HAWAIIAN (19)

MAHALO to ALOHA HARVEST for beverage and food donations.

Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance sends a warm ALOHA for helping our non-profit organization help those in need!!

Uncle Willy, Aunty Zenaida, Keapoi, Szilard and Catherine appreciates your kokua for feeding the homeless population we service.

keapoi namakaeha

Read more…

Aloha mai kākou,If you or someone in your ‘ohana would like to go to UH Mānoa and doesn't have the 2.8 GPA or 510 SAT scores, if they don't fit that box that UH wants for guaranteed admission, please check out the College Opportunities Program (COP). Plenty of our alumni have gone on to the charter school movement and other parts of the community! It is a FREE PROGRAM - 6 FREE WEEKS IN THE DORMS IN THE SUMMER, then a 1st year freshman support program. If you pass the summer program, you enter UH Mānoa as a regular freshman in the fall. You truly get a big family to take care of you at UH - academic, financial aid, and other support. There is no age limit - anybody can apply who has a High school diploma (C/O 2010 seniors apply now), hawai'i residency, financial need, less than 12 credits in college above the 100 level, 2.0 high school gpa, and a desire and drive to go to UH but lacks the minimum requirements to get in. COP does not require SATs! The hardest part about getting in is just finishing the application process - so please push and get 'um done! They're due December 15th 2009! COP recruits people of all ethnicities that are underrepresented at UH, but there is a strong Hawaiian presence. We're going out to most schools, so ask your counselor or kumu. If you get questions or need help, please ask the COP program at 956-6186.Manawa Kūpono Native Hawaiian Scholarship is a grant-funded program that COP runs. It guarantees that half the spots in COP will be for Hawaiian students. We also wrote the grant to provide UHM tuition scholarships for students from our target schools: (O‘ahu Native Hawaiian Language/Culture focus charter/immersion schools) Ānuenue, Hālau Lōkahi , Hālau Kū Māna, Kamakau, Hakipu‘u Learning Center, (Maui County) Moloka‘i High, Hāna High, and (O‘ahu Public Schools) Nānākuli High, Kahuku High, Wai‘anae High, Kailua High, Castle High. The scholarship goes to Hawaiians going to UH both in and not in COP. Scholarship applications out in 2010.While COP and Manawa Kūpono prioritize certain communities and schools, everybody is encouraged to apply! Application link: www.hawaii.edu/copDETAILED INFORMATION BELOW:***********************************************************************************************COP INFO SHEETCOP provides an alternative pathway for individuals who desire to attend the UHM but who do not possess the minimum requirements for admission. Participants engage in an intensive 6-week summer academic and residential program focused on preparing individuals for a successful freshman year at the UHM. Participants live on-campus and enroll in classes designed to upgrade academic and social skills. There is no cost to participate in the program as room, board, textbooks, and instructional expenses are covered by COP. Participants who successfully complete the COP program requirements are admitted to the UHM in the fall semester and advance to the First-Year Academic Program.During the First-Year Academic Program, students enroll in classes on a full-time basis (12 credits), live in an on-campus residence hall, and attend group meetings and individual appointments with COP counselors. Participants benefit from “one-stop advising” at the COP office on issues related to coursework, career planning and exploration, financial aid, on-campus employment, and other concerns. The COP office also serves as a comfortable place on campus to do homework, use computers, meet friends, eat lunch, or just hang out. During the First-Year Academic Program, students are fully responsible for all of their college-related expenses.WHO CAN APPLY?Everyone is encouraged to apply; however, primary consideration will be given to applicants who meet the following criteria:1. A bona fide Hawai’i resident and U.S. citizen, national, or person holding a permanent visa,2. A high school graduate by the start of the 2010 Summer Program,3. An annual family income under 185% of the 2009 family income levels established by the Census Bureau for determining poverty status.To see if you qualify, go online to: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml4. A current high school cumulative GPA (all institutions attended) of at least a 2.00,5. Earned no more than 12 college credits above the 100-level,6. Lack the minimum requirements for guaranteed admission to the UHM,7. Represent a positive role model to communities underrepresented at the UHM.TO APPLY, SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING:1. A completed and signed COP Application Form, which may be downloaded from the COP website (www.hawaii.edu/cop). A completed application shall also include a Personal Essay and two (2) COP Recommendation Forms to be completed by a high school college preparatory class teacher and a high school grade level or college/career counselor.2. An official high school transcript with 1st quarter senior grades. If applicable, submit SAT/ACT scores and all college transcripts.3. A copy of your parent’s/guardian’s 2008 Federal Income Tax Return (Form 1040).4. A copy of your 2010-11 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Student Aid Report (SAR) by February 1, 2010. If your parents have not filed their 2009 Federal Income Tax by this date, use their 2008 Federal Income Tax information to complete the 2010-11 FAFSA. NOTE: You will need to update your SAR immediately after your parents file their 2009 taxes.APPLICATION DEADLINE: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009Application documents must be received by the COP office, or be postmarked, by the deadline.Applications that do not comply with the deadline requirements will not be considered.FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT COP2600 Campus Road • Queen Lili’uokalani Center for Student Services, Room 308 • Honolulu, HI 96822-2205Phone: 956-6186 Fax: 956-6837 • Email: copuhm@hawaii.edu • Website: www.hawaii.edu/cop*****************************************************************************************COP 2010 Application Packet.pdfCOP Poster2.pdf
Read more…

