Submitted by Ka Leo o nā ʻŌpio

In partnership with several Native Hawaiian organizations, including Kamehameha Schools, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Papa Ola Lōkahi, the Native Hawaiian Education Council and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Ka Leo O Nā ʻŌpio (KONO) helped to put on two events that aimed to promote the importance of Hawaiian civic engagement and turnout at the polls this year.

“Walk To The Box” events were held in Honolulu and Hilo in early August. As part of the event, participants held sign-waving rallies along King Street in Honolulu and Kamehameha Avenue. Following these demonstrations, individuals proceeded to voter drop boxes to submit their Primary Election Ballot.

For many who participated, voting allows us as Native Hawaiians to voice our concerns and elect leaders who share our values.

“It’s critical that everyone exercise their right to vote,” said Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Jack Wong. “You have an opportunity to chart a brighter future for our keiki and our ʻāina by voting for those who share your values and views and who will act in alignment with those values and views.”

“As Kanaka ʻŌiwi, our culture, knowledge, and storied places exist in the future,” noted Elena Farden, Executive Director of the Native Hawaiian Education Council. “We forge ahead – not to plan – but to design our future into existence now by activating our power to choose and to vote.”

The involvement of ʻōpio was an integral part of these events. Dozens of school students on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island participated in the two events. While many were not yet voting age, they felt that the voices of young Native Hawaiians needed to be heard by those who had the power to vote.

“It is important for young Native Hawaiians to engage in these elections because if we are going to forge our future, it must begin with our present,” said Kamahaʻo Halemanu, a sophomore at Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi. “We as the youth should be engaged in this election to propel us as a lāhui forward with the leaders of the future.”

For us at Ka Leo O Nā ʻŌpio, events like these are essential because it highlights the need to improve the civic welfare of our lāhui by encouraging all members, as well as the Native Hawaiian community at large, to run for office, register to vote, learn about the issues, understand the gravity of decisions made at the polls, and cast a vote during elections.

As we look forward to the November general election, stay tuned as we plan for more “Walk To The Box” events in communities across the pae ʻāina.

Ka Leo O Nā ʻŌpio (KONO) is a collaboration of Native Hawaiian individuals and organizations dedicated to Native Hawaiian youth civic engagement. To learn more about our work, follow us on social media @opiopowered.

The post Walk to the Box 2022 appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By Hema Watson, Grade 12 Hālau Kū Mana Public Charter School

Every election season, there are conversations about Native Hawaiians’ power in electoral politics. Whether it’s the number of Native Hawaiians running for elected office or the power of the Hawaiian vote at the polls, these conversations continue to come up year after year.

With the primary election ballots arriving in our mailboxes, I wanted to share a discussion that was had on this topic in this same publication over 40 years ago.

In 1981, former House Minority Leader and OHA Trustee Kinaʻu Boyd Kamaliʻi penned an article in OHA’s Ka Wai Ola newspaper titled, “The Significance of the Hawaiian Vote.”

In the article, Kamaliʻi reflected on Hawaiʻi’s politics and Native Hawaiians’ influence in government at the time. She also highlighted that, for the first time since the territorial period, Native Hawaiians dominated political leadership in Hawaiʻi.

“Congressman Daniel Akaka, State Senate President Richard Wong, Senate Minority Leader Andy Anderson, Speaker of the House Henry Peters, House Minority Leader Kinaʻu Boyd Kamaliʻi, State Supreme Court Chief Justice William Richardson, United States District Judges Samuel King and Walter Heen are all Hawaiians. And all have assumed the positions in the last decade,” Kamaliʻi wrote.

Kamaliʻi wrote that Native Hawaiian voters “represented a crucial swing vote that could have been the margin for winning or losing an election.” She said that “if motivated and mobilized…Hawaiians could decide major elections.”

