[Senate Hearing 117-318]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       S. Hrg. 117-318

                      UPHOLDING THE FEDERAL TRUST 
                  RESPONSIBILITY: FUNDING AND PROGRAM 
                   ACCESS FOR INNOVATION FOR NATIVE 
                         HAWAIIANS_PART 1 AND 2

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                      COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                           JUNE 1 and 2, 2022

                               __________

         Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs

[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
48-137 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
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                      COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

                     BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii, Chairman
                 LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska, Vice Chairman
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
JON TESTER, Montana                  JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada       STEVE DAINES, Montana
TINA SMITH, Minnesota                MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            JERRY MORAN, Kansas
       Jennifer Romero, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
        Lucy Murfitt, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
                            
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

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                                                                   Page
Field hearing held on June 1 and 2, 2022.........................     1
Statement of Senator Schatz......................................     1

                               Witnesses

June 1, 2022.....................................................

Aila, Jr., William J., Chairman, Hawaiian Homes Commission.......    15
    Prepared statement...........................................    18
Daniels, Sheri-Ann, Ed.D., Chief Executive Officer, Papa Ola 
  LoKahi.........................................................    35
    Prepared statement...........................................    38
Farden, Elena, Executive Director, Native Hawaiian Education 
  Council........................................................    55
    Prepared statement...........................................    58
Lee, Winona Kaalouahi, M.D., Associate Chair, Medical Education, 
  Department of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. Burns School of 
  Medicine, University of Hawai'i................................    44
    Prepared statement...........................................    46
Lewis, Kuhio, President/CEO, Council for Native Hawaiian 
  Advancement....................................................    24
    Prepared statement...........................................    25
Lindsey, Hon. Carmen ``Hulu'', Chair, Board of Trustees, Office 
  of Hawaiian Affairs............................................     2
    Prepared statement...........................................     4

June 2, 2022.....................................................

Statement of Senator Schatz......................................    71

Kalili, Amy, Partner, Pilina First LLP...........................   100
    Prepared statement...........................................   104
Kawai'ae'a, Keiki, Ph.D., Director, Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikoLani 
  College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai`i......    93
    Prepared statement...........................................    96
Kawelu, Luana, Director, Merrie Monarch Festival.................   115
    Prepared statement...........................................   119
Lincoln, Noa Kekuewa, Ph.D., Advisor, Hawai`i `Ulu Cooperative; 
  President, MaLa Kalu`ulu Cooperative; and Associate Research 
  Professor, University of Hawai`i...............................   120
    Prepared statement...........................................   123
Nae`ole-Wong, KaHealani, Head of School, Kamehameha Schools......    83
    Prepared statement...........................................    86
Rawlins, Namaka, Director, Hale Kipa `Oiwi.......................    72
    Prepared statement...........................................    74
Zane, KuHa'o, Creative Director, Sig Zane Designs and Szkaiao; 
  Kalaimoku Board of Directors, Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation......   126
    Prepared statement...........................................   128

                  Additional statement for the record

Wilson, Dr. William H., Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani College of 
  Hawaiian Language, University of Hawai`i, prepared statement...   132

 
                      UPHOLDING THE FEDERAL TRUST 
 RESPONSIBILITY: FUNDING AND PROGRAM ACCESS FOR INNOVATION FOR NATIVE 
                           HAWAIIANS--PART 1

                              ----------                              


                        WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2022


                                       U.S. Senate,
                               Committee on Indian Affairs,
                                                      Honolulu, HI.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:25 a.m. HST in 
the Keoni Auditorium of the East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, 
Hon. Brian Schatz, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. *
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Due to poor audio reception; there are several indiscernible text 
throughout this hearing.
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            OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN SCHATZ, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII

