Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 5, 1 May 2015 — Empowering Hawaiians through OHA's Strategic Plan (2010-2018) [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Empowering Hawaiians through OHA's Strategic Plan (2010-2018)

"Mauna a Wakea ka piko kapu/f... Mauna Kea is our sacred piko

OHA was established by the 1979 Hawai'i State Legislature under Chapter 10, HRS (Act 196). In 1980, Act 273 was approved whieh initiated the appropriate process to organize and fund OHA. OHA's mission is to mālama Hawai'i's people and environmental resources and its assets, preserve the perpetuation of the culture and enhanee the lifestyle by protecting entitlements of Native Hawaiians. Guided by OHA's Stra-

tegic Plan 2010-2018, OHA has focused on Advocacy, Research and Asset Management in order to affect positive systemic change to improve the conditions of all Hawaiians in six priority areas: • 'ĀINA (Land & Water) • HO'OKAHUA WAIWAI (Eeonomie Self-Sufficiency) • MO'OMEHEU (Culture) • HO'ONA'AUAO (Education) • MAULI OLA (Heahh) • EA (Governance) OHA's support and involvement in the matter of "Protecting Mauna a Wakea" ean be in alignment with the Strategic Plans as well as OHA's role in Advocacy for Native Hawaiians: • 'Āina - To maintain the eonneehon to the past and a viable land base where Native Hawaiians will participate in and benefit from responsible stewardship of Ka Pae 'Āina O Hawai'i. • Mo'omeheu - To strengthen their identity, Native Hawaiians will preserve, practice and perpetuate their Culture. "The OHA Board of Trustees passed a resolution on January 3, 20 13 that urged the Bd of Land and Nat'l Resources (BLNR) to exercise the highest possible level of stewardship and to afford the strongest consideration to the rights and practices of Native Hawaiians and sacred sites affected by the proposed developments, including those on Mauna Kea, in the conservation district use application process. Despite OHA's resolution, it is apparent that the BLNR has blatantly disregarded the protection of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices and sacred sites on Mauna Kea in issuing of CDUP HA-3568 as well as in consenting to the TMT Sublease. Instead,

they executed decisions that violated constitutional protections for Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices, and violated the public trust doctrine." — E. Kalani Flores, April 13, 2015 Hopefully OHA will rescind the resolution of July 2009 whieh supported the selection of Hawai'i for the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Also, hopefully we take the following immediate actions. (I use the word "hope-

fully" because this article will be printed in Ka Wai Ola s MAY issue and I am writing this in April.): • Provide funds for legal assistance and representation for those arrested in the protection of Mauna a

Wakea. • Provide legal assistance to file an injunction should UH, State allow construction activities of the TMT project to proceed. • Rescind OHA's previous resolution that supported the selection of Hawai'i for the TMT project over Chile. The TMT story is not about the history of the vast universe. For now, their story is about a pieee of land 14,000 feet above sea level, Mauna Kea, whieh happens to be one of the indigenous Hawaiians' most sacred sites. 'O ka piko ke aloha o ka 'āina! Trustee Leina'ala Ahu Isa ■

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Leina'ala Ahu lsa, Ph.D. TrustEE, At-largE

TrusTee Lei Ahu lsa on Mauna Kea wilh former OHA Trustee Ku Ching, center, and Aunty Maxine; AT T0P, with University of Hawai'i Maui College associate professor Kaleikoa Ka'eo. - Courtesy: Trustee Ahu lsa