Hawaiian language articles, English translations

My great grandmother's sister was shot & killed by her 3rd husband on March 4, 1924. These two articles appeared in the Kuokoa Newspaper and were written by my great great grandmother, Emma Fern. After many long years descendants of Lui Hookano (the 3rd husband), had a friend of theirs translate it.Names are bolded when they first appear and places are underlined.Kuokoa Newspaper, HonoluluOctober 9, 1924Mr. Sol Hanohano, a big aloha to you:Please, if there is available space for my dear tearful package of love for my child, then indeed carry the sorrowful freight, and display to the outermost corners of my beloved land, from the rising of the sun in Kamukahi all the way to its setting at Lehua, for the multitude of friends of my beloved child to see.During my return and stay at Ko’olau with my grandchildren for a vacation September 15, 1922, I stayed in Wailau until February 9, 1923, and my daughter Emma L. K. Kawaha stayed with me, her mama.On February 11, Lui Ho’okano came to ask for my daughter as his wife and the suggestion was decided between them and from that time they lived happily together until April 14, 1923, when they married.The family of the man gathered, and likewise me, her mama, her children, her older sister, Perpetua Antonia Kapu’ali’ilani Silva Lachance, her brother Samuel Sapito Antony Silva, and her younger sisters Mary Kekulamanu Silva Sales, Victoria Kahilihiapo Silva Ano, Annie Sarah Kekelaonalani Silva Wood, and Agnes Mamie Kahikulani Silva.Her friends also gathered and prepared the meal, and the preacher, J. K. Paele, married them in the holiness of his profession as priest, with great joy as all the people came.After those days, they returned and lived in Mahuahale, the place Lui Ho’okano lived, not far from where we lived, and their quarreling began.Then I told Lui Ho’okano, if he couldn’t care for my child, then, I said, he could care for the children of my child. The treacherous thing nevertheless inflicted pain to the mind of his wife. If he was angry at his wife on going to a restaurant with her children to eat, there was nothing even my daughter could do. Therefore, my daughter and her children endured hunger. I had many problems meeting my child, and helping her and my many grandchildren.There was much to endure-the evil deeds of her husband and the threats from Lui Ho’okano’s mouth regarding my child, me and my many children. And for those reasons my daughter went right out to meet with the sheriff of Ko’olau, and since he couldn’t correct the issues, she sent all the way to Honolulu to Sherriff Trask, and he ordered the Ko’olau police to bring Lui Ho’okano to meet with him.The sheriff asked Lui Ho’okano to tell him if it was true that he threatened his wife; he admitted his fault, and the police strongly counseled Lui Ho’okano not to do these things to his wife again, not to continue to issue threats, and he agreed to completely stop those things, but didn’t fulfill that agreement.Lui Ho’okano revealed in front of Sheriff Trask, that he had no love for the oldest child of his wife, Antony, because he returned with me to live sometimes, and I sometimes stayed in Ho’olau; indeed, I returned to Honolulu to stay for many days. For these reasons, my child couldn’t be patient, went right to the police with these words, and my daughter was told to return to live with me.She lived with me and her younger sisters until our return to Ko’olau to live at Wailau, with my large household, my children and grandchildren, until on February 3, 1924, Lui again saw his wife, and with our thoughtless agreement, continued to torture my daughter.While Lui came to persuade his wife that they live together again, his wife said, “I agree if you stop your ideas of trouble towards me, but if we return to live together with your same ideas, pretending, because of fear of you and your threatening words, I’ll be lucky to have more months to live. Therefore, perhaps you don’t love me as your wife. Here is the thing, you urge me to return to your home to live, but for my part, I don’t want to, because you know no one else who can wash your clothes, no one who will stay home, therefore it’s not my intention to live in servitude agaiin, because you have said many times to me that I myself will be dead to you. I love my children and my mama, being only one in a multitude of her children, because your thoughts were steadfast to cause my death. For these reasons, I and my children don’t want to live together again in servitude, there is perhaps some time.” Those words my daughter spoke to her husband Lui Ho’okano.Lui said, “I am completely finished with those things that I said to you, it is right for you to agree to return and then I can search for a home for us”, those are Lui’s words heard with goodness.At that time, his wife answered, “If I return as you propose, then it is best for us to live with mama, because that house of mama’s has enought bedrooms, we could have room for us to live”.Lui refused, he didn’t want to live with happiness, “Not with your family, not with my family”, those were the words I heard between the two of them.On February 9, Friday evening, Lui arrived again to my home, with the demand again to his wife, that the two of them should go back together. The wife perhaps didn’t agree, Lui wept, pretending to howl in his loud voice - the loudness of his voice could easily be heard - and Lui continued to roar at the thought his wife perhaps refused again, his actions ignorant, thinking perhaps that therefore she would agree to return with him.Before the fifth of February, her uncle J. K. Paele visited to see the grandchildren and my daughter, in order to appeal to my daughter to end her obstinacy and return with her husband to live. My child refused in front of J. K. Paele, her uncle, “You don’t understand, but for myself, luckily I have obtained more months to live as, Lui told me. If I died what about my children”, was the reply to her uncle’s advice. “He agreed he won’t do evil to you, because the sheriff admonished him forcefully, therefore you must end those thoughts”, were J. K. Paele’s words of conversation. The reply of my child was this: “If I return again with Lui, I am afraid death would be near”.Lui Ho’okano confirmed the truth in his words of conversation to my daughter. On February 11, 1924, Lui Ho’okano fetched my daughter to return and stay in Ka’alaea to live in a rented Japanese room, in his words between the two of them, he didn’t want a lot of children, the deceitful thing - Lui Ho’okano’s child live together with him, and the children of my daughter lived with me.The morning of February 23, 1924, my daughter fetched the children to return with me to live for only one week. Then, I was happy because I kept remembering the children during the nights when I couldn’t sleep for my love, because she was separated from me. Therefore, you agreed for mama to return that evening, Lui agreed for me to return if I wanted, then I fetched the babies, that was a plot that I return from you then, happy about the babies.But the days weren’t long, the days of my child shortened. On Saturday February 23, I went to Honolulu to the doctor for my weakness, and for nine days was away from my daughter and my grandchildren, until I returned on Monday March 3 to Ko’olau with one of my daughters. My daughter was at the store with her uncle J. K. Paele when I returned the rental car. I saw someone familiar, my child, and called “Emma, mama has returned home”, and hearing I returned, she was startled to see her mama and her younger sister.Then the last sight of my daughter, in conversation with her good cousins Mrs. Victoria Kukahilihiapoaliilani Silva Ano, Miss Agnes Mamie Kahikualiilani Silva, and one of her children. Perhaps half an hour was filled with her stay with me and her cousins, until at 3:30 she was ready for her return to the place the two of them were living, and she said to me she would return to wash the babies’ clothes the next day. I agreed without thinking of a problem until early morning. The telephone rang, and my daughter Mamie Answered that call.My daughter Emma Lahelaka’akauali’ilani Silva Ho’okano, asked her cousins “Where is mama?”, her cousin replied, “Right here, I want gossip, you want mama”.I am standing, “This is mama speaking”.“This is Emma speaking, mama, Lui told me I ate with you, mama, I won’t be going to your house mama”.Therefore I asked what was the reason, I don’t understand. I ask my child, “Where is Lui?”.The answer of my child: “Here, he is right here”.My response is, “Tell Lui I want to speak to him.”I heard my child speak to Lui, “Mama wants you.”Lui’s answer was heard responding to his wife “Shut up”, heard the words from Lui’s mouth.My child replied to tell me, her mama, “Lui doesn’t want to talk to you mama” and the conversation was over.Then, after my conversation with my daughter is finished, the voice changed again - in less than ten minutes after our conversation. The telephone rang again for the second time, while I still stood there.Then there was my grandchild: “Grandma, mama is shot with a gun by Lui.”In that moment I was full of love and grief, as I hung up my telephone, called the telephone operator to give me the number to the Kaneohe courthouse. It wasn’t long before I received the answer, Mr. Aiu was the one who answered. I said I was Mrs. Fern, my daughter had died, shot by Lui Hookano. At the end of my conversation with Aiu, I called the operator again to give the number, 48557, and it wasn’t long before I received the reply...the voice of that child of mine, “This is mama, your older sister Emma is dead”. After hanging up, I called again to ask the operator to give me the Honolulu phone. Honolulu accepted, she gave me the number 79586, the operator dialed, I waited a few minutes, and got the order to insert a dime, I put it in, and the local association was there for children’s matters, and also publishing resting news: Emma had died, shot by Lui Ho’okano.After a little while my phone rang, telling me “Lui ran with the gun in his hand” -alas my trouble -”and hasn’t returned for a long time.” We saw a car, my grandchildren with an aunty of theirs came and met me and implored me to flee, not to stay in the house, because Lui had run. We drove in the car until Kaalaea, the place my daughter was shot until cruelly dead after the hatred of the man who didn’t know love for his wife. We saw it full of a crowd and a government man, Kukahilo. I asked for the police. “How can I go to see”, he said that I can go and I climbed up the house above with my daughter Mamie, until we came to the lanai and searched on a side suitable for a room, and my child was lying there. Alas my child, my grief, the love lying without being seen, aloha my child lying in blood, alas an act without love, persuading her to return again to live with him, a torturing thing to the very best, so close to death. While I was crying, Police Chief Robert W. Davis of Koolau entered and heard the call to me, “Mrs. Fern, please return to wait a little until the doctor finishes seeing her.”The doctor saw this sort of act, a torturous shooting, agitating the head of the doctor for these things: shooting without love, and this man without reason for hatred, none at all, a crime done to my daughter, killing by the hand of Lui Ho’okano. Not a siege of sickness until death follows, Lui purging his place, a disaster for the children going to school and Lui’s children, for Lui indeed inflicted continuous pain on the children and my daughter until her marriage was nothing. Therefore he killed my daughter, with her baby in her hands, the seventh of her children. The greatest thing to her were her children, abandoned after crying....For my daughter it’s not possible to come to see me. Amazing it is over. Her uncle J. K. Paele asked to return with her to Waiahole, unhealthy for me, to return with his true parent to Kalihi, to telephone Silva to fetch me and return. The trouble is, the road couldn’t be opened until five o’clock in the evening. Alas, it was from seven o’clock in the morning until five o’clock, until my beloved child, one small portion, was moved from the place the cold body of my child was left, and set upon the car.(Not finished)Kuokoa Newspaper, HonoluluOctober 16, 1924Loving thoughts of her beloved childMrs. Emma Lahelakaakaualiilani Silva Hookano(continued)I, my cousin Mrs. Kukahiko, and the friends in that place left the room of those atrocities. My child and I were in the first car behind her uncle with some of the grandchildren, the children my daughter left behind. We left Ka’alaea and turned towards Honolulu, arrived at Kaneohe, and parked the car to wait to obtain the death certificate from the agent.While I was still parked, the Harata car drove up…one of my children and her husband and children slowed and received a paper for the movement of our car, sadly acknowledging the place my child lay.