    The Chairman. Aloha. Good morning. Thank you so much for 
that beautiful program and welcome. Thank you to everybody for 
being here, thank you to my mother for being here. Thank you to 
the personnel of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for making 
the long journey and for putting this together.
    I want to thank the East-West Center for continuing to be 
the premier place for convening in the Asian Pacific Region and 
giving us this beautiful venue to conduct this important 
hearing. It is great to be here at home among friends to talk 
about how we can work together to meet the needs of the Native 
Hawaiian community.
    Since I took over as chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Indian Affairs, we have worked to amplify Native Hawaiian 
voices and serve Native Hawaiian needs on the Committee, in the 
Senate and beyond. That is because too often Native Hawaiians 
are left out of the conversation about the Federal trust 
responsibility, because people don't understand the unique way 
that Native Hawaiians engage with the Federal Government, 
through trust and State agencies, instead of a single, 
centralized government like Indian tribes.
    But this is no excuse. The Federal Government has a trust 
responsibility to Native Hawaiians, just like it does with 
American Indians and Alaska Natives. That trust responsibility 
must be met.
    That is why we brought this conversation home for the first 
time in more than a decade to hear directly from you about how 
the Committee can seek equity for Native Hawaiians, to hear 
about your successes and your challenges and your 
recommendations for supporting and thriving the Native Hawaiian 
community.
    Over the past two years, we have made a lot of progress. We 
delivered the biggest Federal investment in American history, 
more than $270 million in direct funding for Native Hawaiians, 
$270 million from the Federal Government in direct funding for 
Native Hawaiians. There are two ways to look at that. One is 
that that is extraordinary, and that is great. The other is, as 
able deputy 02:40[indiscernible] reminds me, it is also not 
enough. It is just the beginning of what we need to accomplish.
    But we did accomplish increases across the border; housing, 
education, healthcare, food and agriculture, high-speed 
internet connectivity and culture and the arts. We also helped 
to secure important policy changes in the Violence Against 
Women Act to address domestic violence in the Native Hawaiian 
community, including setting up a review of Federal crime 
prevention, victim service, and criminal justice programs 
serving Native Hawaiians and ordering a Federal report on 
Native Hawaiians in the criminal justice system, and sending $1 
million in new funding to the Native Hawaiian Resource Center 
on Domestic Violence.
    This is just a start, because we know that we have so much 
more to do. So I look forward to your testimony and our 
discussion.
    I want to extend a warm welcome to all of you, especially 
to say aloha to our witnesses. I will now introduce our first 
panel.
    First, we have the Honorable Carmen ``Hulu'' Lindsey, Chair 
of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. 
Then we have Mr. William Aila, Chair of the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission; Mr. Kuhio Lewis, President and Chief Executive 
officer of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.
    I will remind our witnesses that we have your full 
testimony as part of the official hearing record. We would like 
you to try to target something less than 10 minutes for your 
initial testimony, although it is just us. So if you feel like 
going 12, nobody's feelings will be hurt.
    Chairman Lindsey, please proceed with your testimony.

  STATEMENT OF HON. CARMEN ``HULU'' LINDSEY, CHAIR, BOARD OF 
              TRUSTEES, OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS

