LEO 'ELELE - TRUSTEE MESSAGES

Aunty Ku'ulei Bell,
a legacy of aloha

Colette Y. Machado Trustee, Moloka'i and Lāna'i

This month's column is written by Valerie Monson, staunch advocate and board member of Ka 'Ohana 'O Kalaupapa. A close friend of many of the residents of Kalaupapa, Valerie shares her aloha for Aunty Ku'ulei with all of us.

Kuÿulei Bell, the Kalaupapa advocate whose powerful words earned her a standing ovation at the 2007 Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement convention, died on Feb. 8. She was 76.

I have long admired this strong woman whom I came to know as "Aunty Kuÿulei." I would very often find her at the Kalaupapa Post Office where she served the community for almost 20 years until her illness forced her to retire in 2006. Since the Post Office was a gathering place for the community, Aunty Kuÿulei was kept up-to-date of most everything going on in the settlement.

I saw another side of Kuÿulei – the powerful advocate for the rights of the people of Kalaupapa – when she became president of Ka 'Ohana 'O Kalaupapa. Ka 'Ohana is a nonprofit organization that was established in 2003 to serve as another voice for the community as residents grew older and the population grew smaller. The main goals of the 'Ohana are to make sure that Kalaupapa residents can live out their lives in their homes, guarantee that the history is accurately passed down to future generations and to reach out to include family members and descendants in our effort. I am one of 13 members of the board of directors.

Kuÿulei was born Sept. 12, 1932, in Honolulu. She was told that her father had died before her birth. When Kuÿulei was admitted to Kalihi Hospital at the age of 8 because she had been diagnosed with leprosy, she discovered that her father had been sent to Kalaupapa.

She would later learn that her grandfather and two aunties were also sent to Kalaupapa. Kuÿulei would never know any of them personally, but was determined that they would be remembered.

Despite the challenges of the disease and the social injustices that resulted from the stigma, Kuÿulei would eventually find happiness, love and marriage in her new life after she arrived in Kalaupapa in 1956. She would also evolve into a community advocate who spearheaded the first drive to set up a dialysis center in the community. Kuÿulei learned to administer dialysis to her husband, Ed Bell, and others in need.

More recently, Kuÿulei became a passionate proponent for the Kalaupapa Monument that would eventually list the names of the estimated 8,000 people who were taken from their families and exiled to the peninsula. Ninety percent of these people were, like Kuÿulei, Native Hawaiians who were more susceptible to the disease that was brought to our shores by foreigners.

In 2007, Kuÿulei gave a presentation about why she felt so strongly about the monument at the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement convention at the Hawai'i Convention Center. About 500 people were on hand for Kuÿulei's talk that ended in a standing ovation. Tears flowed as many in the audience spontaneously stood up and announced that they, too, had family at Kalaupapa who they did not want to be forgotten.

Aunty Kuÿulei will never get to see the Kalaupapa Monument, but we will press on to see her dream become a reality. The monument will recognize the enormous sacrifices made by the people of Kalaupapa and the families they were forced to leave behind. We hope the monument will give descendants a place to find healing and a sense of pride.

We will never forget you, Aunty Kuÿulei, and we will never forget all of our kūpuna who were mostly sent to Kalaupapa alone with no hope, but who rose above the tragedy to become some of the greatest citizens ever in Hawai'i.