Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 3, 1 March 1988 — Moʻolelo [ARTICLE]

Moʻolelo

Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs By H.K. Bruss Keppler

Kuhio Founded Movement

Ke ho'ohanohano nei kakou i ka inoa kaulana 'o Kuhio Kalaniana'ole! We honor the famous name of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, during this, his birthday month, for his many accomplishments . . . but, especially for his cherished gift to the Hawaiian people: the Hawaiian Civic Club. The story of the founding of the first Hawaiian Civic Club is a familiar one to those of us who are involved in the movement, but let us share it with you. It was seventy years ago. Distressed at the lot of his Hawaiian people, Prince Kuhio, as Delegate to the U.S. Congress, knew that he needed organized, grassroots support of the programs he was proposing to the Congress for the benefit of the Hawaiian people. He was mindful of the fact that, in 1778, when Captain James Cook arrived on these shores, it was suggested that the Hawaiian population was as large as 300,000 and that, in 1893, when his aunt, Lili'uokalani, was deposed, the Hawaiian population stood at a little over 30,000. This decimation of the Hawaiian people through imported disease — and some say broken hearts — had set the political scene, after all, for the overthrow itself. Kuhio also knew that the Great Mahele (18481852) had commenced a virtual orgy of land grabbing by non-Hawaiians and that by the 1880's so mueh land had gone out of the hands of Hawaiians — especially the Maka'ainana — that Hawaiians had already been rendered substantially landless in the land that they onee owned totally and exclusively, albeit in eommon. Thus it was, that from among his many friends and a multitude of supporters in Hawai'i, Kuhio invited just six men to the house he shared with Kahanu, Pualeilani in Waikiki. The men were John C. Lane, William LeGros, Alexander G.M. Robertson, William H,- Heen, Noa Aluli and Jesse Ulu'ihi. Eaeh of them was a recognized leader of the Hawaiian people and all six were active in politics. As they talked, discussing the lot of the Hawaiian people, they decided together that the Hawaiian people needed a forum — a platform for leadership. And this year, 70 years later, we celebrate that beginning. Thus it was that Kuhio and his friends started the club whieh would encourage and assist Hawaiians to give civic leadership. They challenged the original members of our movement to prepare themselves and others of Hawaiian ancestry to take roles of leadership in community affairs and politics. It was — and is — a political organization. It matters not what party one belongs to; we all find eommon grounds and agreement when it comes to our paramount goal: to help Hawaiian people take their rightful plaee as equal to others in this Westernized society. Perhaps the vision Kuhio showed evolved from the very source that would have prepared him for a key role in the monarchy. As he had been scrupulously prepared and educated to.be a Prince of the Realm, he was able to make the necessary transition to a position of leadership in the new order. he hoped only the same for all his people. In the years that have passed, surely this vision has been fulfilled. To list the members of the Hawaiian Civic Club movement over the years is to list nearly all of the Hawaiian leaders of government and business, of cultural preservation, of education, of religious endeavors and, above all, of community affairs. Our movement looks forward to our next 70 years, still charged — still electrified — by our founder's vision and purpose. Let us remember our foundings . . . and our cherished founder. Mahalo ia 'oe, e ke Ali'i! 'O Kalaniana'ole, he inoa!