    Ms. Lindsey. Thank you. Aloha Chairman Schatz and Vice 
Chair Murkowski, if she is watching today, and members of the 
U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
    Mahalo nui loa for inviting me to testify on behalf of the 
Office of Hawaiian Affairs and our beneficiaries, the Native 
Hawaiian community. We are pleased to welcome you to our island 
home to engage face to face with our Native Hawaiian community. 
While many of you may be joining us by videoconference, we hope 
that you will be able to feel the aloha spirit we bring and 
offer to you.
    This field hearing allows us to convey and illustrate to 
you what it means to uphold the Federal trust responsibility 
through the exercise of self-determination, our rights to chart 
our own course and continue our distinct traditions, cultures, 
language and Native ways, and our rights to economic equity and 
prosperity, and the necessary support to raise the standard of 
living, health, and social wellbeing of our people in our 
Native homeland.
    Chairman Schatz, OHA continues to recognize your work on 
behalf of our families in Hawaii. You have been a champion on 
stopping the trafficking of Hawaiian women and children, 
including Native perspectives in Federal climate action, and 
addressing disparities for Native Hawaiians in health, 
education, broadband access and food security. We are 
particularly grateful for your continuing efforts to ensure 
that Native Hawaiians are eligible for and gain access to 
Federal policy and funding, healthcare, housing, education, 
food, and social services, and supporting resource and 
innovation and equity centers.
    We request the Committee's and Congress' support in 
honoring the Federal trust responsibility via policy, funding 
and programming implementation in the following ways. One, 
funding for a commissioned report of lands ceded to the 
stewardship of and management by the State government via the 
1959 Admissions Act, including the Hawaiian home lands for the 
benefit of Native Hawaiians pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission Act of 1920.
    Two, ensuring that Native Hawaiians are included in all 
Federal conference, coordination, engagement, and consultation 
policies and practices. Three, persisting in the accelerated 
defueling and closure of the Red Hill fuel storage tanks. Four, 
funding environmental assessment and cleanup of sacred lands 
polluted and contaminated by the United States Military. Five, 
ensuring funding and programming equity for all Native 
Americans, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and 
Native Hawaiians.
    Established by our State's constitution, OHA is a semi-
autonomous agency of the State of Hawaii mandated to better the 
conditions of Native Hawaiians. Guided by a board of nine 
publicly elected trustees, all of whom are Native Hawaiian, OHA 
fulfills its mandate through advocacy, research, community 
engagement, land management, and the funding of community 
programs.
    Hawaii State law recognizes OHA as the principal public 
agency in the State responsible for the performance, 
development, and coordination of programs and activities 
relating to Native Hawaiians. Furthermore, State law directs 
OHA to advocate on behalf of Native Hawaiians, to advise and 
inform Federal officials about Native Hawaiian programs, and to 
coordinate Federal activities relating to Native Hawaiians.
    In 2020, OHA enacted a new 15-year strategic plan for 2020 
through 2035 entitled Mana I Mauli Ola, Strength to Wellbeing. 
It builds upon three foundations that have the power to affect 
the wellbeing of Native Hawaiians: one, Ohana, which is family; 
two, Mo'omeheu, culture; and three, `Aina, land and water. OHA 
is building off these foundations to bring OHA's vision 
statement to life: Ho'oulu Lahui Aloha, To Raise a Beloved 
Lahui. OHA believes that what is good for the conditions of 
Native Hawaiians is good for Hawaii as a whole.
    As a State agency, OHA is able to be a conduit for 
effective programming and funding for the Committee and 
Congress. Over the past 40 years of existence, OHA employed 
multiple mechanisms such as direct service staffing via 
payroll, contracts, memorandums of understanding and 
agreements, direct appropriations, loans, and grants to and 
with NHOs and communities, to effect its work on behalf of our 
Native Hawaiian beneficiary community.
    OHA stands ready to assist the Committee and Congress in 
accomplishing this important work, both now and in the future. 
I have OHA's Chief Executive officer, Dr. Sylvia Hussey, and 
our legal counsel, Sherry Broder, here to respond to any 
Committee questions and to provide follow-up information.
    Thank you for this opportunity to testify.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Lindsey follows:]

