Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 2, 1 February 2012 — Jon M. Van Dyke [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Jon M. Van Dyke

Aloha mai kākou ... I stand before you today as a humhle servant to a yet-to-be reestablished nation, and I offer our thanks to a

man who was one of our strongest advocates, one of our staunchest allies, and one of our first diplomats. Jon Van Dyke treated everyone with graciousness, respect and aloha - and he treated Hawaiians as not just the hosts of the Hawaiian Islands, but as representatives of an unjustly overthrown kingdom. Not only did he help to establish what is now the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Native Hawaiian Trust, but he continuously advocated

for the recognition and honoring of Native Hawaiian rights and responsibilities. He generously provided his time, intellect and energy to assuring that our kingdom's wisdom and laws were not only remembered, but were upheld for the good of Hawai'i's natural resources, her people and their culture. He systematically helped to lay a legal foundation for Native Hawaiian rights that ean be used by legislators, courts, agencies and grassroots community efforts. Van Dyke may have been a professor, researcher and writer of international aeelaim, but he also was a zealous advocate in courtrooms and boardrooms, and a kind and willing listener and adviser at the personal and community level. He respected every level of discourse, was open to learning any perspective, built bridges of understanding between diverse cultures and backgrounds, saw problems as opportunities for solutions, and was as generous in his guidance as in his praise. He humbly enabled other people's successes. His students and colleagues honor a man who taught through example and in the classroom how to seek excellence in all they did. His extensive legacy includes the legions of students who we urge to continue to carry forward his efforts for justice, forgiveness, peaee and universal kindness. As Native Hawaiians, we gratefully recognize that Van Dyke charted a course for us, based on our values and our homeland. He helped us to navigate what had been the unfamiliar waters of western law, and he created a legal framework for the future of our nation. Van Dyke never lost

sight of the goal of nationhood for Hawaiians. He kept steering eaeh issue toward that ultimate destination. And, through his brilliant legal knowledge, he was able to maneuver eaeh issue within a context of

rebuilding not only a nation, but its legal defenses. Native Hawaiians will forever be indebted to Jon Van Dyke; his wife Sherry Broder, who fought zealously by his side for us; and his family, who he adored and in whom he took such great pride and comfort. His family values, compassion, need for justice and expertise made his arrival in Hawai'i during the 1970s Hawaiian Renaissance extremely fortunate. From the solidification of the Native

Hawaiian Legal Corp., through the 1978 Constitutional Convention that codified Native Hawaiian rights and created the Native Hawaiian Trust and OHA, creating case law

for Native Hawaiian water and land rights, documenting Hawai'i's complicated land history, readily assisting in gaining reparations and apologies for past wrongs, Jon Van Dyke consistently and patiently advocated for Native Hawaiian organizations and individuals. Yet, somehow, his attentions and gifts were also tuned to the needs of the disadvantaged and unfairly treated populations of the world's lands and seas. The world in general, and Hawaiians in particular, are better for Jon Van Dyke's life and legacy, however saddened we are at his loss. We focus instead with gratitude for his many gifts and with determination to carry forward the work that he began. We wish his spirit and his family the peaee and aloha that he sought for, and shared with, all of us. ■

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Cūlette Y. Machade ChairpErsūn, TrustEE, Mūlūka'i and Lāna'i

Jon Van Dyke. - Photo: Courtesy ofthe University of Hawai'i Richardson School ofLaw