The Landscape Today

As we fast forward to Hawaiʻi’s political landscape today, Native Hawaiians only make up 11 of the 76 members of the state legislature and one-fourth of Hawaiʻi’s Congressional Delegation. There is only one Native Hawaiian serving as a federal judge, with none serving on the Hawaiʻi State Supreme Court.

While there is evident work that needs to happen at the state and federal levels to increase Native Hawaiian representation, a significant movement is being made on the various county councils.

At the Honolulu City Council, the top three leadership positions are held by Native Hawaiians – Council Chair Tommy Waters, Council Vice-Chair Esther Kiaʻāina, and Council Floor Leader Andria Tupola. In addition to Councilmember Heidi Tsuneyoshi, Native Hawaiians occupy four of the nine council positions.

On Kauaʻi, Councilmember Mason Chock serves as vice-chair of the Kauaʻi County Council.

On Maui, Natives Hawaiians hold two of the top three leadership positions. Councilmember Keani Rawlins-Fernandez serves as the Vice-Chair of the Council and Chair of the powerful Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee. Councilmember Tasha Kama serves as presiding officer pro tempore.

On Hawaiʻi Island, Councilmember Maile David serves as the council chairperson for the Hawaiʻi Island council.

With significant issues such as TMT, land rights, water rights, and more, the frustration of our Native Hawaiian communities needs to be expressed at the polls. The narrative of Native Hawaiians not being an organized voting bloc must end.

As a lāhui, we have another opportunity to make our voices heard at the polls this year. Let’s make this one count!

Ka Leo O Nā ʻŌpio (KONO) is a collaboration of Native Hawaiian organizations and individuals dedicated to Native Hawaiian youth civic engagement. To learn more about us, visit our website at www.kaleoonaopio.org or follow us on social media @opiopowered.

The post Learning From Hawaiʻi’s Electoral Past appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

E oʻu mau poʻe heluhelu mai kahakihi ā kahakihi, aloha!

This past legislative session, I had the opportunity to intern for Rep. Jeanné Kapela at the state capitol. During my time with her, I was able to conduct my own personal research and reflect about where I stand and what I’d like to do with my future.

As part of my work, I was tasked with finding bills and tracking them. I even had the opportunity to offer testimony on a few measures. I recognize that some may consider this process mundane, but it holds extreme value – especially for me and others.

This legislative session was historic for our lāhui, as we are set to receive a record amount of funding and benefits:

• $600 million was allocated to the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. This significant amount of aid will provide the support that our Hawaiian people deserve and need.
• Our education systems will be receiving a well-deserved upgrade of $10 million for fans and cooling units.
• Over $130 million will be spent on better teacher pay (with $32.5 million for teacher shortage differentials).
• $2 million to address menstrual equity in public schools.

Another major highlight of the legislative session was being able to provide my manaʻo on SB2021, a measure that would increase the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ pro rata share of the Public Land Trust revenue. When I heard SB2021 was being considered by the House, I took action and made sure to write a letter to every House member to ensure that my voice (and the voices of my peers) was heard.

That turned out to be one of the best ideas because when the bill was being debated on the House floor, Rep. Daniel Holt stood up and used part of my letter in his speech urging his colleagues to support the measure.

It felt powerful to hear my words, to hear my name recognized, and to feel our collective voice expressed through my words and Rep. Holt’s ea.

On May 3, 2022, I was able to visit the capitol to watch hundreds of bills be considered during the final reading. Ka Leo O Nā ʻŌpio (KONO) invited me and some of my peers to witness this important day in the legislative session. We learned a lot about the process and found it within ourselves to grow and find new answers.

We, as Kānaka Maoli, must make those first moves to become literate like our kūpuna, becoming educated and steady people of this land. We cannot let these high tides wash our resolve or dreams away like small grains of sand.

It may seem easy to look at my progress and applaud it – or look at it and not care – but I am a Hawaiian. I am Kanaka Maoli, a part of the Kānaka Maoli, and a part of who I am lives in this lāhui. Furthering my studies and strengthening my confidence in running this system assures my success and therefore my people’s success. Hāʻawi aku, hāʻawi mai: What you give is what you receive.

