Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 2001 — Land issues and federal litigation are priority [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Land issues and federal litigation are priority

^ HAIRING OHA's Committee on Land will be one I of my primary responsibilities for the year. Serving with me will be Trustees Akana, Dela Cruz, I Machado, Ota and Stender. The committee will meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of eaeh month, beginning Jan. 23. OHA's bylaws state that the Land Committee shall be responsible for overseeing the use of OHA's real estate and to execute policy for the proper use of any real estate including land to whieh OHA shall have an interest; execute policy on issues of land use, native rights, and naūonal and culmral resources, including the inventory, identification, analysis and treatment with land, native rights and cultural resources. The Hawaiian Rights Division (HRD), under whieh all land matters fall, is one of the largest in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Among current land issues are: • Pacific Missile Range facility/Ni'ihau • Kapalawai Resort, Robinson Estate, Kaua'i • Hanapepe salt pans, Kaua'i • Northwestern Hawaiian Islands • PalmyraAtoll • Outrigger Telescope Project, NASA, Mauna Kea

Science Reserve, and • Mākua are only a fraction of the extensive inventory of land matters addressed by the division. I will provide you with in-depth reports on these matters as we proceed with our work. Of particular interest to me was an article in the December issue of Ka Wai Ola by Dr. Lilikalā Kame'eleihiwa entitled "New Directions in Hawaiian Education for the 21st Century," whieh laid out a very exciting vision for Hawaiian students. As director of the Center for Hawaiian Studies at Mānoa, Dr. Kame'eleihiwa seeks to train future leaders of Hawai'i by applying the principles of mālama 'āina, and mālama Hawai'i (living in harmony with the earth) in expanding the center's undergraduate courses. "Forming partnerships

with the departments of anthropology, geography, engineering, ethnobotany, maiine science and political scienee to mentor graduate students in those fields, we hope to develop a hui konohiki, a new generation of

Hawaiian land stewards," stated Dr. Kame'eleihiwa. This new thrust in Hawaiian education deserves the unconditional support of the entire community. It may appear from this account that it is "business as usual" at OHA, I want to assure you this is not the case at all. These are tumultuous times with assaults in court on the constitutionality of OHA, DHH and native Hawaiian gathering rights. OHA, in behalf of the Hawaiian community, is vigorously positioning itself to defend against these assaults. And, in the long-term, there may be litigation mueh broader than has been brought to date — on issues surrounding all Hawaiian lands in the state, i.e., lands on Kaua'i in Hanamaulu and Wailua; kuleana land;

and land held under Royal Patents. A brain trust of legal scholars will need to be formed now to prepare for such challenges. ■

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