Kā ka luna hoʻoponopono nota: Unuhi ʻia na Ākea KahikinaClick here to read this article in English. 

ʻO Haunani-Kay Trask, ʻo ia hoʻi kekahi hoa kākoʻo nui no ke kaiāulu Kanaka Maoli, ua hala loa ʻo ia ma Honolulu ma ke kakahiaka nui o ka Pōʻaono ma ka piha ʻana o ka makahiki he 71 iā ia. 

Ua kaulana ʻo Trask i kāna ʻōlelo ikaika loa ʻana a me kona kākoʻo mau ʻana no ke kaiāulu Kanaka Maoli, kona aloha ʻāina ʻana, a me kāna mau mea i kākau aku ai. 

“ʻAʻole kākou he ʻAmelika!” ʻī aʻe ai ʻo ia i kekahi anaina ma ka makahiki 1993 ma mua o ka hale aliʻi ʻo ʻIolani ma ka piha makahiki ʻana he hoʻokahi haneli no ka hoʻokāhuli hewa ʻia ʻana o ke aupuni Hawaiʻi. “E make ana kākou ma ke ʻano he Hawaiʻi, e mau ana nō ko kākou ʻAmelika ʻole ʻana!” 

Iā ia i make loa ai, he polopeka emeritus ʻo ia ma ke Kulanui o Hawaiʻi ma Mānoa, ʻo ia kahi āna i kōkua ai i ka hoʻokumu ʻia ʻana o Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, a ua aʻo aku ʻo ia ma laila ma nā kekeke he nui. 

ʻO Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, ʻo ia kekahi o kā ia nei haumāna a he polopeka kālaiʻāina ʻo ia, ua wehewehe ʻo ia iā Trask pēnei: “ʻo ia kekahi o nā mea noiʻi a me nā mea hoʻouluulu Hawaiʻi ma nā kenekulia 20 a 21 me ka mana nui a me ke kaulana loa i ka lehulehu.”

Ua hala ʻo Haunani-Kay Trask i kona piha ʻana i ka makahiki he 71 ma hope o ka ʻāʻumeʻume ʻana i ka maʻi ʻo Alzheimer’s. University of Hawaii photo/Brett Uprichard

Ua hoʻoulu aʻe ʻo Trask i nā kānaka mele Pasifika a ua kūʻē akula ʻo ia i nā hopena luku a ka pūʻali koa a me nā pā ʻoihana hoʻokipa malihini ma Hawaiʻi, a me ka hoʻokolonaio ʻana a me ka hoʻokiʻekiʻe ʻilipuakea, wahi a Goodyear-Kaʻōpua. 

“E noʻonoʻo aʻe ana ʻo ia no nā kekeke he nui i ke koʻikoʻi o ka hoʻihoʻi ʻia ʻana o ka ʻāina i nā Kānaka Maoli a me nā alahele e mole ai ka ʻāina i nā kālaiʻāina,” wahi āna. 

Ua ʻōlelo ʻo Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong i ko Trask hoʻoulu ʻana iā ia a me nā alakaʻi Hawaiʻi ma kēia wā. 

“I koʻu manaʻo, ʻo ia kekahi o nā kumu a me nā hoa alohaʻāina me ka ʻoi o ke kūpaʻa a Hawaiʻi i ʻike maka aku ai,” wahi a Wong. “E mau aku ana nō ka hoʻohanohano ʻia ʻana o kāna hana ma o ka nui o ka hoʻoulu ʻia ʻana a me ka hoʻomana ʻana āna i hāʻawi mai ai iā mākou, ʻo ia hoʻi nā mea a pau āna i ʻōlelo aku ai a me nā mea a pau āna i aʻo aku ai.”

Ua ʻōlelo kona kaikaina ʻo Mililani, ua hala loa ʻo Trask me ka maluhia ma kahi o ka hola 2 o ke aumoe ma kekahi hale mālama kupuna ma Honolulu ma hope o nā makahiki he nui i ka ʻāʻumeʻume ʻana i ka maʻi ʻo Alzheimer’s. 

Ua ʻōlelo ʻo Mililani Trask i ko kona kaikuaʻana ʻiʻini e hoʻomanaʻo ʻia ma ke ʻano he haku mele a he kumu ʻo ia. 

“Ke noi ʻia ʻo ia e hoʻolauna iā iā iho, ua hoʻomaka mau ʻo ia me ka ʻōlelo ʻana aku he haku mele ʻo ia, ʻo ia hoʻi he haku mele wahine Hawaiʻi ʻo ia,” wahi a Trask. “Ua kuhi akula ʻo ia i ka ʻoi o kāna hana, ʻo ia nō kāna hana e hoʻokumu ʻia ai ʻo Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies.”

Ua hānai pū ʻia lāua ma Kāneʻohe, a he loio ko lāua makuakāne, a he kumu kula aupuni ko lāua makuahine, a ua kokoke loa ko lākou wahi noho i ke awa o Kāneʻohe. Ma ko lāua wā kamaliʻi, nui ko lāua hele wāwae ʻana e ʻohi ʻia ai nā ʻōlepe a ʻo ka lawe ʻia maila nō ia o ua mau ʻōlepe nei ma nā pākeke.

ʻO Nā Mihi Honua

Ua hele ʻo Haunani-Kay Trask i ke kulanui ʻo University of Wisconsin, ʻo ia kahi āna i kōkua aku ai i ka hoʻokumu ʻia ʻana o kekahi hui kākoʻo wahine ma ke kula, wahi a kona kaikaina. Ma hope o kona hoʻi ʻana i Hawaiʻi, ua hai mua ʻia ʻo Trask e ke keʻena no American Studies ma ke Kulanui o Hawaiʻi, a mai laila aku ʻo ia e koi aku ai i kahi keʻena no nā Kānaka Maoli. 

Ua ʻōlelo ʻo Mililani Trask, ma hope pono o ka hala ʻana o kona kaikuaʻana, ua loaʻa mai nā kāhea he nui mai nā poʻe ʻōiwi ma Aotearoa, ma ʻAmasona, ma ʻAmelika ʻĀkau, ma Pokoliko, a me nā wahi ʻē aʻe me ka hōʻike ʻana aku i ko lākou mihi a me ka mahalo no kona mana a me ka hoʻoilina kaulana loa a kona kaikuaʻana no nā pono ʻōiwi ma kēia honua nei. 

“ʻO ka nui o kā koʻu kaikuaʻana hoʻoilina, ʻo ia kona kākoʻo ʻana me ka wiwo ʻole, ʻo ia hoʻi kona kūpaʻa mau loa ʻana i ko kākou poʻe a me ka moʻomeheu a me nā pono i pili,” wahi a Trask. “Ua like a like kona hoʻomaopopo ʻana i ko kākou mau moʻolelo kahiko a me kona hiki ʻana ke hoʻomaopopo i nā pilikia ʻānō e hoʻohihia i nā poʻe ʻōiwi.”

Ua kākoʻo ʻia kēia papahana e ka ʻOhana o Harry Nathaniel, Levani Lipton, ka ʻOhana Mar, a me Lisa Kleissner.

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