Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 1992 — Kaulukukui bids OHA farewell [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kaulukukui bids OHA farewell

by JeffClark

After giving OHA a dozen years of dedication and immeasurable amounts

Trustee Thomas Kaulukui retires after 12 years on the OHA board.

of aloha, trustee Thomas Kaulukukui, Sr. is retiring. One of the original trustees, and chairman from 1988-90, "Unele Tommy," as he is affectionately known, leaves OHA a tradition of pride, strength and fairness. "I think we laid the groundwork for a lot of things. Hopefully they will all eome to pass, maybe in the next eouple of years with the new board," Kaulukukui said. He views securing the settlement with the state for retroactive payments ffom ceded land revenue as one of the board's major accomplishments. Another major milestone during his tenure was I Luna A'e, OHA's plan for achieving restitution and bringing about sovereignty. Kaulukukui is passionate about an integral part of I Luna A'e, Operation Ka Po'e, because it reflects an idea Kaulukukui feels strongly about: unity. "We wanted to unite the people. Two classifications of Hawaiians was dividing Hawaiians already," Unele

Tommy said, referring to the division, begun by the Hawaiian Homes Act of 1920, separating Hawaiians with 50 percent or more native blood from Hawaiians with less. OHA put the question to Hawaiians twice, and both times they said, "We should be one people," Kaulukukui said. At the time, the state administration told OHA that it wasn't a good time to pursue entitlements for all Hawaiians in the Legislature, because OHA was also going after "back rents" of ceded lands. Kaulukukui is still hopeful it will happen. He said his position on the 50 percent issue was personal. He is half Hawaiian but didn't apply for a homestead because his wife is Chinese. If he were to die, she would have to move. His children are 25 percent Hawaiian, and his grandchildren are one-eighth Hawaiian, but, Kaulukukui says, "They're Hawaiians to me. A Hawaiian is a Hawaiian, the way I look at it."

When Unele Tommy notes that the 50 percent division was not chosen by the Hawaiians but forced upon them by federal law, it's clear that the issue boils down to self-determination and sovereignty. Kaulukukui's desire for Hawaiian unification is strengthened by his admiration for Kamehameha the Great, who united the islands 200 years ago. "The legacy he left with us was unity. That's what he fought for." Kaulukukui said he would like to see the trustees "complete some of the work we started. We accomplished a lot, but a lot needs to be done." The important word here is imua. A complete description of Unele Tommy's accomplishments could fill this newspaper. Here are just a few: He received a master's degree in education ffom the University of Hawai'i

at Mānoa, where he coached football and served as the athletic director. He also coached at 'Iolan and Farrington, and founded Pop Warner footbal here. He is a member of the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame. He was at various times an army lieutenant, an insurance executive and a U.S. Marshal. He was the originator of Ho'olako 1987 - the Year of the Hawaiian. He has been presented with numerous awards, including the David Malo Award and the Mackay Yanagisawa Lifetime Achievement Award, and has been honored with resolutions from both the OHA Board of Trustees and the Honolulu City Council. He is presently chairman of University of Hawai'i's Hemenway Scholarship Committee.

"My whole life has been sports," Kaulukukui says with pride. He played football, basketball, baseball, badminton, track, golf, tennis, and more. At the University of Hawai'i, he lettered in four sports for four years. In his senior year he was president of the student body at the same time that he captained the football, basketball and baseball teams. "Competition" is the name of the game, he says. "I know what it means td compete." And when you're one of the smallest guys on the field, you have to compensate in other ways. What's one of the most effective ways to compensate? "Desire. You gotta want it. All my life I've been eoaehing. All my life I've been telling kids, 'If you want to succeed you have to want it.' " Another lesson sports has taught him is teamwork. "I could never succeed by myself. You can't win the game alone. The same thing applies here. You can't eome on the board and succeed alone - you have to have all nine people. To win, to succeed, it

takes team play. We have to play as a team. If we lose, we lose as a team and if we win, we should win as a team." Finally, one has to accept the fact that "you can't win 'em all. If you lose, you leam by your mistakes - and don't repeat the mistakes." Kaulukukui said he was "lukewarm" on the idea of running for another term as an OHA trustee. His wife Felice underwent surgery twice this year, and another campaign would have meant that he would have less time with her. Faced with a ehoiee, 'ohana eame first. "But I feel 12 years is a long time already," he says. "Let someone younger run. "I have enjoyed my terms here. and I have appreciated the many people who have supported me." So what does retirement mean to Kaulukukui? "Now I ean spend more time taking care of my yard," is his answer. "I eall my plaee the Garden of Eden. I have almost every tree, every plant, fruit trees, flower trees, everything. So I've got plenty to keep me busy."

OHA will not be the same without him. "He is one of the most decent human beings that I have ever had the privilege to know," says OHA Chairman Clayton Hee. "He sets a good example for all of us insofar as his commitment to everyone, including the Hawaiian people, and his decorum and discipline as a policy maker. "He will leave a vacuum in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs that will be very difficult to fill." As Unele Tommy packed up the 'ahu 'ula (ceremonial eape) given to him at one of his six investitures, he paused to reflect. "I enjoyed working here," he said. "I want to express my appreciation to the staff and all the members of the OHA team for all their help in the past. I want to wish them continued luek in the future, and I'm going to miss them."