“Aloha”, her voice called, “mama, Lui said she would not go again to your house, mama, and it’s true. I don’t think that will ever happen again. Aloha to the Po’aihale rain of Kahalu’u, you are sick to see Emma Lahela Kaakaualiilani again, but she has vanished from our sight for all seasons.”We arrived at the tip of Nu’uanu, saw again the Ko’olau, turned towards Honolulu, and arrived – Kahuailanawai was the name of the place, and we parked the car there. We waited half an hour to get the credential from the officer to display while driving and left that place.We arrived at the Silva place at 5:30, very happy to be away from the morgue. I stayed to wait until the Silva children returned, and met them to understand the discharge time. I asked if I could go to see my girl again and they agreed that was a good idea. I saw her with the teachers of my child, my grandchildren and their uncle also, the people accompanying from Ko’olau behind my child’s procession, and not one of the family of the husband came. And like that she was carried to her resting place in Kalihi. Saying goodbye to my child, for me and for the multitude living in Wailau, this is the end of again hearing her voice, the end of ever seeing her return to my home.My daughter was born at Kapaia, Kaua’i December 4, 1895, and died on March 4, 1924, a full thirty years and three months.Oh Kaua’i, you will never again see Emma, never again see her in your surging waves. Alas, my child loved traveling to this place.Oh Maunalua, perhaps you have seen my child Emma, going to the uplands of Kamilokapu, the beloved place my child stayed with my first-born, Mr. G. Kalailohe, who had first come here.Oh esteemed Kawaihoa, you will never again see Emma at the water’s edge of Maunalua, and likewise you Kuli’ou’ou, will never again see her traveling to the water’s edge of my beloved birthplace.Here is her mama crying at the place my child stayed with my older sisters and their husbands, Mr. And Mrs. Makea Paao and Mr. And Mrs. Mahinalau.Wailupe, where she went to search for wisdom, aloha to the place my child lived in Wailau, where we all stayed in the cool swaying of the wind of the Ko’olau. There she grasped the hand of the man, not knowing the one she loved was evil in body and pondering acts that shortened her days of living and breathing. Within her pleasure with no thought of trouble, my little girl grasped the uncompassionate hand of Lui Hookano, who took the life breath of my girl, Emma Lahela Kaakaualiilani Silva Hookano. He abandoned the cold body for me, her mother to gaze upon her, and my children and loving friends to see afterwards. Alas my sorrow!Here was the attack on my child, his wife, his object of torture. If she had heard in advance the plan of Lui, than my child would not be dead. Here she became accustomed to his threatening of her, and cruelty to me.Not one from the family of Lui came to see my daughter in her last hours until she was carried away, and put to rest with her true father, Antony Silva. With my child, my darling.Aloha to the place my child stayed in Hawaii with her husband Mr. Jos Kawaha.Aloha to the Kanilehua rain of Hilo, you will never again see my darling. You will never again soak the beloved cheeks of my child.Aloha to the home of her in-laws at Pahala, Kau, the place my daughter lived with her beloved husband Joseph Kawaha, who has already left this life. Aloha to the place my child lived for a long time with her in-laws Mr. And Mrs. J. L. K. Kawaha, of Kau, Pahala, a home that welcomed tourists arriving there, a comfortable place to stay for parents caring for children.Aloha to the place my child stayed upland of Olaa, with her cousins Mr. and Mrs. C. Warren Apela. And likewise Keaukaha, a place my child stayed with my cousins. It is finished, she has vanished from our eyes, the day had passed not to return, my beloved little child has passed away!Remember those place of the song verse:Hewn down by the sea are the pandanus trees of Puna.They are standing there like men.Like a multitude in the lowlands of Hilo.Step by step the sea rises above the Isle-of-life.So life revives once more within me, for love of you.*Alas, my child!Aloha to the low hanging breadfruit of Kalapana,The cold sun that rises at Kumukahi.The love of my child is indeed above all else.*The one that is most beloved.The lehua blossoms were braided with the maile of Panaewa,Unjustly, the face of the woman has passed on,For our love for one another was all we had.The rain only fell at Leleiwi,As it came creeping over the hala trees at Pahoa.*Alas my child!Aloha to the places my child lived,My child from the leaping cliffs of Piikea,From the waters of Wailuku where the people are carried under,Which we had to go through to get to the many cliffs of Hilo,Those solemn cliffs that are bare of people.*Aloha to the places my child went. Our time to see her again is ended, and likewise Mooeheau park, a place my child stayed to look at the amusements of that place.Alas my grief!Aloha to the sea of Alenoihaha and Pailolo, you will never again drench the body of my child, the last time to see her in your surging billows of beloved Hawaii has passed.Aloha my daughter, never to see her again.Ko’olau is made hot by the storm of love,A native land where she dwells,Partly pecked by the birds,By it’s speechless messenger, the storm,*Alas, my grief is endless.Alas my love, and for her perhaps, the places woven into these song verses:Enjoying the Kaniko’o rain of He’eia,That rain that makes the awa leaves of Moelana glitter,*Fragrant the grasses of AhulimanuBind with finger deft as the Waikaloa wind.Waikaloa, the wind that cools the air of my child,**Aloha to all the places my child has stayed.Likewise you, Kaneohe, famous at the center of Ko’olau, you will never again see my child, alas the pain remembering the things done upon the body of my child.Aloha to the zigzag roads of Nu’uanu, the place my child drove to town, and to Waipuhia and Waipuilani, you will never see her again.Kukalahale rain, you perhaps saw my child Emma as she passed the mountain ridges, Kuahine rain of Manoa, she is gone, vanished.Kewalo, you perhaps saw my child Emma, you were familiar with her, and you Kalia, she has left me to weep my alohas, never to see her again, the beloved places my child stayed with her beloved ones abandoned already, the place she lived first and had four children and one dead leaving three, and lived again with her second husband had three children, and the second husband dead, and then this husband returns one child, the baby, and my child secure into my hands beaten by Lui Ho’okano, the one not known as a loving person.My child has left her friends and children, namely my seven grandchildren, beloved children of my child.Kaimuki, perhaps you are puzzled Emma does not return to see the home of her mama, Mrs. Emma K. Fern, you will never again see your child.Lililehua rain of Palolo, you will never again dampen the cheeks of my beloved one, my daughter Emma Lahela Kaakau, alas my child, you have vanished from my eyes.She has abandoned me, her true parent, and her older sister, her brother, and her younger sisters, her family and friends grieving here, with sorrow for my child gone forever.Above all, we the family give many thanks to all the people who have come together to lament my beloved, and likewise the families and friends giving gifts of beautiful flowers for adornment, and also the friends who sent flowers for my lei, thank you so very much.Our help is from God, and He will give us His blessing and ease the pain of our sorrow and bereavement.From us with sorrow,Mrs. Emma K. FernMrs. P. A. K. S. LaChanceSamuel Sapino SilvaMrs. Mary K. S. SalesMrs. Victoria K. S. AnoMrs. Sarah A. K. S. WoodMiss Agnes M. K. SilvaNotes from the translator, not from original articles:MRS. EMMA L. K. HOOKANO - Services for Mrs. Emma Lahela Kaakau Hookano, who was shot and killed, the police allege, at her home in Kahaluu, this island, Tuesday by her husband, will be held at 4 o’clock this afternoon at the Kalihi-waena Catholic church, Kamehameha IV road. Burial will be in the cemetery of this church. Mrs. Hookano was born on Kauai and was 30 years and 3 months old.-Honolulu Advertiser, Thursday morning, March 6, 1924, page 5.*See “Legend of Halemano”, Hawaiian Antiquities & Folklore, by Elbert & Fornander**See “Anklet Song”, Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The sacred songs of the hula by Emerson.
Read more…
What is an apology...if you don't REALLY mean it?If the United States recognized their COMPLICITY in the illegal overthrow of our Internationally recognized(including the US) Independent Kingdom of Hawai'i...then why (the heck) would we even CONSIDER being 'reorganized and recognized" UNDER the same government that OVERTHREW US in the first place? Does that make ANY SENSE whatsoever?THE AKAKA BILL DOES THAT. It puts us UNDER...(not eye to eye)...the United States...and if that wasn't bad enough...it says in it that Kanaka Maoli (we are NOT native hawaiians...get used to it) will relinquish ANY AND ALL FUTURE CLAIMS against the US.COME ON YOU KANAKA MAOLI...WAKE UP! They're about to DO IT it TO US...one LAST TIME!FIGHT THE AKAKA BILL WITH EVERY BIT OF PRIDE, LOVE, AND STRENGTH YOU HAVE...or forever hold your peace!-----excerpts from the Apology Bill---------------------------------------------------------------------------United States Public Law 103-150The "Apology Resolution"Passed by Congress and signed by President William J. ClintonNovember 23, 1993President Clinton signs Public Law 103-150, the "Apology Resolution" to Native Hawaiians, on November 23, 1993, as Vice-President Gore and Hawaii's Congressional delegation look on: Sen. Daniel Inouye, Rep. Patsy Mink, Rep. Neil Abercrombie, and Sen. Daniel Akaka (L to R)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- excerpts ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------To acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the January 17, 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and to offer an apology to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whereas, prior to the arrival of the first Europeans in 1778, the Native Hawaiian people lived in a highly organized, self-sufficient, subsistent social system based on communal land tenure with a sophisticated language, culture, and religion;Whereas, from 1826 until 1893, the United States recognized the independence of the Kingdom of Hawaii, extended full and complete diplomatic recognition to the Hawaiian Government, and entered into treaties and conventions with the Hawaiian monarchs to govern commerce and navigation...Whereas, on January 14, 1893... the United States Minister assigned to the sovereign and independent Kingdom of Hawaii conspired with a small group of non-Hawaiian residents of the Kingdom of Hawaii, including citizens of the United States, to overthrow the indigenous and lawful Government of Hawaii;Whereas, soon thereafter, when informed of the risk of bloodshed with resistance, Queen Liliuokalani issued the following statement yielding her authority to the United States Government rather than to the Provisional Government:"I Liliuokalani, by the Grace of God and under the Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the Constitutional Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a Provisional Government of and for this Kingdom."That I yield to the superior force of the United States of America whose Minister Plenipotentiary, His Excellency John L. Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed a Honolulu and declared that he would support the Provisional Government."Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do this under protest and impelled by said force yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands."- Queen Liliuokalani, Jan 17, 1893Whereas, without the active support and intervention by the United States diplomatic and military representatives, the insurrection against the Government of Queen Liliuokalani would have failed for lack of popular support and insufficient arms.Whereas, in a message to Congress on December 18, 1893, President Grover Cleveland reported fully and accurately on the illegal acts of the conspirators, described such acts as an "act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without authority of Congress", and acknowledged that by such acts the government of a peaceful and friendly people was overthrown... President Cleveland further concluded that a "substantial wrong has thus been done which a due regard for our national character as well as the rights of the injured people requires we should endeavor to repair" and called for the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy.Whereas, the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States, either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum.Whereas, the health and well-being of the Native Hawaiian people is intrinsically tied to their deep feelings and attachment to the land;Whereas, the long-range economic and social changes in Hawaii over the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have been devastating to the population and to the health and well-being of the Hawaiian people;Whereas, the Native Hawaiian people are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territory, and their cultural identity in accordance with their own spiritual and traditional beliefs, customs, practices, language, and social institutions;Now, therefore, be itResolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,The Congress- apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893... and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination;- expresses its commitment to acknowledge the ramifications of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, in order to provide a proper foundation for reconciliation between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people; and- urges the President of the United States to also acknowledge the ramifications of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and to support reconciliation efforts between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"...the logical consequences of this resolution would be independence."- Senator Slade Gorton (R-Washington), US Senate Congressional RecordWednesday, October 27, 1993, 103rd Cong. 1st Sess.
Read more…

