COMMENTARY
The gifts of the ali'i to their people should be honored
By Na 'Ahu 'Ula
Every other Thursday since his wife died of cancer last year, Victor Kukahiwa and his three children have gone to the Queen Lili'uokalani Center in Kane'ohe for grief counseling classes. Victor's children are always ready to go; no matter how tired he is, he never says no. The counseling has helped his children heal.
And so a bequest from a queen, more than 100 years after her death, is still providing for Hawaiian healing.
Along with two of her ali'i contemporaries, Queen Lili'uokalani put her assets in a perpetual trust to care for Hawaiians. These ali'i had all grown up together in the mid-1800s as their people were losing their lives to disease, losing their language and losing their culture. And so they acted in concert, creating trusts meant to protect the Hawaiian people in perpetuity from childhood into their twilight years.
King William Charles Lunalilo took care of the kupuna, establishing the Lunalilo Home. Queen Lili'uokalani provided for the needs of orphaned and indigent children, and Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop established the Kamehameha Schools. Between them, these ali'i took responsibility for the elderly, children and education. Separately, each trust improves well-being in one way; together, they improve the well-being of the whole person. That was the vision of the ali'i.
All of us are nonprofits. All of us have policies of preference for Hawaiians. One of us, Kamehameha Schools, is defending its preference policy in court. We view this attack on one of us as an attack on us all. All of us were created to restore the well-being of Hawaiians that was so badly damaged at the time our ali'i made their bequests. All of us have been working toward that for more than a century. And all of us have more work to do.
Thirty-five adults live full-time at Lunalilo Home today; many others participate in daytime elder care programs or take advantage of its meals-on-wheels service.
The Queen Lili'uokalani Trust serves 9,000 children annually. It helps families raise healthy, resilient children at 10 sites around the Islands that offer classes on youth leadership and cultural awareness in addition to grief support.
Kamehameha Schools provides educational services for 16,000 children — through campus programs, scholarships and outreach efforts.
We look upon all these programs with great satisfaction, but we know there are many more of our people to serve. We also know that as we improve the well-being of Hawaiians, our entire society benefits. Strong, healthy and educated children become solid contributors to our society. Taking care of our kupuna, the elders, is a responsibility we all share. In summary, we care for people in our own land, with our own resources, and we have always done so.
Victor Kukahiwa sees the broader benefits, too. He and his children participate in as many of their center's events as possible. His daughter attends fashion classes for teenagers. His children made ceramics pieces that were sold at a QLT fund-raiser. He says the center has given his children a structure that gives them the confidence they need to succeed.
The Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center is now their 'ohana, just as the queen hoped it would be.
These trusts were needed more than a century ago. They are still needed today. In support of our programs, we seek the support of our Hawaiian people and our entire community.
Na 'Ahu 'Ula is a hui of The Queen Lili'uokalani Trust, the William Charles Lunalilo Trust Estate and the Kamehameha Schools.
