State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Director Micah Kāne, at left, presented OHA Trustees with an 'ō'ō, or a digging stick, symbolizing the new partnership between them. “The better we can work together, the more Hawaiians we can get on the land,” he said. Pictured from left are: OHA Trustees Robert Lindsey, Boyd Mossman, Oswald Stender, Chairperson Haunani Apoliona, OHA Administrator Clyde Nāmu'o, OHA Trustee Walter Heen, DHHL deputy director Kaulana Park, OHA Trustee Colette Machado, Hawaiian Homes Commissioner Donald Chang and DHHL executive assistant Robert Hall. [Click the image for a larger view.] - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

By Crystal Kua / OHA Director of Communications

After 20 years of renting, Hawaiian homesteader Tatiana Montez takes pride in owning her home in Kapolei – so much so that people compliment its model-home look.

“They said 'Oh, my God, your house should go into the Parade of Homes,' ” the 45-year-old tax preparer said with a hearty laugh.

On July 30, Montez stood in front of her pride-and-joy Kaupe'a home and waved to a bus carrying Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustees and staff who spent the day touring Department of Hawaiian Home Lands housing subdivisions and construction projects in the Kapolei-'Ewa region.

The site visit came on the heels of an announcement in June that OHA will be providing the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands with up to $3 million a year for up to 30 years to cover debt service on $40 million in revenue bonds. The bonds will be used for statewide construction projects with $5 million earmarked for planning, design and feasibility studies for community driven projects in 18 regions throughout Hawai'i.

Hawaiian Homes Commission Chairman Micah Kāne said that the visit by the OHA Trustees was an example of following up words with action in solidifying a renewed relationship between the two trusts.

“It showed a true commitment to understand what we do, what we're doing, how it's affecting people's lives and seeing it in a real way,” Kāne said.

OHA Trustees and staff tour the Kaupe'a home of Guy Kapeliela. [Click the image for a larger view.] - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

Trustees Haunani Apoliona, Walter Heen, Robert Lindsey, Colette Machado, Boyd Mossman and Oswald Stender and OHA staff started the day at the department's new headquarters, Hale Kalaniana'ole, listening to a presentation by Kāne and members of his staff on the different construction projects in the Kapolei and 'Ewa region.

After the presentation, they boarded a bus and toured the Hawaiian homes subdivisions in Kapolei – Malu'ōhai and Kaupe'a, where Montez lives.

Montez said the alliance between OHA and DHHL has been a long time coming. “I think that's excellent. Any help that DHHL can get to help more Hawaiians to get their homes is a great, great thing,” she said.

Kapolei High School principal Al Nagasako agrees that having OHA and DHHL come together will not only benefit homesteaders but their families too – including students at his school.

“It's an opportunity for these kids to get first class opportunities at education,” said Nagasako, whose school includes a growing number of Native Hawaiian students. “(Kāne's) offer of help and going in to talk with (OHA Administrator) Clyde Nāmu'o and some of the Trustees, they really begin to understand that … the partnership really works when you look at it three ways, because it's all for the same constituents.”

Nagasako said the new working relationship between the two agencies blends nicely with what his school is doing with projects such as the Mālama Learning Center.

DHHL Director Micah Kāne in Kapolei. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

“It seems like synchronicity, it's like new age – hey, maybe there's something going on there,” he said with a chuckle.

Kāne said that community members like Nagasako or Malu'ōhai Residents Association president Shirley Swinney also wants to see this new partnership thrive.

“They want to see us work closely together, and that's the glue that keeps us together,” Kāne said. “I would say I think leadership of the Trustees now is the strongest that it's ever been and I think as a result of that leadership that we can have the faith and willingness to really reach out of our comfort zone to work together.”

The tour also went by and through several construction projects in the region including work on the North-South Road, the University of Hawai'i at West O'ahu campus and future housing and commercial developments being planned by DHHL.

As a symbol of their visit, Kāne presented the Trustees with an 'ō'ō, or a digging stick.

“The 'ō'ō is the most symbolic ho'okupu that we can give somebody because it symbolizes another Hawaiian getting on the land and that's what the relationship means to us – the better we can work together, the more Hawaiians we can get on the land,” Kāne said. “The 'ō'ō is symbolic for breaking ground for new opportunities.”

At the end of the visit, Kāne said, he could envision how more doors will open for Native Hawaiians.

“I thought it was a good feeling that day. It felt like (the Trustees) were supposed to be there,” Kāne said. “It opened the door to better relationships to produce more for our beneficiaries. We serve the same people, and the better we can stretch our limited resources … the better we can serve our people.”