A hui hou, mālama pono!

The post My Time as an Intern at the Legislature appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By Joshua Ching

“I’m Hawaiian and I vote.”

As my eyes scanned across the sign, I couldn’t help but fixate on that phrase, beaming in white block letters. For me, what stood out was the single conjunction – “and” – that stitched Hawaiian and vote together as if they were mutually exclusive. Standing there, that qualifying conjunction prompted a nagging question to bubble in my mind.

Are Hawaiians not supposed to vote?

A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau found that roughly 47% of all Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were registered to vote. Moreover, a March 2022 report from the Biden Administration on Indigenous voting rights cited persistent poverty, redistricting, and limited access to in-person voting as key blockades to Native Hawaiian voter turnout.

It’s no question, however, that a strained relationship between the lāhui and the American government is also at the core of our limited civic engagement. A history of distrust laid on the foundations of colonialism is hard to ignore – but often is.

What I’ve found, and what most have known, is that it’s not an issue of whether or not we’re supposed to vote – it’s an issue of whether or not we’re enabled and empowered to.

Our Native Hawaiian communities face a slew of systemic issues that are in need of dire attention from our elected officials. From overrepresentation in our criminal justice system to the poisoning of our aquifers in the name of national defense, the challenges we face today hammer dividing cracks into our lāhui. But the answer isn’t to simply turn away from our systems of government, it’s to do what we can to engage with them – and I’ve seen firsthand how powerful that can be.

Over the past four years, I’ve been a legislative spokesperson for the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaiʻi’s Youth Council. We advocate for stricter regulations on the tobacco industry to curb marketing strategies that specifically target Native Hawaiian communities. In the beginning, our bills often died through backhanded political maneuvers. However, as we continued to meet with more legislators, community organizers, and other youth advocacy groups, our bills moved further along, gaining more political traction and public support.

Today, we have two bills poised to pass into law this session. Whether or not you agree with the merits of the bill, the lesson remains the same – our systems of government have the capacity to create change, even when Native Hawaiians are at the helm of those movements.

It’s a tall order to ask anyone to dedicate their time and energy to movements that can take years to come to fruition. What I ask of you, though, is to not lose hope. We have the power to create change and it can come in acts as simple as registering to vote and engaging in our civic process. Submit testimony to the state legislature and make your voice heard. If you feel drawn to it, run for your neighborhood board, the city council, state legislature, or even for Congress.

Movements don’t start overnight – they start with a single step. And perhaps it’s time to remove that conjunction, to create a world where Native Hawaiians aren’t only voters by nature, but integral cogs in our civic process.

We matter. Our voices matter. And it’s time that we are heard.

Joshua Ching is a senior at the Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Campus, where he serves as the president of the Advocacy Club, co-student body president and legislative spokesperson for the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaiʻi’s Youth Council. He is from Waikele, Oʻahu.

The post E ka Lāhui – Our Voices Matter appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By Ka Leo O Nā ʻŌpio

Youth engagement in our democracy is critical to ensuring that our next generation of leaders are prepared to take the helm in the future. More importantly, it provides a platform in which ʻōpio are able to elevate their voices and make their concerns known to the leaders who are deliberating on decisions that will affect them in the future.

Efforts to include youth in key decision-making processes have finally started to take hold here in Hawaiʻi.

At the state level, the establishment of a statewide youth commission was championed by Hawaiʻi State Sen. Stanley Chang, and it was eventually codified into state statue in 2018. This commission advises the governor and legislature on the effects of legislative policies, needs, assessments, priorities, programs, and budgets concerning the youth of Hawaiʻi.

On Oʻahu, residents voted in November 2020 to approve the creation of the Honolulu Youth Commission, whose purpose is to provide youth on Oʻahu with a voice and presence in local government.

