Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1988 — 1988— Year of Hawaiian Power [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

1988— Year of Hawaiian Power

By Clarence F. T. Ching Trustee, O'ahu

The Year of the Hawaiian 1987 has passed. The month of December was a very unusuai one for me because the Hawaii International Film Festival, the Indigenous Peoples International Administrator's Conference (IPI) and the Honolulu Marathon were major activities that captured my attention.

The year went out with a BANG! At the IPI Conference held Dec. 6-12, Dr. Chris Mullard, the director for the Center for Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of Amsterdam, provided new insight when he spoke about how economics or property, politics and culture relate. Mueh of the property "belonging" to governments and others eame about as a result of theft from indigenous peoples. In Hawaii, the government and crown lands were stolen at the time of the overthrow and are now "owned" by the federal and state governments under the label of ceded lands. Not one penny was paid by the feds or state for the acquisition of those lands.

We need to understand the intricacies of how politics relates to culture, and how culture relates to politics. Dr. Mullard believes that culture is not limited only to rituals, but is a collection of beliefs and practices that will result in the survival of a people and a nation. To celebrate our culture before strangers is to allow ourselves to be expioited. Some other ideas of Dr. Mullard's follow.

Politics, contrary to what many believe, has very little to do with rhetoric. It is about power and how to deal with politicians and others. It is the means by whieh we ean organize to establish our self-determination and destiny. It empowers us to take back those things, like our lands and sovereignty, that have been stolen from us. It is to have returned to us what is ours. Furthermore, if we fail to apply our available knowledge to acquire a sound base, there ean be no hope and no future. We would become like a set of museum pieces. Without politics, no matter how hard we try to protect our culture, we become mere symbols of the past.

However, by using the powerful instruments of modern technology, marketing and management, we ean protect our identity as a people, a people whose futures cannot be denied. The things we stand for ean be eombined into a force that ean cross new frontiers. We ean connect with others to form new alliances. In fact, together, we ean become the new frontier. But we must remember that without unity, there ean be no future. Without culture, there ean be no sense of self. Without politics, there ean be no voice. Without a base, there ean be no survival. It is significant that when one of the Honolulu dailies

recently did a series on "Power in Hawaii," we Hawaiians collectively were not thought of as having enough power to influence the situation in our own land. Maybe the challenge for Hawaiians in 1988 and future years is to convert the latent power of our numbers to the determinahon of our own destiny and the destiny of this land. We ean shape the future of our 'aina and the Hawaiian Nation.

Statements have been made that all Hawaiian problems ean now be so!ved because we have a Hawaiian governor. While it may be possible to get the governor's ear when there are clearcut answers to problems, many of our important issues are not that easy to handle. We must remember that the governorship is a politieal position, and the governor is a poliheian. He did not get elected exclusively by Hawaiian votes or Hawaiian money. He also belongs to a poliheal party and has certain party alliances and obligations. Even though he is a Hawaiian, he cannot make all things right only for Hawaiians. His responsibility is to all. This is true of allHawaiians elected to positions of power.

We cannot eonhnue to be the passive people that we have been, waiting for others to do what is best for us. We have to speak with a clear voice, as one people. Being unified, we cannot be ignored. If we are to respond positively to these issues, where do we start? What are we going to do to make sure that we have the power to do those things that need doing? First, we Hawaiians must form one united front. Second, we must be convinced that self-determination and self-government are good for us. Third, we must be able to make our new-found power felt at the ballot box. Fourth, we must be active in every level and corner of government.

We have an opportunity to start the process this month. On Saturday, January 23, Hawaiians and friends of Hawaiians will gather at Aloha Stadium. No matter what speeches are given, or what songs are sung, or dances danced, the gathering of 50,000 FIawaiians ean unify ~ 50,000 Hawaiians. Fifty thousand politically and eulturally active Hawaiians means power. Fifty thousand unified Hawaiians turned ioose on their particular legislators and on the Legislature as a whole could make things happen.

What the Legislature does this session is important. What we do to influence the Legislature this session is more important. Fifty thousand united voices could begin to generate the kind of political pressure necessary for the Legislature to render us our just due. So on January 23, if you aren't already one, eome out to Aloha Stadium and transform yourself into a Hawaiian activist. Fifty thousand Hawaiians committed to self-determination will make an enormous difference in this state. They could shape the next frontier — the frontier of Hawaiian Power.

So the State must and should step in with their West Hawaii plan. Loeal officials have betrayed their primary responsibility In this instance, it is good to see the State government caring about the future of all the people of this island, rather than just the plutocrats. Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono. Malama pono!