Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 9, 1 September 2013 — Aloha mai kākou, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha mai kākou,

When we look to the future, we must always revisit the past. That is the essence of mana: as we travel toward the future and a new nation for and by Native Hawaiians, we must look for guidanee from our ancestors. We must follow in the footsteps of King David Kalākaua, Queen Lili'uokalani and Prince Kūhiō. They practiced the art of diplomacy. They built relationships. Their diplomatic missions are a model for diplomacy today. Our monarchs fulfilled their kuleana, or responsibility, in their role as sovereigns. Now, in the 21st century, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is aiming to regain the poliheal right and privileges our monarchs onee enjoyed. At OHA, we are striving to raise the consciousness of the Hawaiian Nation by asserting our collective rights and collective mana to preserve our inherent rights as native peoples. And we are reviving our efforts to advocate for Native Hawaiians. Our ancestors walked the fine line of diplomacy, and we must do the same. In June, we reconnected with the Native Hawaiian community in the Washington, D.C., area and with federal govemment agencies and indigenous organizations to elevate our role as advocates for Native Hawaiians. The goal was to support the effort to improve the well-being and self-determination of Native Hawaiians. But we went far beyond engaging the federal government. For the first time, OHA received a designation as a non-governmental organization from the United Nations and is able to speak on behalf of the Hawaiian people on a vari-

ety of issues including self-governance, protection of indigenous rights and preservation of our cultural heritage. Chief Advocate Breann Nu'uhiwa and Knowledge Based Strategies Specialist Mehanaokalā Hind led our mission to New York where we were able to revive our efforts to advocate for our people on an international stage.

For OHA this is about supporting all of our people. We're not picking sides where Native Hawaiians disagree, but rather advocating so they ean be heard in the forum of their choosin2.

As we walk in the footsteps of our ancestors, we must always remember that they were ahead of their time in being diplomats and trying to use the power of persuasion to effect positive change. That's why advocacy is so important to OHA. The road ahead may seem long, but the eventual results will be worth the journey.

AHEAD 0 F THEIR T I M E

MESSAGE FR0M < THECEO >-

'O au iho no me ke aloha a me ka 'oia'i'o, Kamana'opono M. Crabbe, Ph.D. Ka Pouhana/Chief Executive 0fficer