Meeting of the Minds

Aloha;Here are my thoughts on bringing our minds together....that is exactly what we need to do, but more importantly along with that we also need to bring our hearts and aloha to the tables.I have been working on what I beleive is the next step we should be taking to get our country back.Over and over we hear our kupuna and even international lawyers advises us we must come together as a people. We must first unite as a people and use the skills and values that we are so proud of to get there. It is not impossible. If we but follow what we have been taught and what we innately know as the original people of Hawai.I have designed a blog not really launched yet, but it expresses what I am thinking. I am very anxious to hear what other Hawaiians have to say about it. Please view it and comment. http://kanaka-maoli.blogspot.com/You know lokahi, kokua, kukakuka, mihi, aloha all these things are part of us and the are the tools we shoud be using to get tot he next step. Understanding and practicing lokahi will bring unity. Unity will bring strength Strength will bring respect and respect will bring recognition and that will give us our freedom. If you like what you see on http://kanaka-maoli.blogspot.com/please let me know and elts start to bring ourselves together so we can be taken seriously.We can no longer sit back and wait for someone to do it for us we must do it. It is actually very easy to design a governemnt, lets see we have how many examples? The hard part is populating the govenrment. So maybe we have been going about this backwards? Perhaps we need to bring all the people together who understand, believe and agree we should be a free country. Just people with beliefs in freedom for our people. People who have such strong belief in that concept that they are willing to work toward it together, with aloha and understanding.Think about it... A hui hou Lanakila
Read more…
Fat Tissue Growth In Rodent Models Suppressed By Turmeric ExtractCurcumin, the major polyphenol found in turmeric, appears to reduce weight gain in mice and suppress the growth of fat tissue in mice and cell models. Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA) studied mice fed high fat diets supplemented with curcumin and cell cultures incubated with curcumin."Weight gain is the result of the growth and expansion of fat tissue, which cannot happen unless new blood vessels form, a process known as angiogenesis." said senior author Mohsen Meydani, DVM, PhD, director of the Vascular Biology Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA. "Based on our data, curcumin appears to suppress angiogenic activity in the fat tissue of mice fed high fat diets."Meydani continued, "It is important to note, we don't know whether these results can be replicated in humans because, to our knowledge, no studies have been done."Turmeric is known for providing flavor to curry. One of its components is curcumin, a type of phytochemical known as a polyphenol. Research findings suggest that phytochemicals, which are the chemicals found in plants, appear to help prevent disease. As the bioactive component of turmeric, curcumin is readily absorbed for use by the body.Meydani and colleagues studied mice fed high fat diets for 12 weeks. The high fat diet of one group was supplemented with 500 mg of curcumin/ kg diet; the other group consumed no curcumin. Both groups ate the same amount of food, indicating curcumin did not affect appetite, but mice fed the curcumin supplemented diet did not gain as much weight as mice that were not fed curcumin."Curcumin appeared to be responsible for total lower body fat in the group that received supplementation," said Meydani, who is also a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. "In those mice, we observed a suppression of microvessel density in fat tissue, a sign of less blood vessel growth and thus less expansion of fat. We also found lower blood cholesterol levels and fat in the liver of those mice. In general, angiogenesis and an accumulation of lipids in fat cells contribute to fat tissue growth."Writing in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the authors note similar results in cell cultures. Additionally, curcumin appeared to interfere with expression of two genes, which contributed to angiogenesis progression in both cell and rodent models."Again, based on this data, we have no way of telling whether curcumin could prevent fat tissue growth in humans." Meydani said. "The mechanism or mechanisms by which curcumin appears to affect fat tissue must be investigated in a randomized, clinical trial involving humans."This study was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. Asma Ejaz, a graduate student who worked on this project received a scholarship grant from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.Ejaz A, Wu, D, Kwan P, and Meydani M. Journal of Nutrition. May 2009; 139 (5): 1042-1048. "Curcumin Inhibits Adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes and Angiogenesis and Obesity in C57/BL Mice. 919-925."Source:Andrea GrossmanTufts University, Health Sciences
Read more…
Cancer is obviously a very serious disease - the information posted below is not meant to incite fear, but rather to educate and empower; La'au Lapa'au provides comprehensive curative programs for all types of cancer. If you are interested in obtaining more information, please contact the 'Ahahui La'au Lapa'au.NATIVE HAWAIIANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS & CANCERSTATISTICAL CANCER FACTS FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERSNATIVE HAWAIIANS:- Native Hawaiians had the second highest overall incidence rate of cancer, and the highest age-adjusted cancer mortality rates in Hawaiiwhen compared with other ethnic groups. Cancers of the lung and bronchus, prostate, colon and rectum, and stomach, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are the five most frequently diagnosed cancers for Native Hawaiian males; for females they are cancers of the breast, lung and bronchus, colon and rectum, corpus uteri, and stomach. (6)- Hawaiian women living in Hawaii have a mortality rate 2.6 times higher than the general state population, and a national breast cancer incidence rate placing them second among all US women. (7,8)- All-site cancer mortality rates for Native Hawaiians, the largest of the Pacific Islander populations, are the second highest of all racial/ethnic groups (207.2 per 100,000 population), and closely rival those of African Americans (209.8 per 100,000 population). (8)- Native Hawaiians have the third highest breast cancer mortality rate in the nation and the highest breast cancer mortality rate in the state of Hawaii. (8)- In Hawaii, when compared with the four other major ethnic groups (Caucasian, Japanese, Chinese and Filipino), Native Hawaiian women had the highest cancer mortality rates for all cancers combined, and for cancers of the lung, liver, pancreas, breast, cervix uteri, corpus uteri, stomach, and rectum. Native Hawaiian males ranked highest for all cancers combined, and for cancer of the lung, liver, and pancreas. (8,9)- Native Hawaiians have the highest mortality rates in the Nation for cancers of the corpus uteri and stomach; second highest mortality rates in the Nation for all-cancers combined and for cancers of the lung, pancreas, and ovary; and the third highest mortality rates for breast cancer as seen in disaggregated Asian/Pacific Islander cancer data. (9)- For Native Hawaiian males, mortality rates (1976-1990) have increased 62% for all cancers. (10)- By site, the largest increases between 1976 and 1990 in mortality rates for Native Hawaiian males occurred in cancers of the colon (228%), rectum (117%), pancreas (83%), lung (74%), and prostate (117%). (10)- For Native Hawaiian females, mortality rates increased 123% for all cancers combined between 1976 and 1990 and for all cancer sites listed, particularly for cancers of the colon (134%), liver (135%), lung (293%), breast (158%), and corpus uteri (313%). (9)- Native Hawaiian women have the highest incidence and mortality rates of endometrial cancers for all US women. (8)- The percentage of Native Hawaiian males and females who die from pancreatic cancer each year is actually greater than the percentage of Native Hawaiians who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year. This implies that for many Native Hawaiians, pancreatic cancer is found only upon autopsy. (8)- While Native Hawaiian males and White males and females all have lower mortality rates than incidence rates for lung cancer, the lung cancer mortality rate for Native Hawaiian females is 2% higher than the incidence rate for lung cancer. (5)- Native Hawaiian males and females both show higher incidence and mortality rates than Whites for lung cancer - the leading cause of cancer deaths in the US. This same phenomenon is observed with colorectal cancer for Native Hawaiian men aged 55-69, and pancreatic cancer (overall), which accounts for only 2% of new US cancer cases but is more likely to lead to death than any other cancer. (8)- Overall, Native Hawaiian females have lower cancer incidence rates but higher mortality rates than their White counterparts. For example, although their uterine cancer incidence rate is lower than that for White females, Native Hawaiian females have a disproportionately higher uterine cancer mortality rate than do their White counterparts. (8)- For Native Hawaiian males, incidence rates for liver and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are lower than that for their White counterpart, but mortality rates for these cancers in Native Hawaiian men exceed that for White males. (8)- Once diagnosed with cancer, outcomes are poorer for Native Hawaiians as indicated by a 5-year relative survival rate that is 18% lower than Whites and 15% lower than US (all races) for all cancer combined. With the exception of cancers of the stomach and ovary, Native Hawaiians had lower 5-year relative survival rates for 12 other cancer sites when compared to US (all races). (9)US ASSOCIATED PACIFIC ISLANDERS:- For American Samoan males in Hawaii, the most common cancer sites are the same sites as for those in Los Angeles, whereas for females the most common cancer sites are breast, uterus, blood, cervix, and thyroid. In Hawaii, when compared with Native Hawaiians, American Samoans have a higher age-adjusted, site-specific relative risk for cancers of the nasopharynx (especially males), liver, prostate, thyroid, and a lower relative risk for cancers of the colon, rectum (especially males), lung (especially females), and breast. Compared with whites diagnosed with cancer in Hawaii, American Samoans have a higher relative risk for cancers of the nasopharynx (especially males), stomach, liver, lung (especially males), uterus, thyroid, and blood, and a lower relative risk for cancers of the colon, skin, breast, testes, cervix, bladder (especially males), and lymph nodes. (11,12)- Marshallese Islander females have higher breast and cervical cancer rates that are 5 and 75 fold, respectively, compared to overall US rates.