Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 8, 1 ʻAukake 2010 — Hawaiian educator, counselor, former OHA Trustee llei Beniamina / 1955-2010 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian educator, counselor, former OHA Trustee llei Beniamina / 1955-2010

By Francine Murray KaWai Ola AHawaiian leader, Jean Ileialoha Keale Beniamina was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in 2000 by Gov. Ben Cayetano. The nieee of former OHA Trustee Moses Keale - he was the first and she the second of only two OHA Trustees to serve from the forbidden island of Ni'ihau. "She did well especially for the people of Ni'ihau and the Native Hawaiian eommunity," said Donald Cataluna, who now serves as OHA Trustee for Kaua'i and Ni'ihau. "She got money for the Kaua'i Community College to help Hawaiians get their CDL, the huek driver's Certified Driver's License and vocational training for carpentry." "She also helped us to establish a

program at Kaua'i Community to certify Ni'ihau teachers

to meet requirements

under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, so that they

could continue with their teaching careers," said Oswald S tender. A

O H A I Trustee At- 1 Large. "I first met Ilei in the mid-90s

when Dwayne Nakila Steele, Ron Poepoe and

I founded and built

the Ke Kula O

Ni'ihau School in Kekaha. She helped with finding Ni'ihau students for the school. And when she was a Trustee at OHA, she helped us to get the lease from the DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) and OHA." A gatekeeper to Hawai'i's past, Beniamina championed and fought to protect the lifestyle of the people of Ni'ihau. A tenured professor at Kaua'i Community College, she spoke fluent Hawaiian. Beniamina, a cousin of the late entertainer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, would often get midnight calls from Iz. No matter how late it was when he woke her, she would always help him with the Hawaiian language in a song he was composing or researching. An award-winning songwriter herself, Beniamina won the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Haku Mele Composer's Awards for the

songs "Ni'ihau" on the album Hāina by the Sea in 2007

performed by Pekelo

losma, "Pua'ala Aumoe" in 1993 and "Ho'ōla Lāhui Hawai'i" in 1987, both performed by the Mākaha Sons of Ni'ihau. In those two ^ years the f a m o u s H a w a i i a n group also won SEE BENIAMINA ON PAGE 13

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6ENIAMINA Continued from page 04

Album of the Year, Traditional Hawaiian Album of the Year and Group of the Year.

In an interview with Beniamina in 2009, she told Ka Wai Ola about a group of Ni'ihau students who flew to O'ahu to record a CD of hymns years before. Nā Leo O Ke Kula Ni'ihau O Kekaha was produced by 'Aha Pūnana Leo and in 2002 won a Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award for Religious Album of the Year. Touting their talent, she said the bilingual graduates of Kekaha had a flair for music and theater. Excelling in communication fields, she attributing their verbal prowess to being nurtured in the oral traditions. "It sharpens your life skills. It's an emotional experience. You derive meaning from looking into people's faces, hearing tone and experiencing meaning in many different dimensions," said Beniamina. "Imagine of the thrill of being on Ni'ihau and hearing the latest community news delivery by children in the language of your indigenous ancestors." She lived to see it happen. "She was very passionate about educating the people of Ni'ihau beginning with the children to the adults," said Stender with mueh aloha for her. At 54, Jean Ileialoha Keale Beniamina of Llhu'e passed away July 10 at her home. Bom Aug. 5, 1955, in Pu'uwai, Ni'ihau, she graduated from Kamehameha Schools, earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in Hawaiian language and literature at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. She was an outreach counselor and assistant professor at Kaua'i Community College. ■