NŪ HOU - NEWSBRIEFS

Nū Hou

By Ka Wai Ola Staff

Commemorating her 176th birthday on Dec. 19, Kamehameha Schools dedicated a bronze statue of benefactor Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center's Royal Grove. Kahu Kordell Kekoa presided over the program, which included a rare kāhili processional, 40 members of Hawaiian royal societies, students, Kamehameha leaders Dee Jay Mailer, J. Douglas Ing and Nainoa Thompson, and representatives of The Festival Cos., the shopping center's manager and developer. Named “Ka 'Ikena Ho'oulu a Pauahi,” or “The inspired vision of Pauahi,” the statue by Kamehameha graduate Sean Kekamakupa'a Ka'onohiokalani Lee Loy Browne depicts the princess seated, denoting her humble demeanor, patience and aloha. - Photo: Courtesy of Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center

Notice list debuts

A new notification list that the federal government will use to better inform Native Hawaiian groups of proposed federal action – such as reburying iwi – made its online debut last month with seven groups, including OHA and Hawai'i Maoli, a nonprofit arm of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

The voluntary Native Hawaiian Organization Notification List will provide mailed announcements to individuals or groups. Previously, notice was published in the Federal Register. View the list and application information at www.doi.gov/ohr/nativehawaiians/list.html.

In other U.S. Interior Department news:

• The latest in satellite technology will be used to track nēnē to better understand their habitat needs, under two grants totaling about $285,000. The two-year and four-year grants were awarded to the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service.

• About 70 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists and managers attended a Dec.11-12 training session at Hawai'i Island's Mauna Lani Resort to learn about Native Hawaiian resource management, history and consultation requirements. Moderated by Dr. Emmett Aluli, the session offered mana'o from various cultural practitioners and experts, such as Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele, Kanoho Helm, Mac Poepoe, Davianna McGregor, Fred Cachola, Noelle Kahanu, Hannah Springer and OHA Trustee Walter Heen.

New OHA leadership

Walter Heen was unanimously elected 6-0 as Vice Chair of OHA's Board of Trustees at the Board's Jan. 3 meeting.

Heen, who abstained from the vote, fills the position vacated by Trustee John Waihe'e IV, who asked to step down. In a letter to colleagues, Waihe'e said he remains “steadfastly committed to the mission and leadership of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.”

Also at the Jan. 3 meeting, Chairperson Haunani Apoliona appointed Trustee Robert Lindsey as Vice Chair of the Asset and Resource Management Committee. Lindsey replaces Trustee Rowena Akana, who resigned the vice chairmanship. Waihe'e and Akana remain on the nine-member Board.

Lā'au Point EIS

The public has until Feb. 22 to submit comments on the new draft environmental impact statement for a proposed luxury development at Lā'au Point. Moloka'i Properties Ltd. released the more than 1,500-page draft EIS on Jan. 8, starting the 45-day comment period.

Moloka'i Properties is requesting the state Land Use Commission reclassify about 1,400 acres of land on Moloka'i from agricultural to rural so it can develop 200 2-acre lots for luxury homes. The landowner rescinded its previous draft EIS in November after two days of emotional testimony before the commission. Supporters say the development — part of the Community-Based Master Land Use Plan — will bring money, jobs and a return of lands; opponents say it will infringe upon the island's rural landscape and natural and cultural resources.

Mail comments to: Moloka'i Properties Ltd., 745 Fort Street Mall, Suite 600, Honolulu, HI 96813. Copies should also be sent to the State Land Use Commission, P.O. Box 2359, Honolulu, HI 96804; and to the Office of Environmental Quality Control, 235 S. Beretania St., Suite 702, Honolulu, HI 96813.

Wai'anae ocean

The public is invited to share its mana'o on a planned environmental study of the Wai'anae Coast ocean that will help determine whether to designate the coast an Ocean Recreation Management Area, or ORMA. The designation can restrict certain activities, like thrill crafts, to certain areas.

A meeting is planned for March 5 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wai'anae District Park Multipurpose Room. For more information, call William Ailā, Wai'anae Boat Harbor Master, at 697-7095.

The state Legislature in 2005 authorized the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to conduct the baseline environmental study to address safety issues and impacts on the area's traditional uses and marine life due to increased use by tourists, fishermen, whale watchers, commercial and private boaters and other ocean users. Tetra Tech EM Inc. is contracted to perform the study.

Kamehameha Schools

Kamehameha Schools in 2007 awarded $4.4 million in scholarships for youngsters to attend community preschools and $16.4 million in post-high school scholarships in the second year of its Education Strategic Plan. The institution spent a total of $250 million to serve the education needs of more than 35,000 Native Hawaiian families and children. This represents a 27 percent increase in education spending over the previous fiscal year.