(13)- A study of death certificates in Guam from 1971 to 1995 revealed that lung cancer accounted for one-third of all cancer deaths. (14)- With the exception of the Federated States of Micronesia, all the Pacific jurisdictions (Republic of Palau, Guam, American Samoa, Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas) listed cancer as one of the top three causes of death. (15)- Age-adjusted, sex- and site-specific cancer incidence rates were higher in virtually every category in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) compared with the US for the period 1985-1994. RMI lung cancer rates were 3.8 times higher in males and 3.0 times higher in females, cervical cancer rates were 5.8 times higher, gastrointestinal tract rates were 1.9 times higher in males and 8.5 times higher in females, breast cancer rates were 1.4 times higher, urinary tract rates were 5.8 times higher in females, oral cancer rates were 3.4 times higher in males and 1.5 times higher in females, thyroid cancer rates were 7.2 times higher in females, and liver cancer rates were an alarming 15.3 times higher in males and 40.0 times higher in females, compared with US rates. (15)- Although cancer deaths may be underreported because many Guam residents die away from home, cancer was the second leading cause of death for the years 1988-1990 and accounted for 15% of all causes of death. (16)- For the years 1989-1991, 61% of cancer deaths occurred in the Chamorro and Pacific Islander populations of Guam. Among Chamorros, the leading site was lung cancer (37%) followed by oral cavity, breast, cervix, and colorectal cancers. Men experienced considerably higher cancer mortality rates than females, and the majority of cancer deaths occurred in persons 60 years of age and older. (17)- A review of data from the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas revealed that the mean age-adjusted incidence rate for cervical cancer was nine times higher for Chamorro females (69.1/100,000) than for US Whites (7.5/100,000). For Carolinian females (151.1/100,000) the rates were 20 higher than for US Whites. (18)- In the Republic of Palau, among both men and women combined, the age-adjusted cancer incidence rate is 177.4/100,000, 201/100,000 for males, and 172.1/100,000 for females. (19)- Among the Department of Energy defined population exposed to radioactive fallout from US atomic bomb testing in the Marshall Islands, thyroid adenomas and cancer began appearing 10 years after exposure and became an acknowledged major long-term medical problem. From 1954 through 1994, 56 thyroid tumors have been identified, and of these 17 were malignant. (20,21,22)- The site-specific cancer incidence (all cancers combined) from 1985 to 1994 for Marshallese males and females is 563.2/100,000 and 883.0/100,000, respectively. The most commonly reported cancers in Marshallese men are lung and bronchus, liver, oral cavity, prostate, and digestive system cancers. For women, they are cervix, breast, lung and bronchus, urinary system, liver, and thyroid cancers. The age-adjusted sex and site-specific cancer incidence rates have been noted to be higher than the US rates for virtually every site in the Marshallese population. (13)- Data drawn from American Samoans living in Hawaii and Los Angeles County in California revealed that American Samoan males were ten times more likely to have nasopharyngeal cancer, seven times more likely to have liver cancer, and three times more likely to have stomach cancer than their White counterparts. (12)- The five most common cancers in American Samoan males in Los Angeles are lung, prostate, stomach, blood, and liver. For American Samoan females, the most common cancer sites are breast, lung, cervix, uterus, and stomach. (12)- The most common cancers in Palauan males are prostate (78.2/100,000), lung and bronchus (38.3/100,000), liver (35.5/100,000), and oral cavity and pharynx (20.8/100,000). For Palauan females, the most common cancers are cervix (38.4/100,000), breast (25.0/100,000), uterus (18.6/100,000), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (18.3/100,000), and lung and bronchus (13.1/100,000). (19)- The five most common cancer deaths for males in the Republic of Palau are liver (47.2/100,000), lung and bronchus (27.9/100,000), prostate (15.4/100,000), and oral cavity and pharynx (3.5/100,000). For females, the five most common cancer deaths are cervix (20.0/100,000), lung and bronchus (16.3/100,000), breast (11.3/100,000), uterus (8.5/100,000), and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (2.1/100,000). (19)- Cancer is the third leading cause of death in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. (20)Additional facts and information on Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander populations can be found at http://iccnetwork.org/cancerfactsREFERENCES:1. Honolulu Star Bulletin. Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders tallied. 2001 March 13; pg.1.2. US Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census. We the American Pacific Islanders. Washington, DC.: US Government Printing Office, 1993.3. Institute of Medicine. Feasley JC, Lawrence RS, editors. Pacific partnerships for health: charting a course for the 21st century.Washington DC.: National Academy Press, 1998.4. State of Hawaii, Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Native Hawaiian Data Book. Honolulu; 1999.5. Shinagawa SM, Kagawa-Singer M, Chen M, Tsark J, Palafox N, Mackura, G. Cancer registries and data for “Asian Americans” and “Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders”: What registrars need to know. Journal of Registry Management 1999; 26(4):128-141.6. Chu KC. Cancer data for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Asian American and Pacific Islander Journal of Health 1998; 6(2):130-9.7. Look MA, Braun KL. A mortality study of the Hawaiian people 1910-1990. Honolulu (HI): The Queen’s Health System; 1995; 10-11.8. Miller BA, Kolonel LN, Bernstein L, Young JrJL, Swanson GM, West D, Key CR, Liff JM,Glover CS, Alexander GA, et al., editors. Racial/ethnic patterns of cancer in the United States 1988-1992. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute; 1996. NIH Pub. No. 96- 4104. Available from: URL: http://www-seer.ims.nci.nih.gov/Publications/REPoC/9. Tsark J. Cancer in Native Hawaiians. Pacific Health Dialog 1998; 5(2):315-27.10. Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. Hawaii Tumor Registry Data Report. Honolulu HI, 1998.11. Hughes CK, Tsark JU, Kenui CK, Alexander GA. Cancer research studies in Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Ann Epidemiol 2000; 10(8 Suppl):S49-60.12. Mishra SI, Luce-Aoelua P, Wilkens LR, Berstein L. Cancer among American-Samoans: site-specific incidence in California and Hawaii. Int J Epidemiol 1996; 25(4):713-21.13. Palafox NA, Johnson DB, Katz AR, Minami JS, Briand K. Site specific cancer incidence in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Cancer 1998; 83(S8):1821-4.14. Haddock RL, Naval CL. Cancer in Guam: a review of death certificates from 1971-1995. Pacific Health Dialog 1996; 4(1):66-75.15. Institute of Medicine. Haynes MA, Smedley BD, editors. The unequal burden of cancer. An assessment of NIH research and programs for ethnic minorities and the medically underserved. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1999.16. Bach F. Cancer registration in Guam. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, 1992.17. Department of Public Health and Social Services. Annual Statistical Report. Office of Vital Statistics, Department of Public Health and Social Services, Territory of Guam, Agana, 1993.18. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Public Health (CNMIDPH). Annual Public Health Progress Report 1995. Saipan, 1995.19. Republic of Palau Ministry of Health, Bureau of Public Health. Annual Report 1997. Koror, 1998.20. Bureau of Health Planning and Statistics. Marshall Islands Vital and Health Statistics Abstracts 1992-1996. Majuro: Ministry of Health and Environment; 1997.21. Cronkite EP, Bond VP, Conrad RA. Medical effects of exposure of human beings to fallout radiation from a thermonuclear explosion. Stem Cells 1995; 13(Suppl 1):49-57.22. Howard JE, Vaswani A, Heotis P. Thyroid disease among the Rongelap and Utirik population—an update. Health Phys 1997; 72(7):190-8.Information provided by theIntercultural Cancer Council1720 Dryden, Suite PMB-CHouston, TX 77030(713) 798-4617 • (713) 798-3990 (FAX)Email: info@iccnetwork.org • Website: http://iccnetwork.org
Read more…
The PDF document below provides statistics from 2006 about the state of Native Hawaiian health in Hawai'i as compared to other ethnic groups. It is an enlightening, useful resource and reference - and we were taught that epidemic illness was a thing of the past! It also contains contacts for healthcare systems/practitioners on every island who focus on native health issues. The ‘Ahahui Lā‘au Lapa‘au may also be a helpful resource. Please join our group and add us as a friend. E mālama pono kākou.OHA DataBook 2006 - Health.pdf
Read more…
Wai'anae has more diabetes cases than rest of state, by farTuesday, September 9, 2008By Will HooverAdvertiser Staff WriterThe Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center sits at the epicenter of Hawai'i's diabetes crisis.As the primary medical facility in this disadvantaged region, it treats more Native Hawaiians than any other facility — and diabetes among Hawaiians is four times the national average. At the same time, the number of all adults on the coast with diabetes is double the statewide rate.The Wai'anae Coast also leads the state in the percentage of residents who smoke, have high blood pressure, don't exercise, and are obese — all of which compound the diabetes epidemic.The result, says Dr. Stephen Bradley, associate medical director for the center, is a catastrophic surge in people of all ages and races with diabetes on the coast. The costs are diminished lifestyles, shorter life spans and an overburdened healthcare system, he says. But as bad as things are here, Bradley knows they could get worse."There is an enormous number of undiagnosed diabetics out there," said Bradley, who worries that the epidemic could expand beyond the center's current 26,000 annual patient load and overwhelm its $38 million annual budget.Holding back the tsunami is the job of the health center, and it does so with a comprehensive array of tools that are as much down home as high tech.To be sure, the center offers the latest in clinical and medical services. But on any given day, patients might go on a supermarket tour where they learn how to choose healthy foods, visit a farmers market sponsored by the center, watch a cooking demonstration or work out in the center's gym.Still others might get a visit at home from a community health worker."Our philosophy is to treat folks in the most complete way possible regardless of their ability to pay," said Bradley.The center has focused on a two-fold preventive approach: keeping younger patients who don't have diabetes from getting it, and stabilizing patients who do have diabetes so it doesn't progress to debilitating and costly related disorders — kidney failure, blindness, leg amputations, strokes, obesity, or nerve and heart disease.Diabetes Police PatrolTusi Taumua, 50, playfully refers to herself as "The Wai'anae Diabetes Police Patrol." Actually, she is a diabetes education specialist and one of the center's traveling community health workers.With the facility's number of primary diabetes patients reaching 2,000 and rising, Taumua's workload can be heavy. On any given day she visits eight to 10 patients, sometimes more. These are home visits, and sometimes home is a tent on the beach.It doesn't matter to Taumua.A recent session at the home of Junedale Pakele on Hokuukali Street in Wai'anae was typical.Pakele, 62, was referred by her doctor because the patient's average daily blood sugar level was dangerously elevated. The doctor hoped that if Pakele better understood how diabetes affects her body, her self-management of the disease might improve.Although Pakele had a vague comprehension of diabetes, she was confused about the specifics, as well as her insulin injection procedures. Taumua outlined in simple but specific terms the causes and effects of diabetes, and the details of using insulin."Your body can adjust to having abnormal blood sugar levels for a long time," Taumua told Pakele as the two sat at a table on the patio. "The problem is that it's eating at you. The longer your blood sugars are high, even though you feel OK, the more it's not good for you."Taumua explained that the pain and numbness Pakele now feels in her legs and feet are the lasting effects of her high sugar levels throughout the past decade. Unchecked, the problems would only magnify.The better wayTaumua's initial visits can take up to two hours, with follow-up chats lasting from 45 minutes to more than an hour. Taumua bases her responses on the patient's questions and concerns, patiently reiterating her responses as many times as necessary."I don't often tell them, 'OK, you need to do this,' but I suggest that this may be a better way of doing it. It's easier for them to grasp when you do it that way."Part of Taumua's job is to explain practical and affordable ways in which patients can manage their diabetes in order to lower and maintain their average sugar levels. For example, when Pakele mentioned that Spam is one of her favorite foods, Taumua suggested boiling, not frying, a smaller portion of Spam, dicing it and mixing it with, say, cabbage and possibly other vegetables in a soup."It's not what you eat, it's how much of it you eat," Taumua told her. "Smaller portions are better."Taumua has diabetes herself. She says she tries to be diligent about managing it to set a good example."But, I'm like everybody else who likes to eat everything," she said with a laugh. "At least I know when I should really not be doing it.""Not doing it" however, goes to the heart of the diabetes dilemma in today's complex society, said Mary Francis Oneha, the center's Quality and Performance director."It's not as simple as 'Well, just do it — go and exercise this much and eat this type of food and it will be OK,'" she said."It's being able to get the right foods, having the money to get the food; it's what's easy to get that stretches the funds the furthest, and being motivated to exercise, and getting the right type of exercise that will work."Add to that time demands, work schedules, family obligations, personal problems, financial difficulties, and it's not hard to understand why so