Big congrats to Kaleomanuʻiwa Wong who successfully presented/defended his thesis for an M.A. degree in ʻOlelo Hawaiʻi at UHM. He will "walk" this fall semester with a cohort of advanced degree hoa, including his wahine Maya Saffery (PhD in Ed), Kahikina de Silva (PhD in Political Science), and Noʻeau Peralto (PhD in Political Science). Wow; talkin' bout this g-g-generation!

Mahalo to all who helped host this event, particularly to Mahealani Cypher of our sister club, Koʻolaupoko HCC, who typically credits everyone else and takes no credit for all her work. Here's how she describes the forum:  "Enjoyed a great evening listening to 19 of the candidates for seats on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board of trustees at a forum held last night at Windward Community College. Kudos to the candidates, all of whom had interesting mana'o to share, and to moderators Amy Luersen and Melody Mackenzie, who handled a long, 3.5-hour forum smoothly and well. We especially thank the wonderful civic clubs of Windward O'ahu - Ko'olauloa, Ko'olaupoko, Kailua and Waimanalo - whose member volunteers did an excellent job organizing and providing support for the event. Maika'i!"  KHCC was represented by the above-mentioned Melody MacKenzie (Pili) and Kaʻolu Luning who, among other duties, ran the sign-in table and provided lei for all candidates. 

NOU E KALANIANAʻOLE 
Clara and Doc Burrows, our KHCC lei hulu kupuna, in what might have been the only top-down convertible in this morning's somewhat sprinkled-on Kuhio Day Parade. They rock. (As do Kalani Kaʻanaʻana and Michael Laola Tamāli'i for looking after them.)

RE: Kawainui-Hamakua Master Plan Project DEIS

Aloha Mr. Sato,

We have a saying which, in its simplest form, tells us “huli ka lima i lalo, ‘ai ka waha.” When we turn our hands down in work, we will have food to eat. The Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club tries very hard to be a hands-down organization: we hold almost all of our monthly meetings at Ulupo, and these meetings are almost always dedicated to the work of clearing, weeding, planting, tending, pruning, and – above all – honoring that sacred place. The food we eat is quite often the taro of Ulupo’s now-thriving loʻi, but even more significantly, it is the reward of knowing that we have helped to reclaim a place that feeds our souls. It causes us great pain, therefore, when we have to defend our efforts against the mostly spurious accusations of people we have never seen at Ulupo, people who do not know how its mud feels between their fingers and toes, people who do not turn their hands down in any other manner than to type unfounded nonsense into their favorite social media pages. 

We appreciate that the current Kawainui-Hamakua Master Plan Project DEIS (December 2017) carefully and thoroughly addresses the “development” issues (tourism, buildings, parking lots, privatization, commercialization, traffic, homeless, pollution, management, and enforcement) that continue to concern so many members of our often quick-to-react, slow-to-listen community. We have, in fact recommended that all of our civic club members share the letter/response section of the DEIS with their own families and associates: it addresses point-by-point, in clear and convincing fashion, the realities of the plan as opposed to its boogie-man doppelgänger. 

We especially appreciate the DEIS inclusion of our Article XII rights under the State Constitution, as well as its support of native Hawaiian cultural practices and resources as stipulated in the DSP and DOFAW core-value statements. We also appreciate, and would like to reiterate, the DEIS mention of the unanimous approval, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, of our own club’s resolution in support of the Draft Master Plan. This is not small potatoes; it represents the 58-club, 600-member voice of Hawaiians from all over our islands and the continental U.S.
 
This, then, is a letter that reaffirms our ongoing, long-term endorsement of the Kawainui-Hamakua Master Plan and its current DEIS iteration. We endorse it with hope, enthusiasm, and a deep commitment to making it work. 

We have said this before, but it bears repeating: we need to care for the bones of our ancestors. We need to honor our gods and keep their dwelling places in good order. We need to grow the food that is our older brother. We need to conduct our ceremonies, dance our dances, chant our chants, and tell our stories. And we need to teach all of this to our children and grandchildren so that they are not lost to us.

The Master Plan provides us with the opportunity for permanent presence and real stewardship. It allows us to be more than visitors in the heart of our own homeland. And this, we believe, is a right to which we are entitled and a challenge for which we are well-prepared. 