Consisting of 15 commissioners appointed by the Mayor and the Honolulu City Council, the Youth Commission provides youth ages 14-24 with the opportunity to serve their community in one of the most dynamic and engaging levels of public government.

Similar efforts are now underway for the youth of Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi. Currently, the Maui County Council is seeking applications for its new Youth Council. This advisory body, composed of local high school students, was formally established by Council Resolution 21-199 on Dec. 3, 2022.

This Youth Council is intended to ensure that the voices of young people “are heard in county government on important issues with long-term effects.” The resolution notes that youth leaders across Maui County have already taken steps to participate in civic affairs through activities like the Global Climate Strike and ʻImi Pono Challenge, inspiring all generations to be engaged.

Maui County Councilmember Kelly King and her staff will be advising this council as they learn about the county’s legislative process, develop rules for the Youth Council, solicit policy ideas from peers, draft policy proposals, defend and critique bills, meet in the Council Chamber and ultimately, transmit approved Youth Council policy recommendations to the Maui County Council.

“The Youth Council is one way our county can prepare our young people to address complex issues,” said King. “It will equip them with the skills needed to take action and overcome the feelings of hopelessness that have impacted some youth.”

Applications for the Maui Youth Council will be accepted until May 1, 2022. For more information or to apply, visit https://tinyurl.com/MauiCountyYouthCouncil.

Ka Leo O Nā ʻŌpio is a collaboration of individuals and organizations dedicated to promoting youth civic engagement across Hawaiʻi. For more information, visit www.kaleoonaopio.org.

The post Giving our ʻŌpio a Voice in Government appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By Kainoa Azama

In this time where faith in government is at an all-time low, with poisoned water, bribery, and ongoing investigations into state and city officials, we are left with few options. Do we let the machine continue to be oiled and function to serve private interests or do we reclaim and restore faith in government?

The formation of the Honolulu Youth Commission posed a unique opportunity for our elected officials and for our youth, providing a way for youth to have a voice in government, and truly preparing us to govern. The question remains – will our officials listen to us?

The commission has worked hard to bring our voices to the forefront. We have passed a dozen resolutions including calling for revitalizing ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi through a pilot program to offer courses to employees of the city and state, creating job opportunities for youth at the city, and urging property tax caps for those living on important agricultural lands. However, our voices at the commission are only as strong as you, our fellow ʻōpio and keiki.

A challenge to our youth and to our greater lāhui is to openly discuss at home, school, and in the broader community the problems before us, and possible solutions. It is our kuleana to create an environment that cultivates greatness for all of our ʻōpio and keiki; preparing them to be critical and visionary thinkers will be essential to create the changes we need here in Hawaiʻi.

Why wait to get involved? Practice testifying now. I used to be nervous going before city and state officials at hearings, it takes a strong naʻau to do so. If youʻd like to practice getting into the groove of things before you do, then come testify before us and let us help you strengthen your voice.

My message to our youth is that we cannot represent you because you can only represent yourself. However, through sharing your views via testimony or email, we can begin to collectively find solutions. Let us learn from the current system of dysfunction, so when we come of age, we can make it into something that functions. Systemic change cannot happen with just 15 of us, we must find collective resurgence. Help inform us how we can better serve you, and together let’s find and push forward solutions because learning and making change is a kākou thing.

Kūpuna such as Mahealani Cypher often mention the need to think about the “seven generations,” a reminder that our actions today impact the future. Ramsay Taum said it best, “we are accountable to our children’s children’s children.”

The time is now for us to hold our decision-makers accountable, but does that only mean our public officials, or does it include ourselves? I hope to see and hear from more new faces and voices at our upcoming meetings, ʻauhea wale ʻoukou e nā ʻōpio, e hele mai, e haʻi mai!

To learn more about the Honolulu Youth Commission, visit https://www.honolulu.gov/yc.

Kainoa Azama is the Chair of the Honolulu Youth Commission. He is a student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and hails from Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu.