many people develop diabetes and are unable to manage it, she said.Lisa Zick-Mariteragi, nurse practitioner at the center, spends much of her time trying to help diabetes patients break down barriers to controlling disease.It's an uphill battle. Yet she sees hope. Her task is to present options and help patients make informed decisions."I tell my patients, 'You can ignore diabetes, but it will never ignore you,' " she said. "I find that when you respect people they end up making good decisions. This is an incredibly resilient community."decision-makingStill, making good decisions can be a formidable task, say Arnold and Leilani Ujimori of Ma'ili, who both have diabetes. For more than a decade the two have worked with center health providers to manage their disease — with mixed results.In the beginning, both say, they were in denial. Later, between raising a family and work, proper diet and rigorous exercise seemed out of the question.Now that they've reached the consequences stage of the disease, Arnold Ujimori, is ambivalent."I just take it in stride," said Ujimori, 51, who began giving himself insulin injections for the first time in late July. "I'm still obese, I still smoke, and I still like a drink."He admits he's done poorly when it comes to self-managing his disease. Being laid off from his plumbing job this summer has only made matters worse, he said.His wife, on the other hand, gives her own self-management effort better marks."I've been where he is," she said. "I had to go on insulin. I was taking shots two times a day."That was two years ago. Since then, she has shed more than 20 pounds through exercise and improved diet. As a consequence, she no longer needs insulin injections.Managing her diabetes remains tough, she stressed, and there's room for improvement. Still, she's pleased to be heading in the right direction.Even her husband has felt a tinge of motivation. For him, insulin injections were the wake-up call. He's talked of working out at the Comp Center gym, and paying attention to the personal trainer and nutritionist there. His goal is to eventually no longer need insulin shots.irony of exerciseOne irony associated with the diabetes crisis, said Richard Bettini, the center's chief executive officer, is that health plans are leery of paying for diet and exercise programs. Yet diet and exercise offer the best hope for bringing the epidemic under control, he said."You can give people expensive drugs to control their diabetes," said Bettini. "Or, you can get them walking and exercising and eating the right foods. That way you keep them out of emergency rooms and hospitals."To change the health plan status quo, the facility has pioneered an Innovation and Design Center dedicated to finding ways of developing diet and exercise programs that have positive, measurable outcomes.Once results can be guaranteed, health plan providers will be motivated to provide coverage for diet and exercise because it could save them money, said Bettini."That's the wave of the future."In the meantime, success against diabetes on the coast is measured in tiny steps, said Bradley."Can we get our diabetics healthier in the sense that they're not doing further damage to their organ systems?" he said. "If we can stem that a little bit by whatever we're doing — medically or nutritionally — that's a success."And if we can get some of the community aware, educated, fed better and more fit, we feel that is also successful. Because those individuals will probably not go on to develop a diabetes at a later age."At a glanceWhat: Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health CenterAddress: 86-260 Farrington HighwayEmployees: Approximately 500Annual budget: $38 millionNumber of patients annually: 26,000Programs: In addition to offering clinical and medical services, it sponsors a local farmers market, provides registered dieticians, nutritional classes, supermarket tours, a workout gym, a gardening program, cooking demonstrations, two nutrition and exercise programs for kids, and manicured walking trails (with shade trees and information kiosks stationed along the brick-laden pathways).Where to call: For information on diabetes programs call 697-3558The state's highest percentage of adults with diabetes — 15.2 percent (more than twice the statewide rate)Lowest percentage of residents with a "healthy weight" at 26.6 percentHighest percentage of obese residents statewide at 42.6 percentHighest percentage of residents who reported no leisure time physical activity at 27.7 percentHighest percentage of smokers in state at 26.2 percentHighest percentage of residents with high blood pressure at 32.1 percentO'ahu's lowest percentage of residents with health insurance at 87.1 percent.Source: State Department of Health's Behavior Risk Factors Surveillance System surveys for 2005-2007Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Read more…
Nanakuli family's struggle now spans four generationsSunday, September 7, 2008By Will HooverAdvertiser Staff WriterMonica Bell is able to remain calm and cheerful even as her legs swell and ache, and she's feeling nauseous — frequent reminders of the diabetes that has laid waste to three generations of her family and taken hold of a fourth.Like many who feel fine early on despite having diabetes, Bell paid little heed to her illness after she was diagnosed 20 years ago.No more.Today, she's going blind and diabetes rules her very life."I get sick on a daily basis," said Bell. "It's a nasty disease. It's with me at all times. It never goes away. Every day it is a challenge."Her Hawaiian family has suffered profoundly because of diabetes, and to see what it has done to them is to witness the epidemic proportions the disease has reached on the Wai'anae Coast, where Bell and her family live on Mano Avenue in Nanakuli.The disease killed Monica's father, and several of his siblings. Her mother, whose kidney failure is a result of diabetes, spends four hours three times a week attached to a dialysis machine. All three of Monica's sisters have diabetes and take daily insulin injections, as do Monica and her mother.Monica's daughter, Taryn-Courtney Bell — TC to those who know her — was diagnosed with diabetes when she was only 6. At 13, she has been on insulin injections more than half her life. And last year Monica's son, Alika, 16, was also diagnosed with diabetes.As for Bell herself, diabetes has robbed her of the ability to drive, hold a job, walk easily, or ever again enjoy a sense of well-being. The vision in her right eye is gone, and although she still has limited sight in her left eye, she's unable to focus. Even the sight she has left could eventually fade."I do think about the future," she said. "And it is scary. I think you just have to get tight control on your diabetes. You probably can't get better. But you maybe can prevent it from getting worse."Household caretakerOf those who live in the Bell household, only Monica's husband, Gino, a truck driver, does not have diabetes. But the disease has affected his life all the same and rendered him the household caretaker."Gino does everything for me and our kids," said Monica, 38, who married Gino Bell in 1992. "He's just wonderful. He has things he likes to do — he fishes and surfs. But before he does anything, he makes sure that the family is doing well."He has altered his diet to meet the improving eating habits of his family. He dashes to the store on short notice at all hours. Since Monica can no longer see to drive, Gino juggles his work schedule and takes vacation days to accommodate various doctor and dialysis appointments, eye examinations, American Diabetes Association functions, or the diabetes classes his two children attend at the Kaiser Nanaikeola Clinic every month."I'm like the backbone," said Gino, 47, who has worked 17 years for a firm that subcontracts to the military. "I've saved up a lot of hours, so I can help out, taking them here and there."He says he is grateful to be able to do it.His pleasant disposition can be a calming influence on a family often straining simply to function, according to his wife.'Lot of starches'Monica's mother, Archidalia Kawa'a, 64, frets about her fellow Hawaiians who suffer in great numbers from the disease, yet tend to be the last and least to seek treatment, because of cultural pride, shame or a lack of health insurance. By the time many do reach out for medical assistance it's often too late, she says."Diabetes is terrible," said Kawa'a. "My husband, John, had both his legs amputated because of it. He died at 59. His mother died at 49. His father died at about 54. I have diabetes. All four of my daughters have diabetes, and my grandchildren have diabetes."Furthermore, those in the community who are diagnosed in time to make a difference frequently fail to heed doctors' warnings that they should exercise, eat healthy, and manage their sugar levels, she says. Since they don't feel ill or exhibit symptoms in the beginning, they are less inclined to work out or give up fast foods and snacks."It's a way of life in Hawai'i," she said. "That's how we eat since we were young — lot of starches."Monica Bell, for instance, wasn't especially bothered when she was diagnosed in 1988 as a senior at Nanakuli High and Intermediate School. She didn't know much about the disease, and although she was overweight, she considered herself generally fit.Her concern rose after her mother was diagnosed a short time later, she says. When her father became seriously ill in the late 1990s, "it opened my eyes to what diabetes is."Still, she didn't alter her habits. By the time her father died on Christmas Day in 2002, she could no longer see well enough to drive. The following year, because of her failing eyesight and debilitating nerve damage in her legs, Bell left her job and began collecting Social Security benefits.She is stoic about the outcome."It was my own fault. I never listened. But now I'm trying to do my best because I've got to help my kids out."For her the alarm bells rang loudest when her daughter was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the kind that has stricken the rest of the family and a form of the disease once associated with older adults."She was so young," she said. "Even the doctors were surprised."pushing healthy lifestyleA genetic susceptibility associated with type 2 diabetes can be triggered by behavioral factors such as obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. There is also evidence that diabetes may run in families, according to experts.Today, Monica worries that TC and Alika won't take diabetes seriously until they're suffering from the permanent or life-threatening effects.TC tends to eat too much and not the right foods, Monica says. Alika, who is lean and trim at 5 feet 10 and 155 pounds, doesn't eat enough of anything. And for the diabetic, eating too little can be as worrisome as pigging out on fries and double cheeseburgers.So their mother pushes them both to watch their diets and take their meds."I tell them, 'You don't want to end up like me.' "To that end, she and Gino encourage TC and Alika to attend two-hour interactive diabetes classes at Kaiser Permanente's Nanaikeola Clinic in Nanakuli, where a doctor, nurse practitioner, dietitian and behavior medicine specialist guide the Bell children and two other young diabetics through the various aspects of managing their disease.While the purpose is serious, the classes are low-pressure, light-hearted affairs in which the participants prepare healthy meals, compete on computer games aimed at diabetes education, and discuss useful ways of coping with their disease.The sessions include playful physical exercises, such as a vigorous match of balloon volleyball, or no-net ping pong waged across conference room tables shoved together. Invariably, these exercises culminate in raucous balloon popping or wild ping pong ball batting, but not before everyone — clinical staff included — has had a good workout.going for the veggiesThere are even encouraging signs that some of it may be achieving the desired effect. In a recent class, dietitian Justin Miyashiro watched as the kids whipped up a batch of healthy dill dip and served it with a platter of delicately prepared celery sticks, cut carrots, and sliced mushrooms and cucumbers.Not only did Alika polish off a plate of vegetables and dip, he quietly returned for seconds, which he also finished. Likewise, TC said she enjoyed the food — "Especially the mushrooms! I like them. We've got to get some of this stuff."As the class was winding down, Miyashiro threw the discussion open to suggestions for next month's healthy meal."Portuguese sausage with eggs," piped up Alika."Is that healthy?" wondered Miyashiro."OK," replied Alika, to the laughter of all present, "Portuguese sausage and eggs — with tofu."Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Read more…

