Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 10, 1 October 2011 — Governor announces Roll Commission members [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Governor announces Roll Commission members

By Harold Nedd The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has offered its full support to the commissioners who have been selected by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to play a key role in the nation-building process for Native Hawaiians. OHA officials expressed a continued desire to assist the new five-member Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, whieh will be responsible for preparing and maintaining a roll of qualified Native Hawaiians. The independent commission will be attached to OHA for administrative purposes. Meanwhile, the OHA Board of Trustees has already approved $381,000 to fund the commission for operations and implementation of its new responsibilities. "I am pleasantly surprised and pleased with the Governor's appointments to the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission," said OHA Chairperson Colette Machado. "I also appreciate the thoughtful consideration that the Governor is giving to help ensure the success of our collective efforts towards Native Hawaiian selfgovernance." OHA Chief Executive Officer Clyde Nāmu'o SEE G0MMISSI0N ON PAGE 10

G0VERNANCE To restore pono and ea, Native Hawaiians will achieve self-gover-nanee, after whieh the assets of 0HA will be transferred to the new governing entity.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie, wilh Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, partially hidden, announced the members of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, from left: Nō'ōlehu Anthony, Mahealani Perez-Wendt, Lei Kihoi, Robin Puanani Danner and former Gov. John Waihe'e III, who will serve as Chair. - Photos: LisaAsato

C0MMISSI0N

Continued from page 5 added: "We are committed to working with the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission andthe Hawaiian community in moving this effort forward. We see this commission as a niee complement to our efforts to enahle Native Hawaiians to create a better future for themselves." The commission was established under a state law enacted on July 6, 2011, whieh recognized Native Hawaiians as the only indigenous, aboriginal, maoli people of Hawai'i. The five commissioners, one from eaeh county and one at large, were announced Sept. 8 by Governor Abercrombie: » Nā'ālehu Anthony, 36, is Chief Executive Director of 'Ōiwi TV and the Principal of Palikū Documentary Films. He represents O'ahu County.

» Robin Puanani Danner, 48, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, whieh she founded in 2001. She represents Kaua'i County. » Lei Kihoi, 66, is a former staff attorney for Judge Walter Heen who has served the Native Hawaiian community in various aspects for more than 25 years. She represents Hawai'i County. » Mahealani Perez-Wendt, 64, served as Executive Director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. for 32 years before retiring in 2009. She represents Maui County. » John D. Waihe'e III, 65, was a delegate to Hawai'i's 1978 Constitutional Convention and the first Native Hawaiian Governor of the State of Hawai'i, serving two terms from 1986 to 1994, after serving as Lieutenant Governor under George Ariyoshi. He serves at large and will lead the commission as Chairman. ■ A H. !>MH — — 1 ■!

ln his words "When Governor Abercrombie first asked me to be a member of this commission, what I thought about was (years back) going down to 'Iolani Palaee and seeing the (Kū'ē) Petition (against annexation of Hawai'i by the United States) that was displayed with our ancestors' signatures on it. And then it occurred to me that was the last time, really, that Native Hawaiians put their names on a roll declaring themselves to be supporters of the nahon. And what a moving moment that was. And what an opportunity this is, to move from there to an even higher plaee. You see, they ean eall this the Roll Commission, but in my mind this is the "unification commission" because if we are to lay the foundation for a nahon, the first step is unification. So Governor, on behalf of my fellow commissioners, I want to thank you for giving us this opportunity to participate in the unification onee again of the Hawaiian nation." — Former Gov. John Waihe'e, Commission Chairman