School officials also said the plan has helped the institution to reach more Native Hawaiians than ever before and fulfill its mission as a private, educational and charitable trust founded by the legacy of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. The strategic plan is designed to create long-term change for Native Hawaiians of all ages through education. Under the plan, which stretches to 2015, Kamehameha has collaborated with service organizations to serve keiki statewide, particularly in predominantly Hawaiian communities.

Racist cartoon

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs called on the website “Hawai'i Reporter” to pull a racist cartoon titled “Cow Inoa” from its site, calling the cartoon a “racial slur.”

In an email to the website, OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona wrote, “Where is the humor in comparing Native Hawaiians to cows? Is 'Hawaii Reporter' saying that Native Hawaiians should be 'good cows' and sit back and 'graze' while watching opponents of Hawaiians dismantle programs that benefit the bottom-line of the State of Hawai'i by providing assistance to Native Hawaiians?”

Apoliona said Hawaii Reporter is finally showing its “true colors” and pointed out the association between Hawai'i Reporter co-founder and director Malia Zimmerman and the Grassroot Institute, which is opposed to the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, also known as the Akaka Bill.

In response to the demand, “Hawai'i Reporter” wrote that it “has had a policy of printing all editorials received, as long as they are clear and not libelous.”

Nānākuli homeless

Homeless settlers on a 4-acre section of Ulehawa Beach Park on the Leeward Coast will be ousted in early February so that planned repairs to the park's deteriorating infrastructure can proceed. In December, Honolulu City officials said the homeless will be offered a range of support services before the park's Nani Kai section is temporarily closed.

The repairs are part of a $2.5 million parks improvements and community grants package given by the City to help compensate the area for the placement of Waimānalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, O'ahu's main garbage dump. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is seeking approval from the state to expand the dump to allow it to remain open for 15 years beyond the May 2008 expiration date.

The $1 million in city grants will benefit 25 nonprofit community organizations, including $60,000 for Habitat for Humanity Leeward O'ahu for a program to build four homes for very low-income Leeward Coast families, and $20,000 for Leeward Kai Canoe Club for the Nā 'Ōpio leadership program for high school students.

Year of the Hula

Bishop Museum will offer a yearlong schedule of films, workshops, performances and lecture-demonstrations aimed at highlighting hula as a profound and compelling repository of Hawaiian culture.

As part of its “Traditions of the Pacific: The Year of the Hula” educational series, the museum will present monthly screenings of its archival films on hula, including a Feb. 12 screening of 'Iolani Luahine: Hawaiian Dancer & the Hula of Old Hawai'i, featuring one of Hawai'i's premier cultural treasures performing hula against backdrop locations ranging from remote beaches to Kīlauea Crater. Showtime is 7 p.m. at Atherton Hālau, cost is $3, and $5 for nonmembers.

A year of instructional hula sessions also kicks off on Feb. 16 with a “Kahiko to 'Auana” workshop led by kumu hula Kula Abiva. Aimed at raising awareness of all aspects of hula are several hands-on classes as well as lectures on topics ranging from oli to implement-making. For more information, log on to www.bishopmuseum.org.

Auē, ua hala

Judith Nalani Gersaba

Family, friends and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs lost a compassionate, kind and devoted community leader Dec. 10 with the passing of Judith Nalani Gersaba, who was president of the association's O'ahu Council until the time of her death. She was 61.

Judith Nalani Gersaba

“She was kind, she was strong-headed, she was very committed,” said Lynette Cruz, president of Ka Lei Maile Ali'i Hawaiian Civic Club. Gersaba, who had a strong “desire to reconnect with the ancestors, those who came before,” was also steadfast in her commitment to do what's right and what it means to be pono, Cruz said.

Gersaba was remembered Dec. 23 in a service at Mililani Mauka, with a mele oli led by cousin Manu Boyd, a eulogy by her children Raoul and Gabrielle, hula by Leimomi Khan, and memories shared by friends including Cruz and Honolulu Police Capt. Frank Fujii, with whom she worked during her 33-year career as a dispatcher and dispatch supervisor.

Gersaba and her husband George, a former policeman, visited Las Vegas four times in 2007, trips she always enjoyed. George remembers his wife as a self-taught critical thinker with “lots of compassion.” In the 1990s, she was among the first to volunteer for training in peer counseling and critical incident debriefing at HPD, which allowed her to help other employees talk through the stresses of the job.

Gersaba was a 1964 graduate of Kamehameha Schools. She is survived by George, sons Travis (Susie) Dela Cruz and Raoul (May Rose) Dela Cruz, daughters Lisa Dela Cruz-Kaho'ano and Gabrielle Gersaba, brothers Kimo Kaho'ano, Keith Kaho'ano and Patrick Parker, sisters Helene Wong and Raylene Diaz, and her mo'opuna, Hope Dela Cruz.