Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 2, 1 February 2011 — 'A WOMAN OF GREAT COURAGE AND BY FRANCINE MURRAY VISION' [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'A WOMAN OF

GREAT COURAGE AND BY FRANCINE MURRAY VISION'

The story of OHA is a story of hope. And it is one that is foreveil entwined with the life and lecacy of adelaide "frenchy" Dēsoto, the "mother of oha," who worived her way from a civil servant to the heichts of political leadership fornative hawaiians, fichtinc alonc the way for everythinc from mākua \ālley to the creation of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the return of Kaho'olawe. Adelaide Keanuenueokalaninuiamamao "Frenchy" DeSoto passed away from pneumonia at the age of 8 1 on Jan. 21 . Her husband John "Cobra" DeSoto Sr., the co-founder of Hawai'i Motorsports Association was also 81 when he passed on in 2006. A daughter and four sons, including former City Councilman John DeSoto Jr., survive them. The story of OHA started in 1977, "in the light of the bonfire," Frenchy DeSoto recalled

in Ka Wai Ola in 1991, describing her work as a member of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana and her first thoughts of an agency that would use ceded land revenue to improve the welfare of Hawaiians. She was on Mākena Beach in Maui when the Kaho'olawe 'Ohana waspreparing to illegally visit Kaho'olawe by crossing the 'Alalākeiki Channel in the cover of night. "I watched our people preparing themselves as if to go to war, and it hit me that there must be a better way to do this. I remember going to the island. Listening to the kūpuna plead through tears for some righteousness to be done to the Hawaiian people, so that we are not on our knees begging to etemity."

After the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, the United States Navy gained control of Kaho'olawe and used it for training and bombing practice. The protests of the 1970s brought awareness of the importance of the island to the Hawaiian people and culture. President Bush ended the bombing on the island in 1990, and in 1994 Kaho'olawe was returned to the State of Hawai'i. Today, the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana continues its efforts to mālama, care for the island. "Frenchy was a Hawaiian activist before it was popular," said Vicky Holt īakamine of

the 'īlio'ulaokalani Coalition, who has lobbied for Hawaiian rights for decades. "Right now, if you are called a Hawaiian activist it's not a bad thing," she said. "She was at the forefront of all the movements." DeSoto, who was a city worker, was elected a delegate to the 1978 Constitutional Convention representing Wai'anae, where she was a homesteader. The big issues at the Con Con were judicial selection, state spending limits and legislative reform. No one had Hawaiian issues at the top of their agenda, except DeSoto. "William Paty was Chairman of the Con Con," said former Gov. John Waihe'e, who was also a delegate. "He made Frenchy Chairwoman of the new Hawaiian Affairs Committee. "It was amazing because she was a very dominant force," said Waihe'e. "I don't think most people realize that every single proposal that eame out of the committee on Hawaiian Affairs passed unanimously." The hnal convention package included five Hawaiian amendments to the State Constitution: the creation of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; protection for traditional native fishing, hunting, gathering and access rights for religious and subsistence purposes; protection of ancestral lands; establishing Hawaiian and English as the state's two official languages; and strengthening the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands by allowing more flexibility and legislative funding of the department's administra-

tive costs. "The committees were huge and there was a big cross section, but she worked hard and knew how to get consensus, by the force of her personality," Waihe'e said. What started as a non-issue at the convention had heeome the 1978 Con Con's most extensive accomplishment - strides in recognizing Hawaiians and Hawaiian rights. In November of 1978, the voters of Hawai'i ratified the amendments. "That's how OHA began," said Waihe'e. Aunty Frenchy leaves a legacy for others to emulate, said Waihe'e. "I think her legacy is the challenge she leaves for the current generation of leadership to step up and move forward," he said. "What is amazing to me is how many young Hawaiian leaders she put under her wing in the past." OHA Trustee Colette Machado, who now holds the seat as Chairperson as DeSoto onee did, described DeSoto as a leader. "When you look at all that happened back then, someone had to lead the paek," said Machado. "And it had to be Aunty Frenchy because of her depth and her desire to have more for her people." Machado served on the Board with DeSoto from 1996 to 2000, and calls DeSoto one of her mentors: "She was a very direct individual, very vocal and in many ways brutally honest. These things don't go too well in a polkieal climate. However, that was the only way she knew how to lead. I characterize myself similar to her and take the history of OHA as a foundation to build upon." "The other aspect of her brilliance and her intelligence is that she was a fantastic strategist," said Machado. "She would just look at certain aspects of what she wanted to get to and figure out how she was going to do it. She didn't have many tricks, as people would think she would have had. She never had a hidden agenda. It was very simple, improve

