Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 11, 1 November 1987 — Complement to 'Ku Kanaka' Planned [ARTICLE]

Complement to 'Ku Kanaka' Planned

Waiaha Foundation Elects Six New Directors

Six new directors to the board of the Waiaha Foundation were recently elected, according to a report in the October issue of the organization's newsletter. They are Dr. David Heaukulani, Honolulu Poliee Department; Charles Heaukulani, University of Hawaii graduate student; Albert Kanahele, head of Diamond Parking; Luana McKenney, entertainer and singer with Aunty Irmgard Aluli's Puamana; Hinano Paleka, evaluation officer, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate; and Fred Watson, IBM computer specialist.

They join fellow directors Kenneth F. Brown, George S. Kanahele, Robert Lokomaika'iokalani Snakenberg, Kathy Enomoto and Ku'ulei Ihara. The Foundation, fofmerly known as Project Waiaha, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the affirmation of Hawaiian values. Its main tasks are to organize and disseminate information on Hawaiian values through workshops, conferences, publications and other activities. In other Waiaha doings, a thought-provoking discus-

sion of "After Ku Kanaka, What Next?" is being planned as a valuable complement to the organization's conferenee held last May at Kamehameha Schools. According to the newsletter, one of the surprises of the conference, at least to its organizers, was the ready acceptance by the participants of the principal values discussed in the book. Some controversy was expected but there were none. There were a few skirmishes about certain socio-political issues.

What participants wanted to talk about was practical ways to implement ideas or proposals to reinforce and perpetuate those values. Some of the ideas included: • Launching a Hawaiian values-based leadership training program. • Getting government to require a cultural impact statement from developers and others. • Building a modem Hawaiian marae. • Writing a sequel to Ku Kanaka. Some action has already been generated in the Hawaiian values-based leadership training program. A

committee made up of the two Heaukulanis and Watson is now working on a curriculum outline. One of the central questions the curriculum will deal with is whether there is a distinctive Hawaiian leadership theory that will work in acontemporary setting. As Ku Kanaka suggested, there is such a theory that ean be extracted from the traditional value system as well as the practices of the ali'i, konohiki and haku. The trick will be in making this system or its relevant parts work effectively for Hawaiian leaders today.

Speaking of Ku Kanaka, sales are going good. The demand has been so strong that the University of Hawaii Press recently ordered a second printing of 2,000 copies. The book has attracted a surprisingly diverse readership from around the Pacific and it is also providing to be of some interest to people in the tourism industry. The book makes a good Christmas gift item and is available at your nearest bookstore. All royalties go to Waiaha.