Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 10, 1 October 2012 — KANAʻIOLOWALU: A report from the continent [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

KANAʻIOLOWALU: A report from the continent

By Aliee Milham Enacted more than a year ago, many Native Hawaiians on the continent are as yet unfamiliar with the State of Hawai'i's Act 195 and the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission. Even fewer have heard of "Kana'iolowalu," the name given to the yearlong effort to enroll Native Hawaiians to have a voice in their self-governance.

But those who have are sensing hope for future generations. Aunty Emma Sarono, hope pelekikena (vice president) of Moku'āina A Wakinekona Hawaiian Civic Club in Washington state, sees Kana'iolowalu as a way to improve the future for her mo'opuna, her grandchildren. Sarono, who first heard about Kana'iolowalu during last year's Association of Hawaiian Civic

Clubs' annual convention, is leading the registration campaign in the īaeoma area. Well known for her civic-mind-edness, she registered soon after the campaign was launched in July 2012. While aware of potential resistance to the registry, Sarono nonetheless understands its source. They've embraced Hawaiian registry programs, such as Kau Inoa, before. Onee their names were taken, they heard nothing more about it. "People are tired," she said. "They tired of doing all these things. But you cannot give up. See, when you give up, we going be the losers. We need to keep at it." At its meeting in early September, Sarono says the civic club's members were initially "shocked" to hear of the new registration eampaign. She asked them to save their "gripe" until after she finished her presentation. "Soon as I got through (the Kana'iolowalu presentation), all the information that I had, everybody

was grabbing it," says Sarono. One of the main points she made was the benefit to mo'opuna (grandchildren) and future generations of Native Hawaiians, who will witness the birth and blessings of the long hoped-for Native Hawaiian governing entity. "They (the mo'opuna) are the main ones of all (who will benefit)," she said. "You're not going to be here. I'm not going to be here. But at least we left that portion for them. We left that open space for them." Having lived among the Native Americans of the Paeihe Northwest for 43 years, Sarono saw the difference between the lives of descendants of Native Americans who had registered as a tribal member and those who hadn't. Concerns for the future of their children were likewise a motivating factor for the Helenihi 'ohana of Vancouver, Washington. On a June visit to O'ahu, for daughter Ashley's attendance at Kamehameha Schools' Explorations Ho'olauna enrichment

program, Mari Helenihi registered all three children, Ashley, 12, Troy, 8, and Naomi, 2, with OHA's Hawaiian Registry to ensure their eligibility for programs benefiting Native Hawaiians. Being counted as a Native Hawaiian is something the Helenihi family takes seriously. Mari's husband, Aaron Helenihi, a 1991 Kamehameha Schools graduate and board member of the Vancouver, Washington, nonprofit Ke Kukui Foundation, benefited from a Kamehameha Schools scholarship that supported his eollege education at the University of Southern California. Mari Helenihi was surprised, after returning home to Vancouver, to hear about the Kana'iolowalu registry, and says she would probably have registered her family for it as well had she known of it. ■ Mary Aliee Kaiulani Miīham, a Portland, Oregon-based freelance journalist, is a former newspaper reporter and columnist from California's Central Coast.

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