Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 1, 1 January 1982 — E Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE]

E Hawaiʻi

[?]

"F J— i Hawai'i Au ' a conference sponsored by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs was attended by more than one hundred participants and is being viewed as an important step in establishing a strong base from whieh all Hawaiians ean begin to move forward as a people. The theme, "E Pūpūkai Ka Mana'o" meaning "Let us be of one mind," was a moving force throughout the conference and did mueh to keep the groups of participants both active and enthusiastic. This conference, held at Kāhi O Mohala allowed the participants a ehanee to reflect on their personal experience in the Hawaiian community with respect to our people, our culture and our leadership, and to generate ideas about the policies, programs and directions whieh OHA and the Hawaiian community should pursue in 1982. The concept behind "E HAWAl'I AU" was to create a means through whieh input could be gathered from a cross-section of the Hawaiian community. There were three goals of the conference: • A clear statement of the role that Hawaiian culture will play in the activities of the Hawaiian eommunity in 1982. • A positive direction for the specific development of programs and activities of Hawaiian culture for our community in 1982. • A clear statement determining the leadership style and manner of operation for both traditional and modern Hawaiian resources that is desirable and necessary to lōkāhi the Hawaiian community. The approach used involved dividing the participants into two groups. Four Maon leaders were asked to be moderators at the conference, with two assigned to eaeh group. The Maoris served as moderators in the two "hui kukakuka" sessions. The role of moderator was to facilitate group dialogue and to insure meaningful discussion of the conference issues. The four Maori moderators were: Kara Puketapu Secretary of the Department of Maori Affairs and Maori Trustee; Tamati Reedy Assistant Secretary, Department of Maori Affiars; Tilly Reedy - Education Officer, Maori Language and Studies, Curriculum Development Division, Department of Education, Wellington, New Zealand; John Rangihau - Research Scholar at the Center for Maori Studies, and Consultant to the Department of Maori Affairs. The group sessions were followed by a general session involving all the participants. The purpose of the general session was to "hui ho'oponopono," to eome together as a group to seek solutions and obtain consensus on the issues identified in the "hui kukakuka" sessions. We interviewed the four evaluators of the Conferenee. Here are their comments. OHA: Did you formulate any expectations prior to the conference? Kinny: I did not formulate any expectations prior to the conference basically because I did not want to be disappointed. I wanted to maintain an open mind from beginning to end. May: No, I did not have prior expectations. I only knew what the three goals

of the conference were (as stated in a letter sent to all participants). I have been a "student" of Hawaiian culture for a long time. I was looking to perhaps leam and to also contribute. Enos: Not really. . .1 wanted to keep an open mind. I did think that the Marks Estate was an interesting plaee to meet — especially since decisions affecting the maka'āinana were made there. Heine: No, I did not formulate any expectations. 1 was more curious about what was going to happen. I knew the Maoris would be there. I know John Rangihau and I was very interested in talking with him again. I also am interested in OHA and felt genuinely good and enlightened when the conferenee was over. I don't think I expected a lot to happen but I also wanted to be able to leam and contribute. OHA: What were your overaU impressions of the Conference? Kinny: I had several impressions after this experience. One perception I was left with (and to a large degree this was discussed in my group) was this: that the concept of a "Hawaiian" is an elusive one. There were about 100 participants. Eaeh person had a different idea of what a "Hawaiian" was. Formulated opinions of what a "Hawaiian" was depended upon eaeh person's own experience and eaeh person spoke of his/her experience in relation to defining Hawaiian. Very frustrating yet important dialogue took plaee. A second impression I have deals with the structure of the conference or, on a wider basis, the structure of any statewide conference affecting Hawaiians. Participants should not be chosen by OHA; rather, regional or district sessions on eaeh island should be held first and delegates chosen by regional committees sent to Honolulu to confer. Like the old Hawaiian system of representation, chosen members carry the message to Honolulu, thereby, capturing the real regional and grass root concerns and issues of eaeh island. This method also says mueh about solidifying a "base" before solidifying the "top." Successful island conferences could be held first and then a major OHA sponsored conference ean be held to orchestrate definite activities sought after by eaeh island or region. Both my own feeling, as well as several others, expressed the idea that OHA should stand as a point where Hawaiians ean look toward for resources. . .or a plaee "to connect to. . . ." May: One impression was of the wide diversity of Hawaiian individuals who eame and took part in this conference. I was pleasantly surprised to see who eame and to be a part of this diversity. A second impression I was left with actually was a personal conflict. As a recorder for the conference I saw myself as a "mirror" reflecting the views of everyone else. It was very frustrating for me because I didn't always agree with what was said. However, it was my job to get everything down and to focus the thoughts in an objective manner. I think I aeeom-