The post A Query to Our Youth appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

Na Isaac Keola Swain

Welina me ke aloha e kuʻu poʻe heluhelu. ʻO wau ʻo Keola. No Waiʻanae mai au. I kēia manawa, hele wau i ke kula nui ma Mānoa no ka hahai ʻana i ke kekele ʻike Hawaiʻi. I kekahi manawa, ua nīnau kekahi poʻe iaʻu, “He aha ka waiwai o ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi?”

I kēia kolamu, makemake wau e hāʻawi i kekahi manaʻo pili i ka hoihoi ʻana o ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. O ke kumu hoʻokahi loa, he ʻike e hoʻomaopopo ai. E like me na ʻāina ʻē aʻe, aia kekahi ʻōlelo maoli no nā kanaka i ola nei maʻō. Inā hele ʻoe i Aotearoa, ke ʻōlelo nei nā poʻe i te reo Maori. Like kēia manaʻo me na ʻāina holoʻokoʻa ma ka honua. He mea nui no ka hoʻomaopopo ʻana o na poʻe maoli.

A laila, me kō mākou mau ʻōlelo, he mau mea pilikia ma ka wā kahiko. Ua hele i ke ala hoʻi ʻole mai nā mānaleo he nui, ua pāpā ʻia ka ʻōlelo ma kekahi manawa, a ua hoʻokolonaio kō mākou ʻāina mai nā malihini. No kekahi mau makahiki, ʻaʻole hiki nā poʻe he nui ke ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

Akā, i kēia wā, ua hōʻala hou ka puana ʻana o nā kanaka maoli. Ua kūkulu mākou i kekahi mau kula no ka aʻo aku ʻana i ka ʻōlelo, o ka ulu hou ihola no ia ka hoihoi o na poʻe. Ma muli o kēia, ua hōʻala hou ka leo Hawai’i he nui! No laila, e ia kekahi mea hoihoi loa no ka ʻike e ho’omaopopo ai. Na ālaina a me na pilikia i lanakila ai ma ka wā i hala a hiki i kēia wā.

The post Ke Kumu o ke Koʻikoʻi ʻAna o ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By Isaac Keola Swain

Best regards to those of you reading this. My name is Keola and I hail from Waiʻanae. Currently, I am a student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa pursuing a Hawaiian studies degree. Recently, someone asked me this question: “What is the importance of Hawaiian language to you?”

In this column, I want to share with you my thoughts. Our language is a form of identity. Similar to other places, every native people have a language. If you were to travel to Aotearoa, you would hear Māori speaking Te Reo Māori. This can be seen all over the world. Language is critical to the identity of native peoples.

Here in Hawaiʻi, our language has faced many challenges. We’ve lost many native speakers, our mother tongue was banned, and our home was colonized by foreigners. Due to this, many of our people did not learn our language.

However, today, there is a resurgence of Hawaiian language speakers. We’ve established immersion schools that have inspired people to learn our language. The voices of Hawaiʻi have risen once again! That is why I believe the Hawaiian language is so crucial. The obstacles have been conquered both in the past and up to today.

Isaac Keola Swain is a freshman at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He is from Waiʻanae and is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.

The post The Importance of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By Madison Velasco, Grade 7 Kamehameha Schools Kapālama

TikTok is one of the most downloaded mobile apps today. Many ʻōpio (and mākua) enjoy watching dancing videos, funny moments, scary content, and more. However, there is a portion of TikTok that has informational videos on a wide range of topics. One of them being about Hawaiʻi and Hawaiian history. A lot of the content being shared about Hawaiʻi is about our gods, our culture and our food.

It is important to note that many of the people posting these things are not from Hawai’i. When asked about where they got their information, they say they learned about it from their friends who vacationed here in Hawaiʻi.

These people who talk about our culture on TikTok have spread false information about Hawaiʻi and have unintentionally (or intentionally) mocked our culture and traditions.

