Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 6, 1 June 2007 — Is "Hawaiʻi" sustainable? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Is "Hawaiʻi" sustainable?

Walter M. Heen TrustEE, 0'shu

If your reaction to the title of my article is, "why did he put Hawai'i in quotes?" - that's good. It means I got your attention. However, I want more than just your attention. I want to urge you to think about the question of what about Hawai'i should be sustained for the future and to participate in an effort to answer it. Every Hawai'i resident has a different idea about what is good or bad about our Hawai'i and what should be preserved or sustained. I believe that for Kānaka Maoli, the most important consideration is to sustain our cultural heritage. Since the Hawaiian Renaissance's beginning in the 1970s, we have witnessed a beautiful burgeoning of our native culture. Our history and culture have become embedded in the consciousness of all who live here. We need to ensure that our progeny continue to enjoy not only the physical attributes of our native land, but also the marvels of our history and culture. To do so, we need to become engaged in the work of the Hawai'i Sustainability Task Force. The Task Force was established by the State Legislature in 2005 and is charged with presenting to the Legislature in the session of 2008 "a long-range plan to realize our hopes for a sustainable Hawai'i." We, Kānaka Maoli, need to ensure that the plan includes proposals for sustaining our Hawaiian heritage and culture, whieh are the very foundation of all that is worth preserving. In 1970, a State Commission on the year 2000 developed a vision of what they expected Hawai'i to be like in 2000. The question today of whether we ean sustain our Hawai'i is different. Our question is: whether, in the face of uncontrolled population growth, a

globalizing economy, global warming and so many other factors pressing in on us, we ean continue to enjoy our wondrous lifestyle? Obviously, in the face of our, the nation's, and the world's advancements, the answer is no. But then, what ean we protect or sustain? For Kānaka Maoli, the question is: will our progeny see our culture overwhelmed by pell-mell development, advancements in technology and other assaults on our customs, practices and traditions, or will we continue to experience the beauteous benefits of our renaissance? The proceedings from 1970 paid scant attention to the culture of the Kānaka Maoli. A report prepared for the State Planning Office in 1999 observed that the participants in that effort "saw a general decline in language and other ethnic resources as a wave of the future moving toward a global culture." We cannot allow the Task Force to have that same shortsightedness. So what ean we do? We need to get involved in the proceedings of the Task Force. As Kānaka Maoli, we have the obligation to see that the task force's report pays foremost attention to the marvelous results of the Hawaiian Renaissance. The Task Force conducts eommunity meetings during whieh it attempts to fathom and preserve the views of the community on sustainability of our Hawai'i. I have attended two eommunity meetings and have seen very few other Native Hawaiians there. If we want to preserve our cultural heritage, we need to participate! All the Native Hawaiian organizations should be represented at all of the community meetings and even at the task force meetings. And you should also participate. On the Task Force web site, www. hawaii2050.org, you ean see the results of their proceedings and get the schedule of community and Task Force meetings. I urge you to DO IT!