plished what needed to be done but oh, it was difficult at times! Enos: I guess the biggest thing in my mind is how mueh more work needs to be done in getting us together, particularly in getting together an inderstanding of what it means to be Hawaiian. Obviously, right up front is the difficulty in separating the Hawaiian value system and the western value system. So mueh mana'o was shared on how to be Hawaiian when we are so westernized. I could feel very strongly the "push and pull" of the participants especially the emotions that ran high! As an example of how mueh more work we have, I observed that those individuals who have "power and influenee" - Hawaiians who hold positions, or who participate in making decisions, who head agencies, who are strong links to "the power structure" - were more observing, said very iittle. They tended to be more cautious and more watchful. It was difficult I guess for them to participate verbally. Some discussions were very emotional but I observed that even then, they tended to stay out of emotional areas or discussions. I think they were still committed to the conference. I sometimes think, however, it's a "mask" some have learned to put on. Most of the real verba! participants were our kupunas, the 'ōpio and "grass roots" people. Anyway, these were some of the things I observed. Heine: I think my overall impression deals with the suggestions that identified the needs of our community, especially the idea of acquiring a plaee for Hawaiians to go to leam or acquire Hawaiian culture information to leam genology, hula, language amongst others. I think this conference was a good one because it provided an opportunity for Hawaiians to "air" concems. However, I did feel somewhat disturbed to hear too many Hawaiians use the "I" focus — "I think," "I feel," "I know" — whieh is very individual based. I felt it more important to focus on "we, the community." However, individual focus ean be important especially if it motivated one to act. If you want something, go after it. All too often we wait for someone or something else to happen rather than be the catalyst to cause something to happen. I was impressed with that kind of feeling and action. OHA: What were some dominant themes or topics that were in your groups? Kinny: My group consisted of a good cross section of Hawaiians. Many, many issues surfaced in the hui kukakuka. I was, however, able to formulate four major themes from all of the issues presented. The first, whieh the participants expressed through some stong and powerful feelings, was Hawaiians need to understand the political system and make the system work to our advantage. Hawaiians must challenge the political system to get across. The "system" should protect (via legislation if necessary) our Hawaiian way of life. Haoles should

change, not Hawaiians. We must find concrete means of reversing the "system". A second theme dealt with being Hawaiian. Expression indicated that being Hawaiian was a "matter of degree." Eaeh participant felt Hawaiian, was able to express some positive feeling of Hawaiian but not everyone was coming "from the same plaee." Hawaiianess could be nurtured more. A third major theme dealt with the 'aina, or land. The consensus indicated that the 'aina occupies an important plaee in the Hawaiian consciousness. A fear was expressed that the Hawaiian youth would never find a spiritual connection with his/her land. The love and strong awareness of the 'aina was expressed in concrete ways, however,. . ."land" is like an abstraction. In other words, land to the Hawaiian does not mean "real estate." Real estate is a meehanieal thing when we refer to our homeland, we refer to all of Hawai'i. This is where we eome from. lt's the same as the other races who reside here. Eaeh non-Hawai-ian ean point to the "land from where they eome." The Maoris have a good understanding of land as an abstraction and have strong policies regarding their land and land issues. A fourth theme was really a "catch all." Several ideas of importance to be noted here. For instance, Aloha or the concept of Aloha was not discussed at all. It was very conspicuous that this was not being discussed. However, things we don't say sometimes are as important as when we do say something. Another, the issue of blood quantum is extremely divisive to all Hawaiians. Something needs to be done to remove the divisiveness that arises out of this issue. No solution was solidified but more discussion needs to take plaee. . .Another, discussion about religion. It was strongly agreed upon that "being religious" had mueh to do with the Hawaiian psyche. May: I tried to capture everything that was said in the hui kukakuka by using the three goals of the conference as guidelines. These goals were (1) the role Hawaiian culture would play in activities in the Hawaiian community in 1982; (2) Direction for developing programs and activities of Hawaiian culture for 1982; (3) Leadership qualities desirable to pull traditional and modern Hawaiian resources together for the Hawaiian community. I'm not so sure, as an opinion, that these goals were the reason the conference was held. However, as a frame of reference, I used the above goals, to start. Many, many topics were brought up. I was looking for definitions, hoping to eome to a consensus at the end of the conference so that we agreed upon something. One that surfaced was: What is a Hawaiian? I think we agreed that someone is Hawaiian if he or she had Hawaiian blood and demonstrated an understanding of the culture. If you put these two ingredients together, this constituted a very broad definition of a Hawaiian. The next definition that surfaced was: What is culture? What happened in this instance was that we first determined the components of