Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 11, 1 November 1993 — The mission [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The mission

by The Rev. Moses K. Keale, Sr. Trustee, Kaua'i & Ni'ihau " There is hereby established an Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs shall hold title to all real and personal property now or hereafter set aside or conveyed to it whieh shall be held in trust for the native Hawaiian and Hawaiian." The mission of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is to better the

condition of the Hawaiian peo- my goal. Our duty as trustees is

ple. That was the intent of the founders of the office. That was the intent of the people of Hawai'i when they adopted legislation to establish of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. That has always been my mission, '

to carry out this mission in the most expedient manner. We must be dedicated, innovative and creative. But most of all, we must be focused and informed. Recently, I was invited to participate in an eight-week

Hawaiian series program at Hālawa Correctional Facility. Eaeh week, Hawaiian community leaders were invited to speak to the Hawaiian inmate population about being Hawaiian. The series began with our Office of Hawaiian Affairs kūpuna bringing the traditional lessons of foundation symbols, and life practices. This continued for six additional weeks, covering topics of the Overthrow, sovereignty,

govemance, language, music and spirituality. The responses of the inmates were overwhelming. They possessed a deep spiritual need to be Hawaiian. They demonstrated a keen desire to address their problems and the community-bred problems whieh nurture crime. I was stunned at their yearning to be good Hawaiians. I was left continued on page 14

Mission

from page 13 with a question of philosophical sadness. Have we abandoned our culture, our practices, our Hawaiian lifestyle of support for eaeh other, and as a result been a part of the cause for this situation we face when looking at these human, Hawaiian face? I'm sure eaeh member of the team who participated felt the same hurt and desire to reach out and help. In the final week, everyone returned to be amazed and nurtured by our students, our 'ohana. We were touched and honored by this 'ohana. But best of all, we were presented with a request, a request so creative and meaningful that I cannot help but feel overjoyed that we ean make a diference if we try. Their request was not so mueh

for themselves as individuals, but for the establishment of a program to help all of the Hawaiian 'ohana. I shall work hard to see that this program becomes a reality. We cannot be a great society if we care not for everyone regardless of who they are, what they have done, or where they live — whether here in Hawai'i, or away from their homeland, or incarcerated in our prison system. We must mālama pono. We must have ho'okahi pu'uwai. We must have ho'okahi ka mana'o. We must have aloha. A i mana'o kekahi e lilo po'okela i waena o 'oukou, e pono no e lilo ia i kauwa nā 'oukou. Nā ke Akua e mālama a e alaka'i ia kākou apau.