Me ka haʻahaʻa,
​
Mapuana de Silva
Club President

Kīhei put this slideshow together for the Hikaʻalani website as a nice look-back at our partnership efforts at Ulupo in the past 12 months. It doesn't show everything that was done or every group that came to learn and help, but it certainly does give a good, representative picture of how far we have come in engaging the community – the kids in particular – in the all-important work of malama ʻaina and huli ka lima i lalo. The live music (Kihei's "Mapuna ka Hala o Kailua") that accompanies the slideshow was recorded on the spot by the 7th and 8th graders of Punahou who spent the day – December 20 – as service-learner guests of Kaleo Wong and crew. 

As elected and introduced at our Nov. 26 general membership meeting. Our board of directors for the coming year: Momi Ramolete (Director), Kaʻolu Luning (treasurer), Kapalai de Silva (1st VP), Kihei de Silva (2nd VP), Maya Saffery (Director), Kalani Kaʻanaʻana (Director), Mapuana de Silva (President), Puakenamu Leong (Director), Pualani Steele (Director). Missing: Kaleo Wong (Director). And our scholarship recipients for the current school year: Brianna Marquez (Trask-Mahoe Scholarship, $1000), Michael Tamaliʻi (Rose Family Scholarship, $1000). Missing: Sierra Wong (Clara and Chuck Burrows Scholarship, $1000). Congratulations to all. -- Photos: Kalani Kaʻanaʻana.

Our KHCC resolution to preserve and protect more than 1,000 acres of Maunawili land from HRT subdivision and potential "gentleman estate" development was passed on Saturday, November 4 - one vote short of unanimously - by the assembled delegates of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its Seattle WA convention. The success of this reso can be attributed, in great part, to the efforts of its author – Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie – and her Hui Maunawili Kawainui collaborators: Oz Stender and Barbara and Deborah Pope. 

Our October 8, 2017, GM meeting was dedicated to the memory of Tom Masterson, the 1st VP of our club during the presidencies of Pohai Ryan and Ryan Kalama. We planted a puhala for Tom at the foot of the heiau (ma uka of the three springs), and Ulu Young and Sharman Elison shared stories of his time with KHCC. Tom's tree joins those of the Burrows and Durante families as kiaʻi of our efforts at Ulupo. May it grow, thrive, and hold him in our memories in the years ahead. 

17 of us met on the third Sunday of September for a productive afternoon of talk, eat (thanks again, Aunty Grace), and work. We reviewed a resolution of support for Hui Maunawili-Kawainui that we'll deliver to the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its November convention. We reviewed a letter of concern that we've sent to Bellows AFS with regard to a proposed development that threatens our iwi kupuna. And we engaged in hands-down healing of ʻaina and naʻau. Tūtū Nola Faria and her keiki crew, pictured below were the spear-tip of this effort. No such thing as paʻani wale for these little guys; they sat quietly through our meeting, ate lunch, and went straight to weed pulling and ʻopala hauling in the rocks surrounding the punawai. They are the reason we'd like to change our constitution to include a category for keiki and family membership. Put a pin in that thought, ke ʻoluʻolu.

Hikaʻalani, our partner organization at Ulupo, held its first major fundraiser on the heiau grounds on Sunday evening, August 6. Many of our KHCC members were directly involved in the event and many more had worked for two consecutive weekends at helping to prepare the grounds (particularly the springs and kukui grove) for the 100-plus guests who enjoyed "Kaʻina Mai," (the phrase means entering, proceeding, and belongs to an old chant that calls for the return of prosperity to Kawainui). Noʻeau Peralto of Hui Malama I ke Ala 'Ulili) offered the following summary of his evening at Ulupo: 

"I am humbled every time I am fortunate enough to spend time with these kupa of Kailua, Oʻahu. The depth of their love and knowledge for their ʻaina, kupuna, and our lahui has inspired me immensely since the first time I met them. Yesterday Haley and I were fortunate to again be able to witness and be inspired by the ea and aloha ʻaina they embody in their halau and ʻohana. Sharing the moʻolelo of their ʻana through oratory, hula, mele, mea ʻai, and intentional and kuleana-driven hana, the ʻohana of Hikaʻalani and Halau Mohala ʻIlima are cultivating a kipuka for the rebirth of pono in their ahupuaʻa, and in setting this example they call us to "kaʻina mai," to proceed forth on this pathway together, no ka pono o ka ʻaina a me ka lahui. Their words and actions exemplify truths of our existence today as Kanaka, that we are still here, and as Maya Saffery so beautifully put it, "our kupuna are still here, they can hear their names being said again, and they're just waiting for us to recognize them." Mahalo nui ia ʻoukou e na hoa, e Kaleomanuiwa & Maya, a me ka ʻohana HMI no ke alakaʻi ʻana mai me he huihui ʻiwa la."