Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 9, 1 Kepakemapa 1991 — OHA looks to future [ARTICLE]

OHA looks to future

By Christina Zarobe In celebration of its 10-year anniversary the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is joining the Aloha Week floral parade by entering a float for the first time in the September event. The OHA float will feature a traditional Hawaiian eanoe riding the crest of a wa ve, in the parade at 9:30 a.m. Saturday Sept. 21. Aboard the float, whieh is being designed by Andrew Miyamoto, will be chanters, dancers, kupuna and keiki, and special guests, the Brothers Cazimero. "The float symbolizes the blending of the old culture and the new. The front part represents the ancient and the migration to Hawai'i and the back end of the float represents the present and the future," according to Trustee Rowena Akana, vicechair of the OHA Relations Committee. continued page 16

OHA looks to the future

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"It is a blending of the old and the new, bringing together the best of the old and the new in a force that is symbolized by the wave that will take us into the 21st century," she said. Graphic artist Momi Cazimero, who sits on an advisory committee assisting OHA with its 10th anniversary commemoration, said, "We're looking at it from a cultural standpoint and also a staging point of view. I think this is a spectcular design." By using a eanoe in the float, the image conveyed is of moving forward, she explained. "It offered all kinds of potential for both the design and the symbolic complement." During Aloha Week, a photo exhibit of OHA's 10-year history will be on displayfor public viewing

at Ala Moana Shopping Center's exhibit area Sept. 13-15, then will travel to Windward Mall Sept. 16-18, and Pearlridge Mall Phase I Sept. 19-21. "Our hope is that this float will not only symbolize things of the past and future but will also bring together the unity of the Hawaiians for the first time," said Trustee Akana. "We hope that this is just the beginning of coming together for the Hawaiians," she said, noting that to underscore that message the Brothers Cazimero will be singing "Follow Me," a song about unity among Hawaiians from their new album. ■