Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 7, 1 Iulai 2020 — Aloha mai kākou, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha mai kākou,

V 'ŌLELO A KA POUHANA V " MESSAGE FROM THE CEO r

C I V I C ENGAG EM ENT IS OUR HERITAGE; VOTING \S OUR KULEANA ea (1. n. Sovereignty, rule, independence) koho (1. nvt. Election, ehoiee, selection)

As a student at Kohala High School I was assigned to write a vignette about elections on the plantation for a school production. I recently found the program for this long-forgotten performance while cleaning out my childhood home in Niuli'i and I was reminded that, in Kohala, election day was a festive occasion, colored by candidates and the community in Hawaiian finery and flowers with a mixture of focused, yet friendly, political inquiry and banter. Reflective of the sugar plantation community, the candidates were of all ethnicities. People gathered near the polling site, listened to speeches and enjoyed food and drink as the pros and cons of candidates and issues were debated. Regardless of one's personal views regarding the legitimacy of the existing poliheal system in whieh we find ourselves, participating in the electoral process gives us a voice; it allows us to exercise some measure of self-determination and to have a say about what Hawai'i will look like 10, 20 or 100 years from now. On July 3 1 st we observe Ka Lā Ho'iho'i Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day. The sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom was restored on that day in 1843 after the revocation of a rogue attempt by British Captain George Paulet to seize Hawai'i for Great Britain. During the restoration ceremony, Kamehameha III spoke the words that would heeome the Kingdom's (and now the State's) motto: "Ua mau ke ea o ka 'āina i ka pono; The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness." But ea is not limited to political sovereignty. For example, in education we talk about "educational sovereignty" wherein families make choices about who, how and where their keiki are educated. Community, culture, 'āina-based curriculum, instruction and assessment are expressions of educational sovereignty. Ea is also our freedom to koho - make choices - about our own lives; where to attend school, what career to pursue, how to spend our money, who to socialize with, who to select as our leaders. As members of this lāhui we have choices to make. And it is our kuleana to do everything within our power to influence decision-making about the things that affect our

'ohana, mo'omeheu and 'āina. That includes participating in the election process and casting a vote for pono candidates who will fight for the things that are important to us. Hawaiians have a mo'okū'auhau of civic engagement. This is reflected in the quantity and quality of civil discourse in the nūpepa, Hawaiian news-

papers, of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Our kūpun; were literate, enlightened and unafraid to express their opinions on the social, cultural and political life of

the Kingdom. Active, ongoing civic engagement - whieh includes voting - honors the foundation established by our kūpuna and helps to ensure a

better future for our mo'opuna. Just as parents are advocates for their keiki, kānaka maoli must be advocates for our lāhui; if not us, then who? With so mueh at stake, what message do we send when we refuse the opportunity to participate

or to have a voice? When we look back at our 2020 selves what will we see in terms of action, participation and advocacy? What will our narrative

be; and what will we tell our mo'opuna about what we did, or did not do, to mālama ke ea o kēia 'āina nei? ■

Sylvia M. Hussey, Ed.D. Ka Pouhana/Chief Executive Officer