Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 2, 1 February 2011 — Visiting native rights leader to lead panels [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Visiting native rights leader to lead panels

An indigenous rights pioneer from Norway will head a series of two-hour panel discussions on native rights, Feb. 11 and 12, on the University of Hawai'i-Mānoa campus.

The "Indigenous Rights Symposium: Conversations with Sami Rights Pioneer Magne Ove Varsi" begins with an "Indigenous SelfDetermination" panel at 9 a.m.

Friday at the UH Richardson School of Law Moot Courtroom. Panelists are Varsi, Melody MacKenzie, Jon Osorio and Esther Kia'āina. An afternoon panel follows at 2:30 p.m. on "Sustainable SelfDetermination: Territories, Lands and Natural Resources" at the JCamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hālau O Haumea. Joining Varsi on the panel are: Hōkūlani Aikau, Noelani Goodyear-Ka'ōpua, Carol Ho 'omanawanui and representatives from Ikamehameha Schools, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Department of Land and Natural Resources. A 4:30 p.m. community reception will follow, with music by Kūpaoa.

The symposium wraps on Saturday, with panelists Varsi, Peter Mataira, Maile īaualii, Keawe Kaholokula and Kapena Shim discussing "Kū I Ka Pono: Transforming Legacy into Vision," at 9:30 a.m. at Hālau O Haumea. A light luneh will be served at 1 1:30 a.m. Varsi is a Sami rights leader and Founder/Director of the Gāldu Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Kautokeino, Norway. A former Lecturer in journalism at the Sami University College, News Editor and President of the Sāmi Journalists Association, he addressed the United Nations in New York in May 2010 as part of Indigenous Peoples Month. Varsi's trip to Hawai'i is co-spon-sored by the Norwegian Embassy and Hawai'inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. For information on the discussions, eall Hawai'inuiākea at (808) 956-0980.

Magne Ove Varsi