Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 11, 1 November 2008 — ʻHawaiianʻ convention? [ARTICLE]

ʻHawaiianʻ convention?

I'm a kanaka from Moku o Keawe and attended the recent Native Hawaiian Convention to learn how I ean help to heal my community. The conference was good, but I objected to the Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement's ehoiee to invite Billy Kenoi, a candidate formayor for Hawai'i County, to speak. The mayoral election this year is very important because two Native Hawaiian kāne representing two different forms of government are competing for the highest seat in Hawai'i County, where traffic, drugs, large-scale developments and over-population are negatively impacting our conununity. For some reason, Kenoi was invited to speak at the convention but not candidate Angel Pilago. This seemed odd because Pilago has a long history of fighting for Hawaiian issues, is active in the community and lives the culture. Kenoi is an attorney who has never fought for Hawaiian issues, nor does he understand the key issues that affect kanaka, and he represents everything that is

detrimentalto NativeHawaiians. He supports large-scale development, dependence on imported foods, big-box stores and top-heavy government. If elected, he'll be another token Hawaiian who will always plaee native issues second to special interests. Pilago has a proven track record of fighting for Native Hawaiian rights so he should've been the one to speak. Now I'm skeptical of motivations behind the conference. Next year CNHA should select a true Hawaiian representative to speak, or I won't attend the "Native Hawaiian" Convention. Mehin Kealamoku Moku o Keawe