The 10 a.m. ceremony at Kawaiaha'o Church was to be followed at 1:30 p.m. by an organizational meeting to fill key posts in the trustee leadership, including the chair and vice-chair positions.

Haunani Apoliona, who now chairs the board of trustees, pointed to the election of the state's first Republican governor as a signal for Hawaiians to capitalize on changing political tides.

"The paradigm of politics is shifting, and therein lies the opportunity for Native Hawaiians," she said in her address. "Political activism isn't short-lived, nor is it one-shot. We must not save political activism for only election time."

The newest board members, Boyd Mossman and Dante Carpenter, took the oath of office earlier this morning and, with the other members, received the symbol of office, a feather lei, in the investiture. They include the re-elected trustees Rowena Akana, Oswald Stender and John D. Waihe'e IV as well as incumbents Apoliona, Donald Cataluna, Linda Dela Cruz and Colette Machado.

The board appears poised to begin capitalizing on the political shift immediately. Before the ceremony, Apoliona said the board planned to send a letter by Friday to Lingle, asking her to meet campaign promises to restore revenues from ceded lands, payments by the state that were cut off after a September 2001 state Supreme Court ruling declaring the payment calculations in conflict with federal law.