Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 8, 1 August 1998 — Maui nō ka ʻoi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Maui nō ka ʻoi

ĪHE CH1LDREN of Kama did well. Whether native bom or from other islands. Maui offered trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs a strong selection from whieh to weleome our newest colleague. "Ka pali kāohi kumu ali'i o 'lao." The cliff of

'lao that embraces_the chiefly sources. ('Olelo No'eau 1529.) And while the mists over 'īao roiled above, at Paukūkalo, Herbert Campos was chosen to join our ranks. Trustee Campos' mo'okū'auhau calls to mind a daughter of Maui, Abigail Kuaihelani Campbell. Kuaihelani was an intimate of the chiefs of her era and, most importantly to the kupa of Hawai'i, she was the president of the Hui Aloha 'Aina o nā Wāhine o ka Pae 'Aina Hawai'i (Women's Hawaiian Patriotic League of the Hawaiian Islands). Directed by James Keauiluna Kaulia, the women's branch of Hui

Aloha Aina collected, during September of 1897, 21,269 signatures covering 556 pages of a petition against the annexation of Hawai'i by the United States. Four delegates selected from Hui Aloha 'Aina and Hui Kalai 'Aina, James Kaulia, David Kalauokalani, John Richardson and William Auld traveled to Washington, D.C. to deliver the petitions to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 19, 1897. They continued to lobby until February of 1 898 when the annexation was withdrawn due to laek of supporting votes. However, by summer the U.S.was engaged in the Spanish-American War and, given the islands' geographic position, the joint resolution to take Hawai'i as a territory passed in July. The U.S. flag was raised over the new territory on Aug.

12, 1898. Long awaiting rediscovery in the United States National Archives, copies of our ancestors' petition of the ho'iho'i 'ana i ke ea have arrived at home and are now on display at the Bishop Museum.

Kuaihelani was a child of Lahaina and while on Maui for the selection of the Maui trustee, Trustee Akana, Deputy Administrator Colin Kippen and I met with Thelma Shimaoka, Maui Community Affairs Coordinator, and residents of the moku of Lahaina. "Ka ulu lā'au ma kai." The forest on the seaward side. Refers to the masts of the ships that eame into the harbors of Lahaina or Honolulu. ('Ōlelo No'eau 1625.) Lahaina has long been regarded as a port of eall and remains subject to the influence of visitors and malihini. This was

clearly articulated by the kupa o ka 'āina as we discussed the issues of the safety and well being of youth at risk and their community, the sale of sugar lands at Olowalu, the challenges to Hawaiian entrepreneurs, the viability of a Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce and the health and proper management of regional fisheries. In the quiet of the following morning, before going to Paukūkalo, I visited Waiola Church for morning prayers at the burial site of the ali'i Keōpūolani, Nāhi'ena'ena, Ka'ahumanu, Kaumuali'i and Kaheiheimālie. And there I felt at the piko of Lahaina, a plaee of transition, yes, but also a plaee Hawai'i maoli nō. ■

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