Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 2010 — For 2 generations, Waiheʻes help to shape OHA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

For 2 generations, Waiheʻes help to shape OHA

By Francine Murray KaWai Ola

At the 1978 Constitutional Convention, John Waihe'e, then a relative unknown who would go on to heeome governor of Hawai'i, had a large hand in driving the state to address Hawaiian rights head-on, ineluding ereating the Offiee of Hawaiian Affairs. Thirty years later, his son, John Waihe'e IV continues to build upon the work of the generation before as a Trustee of OHA, the agency his father helped create. Back then, "No one knew who my dad was," said the younger Waihe'e. "He just eame back from Michigan. But he was the key player who organized all these factions at the 1978 Constitutional Convention, and together they got the amendments out." Former Governor Waihe'e went to college in Michigan where he married his college sweetheart Lynne and started a family. A community organizer in the predominantly AfricanAmerican city of Benton Harbor, Michigan, Waihe'e helped get the first African-American mayor elected there. To do this, he registered African Americans who had never voted before. Waihe'e recalls thinking, "I should be doing this for Hawaiians," and he decided to return to Hawai'i. "The people and the topics inspired me when I got involved in Hawaiian issues," said the former Governor. It had a snowball effect and for him the timing was perfect since the William S. Richardson School of Law hadjust opened. "I went to law school because when I was growing up my parents would talk about various issues that affected themlike Hawaiian Homes, and I remember my father saying, 'I wish we had a lawyer.' That always was on my mind." People have a romantic view of the 1978 Con Con and all the stars it made, like Mayor Jeremy Harris, Frenchy De Soto and Governor Waihe'e, but it wasn't all roses, says Trustee Waihe'e: "I've read all the news clippings from that time because my mom saved them all. It was not covered positively as it is referred to now. That Con Con seemed very dysfunctional and they were all wondering if they were going to get anything done. Now people talk about it like they just knocked it right out of the park." It was a massive united effort, he says, "Without the united effort they would have never got anything done in that Con Con." The former Governor recalls: "In my own time we saw things happen that nobody thought was possible, like the return of Kaho'olawe or the creation of OHA." Numerous amendments were forged at the Con Con - and later ratified by voters - including one that made Hawaiian an official

language of the state. At the time Hawaiian issues were not at the forefront and it was far fromeasy for you if you were an advocate of Hawaiian issues, whether it was historic preservation, self-determination or protecting Kaho'olawe from military bombing. "To me it was really like the birth of those issues coming to the forefront and being addressed," said Trustee Waihe'e, describing his father's time. "Every year things would consistently get better and better. We were winning little victories and advancing those causes further. "In the late '90s we saw it plateau, with people trying to counter the progress. Then Freddy Rice's lawsuit changed OHA." Our beneficiaries were no longer the only ones who could elect the OHA Trustees. "At that point we realized that this trend of things getting better every year is not going to necessarily eonhnue. And I was inspired to get involved somehow. To see all that work everyone like my father and everyone else did to get where they were - and by no means was it finished, but to see it get attacked and there was a possibility of it going backward. That was what drove me to run for OHA." The younger Waihe'e speaks highly of his fellow OHA Trustees, saying they are always working to fulfill the mission. "The good thing about this board is that they are willing to admit when something is not working well and they are willing to change to make things better." Continuing his father's legacy to better the lives of Hawaiians, the Trustee is most proud of OHA's support of the University of Hawai'i Hawaiian Studies master's program, OHA's vocational training and job-placement program and OHA's acquisition of Waimea Valley as a cultural resource

to be preserved in perpetuity. But he realizes how mueh more needs to be done. "If there was one thing I could fix, it would be to improve the employment and livable ineome of Hawaiians," he said. "Under the new Strategic Plan, we would measure success by a greater number of employed Hawaiians with livable wages." Says Governor Waihe'e, "Of everyone in our family, I thought he would be the least likely to go into politics, but I was glad he ran for OHA because as you know in the 1978 Constitutional Convention we started OHA as a major step toward Hawaiian sovereignty." And while work remains to be done for Hawaiians, Governor Waihe'e offers these words that likely served him and his colleagues well a generation earlier, "We have to believe in ourselves and keep moving forward. Take the next step and not get discouraged. Get involved and never give up." ■

years of Empowering Hawaiians, Strengthening Hawai'i

OHATrustee John D. Waihe'e IV and his father, former GovernorJohn D. Waihe'e III. - Photo: John Matsuzaki