Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 2007 — Ma lalo o kou ʻeheu kō mākou maluhia [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ma lalo o kou ʻeheu kō mākou maluhia

Aloha e nā 'ōiwi 'ōlino, nā pulapula a Hāloa, mai Hawai'i a Ni'ihau, puni ke ao mālamalama. In this last quarter of the year 2007, expectations are heightened. Despite the recent "nutgrass network" infiltration of the Hawai'i State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, passage of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007 (NHGRA) is imminent. Native Hawaiians who with the "nutgrass network" jointly oppose NHGRA 2007 are not supported by the "nutgrass network." It is a fact that on Aug. 27, Honolulu Advertiser Hot Seat guest H. William Burgess was posed this question: "There are Hawaiian independent activists that join with you in opposing the Akaka Bill. Do you support these Native Hawaiians in their position for independence? Burgess answered, "No." It is also a fact that Kau Inoa registrations are beyond 75,000 and increasing eaeh day, through hard work by many in and away from Hawai'i. The immediate challenge for our Native Hawaiian community is to diseipline and focus our "human spirit" and "political will" in unified effort forward, achieving practical steps - one by one - to advance justice not just for our generation but for those yet to eome. Queen Lili'uokalani, indigenous woman leader, still guides us, because the work we do now is perceived to be the work that she was not able to finish. She was born Sept. 2, 1838 and died on Nov. 11, 1917, so this year is the 169th year commemoration of her birth and the 90th year commemoration of her death. As we step into 2008, discernment for and application of practical alternatives that build success upon success for Native Hawaiians and Hawai'i should drive this unified

plan, absent of anger or hostility but filled with vision and compassion. The Queen's own 19th- and 20thcentury expressions, along with timely recollections by those most close to her, provide insight on how and in what measure Queen Lili'uokalani would address the political dynamics of the 21st century. In 1917, after the queen had seen the end of the Hawaiian monarchy, she said to her hānai daughter, Lydia K. Aholo: "I eoulā not turn back the time for political change; but there is still time to save our heritage. You must remember never to cease to act because you fear you may fail. The wav to lose any earthly kingdom is to be inflexible, intolerant, anā prejudicial. Another wav is to be too flexible, tolerant of too many wrongs, and without judgment at all. It is a razor's ed.ge. It is the width of a blade of pili grass. To gain the kingdom ofheaven is to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen, and to know the unknowahle - that is Aloha. All things in this world. are two: in heaven there is but One." (From the epilogue to The Betrayal of Lili'uokalani.) In her words, the queen aeknowledges that political change had eome to Hawai'i. She recognized that she had not been able to turn it back or stop it, but all was not lost. She eounseled that fear of failure should never immobilize us. Rather, discernment and honesty must guide our deliberations, decision-making and actions, because the issues ahead in times to eome would test our human capacity, would be complex and far-reaching, and their resolutions should be wellconsidered and weighed prudently - "...a razor's edge, width of a blade of pili grass." And, finally, her message suggests that for well-being we should all push upward beyond our human wisdom and will, with toleranee and compassion for all others, toward that greater Spirit. 'Onipa'a i ka 'imi na'auao. 35/48 ^

LEO 'ELELE ■ TRUSTEE M ESSAGES

Haunani Apuliuna. MSW Chairpersūn, TrustEE, At-largE