Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 2, 1 February 2006 — Common ground [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Common ground

Ncitive Alciskcins, Americcin lndicins cind Ncitive Hciwciiicins shcire differences cind similcirities cit ci pciir of lecidership conferences

By Manu Būyd Public lnformation Directnr Adiverse mix of Native Alaskans, American Indians and Native Hawaiians eame together in Honolulu last month in a twotiered leadership fomm attended by more than 150 people. Sponsored by the American Indian Resources Institute, this year's theme was "Native Leadership and Challenges Ahead; Protecting Sovereignty, Culture, Homelands and Resource Rights and Achieving Eeonomie Self-sufficiency." The second track to the three-day conference was geared toward Native Hawaiian leadership development, sponsored by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Morning sessions included keynote speakers and panel presentations moderated by

Richard Trudell, executive director of the American Indian Lawyer Training Program. Notwithstanding the great differences in cultures and geographic territories of America's indigenous people, what emerged were numerous similarities that bind us together. Speakers included U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, Congressman Ed Case, OHA Chair Haunani Apoliona, Native American Rights Fund Executive Director lohn Eehohawk and Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chair Billy Frank Ir. Patricia Zell, longtime staffer of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (now retired) and staunch advocate for Native Hawaiian rights, was optimistic about the future of America's indigenous peoples. "In 30 years,

I've never seen the outpouring of support other native peoples have for Native Hawaiians," she said. "What we want to accomplish, we cannot, unless we see ourselves (indigenous peoples) as one," said Zell, who is of Navajo extraction. Law professor Charles Wilkinson of the University of Colorado, an expert on laws impacting the U.S.'s indigenous peoples, was equally optimistic on the future of Native Americans. "Ten years ago, many of the groups around today weren't here," he said. "Native Americans have spread out wide and really have 'taken the hull by the horn."' Wilkinson's presentation outlined five decades of progress, beginning with dismal conditions of natives in this country in the 1950s to today's unprecedented

successes in economics, political activism, organization and eultural rejuvenation - specifically the revival of native languages. Hawaiian presenters echoed the importance of not just knowing Hawaiian language and eulture, but living them. Among presenters were ho'oponopono

expert Mālia Craver, navigator Nainoa Thompson, kumu hula John Keola Lake, and lua practitioner and leadership trainer Tonuny Kaulukukui. And presentations by 'ōlelo Hawai'i students from Kamehameha Schools left a lasting impression of pride in being 'ōiwi. S

NŪ HOU • NEWS

i : i Bobbi Rae Sage, Miss lndian Nations 2005 from Mandaree, N.D., spoke and sang at the Native Leadership Conference held in Honolulu last month. Photo: Manu Boyd