  Prepared Statement of Hon. Carmen ``Hulu'' Lindsey, Chair, Board of 
                  Trustees, Office of Hawaiian Affairs
    Aloha e Chairman Schatz, Vice Chairman Murkowski, and Members of 
the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
    Mahalo nui loa (Thank you very much) for inviting me to testify on 
behalf of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and our beneficiaries--
the Native Hawaiian community. We are pleased to welcome you to our 
island home, to engage face to face with our Native Hawaiian people, 
and while many of you may be joining us by videoconference, we hope 
that you will feel the aloha spirit we bring and offer to you. Your 
prioritization of this field hearing, and physical presence in our 
homeland, reassures the Native Hawaiian people of the Committee's and 
Congress' attention to the federal government's continuing trust 
responsibility to our people. This field hearing allows us to convey 
and illustrate to you, what it means to uphold the federal trust 
responsibility, through the exercise of self-determination--our rights 
to chart our own course and maintain our distinct traditions, cultures, 
language and Native ways, and our rights to economic equity and 
prosperity and the necessary support to raise the standard of living, 
health and social well-being of our people in our homeland.
    Chairman Schatz, OHA continues to recognize your work on behalf of 
our families in Hawai`i. You have been a champion on stopping the 
trafficking of Hawaiian women and children, including Native 
perspectives in federal climate action, and addressing disparities for 
Native Hawaiians in health, education, broadband access, and food 
security. We are particularly grateful for your continuing efforts to 
ensure that Native Hawaiians are eligible for and gain access to 
federal Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) relief. As Congress continues to 
implement policy, including unprecedented funding and programming 
responses, we appreciate your broad, yet integrated, funding of federal 
programs providing health care, housing, education, food, and social 
services to Native Hawaiians, including supporting research, resource 
and innovation and equity centers.
    We request the Committee's and Congress' support in honoring the 
federal trust responsibility via policy, funding and programming 
implementation in the following ways: (1) funding for a commissioned 
report of lands ceded to the stewardship of and management by the state 
government via the 1959 Admissions Act, \1\ including the Hawaiian home 
lands, for the benefit of native Hawaiians pursuant to the Hawaiian 
Homes Commission Act (1920); (2) ensuring that Native Hawaiians are 
included in all federal conference, coordination, engagement and 
consultation policies and practices; (3) persisting in the accelerated 
defueling and closure of the Red Hill fuel storage tanks; (4) funding 
environmental assessment and cleanup of sacred lands polluted and 
contaminated by the United States military; and (5) ensuring funding 
and programming equity for all Native Americans, including American 
Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians in broad yet integrated 
areas that impact our families (e.g., poverty, violence, human 
trafficking, foster care, prison reform, elder care); our natural 
environment and resources (e.g., climate change, land, water, seas, 
streams, oceans, lakes); and our culture (e.g., language, education, 
health, traditions, practice, repatriation).
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    \1\ The Admission Act, An Act to Provide for the Admission of the 
State of Hawaii into the Union, March 18, 1959, Pub L 86-3, 73 Stat 4.
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Background on OHA and its Standing to Represent Native Hawaiians
    Established by our state's Constitution, \2\ OHA is a semi-
autonomous agency of the State of Hawai`i mandated to better the 
conditions of Native Hawaiians. Guided by a board of nine publicly 
elected trustees, all of whom are Native Hawaiian, OHA fulfills its 
mandate through advocacy, research, community engagement, land 
management, and the funding of community programs. Hawai`i state law 
recognizes OHA as the principal public agency in the state responsible 
for the performance, development, and coordination of programs and 
activities relating to Native Hawaiians. \3\ Furthermore, state law 
directs OHA to advocate on behalf of Native Hawaiians; \4\ to advise 
and inform federal officials about Native Hawaiian programs; and to 
coordinate federal activities relating to Native Hawaiians. \5\
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    \2\ Haw. Const., art. XII,  5 (1978).
    \3\ Haw. Rev. Stat.  10-3(3).
    \4\ Haw. Rev. Stat.  10-3(4).
    \5\ Haw. Rev. Stat.  10-6(a)(4).
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(1) Commission and Funding of a Ceded Lands Inventory Report
    The terms of statehood considered the plight of the Hawaiian 
people, specifically in the Admission Act of 1959. Section 5(f) of the 
Act refers to the crown and government lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom, 
which had been designated ``ceded'' to the Republic of Hawai`i, and 
then to the United States. The Act conveyed these lands to the new 
State of Hawai`i with the caveat that revenues were to constitute a 
trust for five purposes. One of these was the betterment of the 
conditions of Native Hawaiians. By any measure, those conditions were 
sorely in need of improvement, but, by 1978, they had not changed for 
the better, as the state's trust obligation went ignored.
    The ceded lands, consisting of crown lands, once property of the 
Hawaiian monarchy, and of the government lands of the Kingdom of 
Hawai`i, totaled 1.8 million acres upon annexation in 1898. Pursuant to 
the Joint Resolution of Annexation, all of these lands were considered 
transferred or ``ceded'' to the United States government ``for the 
benefit of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands.'' Underscoring the 
federal trust responsibility are the findings of the US Congress in the 
Apology Resolution \6\ (emphasis added):
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    \6\ Public Law 103-150 (1993).

        ``Whereas, the Republic of Hawaii also ceded 1,800,000 acres of 
        crown, government, and public lands of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 
        without the consent of or compensation to the Native Hawaiian 
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        people of Hawaii or their sovereign government.''