This is harmful to us as a people because they are romanticizing and reducing our culture to party favors. When false information is shared, people who know nothing about us will think that Hawaiʻi is a place that has no real history when that’s the exact opposite.

When people come here and believe that they know everything because a person on the internet said it was true, it really revokes the meaning and significance of our traditions.

Another harmful thing about these stories on the internet is that they wipe away a part of our history. They talk about how pretty and perfect Hawaiʻi is, yet they don’t know that our Queen was wrongfully imprisoned and overthrown.

Or they think hula is just some dance where you swing your arms like waves and shake your hips. They don’t know that hula was forbidden and our kūpuna were forced to leave their culture behind because foreigners deemed it inappropriate for them to showcase their moʻolelo through dance.

We’ve been silent for too long and we’ve allowed others to tell our stories for us. We’ve let them shift the narrative and that time of us being silent must stop now. We, as Hawaiians, should be using platforms like TikTok to showcase our stories instead of letting our colonizers do it for us.

By telling our moʻolelo in our own way, we can ensure that non-Hawaiians (who know nothing about us) aren’t spreading falsehoods about our heritage. TikTok can be used as a tool to properly educate people about who we are as a lāhui – and we must take advantage of this opportunity now.

Madison Velasco is from Pauoa, Oʻahu

The post Cultural Misrepresentation on TikTok appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.

By Jacob Aki

Nā Kamaliʻi Talk Story was created during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020. The purpose was to create a safe space for youth to come together and have discussions that were typically only done with adults. This idea stemmed from members of Oregon-based Ka ʻAha Lāhui O ʻOlekona Hawaiian Civic Club (KALO) who wanted to hear the ideas and concerns of their ʻōpio members.

“In conversations with the ʻōpio, they expressed their frustration at not having opportunities to learn about historical and cultural issues that were affecting their future,” said Kumu Hula Leialoha Kaʻula of Ka Lei Haliʻa o Ka Lokelani and a member of KALO. “Hearing those concerns, we, our club continued to meet with youth members of KALO to pitch the idea of creating Nā Kamaliʻi Talk Story.”

Excited, motivated, and without hesitation, the ʻōpio quickly began to reach out to their peers and worked to put together their first panel discussion. The first Nā Kamaliʻi Talk Story focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and featured Dr. Richard Leman (Chief Medical Officer, Oregon Health Authority), Dr. Richard Leman, Senior Epidemiologist Tila Liko, and educators Wiliama Sanchez and Steffany Wong Pacheco.

These discussions gave the ʻōpio an opportunity to ask questions about the COVID-19 pandemic and how it was affecting their education and their communities. This was just the beginning for many of these ʻōpio.

For sophomore Chloe Rodrigues, a haumana of Kumu Kaʻula, Nā Kamaliʻi Talk Story is important because she believes that it is a platform that allows her and her peers to share their voices, perspectives, and experiences.

“We have learned so much by having our questions answered by professionals, hearing their point of view, and learning from the insight they provide,” said Rodrigues. “We also have an opportunity to share our perspective with them on the issues that are important to us.”

Rodrigues and her peers recognize that platforms like Nā Kamaliʻi Talk Story provide them with the opportunity to have open and honest conversations that also help to create generational understanding and shrink the gap between kūpuna, mākua and ʻōpio. More importantly, it helps to elevate the voices of ʻōpio.

“Through Nā Kamaliʻi Talk Story, we are able to learn about the issues while also being able to be a part of the conversation,” said Rodrigues. “We no longer have to watch from the sidelines, we’re able to jump right in.”

To learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/KALOHCC.

Jacob Aki is the director of communications for the Hawaiʻi State Senate and president of Kaiwiʻula Strategies. He is from Kapālama, Oʻahu, and active in various Native Hawaiian civic organizations such as Hale O Nā Aliʻi O Hawaiʻi and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

The post Nā Kamaliʻi Talk Story: Creating Generational Understanding appeared first on Ka Wai Ola.