Hoʻolaʻa o ka hale pili

Ma ka la 27 o Ianuali, o ka hana hoolaa ʻia e ʻOhu Gon, Hanalei Marzan a me Mahealani Wong, no ka hale pili ma ka Hale Hawaii o ka Hale Hoʻikeʻike Bihopa.On Jan. 27th, ʻOhu Gon, Hanalei Marzan and Mahealani Wong offered oli in dedication and blessing of the Hale Pili in Hawaiian Hall at the Bishop Museum.

Ua noho malie keia hale pili kahiko, kuʻai ʻia ma Kauaʻi i ka wehena o ke Kenekulia 20 he mea palahē, ā kūkulu hou ʻia ma ka Hale Hawaii.The ancient hale pili, originally purchased in dilapidated form on Kaua'i in the early 20th century, then reconstructed in Hawaiian Hall, remained unchanged for nearly a century.

Ua ku mai nei na mea i hana ai i keia hana kukulu, na haumana o ke kula nui o Farrington, na hoahana o ka hale hoikeike, a me na ʻaʻa.The ceremony was attended by those who labored on the project, including many of the Farrington academy students, museum staff and volunteers.Ua ʻohi ka pili mai ʻo a ʻo ma Hilo a me Maui, a ua kaulaʻi maiau, a puʻolo ʻia e na haumana FarringtonPili collected from far-flung locations in Hilo and on Maui was carefully dried and bundled by the Farrington students.Ua hawele pono ʻia ka pili i ka haka oʻa hale e Kumu Pomaikaʻi Kaniʻaupiʻo-Crozier a me Alakaʻi Malia Kniatt, a me na mea ʻe aʻe. ʻO ukiuki ke kaula, ua wili ʻia ka nui e Hanalei Marzan.The grass was skillfully lashed to the house framework by Kumu Pomaika'i Kaniaupi'o-Crozier and Alaka'i Malia Kniatt, and others. The lashing cord was ukiuki, braided largely by Hanalei Marzan.

Ua hoolaa ʻia na moena a me na lako hale ko loko, e kau pono i loko o ka hale ma hope.Interior matting and furnishings were also blessed, to be installed inside hale pili, later.