        ``Whereas, the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly 
        relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a 
        people or over their national lands to the United States, 
        either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or 
        referendum''

    Upon statehood in 1959, the federal government returned to the 
State of Hawai`i all ceded lands not set aside for its own use. Section 
5(f) of the Admission Act, directed the state to hold the lands in 
trust, listed the following five purposes:

        1. The support of public education;

        2. The betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians as 
        defined in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920;

        3. The development of farm and home ownership;

        4. The making of public improvements; and

        5. The provision of lands for public use.

    Thus, the Federal Government delegated a portion of its fiduciary 
duties to the indigenous peoples of Hawai'i, which courts have found 
must be ``judged by the most exacting fiduciary standards,'' to the 
State of Hawai'i via the Admissions Act, Section 5(f) of the public 
trust lands. Yet 63 years after statehood, the State does not have a 
complete inventory of classified public trust lands. In addition, a 
complete inventory of ceded lands, including classifications by former 
Kingdom Government and Crown lands, and by holdings by the federal, 
state and county governments, is critical for the federal government to 
uphold its federal trust responsibility to Native Hawaiians. 
Accordingly, OHA requests the Committee consider the commission and 
funding of a ceded lands inventory report.
(2) Broad Inclusion in Federal Conference, Coordination, Engagement and 
        Consultation Policies and Practices
    Native Hawaiians are owed the same trust responsibility as any 
other Native American group. To meet this obligation, Congress-
oftentimes through the bipartisan work of this Committee and its 
Members-create policies to promote education, health, housing, and a 
variety of other federal programs that support Native Hawaiian self-
determination including economic equity and prosperity. Similar to 
American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians have never 
relinquished our right to self-determination despite the United States' 
involvement in the illegal overthrow of Queen Lili`uokalani in 1893 and 
the dismantling of our Hawaiian government. In fact, over 150 Acts of 
Congress consistently and expressly acknowledged or recognized a 
special political and trust relationship to Native Hawaiians based on 
our status as the Indigenous, once-sovereign people of Hawai`i. Among 
these laws are the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108) 
(1921), the Native Hawaiian Education Act (20 U.S.C.  7511) (1988), 
the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act (42 U.S.C.  11701) 
(1988), and the Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act codified in the 
Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act 
(NAHASDA), Title VIII (25 U.S.C.  4221) (2000).
    While the federal trust responsibility has many facets, one of the 
most critical safeguards of effective self-determination is the ability 
to consult with the federal government. Under President Clinton's 
Executive Order 13175, and subsequent memoranda from the Bush, Obama, 
and now Biden Administrations, the U.S. Government recognizes the right 
to sovereignty and self-determination of this nation's Native people. 
While this is a step in the right direction, the omission of Native 
Hawaiians from federal conference, coordination, engagement and 
consultation requirements has stifled and limited Native Hawaiian 
voices from being able to comment upon and inform federal projects and 
programs for the past two decades. Despite our exclusion from these 
executive orders, Congress's thoughtful inclusion of Native Hawaiians 
in key legislation like the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) (25 U.S.C.  3001) and the National Historic 
Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C.  470 et seq.) have demonstrated 
that Native Hawaiians can be effectively included in consultation now, 
with representation through Native Hawaiian organizations. Indeed, OHA 
receives and reviews approximately 240 requests for federal 
consultations each year, including Section 106 NHPA and NAGPRA reviews. 
The federal government takes many more actions affecting the Native 
Hawaiian community than are covered by these two statutes without ever 
giving Native Hawaiians an opportunity to consult.
    Ensuring Native Hawaiians are informed of all proposed federal 
actions and allowed to voice their comments and perspectives on them 
will help to correct this country's historic wrongs against Native 
Hawaiians. Moreover, this will also improve the quality of federal 
