IF A 15 YEAR OLD CAN GET IT, WHY CAN'T THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS?
Here's A Letter To The Editor From The August OHA Newspaper - Ka Wai Ola O OHA -
I am 15 years old and recently did a report on our beloved Queen Lili'uokalani, and during my research I found that the Akaka Bill is totally unacceptable and a truly dishonorable way of representing Kanaka Maoli [Native Hawaiians] and our kupuna [elders] that suffered through the past 100-plus years. I protest against this bill as a Kanaka Maoli.
To think that all of the 20,000 signatures of Hawaiian people to protest the annexation was ignored. I have found my grandfather five generations back on the first page of that signature list that took me to tears. How is it that we can have so much hardship and suffering that the American government brought on to Hawai'i, and the people accept just a bill of recognition? If not for my project, I wouldn't have known what my tutu [grandparents] and all my kupuna endured. It's sad and heartaching, but not forgotten. I hope everyone speaks and in the same sense is heard, because I am fortunate to learn what I know at such a young age. I say, "Imua Kanaka Maoli."
Beka Kahawai
Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i
