCC supporting the Great Aloha Run and the Aloha Festivals Floral parade, and
• ʻEwa-Puʻuloa HCC participating in partnership with Kōkua ʻOhana, a Native Hawaiian foster care program

Conducting culturally rich educational programs such as:

• E Ala, a double-hulled canoe educational seafaring program (Waiʻanae HCC)
• Organizing political events, such as the First Hawaiian Presidential Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C. (Ke Aliʻi Makaʻāinana HCC), and
• Producing, directing and conducting the Kūʻē Petition play (Ka Lei Maile Aliʻi HCC)

Serving on various boards and commissions and forming new entities, such as:

• Island Burial Councils
• Utah Board of Education
• The Hawaiʻi sister-to-sister State Council
• The Prince Kūhiō Federal Credit Union
• Hawaiʻi Maoli, and
• The Prince Kūhiō Community Center

We thank and express our sincere "Mahalo nui loa" to Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, Republicans John C. Lane, William Legros and Alexander G. M. Robertson; Democrats William H. Heen, Noah Aluli and Jesse Uluihi for their initiative in forming the first civic club as a means to elevate the social, economic, civic, cultural and intellectual status of Native Hawaiians. 4/48