undertakings and projects. Federal consultation with entities that 
serve Native Hawaiians such as OHA, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, 
Native Hawaiian Education Council, Papa Ola Lokahi and the Native 
Hawaiian Health Care Systems, enable Native Hawaiians to access this 
basic tenet of self-determination--having a meaningful say in our own 
governance.
    Most recently, OHA and the Native Hawaiian community, as a whole, 
experienced expanded conference, coordination, engagement and 
consultation opportunities, often in the form of listening sessions, 
with the U.S. Departments of the Interior (DOI), Treasury (DOT) and 
Commerce (DOC). Consultation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA) organization, on the marine sanctuary expansion 
in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, illustrates a meaningful 
and productive shared governance and stewardship responsibilities among 
the four co-trustee organizations of the DOI, via U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Services, the DOC via NOAA, the State of Hawaii, via its 
Department of Land and Natural Resources, and OHA. OHA has been 
consulted on matters related to the NAGPRA, and applied the tenants of 
this domestic policy to international repatriations.
    OHA looks forward to more intentional and frequent consultation 
with the Department of Defense (DOD), and all of its branches and 
installations, as it relates to the significant presence of DOD 
operations and activities in addressing national security from the 
Pacific. Notably, the DOD consulted with Native Hawaiians on its 
consultation policy, Department of Defense Instruction No. 4710.03, 
dated October 25, 2011, incorporating changes, August 31, 2018 
(``Instruction'') and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 
guidelines, Consultation with Native Hawaiians in Section 106 Review 
Process, A Handbook. The DOD Instruction's policy and procedures 
provide for consultation with NHOs when proposing and undertaking that 
may affect a property or place of traditional religious and/or cultural 
importance or action that may affect a long term or permanent change in 
NHO access to a property or place of traditional religious and cultural 
importance to an NHO, in addition to consultation in compliance with 
NEPA and NHPA. Under the Instruction, OHA may serve to facilitate 
effective consultation between NHO and DOD Components, with the 
understanding that no single NHO is likely to represent the interests 
of all NHO or the Native Hawaiian people.
(3) Persisting in Defueling and Closure of the Red Hill Fuel Storage 
        Tanks
    The health and safety concerns, as a result of leaks of the Red 
Hill Bulk Fuel Tanks (RHBFT), with a capacity of up to 250MM gallons of 
fuel, only 100 feet over O'ahu's major aquifer, supplying water to over 
400,000 residents of O'ahu, is well documented. OHA affirms its 
concerns, shared by our beneficiaries and communities, and thanks you, 
Chairman Schatz, for your swift actions to appropriate funding to 
defuel and close the tanks.
(4) Funding Environmental Assessments and Cleanups of Sacred Lands 
        Polluted and Contaminated by the U.S. Military.
    Aligned to your lead, and Hawai`i's collective Congressional 
Delegation's swift actions to defuel and close the RHBFT, funding 
environmental assessments and cleanups of sacred lands polluted and 
contaminated by the U.S. military, evidences the Federal Trust 
responsibility to Native Hawaiians, and the lands ceded and transferred 
ultimately to the new State of Hawaii, via the Admissions Act. The 
implications of lands in use by the U.S. military, in the state of 
Hawaii, includes approximately 46,500 acres, statewide across Army, 
Navy and Air Force bases and installations, with the largest being the 
Army's Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawai`i Island, of approximately 
23,000 acres. \7\
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    \7\ US Indo-Pacific Command, Hawai'i Military Land Use Master Plan, 
2021 Interim Update, Final--April 2021
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    In 2004, the U.S. Navy ended the Kaho`olawe UXO Clearance Project. 
At its completion approximately 75 percent of the island was surfaced 
cleared of unexploded ordnance. Of this area, 10 percent of the island 
or 2,647 acres were additionally cleared to the depth of four feet. 
Twenty-five percent (25 percent) or 6,692 acres was not cleared and 
unescorted access to these areas remains unsafe. \8\ Almost 20 years 
later, core programs under the governance of the Kaho`olawe Island 
Reserve Commission and staff, are broad in its programming in ocean 
(e.g., sustainability, fish stock, population, habitat, marine debris, 
aerial, coastal and underwater surveys), restoration (e.g., native 
species planting, biosecurity, invasive alien species, rodent and weed 
control, faunal), and culture (e.g., integrated culture and 
