Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1993 — OHA bids farewell to Jalna Keala [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA bids farewell to Jalna Keala

In the years since its founding, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has faced many difficult challenges and has grown in funding, stze and scope and power. Jaina Keala, OHA government affairs officer recalls the early years as botb exciting and frustrating, Keala, who is leaving OHA after 10 years on staff, was responsible for a broad range of OHA work on legislative and commumty affairs. OHA's early outreacb efforts took staff and trustees into the community often, she says. Ceded Tands were unknown until OHA took its

informative slide show statewide and made presentations to tbonsands of Hawaiians and nonHawaiians. OHA went to high schools, spoke to clubs, fishing villages. "The people were amazed" at the information they were receiving, Keala remembers. Keala says that when she began, a major issue for OHA was beg»nning the work of identifying the ceded lands and monitoring the ineome due to OHA from its pro rata share of the ceded lands trust revenues. This painstaking and difficult task required that

OHA file suit and when that was tmsuccessful, to seek legislative redress. In 1990 an agreement with the state on a formula for determining OHA's share of trust revenues, was fmally reached. Another aspect of OHA community relatlons Keala was responsiblc for was to set up island liaison offices and to train the staff. Today, OHA serves the Hawaiian eommunity statewide through liaison offices on Kaua'i, Maui, Moloka'i (whieh also serves Lana'i) , and in East and West corttiniied page 22

Keala bids Aloha to OHA

frompage2 Hawai'i, plus an O'ahu liaison in ihe main Honolulu office. As goveroment af£airs officer, Keala tracked legislation in Congress and the state Legislature for OHA. Working with federal liaison Larry Kamakawiwo'ole, she saw that trustees and staff kept on top of congressional actions affecting native Hawaiians. OHA was also instrumental in funding and assisting the Nativē Hawaiians Study Commission, says Keala. Its chairperson, Kina'u Kamaii'i, is now an OHA trustee. Keaia also headed up OHA's Hui Ho'āia voter registration project during the last two elections. This outreach effort wiLh deputy voter registrars and canvassing in Hawaiian neighborhoods brought the number of OHA registrered voters to a high of 68,122. Keaia is also concluding a five-year tenm as president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. She joined the civic club movement as a charter member of the Ali'i Pauahi ciub 20 years ago. It heeame a "consuming pas-

sion," and she went on to hold major ofilces on the association's board, and been a founder of HACPAC, the polilieal lobbying arm of the association. During her tenure as the association's first woman president, a new mainland eonneii of civic clubs was formed, and tbe clubs became more involved in improving native Hawaiians' health status. Her future tasks for the civic clubs will include carrying out assignments for Lhe president, and chairing the civic clubs' Samoan-Hawaiian health coalition to the Naiional Cancer Institute. Keala will also represent the civic clubs on a state task force to name a major highway or puhlie building after U.S. ftesident Grover Cleveland, who decried the Ameiiean role in the 1893 overthrow. While Keala has no spedfic plans for future employment, she says sbe remains committed to Hawaiians and plans to eonlinue her participation in the Hui Na'auao sovereignty education project on behalf of the civic clubs. "I am the eternal optimist," she says. "I think it is thc bcginning.' '