Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 35, Number 9, 1 September 2018 — Aloha mai kākou, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha mai kākou,

/ 'ŌLELO A KA LUNA HO'OKELE ^ MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

FULFILLING OUR M AN DATE AND A CCO M P L I S H I N G OUR VISION

n the 1970s, organized Hawaiians sought remedy for injustices suffered since the overthrow of the monarchy, standing up for the survival of their cultural heritage. Grassroots activists united in protest on several fronts, calling for an end to the military bombing of Kaho ' olawe and for a halt to evictions in Kalama Valley and on Mokauea Island, 0'ahu's last remaining fishing village. Against this backdrop, delegates to the 1978 Constitutional Convention (eon eon) envisioned an entity that would be entrusted with improving conditions for Native Hawaiians. These were contentious times. Even as the '78 eon eon was in progress, roughly 200 Hawaiian activists gathered at Hilo Airport, leading to the activation of the National Guard and the arrest of 60 demonstrators. Con eon delegate Frenchy DeSoto, who would heeome OHA's first chairwoman, told her fellow delegates about the disparities Native Hawaiians faced in public education, the workforce and the criminal justice system. "Hawai'i must respond to the needs of the Native Hawaiians; the time has eome," she said. Ultimately, delegates settled on a Hawaiian Affairs package that included the establishment of a state agency responsible for moneys earmarked for Native Hawaiians - the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. As OHA approaches its 40th anniversary in November, we ean look back at the original tenets the agency was founded on to see what has been accomplished, and identify where we need to buckle-down to support our beneficiaries for the next 40 years. Some issues that were pressing in 1978 persist today, such water rights. This July, East Maui kalo fanners celebrated a victory in a landmark legal case when the Water Commission called for restoration of streams that had been diverted to irrigate Alexander & Baldwin's vast plantations for more than a century. Plaintiffs in the two-decade-long legal battle were represented by the Native Hawaiian Legal

Corp., a native rights law firm that receives annual funding from OHA. OHA's advocacy has also helped protect the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, so mueh so that OHA was named a co-trustee of the 583,000-acre Papahānaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Substantial work remains to ensure Hawaiians are well-represented in

higher education, the workforce and the civic arena. OHA provides funding to Hawaiian-focused charter schools and a scholarship program at the University of Hawai'i. OHA also supports programs that combat diabetes, ^

hypertension and other health issues that disproportionately impact our beneficiaries. This hiennium, OHA grants support school nutrition j programs in Kualapu'u, Moloka'i; Hāna, Maui; and in Līhu'e and r.

Kekaha on Kaua'i. On O'ahu, an OHA grant to the Salvation Army supports substance abuse treatment for Hawaiian women. But OHA itself is not fully funded, despite repeated i

requests to the state to lift the "temporary" eap on OHA's l pro rata share of Public Land Trust revenues. We will eon- I tinue to seek our fair share in order to get more resources " into our communities. Early advocates fought hard for a

public agency dedicated to Hawaiians. The impetus is on us to fulfill our mandate and accomplish our vision. 'O au iho nō me ke aloha a me ka 'oia'i'o,

Kamana'opono M. Crabbe, Ph.D. Ka Pouhana/Chief Executive Officer