Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1990 — Blueprint draws crowd at Seattle meeting [ARTICLE]

Blueprint draws crowd at Seattle meeting

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs held an informational hearing on the Draft Blueprint on Native Hawaiian Entitlements in Seattle, Wash., Oct. 28. Conducting the meeting were trustees Louis Hao, Manu Kahaialii and A. "Frenchy" DeSoto. Staff members present were Jalna Keala, government affairs officer, Babette Galang, health and human services specialist, and Jennifer Chiwa, secretary. The following report on the hearing was prepared by Jalna Keala. The hearing at the Seattle airport hotel began at 8 a.m. when about six people arrived from great distances to meet and leam about OHA and its initiatives. While the timing was inconvenient for those still jet lagged, it did allow for a great deal of informal discussion during the course of the day. The early arrivals have lived on the mainland since before World War II and were not current on Hawaiian issues, so the informal time spent with them was important. One man flew up from Portland, Oregon, just for the meeting, then flew back that night. A number of people drove up from Vancouver, Wash. Later they held a meeting in Vancouver to discuss the Blueprint and Operation 'Ohana. The Seattle meeting opened with an oli aloha by a Kaua'i woman. The opening and closing pule were offered in Hawaiian by a native of Ni'ihau who was there with several members of her family. Most questions were similar to those raised by Hawaiians in Hawai'i with a few exceptions: Can OHA set up an office on the mainland to share and disseminate information? Can OHA do anything to get Hawaiian students who are born and raised on the mainland included in college scholarship programs either for Native Americans, minorities or via the Native Hawaiian Education Act? Can OHA establish a toll-free 800 number so

mainland Hawaiians ean eall OHA directly? If a center for Hawaiian Studies is established in Seattle, Barbara Hadley Sherman offered to contribute her mother's eolleehon of Hawaiiana. Her mother was the librarian in Lihue, Kaua'i, for many years. She was a noted student of Hawaiian social and natural history, especially of Kaua'i. About 20 people eame to the podium to testify or ask questions. One was a high school student and other people had been designated to speak on behalf of a family group. Two extraordinary things happened at this meeting. One, the large number of people — 101 — who attended. Second, 20 phone calls were received late in the meeting. Al! the callers wanted to know what was happening. One of OHA's Hawaiian contacts in Seattle had notified a TV station whieh made a short announcement on KOMO-TV. The result was electrifying. People were calling us from all over the state, homesick, and wanting very mueh to be included in what was happening. While time could not be taken to talk to callers at that point in the meeting, their phone numbers were obtained and their calls were returned from Honolulu. Additionally, letters and packets of information were sent to them. After a short recess called by Trustee DeSoto, a musical hookupu was offered by Trustee Kahaialii in whieh he was joined by his fellow trustees and the audience. Trustees Hao, Kahaialii, Akaka and staff were scheduled to go to San Francisco but the Oct. 17 earthquake made it necessary to reschedule. A January trip to San Francisco for information meetings is scheduled. This story could not run in December due to laek of space.