Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 6, 1 June 2011 — Efforts continue for Prince Kūhiō stamp [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Efforts continue for Prince Kūhiō stamp

Organizers aim to collect 20,000 signatures

By Melissa Moniz n 2009 a proposal was submitted to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee for a commemorative postal stamp in honor of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole, the last prince of the Hawaiian monarchy and a Delegate to Congress. The proposal was denied, however, the process continues through the efforts of Earl Pamai Tenn, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and various supporters, including the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, who recently wrote a letter to the CSAC asking that it give the Prince Kūhiō stamp proposal full consideration. In a letter addressed to Tenn, Senator Akaka writes, "I think the contribution of Prince Kūhiō to the people of Hawaii and the advancement of people in government service are important themes that deserve consideration by CSAC." Hawai'i has celebrated a handful of Hawai'i-themed stamps beginning with a King Kamehameha stamp in 1937, and most recently a Hawaiian Rain Forest stamp as part of the Nature of America stamp series in 2010, the State of Hawai'i

50-year anniversary stamp in 2009 and a Duke Kahanamoku stamp in 2002. Tenn, who also headed the Duke Kahanamoku stamp effort, explains, "We have been refused (in our Prince Kūhiō request), but remember it took us 19 years to get Duke Kahanamoku's stamp approved. We are handling this in the same process we did for the Duke stamp. We kept re-presenting our proposal and we gather signatures in support." The group has about 2,500 signatures in support of the Prince Kūhiō stamp. The goal is to submit 20,000. "The CSAC receives thousands of requests and I believe they eome up with 30 stamps eaeh year," says Soulee Stroud, President of Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. "So it's a continual process of bringing our proposal to them and the main thought in preparing the proposal and getting signatures is to educate the continental U.S. that we had a monarchy." In the process, organizers of the Prince Kūhiō stamp proposal hope to raise awareness about his many eontributions to Hawai'i's people. Among

his accomplishments, Prince Kūhiō founded the Hawaiian Civic Clubs in 1918, obtained passage of the bill to establish Hawai'i Nahonal Park and organized the Order of Kamehameha and Chiefs of Hawai'i. Prince Kūhiō worked diligently in Washington, D.C., to improve the situation of the Hawaiian people in the turbulent times following the overthrow. Among them was ensuring Hawaiians land to build homes for their families and generations to follow. This led to a yearslong fight for the Rehabilitation Act or Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, whieh was passed a year before his death, and is considered his greatest accomplishment. Prince Kūhiō also saw the value in educating mainlanders about Hawai'i and hosted congressional representatives in Hawai'i in 1907, 1909, 1915 and 1917. And he also secured federal appropriation to build an experimental hospital for the treatment of leprosy. "One of the guidelines of the stamp is to recognize individuals who have overcome great ehallenges, discrimination and have accomplished mueh in the field they were in," says Stroud. "So when you

think of the Prince, he was imprisoned during the overthrow, he rose to become a Delegate to Congress and serve for 20 years, whieh wasn't easy because in Washington, D.C., there was prejudice. And there he was able to recognize the issues, how to address them in law and he stuck with it." The Prince Kūhiō stamp effort is currently focused on education and collecting signatures for its petition through community events, including many of the Kamehameha Day eelebrations this month, such as along the parade route in Honolulu on June 1 1. Also, those interested in signing in support of the Prince Kūhiō stamp may contact any of the 60 civic clubs within the AHCC. For more information, visit aohcc.org. "We thouuht that honorin2 Prince

Jonah Kūhiō would be a very good thing," says Tenn, a member of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, the club founded by Kūhiō in 1918. "He has done so many good things for Hawai'i and it would be great to recognize him with a stamp." Just as Prince Kūhiō responded to the calls of the Hawaiian people with perseverance and success, the supporters of the Prince Kūhiō stamp hope to do the same. "We will continue to gather signatures, eonhnue to submit the proposals and do whatever we ean to spread education about the Prince," says Tenn. "I think one of Prince Kūhiō's greatest attributes was stamina," adds Stroud. "And we'll keep moving forward." ■ Meīissa Moniz is a Contributing Writer for Ka Wai Oīa. A fortner Associate Editor at MiāWeek, she has chosen a new career path as a fiill-time mom to spend more quality time with her husband and two young dauehters.

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Earl Pamai Tenn, right, led an earlier successful effort for a Duke Kahanamoku stamp, in 2002. He's now teaming with Soulee Stroud, left, and others in an ongoing effortfor a stamp commemorating Prince Kūhiō. - Phoīo: LisaAsato