the conditions of the Native Hawaiians, and for her it wasn't a blood quantum issue. It was for all Hawaiians." On Nov. 4, 1980, Hawaiians were able to vote for their own representatives for the first time in a century, selecting the first OHA Trustees: Peter K. Apo, Roy L. Benham, Rodney K. Burgess III, A. Frenchy DeSoto, Thomas K. Kaulukukui Sr., Moses K. Keale Sr., Joseph G. Kealoha Jr., Walter L. Ritte Jr., and A. Leiomalama Solomon. DeSoto served as the first Board Chairperson. Starting with nothing but the will of the people, the first board secured a small office in Kawaiaha'o Plaza, furnished with three pieces of military surplus furniture and one employee. "If we are to heeome successful in all of our efforts, we individually and collectively, must assume the responsibility for becoming aware," DeSoto wrote in her first eolumn in Ka Wai 01 a in 1981. " 'I no more time' is a eop out. Equally important is the need for us to learn well our history in order that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Practice our cultural values that are just as applieahle to our present-day situations as they were in the time of our kūpuna." In 2000 OHA's foundation was shaken when the U.S. Supreme court ruled that Hawai-ians-only voting in OHA elections was unconstitutional. Then-Governor Ben Cayetano declared his intention to replace the sitting OHA Board. Several lawsuits were filed ehallenging OHA's constitutionality. Faced with forced removal by Cayetano, DeSoto, then 7 1 , resigned in September 2000 followed by the other eight OHA Trustees. That year marked OHA's 20th anniversary of whieh DeSoto had served 16 years as a Trustee. OHA Trustees who worked alongside her as a Trustee describe her as a fighter with a heart of gold.

"I liked her. She was rough and tough, but she had a great big heart,' said OHA Trustee Donald Cataluna. "What stood out about her was her love for Hawaiians and her love for being pono with Hawai- a

ians. She would fight and fight, for them." Cataluna was appointed in January 2000 by Governor Cayetano to replace Trustee Moses Keale, who had passed. At a time when board meetings were known for being contentious, DeSoto readied him for it. "The very next day there was an OHA Board meeting," Cataluna recalls. "I met Frenchy before that meeting at my office and she was very niee. She said we have to go, eome.

we went downstarrs to tne meeting and sne said eome, eome irustee, 'You sit down here bv me, so when get pilikia (trouble) in here we ean

hold hands under the table." OHA Trustee Haunani Apoliona recalled DeSoto's difficult young life. "Trustee DeSoto's life was filled with challenges," Apoliona said. "She and her siblings were separated into different foster homes. She talked about running away, finding her siblings and trying in her own way to keep them together as a family, providing for them in the best way she could." Her early days were ones of struggle and survival. DeSoto worked as a one-time janitor at the Capitol and later was the Sergeant at Arms in the state Senate, whieh exposed her the politics of Hawai'i. "Her role in the 1978 Con Con is well documented and the rest of her life in politics is history," said Apoliona, adding, "Not to many people know she was a poet, and with her ability to lomi or shape words and shape thoughts she was quite eloquent. But she could also get down to the rare truth of things." OHA Trustee Oswald Stender first met DeSoto when she worked at the Legislature and he was the CEO of the Campbell Estate. "She wanted the estate to let their motorcycle club to use Campbell Estate lands at Kahuku for a motocross race," he recalls. "She was so niee, I couldn't say no. Little was I to know that this niee lady would be such a powerhouse of a person. We were friends. I liked her." Clyde W. Nāmu'o, CEO of OHA, described DeSoto as "a woman of great courage and vision. She provided leadership to the Hawaiian community at a crucial time in our history. For this I am and will always be etemally grateful." Honoring DeSoto's legacy as the patriarch of OHA, OHA Chairperson Machado said: "She was not of royal background and has no trust to carry her name, but OHA is certainly hers to claimfor time, immemorial. She is the 'Mother of OHA' because of what she was able to do." Services were planned for Feb. 2 and 3 at the Mililani Memorial Park, Mauka Chapel. ■

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MO'OLELO NUI C0VER FEATURE

Frenchy DeSoto at the podium in front of 'lolani Palaee during 0HA's Board of Trustees' inaugural ceremony on Jan. 17, ]%].-Photos: KW0Archive

OHA Trustees Haunani Apoliona (left), Colette Machado and Frenchy DeSoto, Gov. Ben Cayetano, Trustees Clayton Hee, Gladys Brandt, Hannah Springer and Aiona Abraham in the executive chambers when the Governor appointed Brandt a Trustee in 1 998.

Two revered Hawaiian kūpuna, Frenchy DeSoto an Gladys Brandt.

Members of 0HA's first Board of Trustees taking the oath of office at 'lolani Palaee in January 1 981 .