He hana hauʻoli nō keia hana komo ʻapanaIt was happy work, this appointed priestly duty.E nana i na kiʻi ʻe aʻe maʻaneʻi.Look at other pictures here.
Read more…

"BE ALRIGHT"

"BE ALRIGHT" lyrics written by Mana Kaleilani Caceres, music by "Radical Rob" Onekeatrack #4 on Mana's 2nd cd "I BE HAWAIIAN" released 2007You made me send my Gods away,I've built your church, I sit and pray.You promised me a better day,and then you take my land away.Into this world you caste me,before you came I was so free,And now I fear what the future be,Afraid for my keiki.KU I KA 'IKE ka Hawaiian born,Flying oversea to fight the white mans war,Just like the cancer their greed always wants moreand this one thing we can't ignore.Sometimes I see, just how bright the future be,and if we put our differences aside, everything will be alright.One day, we'll see, a better day for you and me,and wouldn't that be a sight, when everything will be alright.I go to work each and everyday,Uncle sam take half my pay,Sometimes I feel just like a slave,With all these bills i have to pay.And then I take a look around,It's not as bad as it may sound,My family keeps me on solid ground,Nothing can ever keep me down.Sometimes I see, just how bright the future be,and if we put our differences aside, everything will be alright.One day, we'll see, a better day for you and me,and wouldn't that be a sight, when everything will be alright.I know you find it hard to believe,that Hawaiians, with all that we've achieved,can come back and rebuild a Nation,so step back for the next generation.We've tried for years and years,To overcome the hurt and tears,We need to get past all our fears,'cuz our future is now clear.Tomorrow can be what you make it,Just stand up and you can take it,Learn these words you cannot fake it,Sing along and shake it shake it.Sometimes I see, just how bright the future be,and if we put our differences aside, everything will be alright.One day, we'll see, a better day for you and me,and wouldn't that be a sight, when everything will be alright.
Read more…

"WAR"

WAR lyrics written by Mana Kaleilani Caceres, music by "Radical Rob" OnekeaTrack #1 on Mana's 2nd CD titled "I BE HAWAIIAN" released 2007Now hear me sing these words, the truth you will find, the truth shall set you free.When all is said and done, the smoke clear the air, we will stand in victory.So we gonna march and we knockin' on your door,so better be prepared 'cuz its lookin' like a war.Politics and voting isn't getting anywhere,you cannot trust the system when you know it doesn't care.Come and join the revolution, we need you to rally with me.Come and join the true Hawaiians, in the state of emergency.Look at the Hawaiian people, with no place to go.Look whats happened to these islands, no longer our home.We fight for the nation, we fight to be free.We fight for the Kingdom, home for you and me.So what you gonna do when it's time to choose a side,sit at home in comfort, or stand with Hawaiian pride?Far to many years go by while my people cry,another day of bondage and I'm asking myself why.No longer shall we look the other way.Nowhere to run and hide 'cuz it's a judgement day.No longer shall we let you steal the land.No stopping these Hawaiians who work hand in hand.Come and join the revolution, we need you to rally with me.Come and join the true Hawaiians, in the state of emergency.Look at the Hawaiian people, with no place to go.Look whats happened to these islands, no longer our home.We fight for the nation, we fight to be free.We fight for the Kingdom, home for you and me.
Read more…

We are United

I'm watching the video I just uploaded and one of the callers said something that just hit me because it's the truth:this is in regards to the discussion on GMO's which also relates to massive developments in ko Hawaii Pae Aina in that they use our land, land that they do not own, to make a profit, for just a few. That is not the Kanaka Maoli way. This is what he said, an excerpt:"they're afraid of us uniting."Too late, we already are united, we've always been united, and that is why they will never have clear title to our land and our resources in ko Hawaii Pae Aina.
Read more…

Something About Hawaii

An essay about Hawaii.HAWAIIAN.jpgHawaii is made up of many different ethnicities such as Hawaiians, Koreans, Filipinos, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Latinos. However, it doesn't matter what your background is, everyone is treated with respect. People in Hawaii share a common bond called the "Aloha Spirit." This means that Hawaii is a caring, loving, friendly community that is open to all kinds of diversities.An example of the "Aloha Spirit" is that I go to a school on Hawaii called Enchanted Lake Elementary School. Enchanted Lake consists of many different cultures such as Caucasians, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, and Latinos. It is so amazing how we all get along! We all share ideas by communicating and collaborating, and do not think about these differences between us. Our school's mission is "Enchanted Lake Elementary is a caring community of lifelong learners."Hawaii can be described as a loving, caring, open, friendly community that has always and will always be one of the better places to be. I am so fortunate to live here.
Read more…

E ʻIo e, e Kū e manu e!

I ka pule aku nei, ua hana haipule makou ma ka heiau o Mailekini, aia i lalo koke o Puʻu Koholā ma Kawaihae. Ua pule mākou, a ua hana pōhaku kekahi mau kane mai Maui mai, i alakaʻi ʻia e Francis Sinenci ko lākou poʻo. He hana hoʻopaepae hou ʻana i nā pā pōhaku heiau i naka a hina i kēlā ʻōlaʻi nui i ka makahiki aku nei. Hana makou mai ke kakahiaka nui a hiki i ka auinala, a i keia me kela ahiahi, ua haalele nā kāhuna i uka i Waimea, e moe i ke anu o ka uka, ma ka hale hoʻokipa ʻo Kamuela Inn. I mua o ka puka o ko makou mau lumi, aia ka mala pua, me na kumu laʻau nui.The other week, We did prayer duty at Mailekini heiau, just below Puʻu Koholā in Kawaihae. We prayed, and some men from Maui did the rock work, led by Francis Sinenci, their guide. This was a rebuilding of the temple stone walls that shook and fell in that great earthquake last year. We worked from the early morning until the afternoon, and every evening, the kahuna retreated upland in Waimea, to sleep in the cold of the uplands, at the Kamuela Inn. In front of the doorway of our rooms was a garden with large trees.I kekahi ahiahi, ma kēlā mala, ua kāhoa ʻia mai luna mai i kahi manu nūnū niniu loa e ka ʻio, a ma hope, ua lele malie ʻo ua manu ʻio nei i nā lālā o ke kumu lāʻau e hoʻomākaukau i kona mea ʻaina.One evening, at that garden, an unfortunate dove was struck from above by a Hawaiian hawk, and afterward, this hawk flew calmly into the branches of the tree to prepare its meal.Aia mākou ma lalo, ke kilo i luna i kēlā manu hanohano no, he ʻio uli, ʻeleʻele kona nuku a me kona mau maka, a me kona kino a pau, a koe ka umauma ʻano halakea. Ua pēpē ʻia a make ka manu nūnū e nā maiʻao weliweli o ka ʻio, i lomilomi loa ai a pau nā kaʻahili o ka nūnū i ka make. A laila, ua unuunu keia ʻio i na hulu hinahina o ka manu nūnū. Lalana i ke aheahe keia mau hulu kāpae ʻia e ka nuku ʻio, a pae i ka mauʻu i mua o mākou.There we were below, gazing above at that majestic bird, a dark hawk, black were its beak and eyes, and its whole body, except the chest, somewhat pale. The dove was crushed to death by the terrible talons of the hawk, that kept crushing until the dove's struggles were ended in death. Then, the hawk plucked the grey feathers of the dove. These feathers floated on the gentle breeze, until they landed on the grass in front of us.Ua lohe ʻia i ka haki o na iwi nūnū, iwi haki wale i ka nuku paa o ka ʻio. Mea hoopunihei ia makou. Ua haʻi au i ka ʻio: e ʻio e! e ka manu lani e! mai hopohopo oe, he mau kanaka niele wale makou, ke nānā nei i kou ʻaina leʻaleʻa. Ua luana iki ka ʻio i ko i ala hana, a ua huli i kona maka iā mākou, me he mea i pane mai la: he mea ʻole oukou naʻu, he ʻio kau i luna nō wau.The breaking of the bones of the dove was heard, bones easily broken in the hard beak of the hawk. It was a fascinating thing to us. I said to the hawk: O ʻIo! O grand bird! Donʻt be concerned, we are just some curious kanaka, watching you enjoy your meal. The hawk paused, and turned its face toward us, as a way to reply: you are nothing to me, I am a hawk perched above.He mea hoʻomanaʻo loa nō ia.Its a thing to long remember.
Read more…

Cultural Genocide

This one is far from done. I think this one will be a lifelong writing project.I was inspired to write this by listening to the song "Blood Banner" by Public Property. I find it shocking how most people find it shocking that im a 19 yr. old male living in the 21st century but yet my life is commited to Hawai'i, even if it means my death for my land.No ku'u lahui Hawai'i, e ha'awi pau, a e ola mau.Palm trees and calm seasTropical fruity drinks while basking in the oceans breezeSexy hula dancers, fire lit torches and sacred kahuna tiki'sIts paradise so drink up, smoke up, buy up...do as you please.Exploitation at its finest.Hawai'i is a vacation to you but it means more than life to meA life style, state of mind and mentalityCulture is the true essence of Hawai'i.A culture,Built beneath the foundation of our landBuilt beneath the bottom of our oceanBuilt within our na'au and birthed from the darkest of dark.It's shown through the land and oceanShown through the plants and animalsAnd lastly, shown through the people.Slaughter our culture, impose us with yoursSlaughter our people, corrupt us like yoursSlaughter our lands, build it like yoursSlaughter our waters, pollute it like yoursSlaughter our language, make us learn yoursSlaughter our values, replace it with yoursSlaughter our gods, in the name of yoursSlaughter our queen, and pretend that we're yoursSlaughter our flag, shame our poles with yoursGenocide.
Read more…