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| Prince Kūhiō, “The Citizen Prince,” is revered for his dedication to his Native Hawaiian people. - Photo: Courtesy of Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs' Prince Kūhiō celebration committee |
Kūhiō festival adds health focus
By Lisa Asato / Ka Wai Ola
Health will be the theme of this month's annual Prince Kūhiō Festival, and it's all because festival chairman Wayne Panoke heard a startling statement about Native Hawaiians and diabetes that first infuriated him, and then prodded him to take action.
In his recollection, the statement went something like, “If you Native Hawaiians don't take control over this disease, all of this discussion that is going on about land and settlements will be for naught because there will be no Native Hawaiians.”
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| Prince Kūhiō, “The Citizen Prince.” - Photo: Courtesy of Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs' Prince Kūhiō celebration committee |
The words felt like a knife “piercing” his heart, he said. And his first reaction – after hearing it from Majken Mechling, executive director of the American Diabetes Association in Hawai'i – was how dare a non-Hawaiian say that. “But then I had to really think about what she said,” recalled Panoke. “She wasn't being sarcastic. She was really putting that plea out.”
Panoke answered the call, and this year's signature event will blend culture and health, bringing together agencies and organizations to share information related to Native Hawaiian Health at the inaugural Native Hawaiian Health Festival and Hō'ike'ike March 9 at Bishop Museum. (See sidebar.)
Organizers are also taking the theme a step further with the American Diabetes Association “Step Out” Walk on March 15 at Kapi'olani Park. “Our goal is to get out 500 Native Hawaiians to walk with us around Kapi'olani Park, and that is to make a statement that we recognize that diabetes is the leading disease that is killing our people,” Panoke said. “I'm hoping that Native Hawaiians and their families, especially the young, will take two hours of their day to come and join us.”
Although the health-awareness theme is new to the festival, it wouldn't be a foreign concept to the festival's honoree, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole. “He was also concerned with the health and wellness of the lāhui,” Panoke said. Kūhiō, the founder of Hawaiian civic clubs, a longtime Congressional delegate and father of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, was nicknamed “The Citizen Prince” for his concern for the maka'āinana.
This year marks the 90th anniversary of Kūhiō's founding of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, which produces the Holokū Ball, the festival's kick-off event on March 1 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
Sponsors of the Kūhiō Festival are the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Hawai'i Tourism Authority, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamehameha Schools, Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center, Queen's Foundation, Papa Ola Lōkahi, state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Bishop Museum and
Hawai'i Maoli.
Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole is beloved for the legacies he left behind, including founding the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu and helping create the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act as a delegate to Congress. Celebrations are planned statewide in honor of his 137th birthday on March 26.
For more information, contact chairman Kaho'onei Panoke at wpanoke@cpe-hawaii.com or 224-0868.
ALEMANAKA
PRINCE KŪHIŌ EVENTS O'AHU March 1, Holokū Ball, Royal Hawaiian Hotel Monarch Room, honors Princess Abigail Kekaulike Kawānanakoa and marks organizer Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu's 90th year. $150 person, or corporate tables. Susan Malterre-Htun, 732-2468 or hcchhb@yahoo.com. March 9, Native Hawaiian Health Festival and Hō'ike'ike, Bishop Museum, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Marks 20 years of the Native Hawaiian Health Act and honors Drs. Kalani Brady and Claire Hughes. Features health organizations, speakers, cultural demonstrations and entertainment. Free. March 15, American Diabetes Association “Step Out” Walk for diabetes around Kapi'olani Park. Pledges welcome. 7 a.m. sign in, 8 a.m. walk. Leila Pleasant, 428-9784. March 19, Prince Kūhiō Choral Concert conducted by Nola Nahulu, 6 p.m. Mission Memorial Building, next to City Hall. Free. March 22, Pualeilani Festival of the Arts, Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, 12-9 p.m. Native Hawaiian artists, cultural demonstrations and entertainment. $5 March March 26, services at Mauna'ala, the Royal Mausoleum, 9 a.m. In Kapolei, Hawaiian Home Lands Department dedicates its new office complex with a Ho'okupu Processional at 9 a.m. from Kapolei High to Hale Kalaniana'ole, where a dedication and ho'olaule'a follows, www.kapoleihomestead.com. In town, Prince Kūhiō HCC Choral Group makes a noontime presentation at the Federal Building. March 29, Prince Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole Commemorative Parade The previously scheduled lū'au on March 29 has been replaced with a Prince Kūhiō Moonlight Concert at Kapi'olani Park Bandstand, which will begin at around 6 p.m. immediately after the parade. Free and open to the public. Dinner plates prepared by various Hawaiian Civic Clubs will be available for purchase. HAWAI'I ISLAND March 22, Prince Kūhiō Day at Hale Hālāwai, Kona, 9 a.m. featuring arts, crafts, baked goods, lei contest and keiki activities. Bucky Leslie, 936-2661. KAUA'I March 29, Royal Order of Kamehameha hosts an annual celebration at Prince Kūhiō Park, Poipū, Kōloa, Kaua'i, 10:30 a.m. MAUI April 19, Royal Ball, 6 p.m., King Kamehameha Golf Club in Waikapū, honors Uncle Stanley Bega, Aunty Hokulani Holt-Padilla and Aunty Nona Beamer. $75, includes dinner, silent auction and holokū contest. Corporate tables available. Kennethy Kaui Souza, 242-8924. For more information, contact chairman Kaho'onei Panoke at wpanoke@cpe-hawaii.com or 224-0868. |
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