Blog

March 8, 2012


An Open Letter to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustees

Aloha mai e Trustees Collette Machado, Peter Apo, Oswald Stender,
Haunani Apoliona, Rowena Akana, Robert Lindsey, Donald Cataluna, John
Waihee,  and Ulu Lindsey,

Mahalo a nui loa for taking the step as the Trustees of the OHA to
hold Kawaiaha'o Church accountable for their actions in their hewa
treatment of the iwi kupuna buried in the shadow of the church.

I appreciate the letters that were written to Frank Pestana, and
copied to Kawaiaha’o Church officials stating your position regarding
the disrespectful treatment of our iwi kupuna and addressing the one
million dollar grant from the OHA trust given to the church.

As a lineal descendant of iwi kupuna buried at Kawaiaha'o Church I am
grateful for these letters and I thank you on behalf of my ‘ohana and
the hundreds of iwi kupuna who have been desecrated at Kawaiaha’o
Church.

While I have always said this issue is not about money, it would be
irresponsible of me as a lineal descendant of iwi kupuna buried at
Kawaiaha’o and a beneficiary of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs trust
if I did not remind you as OHA trustees that the one million dollars
given to Kawaiaha'o Church was used to pay for the pre-construction of
a structure that requires the excavation and desecration of more than
300 of our iwi kupuna.  300 and counting.

This is the issue.  Over 300 of our iwi kupuna in the shadow of the
alii church have been excavated with the assistance of monies from the
Office of Hawaiian Affairs trust.

As trustees that it is your fiduciary duty to hold the church
responsible for the it’s
NON-COMPLIANCE of the terms of the grant in which the church agreed
to.  It is the fiduciary duty of OHA to make every attempt to retrieve
these funds.

It is my expectation as a beneficiary that anyone who has been given
OHA monies and who has signed a contract with the Office of Hawaiian
Affairs will be held to the highest standards and ethics in fulfilling
their contractual agreement.  It is also my expectation as a
beneficiary that the trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs be
diligent in their responsibilities to the trust and its beneficiaries
and that OHA would hold itself to the highest standards and ethics in
ensuring those agreements are met on a timely basis.

Allowing the church to simply walk away without repaying these monies
would be irresponsible and in my view a breach of fiduciary
responsibility to the beneficiaries of the OHA trust.

Never forget!   Our iwi kupuna are beneficiaries of the OHA trust just
as much as those who live today.  Our iwi kupuna deserve the highest
respect and protection from those who would harm them and OHA has a
responsibility to ensure the highest protections are in place.
Funding a project that requires the excavation of our iwi kupuna is
something that OHA monies should NEVER be used for.  This is exactly
what has happened at Kawaiaha’o Church.

Holding Kawaiaha'o Church responsible includes getting the one million
dollars returned and put back into the trust.  It includes at the very
least, an attempt to get these monies returned, with an official
notice to the church that it is required to repay the one million
dollars to the OHA trust because Kawaiaha’o Church did not live up to
its own agreement. Holding the church accountable also includes
barring the church from applying or receiving any future funding from
OHA until this one million dollar debt is repaid.

OHA has fiduciary responsibility is to hold anyone who receives monies
and does not comply with terms they agreed to.  These monies should
have never allowed to be released to Kawaiaha’o when OHA found out
that our iwi kupuna were being excavated and desecrated as part of
pre-construction.

Where was the oversight for this grant?  Is OHA complicit in allowing
this one million dollar grant to go unaccounted for?  I sincerely hope
this is not the case.

I am requesting as a beneficiary of the OHA trust that OHA make every
effort to get those monies returned now that it has been made crystal
clear that the excavation of over 300 iwi kupuna at Kawaiaha’o Church
is a pre-requisite to the construction of the Multi Purpose Center for
which they received a one million dollar grant.

It is the right thing to do and it is the responsible thing to do.

I am requesting on behalf of my kupuna who are buried at Kawaiha'o and
on behalf of all the iwi kupuna who were laid to rest there that OHA
officially notify Kawaiaha’o Church of their obligation to repay the
one million dollar debt to the OHA trust.  I am also requesting
Kawaiaha’o Church not be allowed to receive any OHA funds for a
minimum of five years and not be eligible to receive any future
funding until the one million dollars is repaid.

This is your fiduciary responsibility to our iwi kupuna and to all the
beneficiaries of the trust.  It is your kuleana to ensure the proper
use of any funding from the OHA trust is used as it has been agreed to
and that any funding from OHA is NEVER used in any way, shape or form
to excavate, desecrate or harm our iwi kupuna.

It was my understanding that OHA was going to release a press
statement regarding the stand they have taken on what Kawaiaha'o has
done with our iwi kupuna and the grant monies.

To date, I have not seen anything in the media.

It is vital to let the Hawaiian community and the public at large know
that OHA has taken this important position for our iwi kupuna.  There
are many concerned family and community members who are horrified at
what is happening at the church.

We all need to know that OHA is doing something pono about this hewa.

We as oiwi, as lineal descendants of our cherished kupuna, need to
ensure this hewa NEVER happens again.

You as trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs need to hold
yourselves to the highest standard and ethics in protecting and caring
for our iwi kupuna.

Rise up.  Do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do.

I look forward seeing OHA's statement in all of the major media soon
as well as a statement in the next issue of the Ka Wai Ola o OHA.

I look forward to your reply at your earliest convenience.

DO NOT FORGET.

The digging of our iwi kupuna at Kawaiaha’o Church continues as you read this.


O wau iho no me ka mahalo,

Kamuela Andrea Kapuananialiiokama Kala'i
Ka Mo’opuna o Moses Mathew Kuaea a me Tamar Maka'ike Kuaea Me’ekapu