restoration, archeological importance, cultural protocols, planting, 
iwi kupuna burials) focal areas. \9\
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    \8\ https://www.kahoolawe.hawaii.gov/history.shtml, retrieved May 
28, 2022
    \9\ https://www.kahoolawe.hawaii.gov/coreprograms.shtml#ocean, 
retrieved May 28, 2022
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    We ask the Committee focus and fund assessment and clean-up 
activities on sacred lands--Pohakuloa and Kaho`olawe, being two 
examples. With regard to Pohakuloa, we also request that the lease 
extension process with the State of Hawaii cease, until the conditions 
imposed by the Hawai`i Supreme Court in Ching v. State, 145 Hawai'i 148 
(2019) and the Circuit Court's recommendations be met. It appears 
wholly inappropriate for DOD to engage in an environmental impact 
review under its April 2022 Draft Environmental Impact Statement for 
Army Training Land Retention at Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), the 
precursor to a lease extension, when the conditions of the lease 
regarding the duty to protect and preserve public trust land are in 
question. An essential component of the State's duty to protect and 
preserve trust land is an obligation to reasonably monitor a third 
party's use of the property and OHA upholds its duty to investigate the 
risk of impending damage to the land on behalf of its beneficiaries who 
have sought to prevent irreparable harm before it occurs by DOD's 
misuse of the trust lands under lease.
(5) Broad Funding and Programming Equity for Native Hawaiian Families, 
        Natural Environment and Resources and Culture
    While consultation is critical to self-determination, so is the 
provision of the resources and governmental programs to provide for the 
health, housing, education, and economic well-being of Native 
Hawaiians. Hawaii's Congressional delegation have ensured that Congress 
continues to fund essential federal programs annually; however, three 
of these acts must now complete the final process to be reauthorized, 
strengthened, and expanded by the Congress.
    Over the past several decades, the Native Hawaiian Health Care 
Improvement Act (NHHCIA), the Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act 
(HHHA), and the Native Hawaiian Education Act (NHEA) have enabled 
Native Hawaiians to receive culturally appropriate services relating to 
health, housing, and education. These Acts have delivered services to 
tens of thousands of Native Hawaiians through diverse programs 
including revitalizing the Native Hawaiian language, building and 
maintaining homes and infrastructure, and providing telehealth services 
during a global pandemic. Further, the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan 
Fund (NHRLF)-administered by OHA-and the U.S. Treasury's Community 
Development Financial Institutions fund (CDFI Fund's) Native American 
CDFI Assistance Program have supported the emergence and growth of 
thousands of Native Hawaiian businesses. We urge this committee to 
reauthorize, strengthen, and expand all these programs to further 
support Native Hawaiian self-determination.
Native Hawaiian Health
    Native Hawaiian self-determination in health care means that Native 
Hawaiians have the power to pursue well-being in the ways that they 
find to be appropriate. This self-determination may include identifying 
the health care services most needed in their communities or working to 
integrate traditional practices and cultural norms in health care 
spaces. Conversely, Native Hawaiian self-determination in health may 
include identifying aspects of the health care system, particularly 
around delivery, that may not fit well with Native Hawaiian concepts of 
wellness and thus have limited utility. Similar to our Native relatives 
on the continent, Native Hawaiians face disproportionate threats to our 
physical and mental health, including poverty, \10\ suicide and 
depression, \11\ infant mortality, \12\ alcohol abuse, \13\ 
homelessness, \14\ and prejudice. Native Hawaiian infants are twice as 
likely to die (infant mortality rate of 7.9 per 1,000 live births) than 
their White peers (infant mortality rate of 3.5 per 1,000 live births) 
in the State of Hawai`i. \15\ Native Hawaiians are also more likely to 
suffer from coronary heart disease, diabetes, and asthma than non-
Native Hawaiians in the State. \16\ Nearly 16,000 Native Hawaiians 
suffer from diabetes and more than 36,000 suffer from asthma. \17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ Anita Hofschneider, Poverty Persists Among Hawaiians Despite 
Low Unemployment, HONOLULU CIVIL BEAT (Sept. 19, 2018), https://
www.civilbeat.org/2018/09/poverty-persists-among-hawaiians-despite-low-
unemployment/.
    \11\ NATIVE HAWAIIAN MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE, OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN 
AFFAIRS (Feb. 2018), http://www.ohadatabook.com/HTH_Suicide.pdf.
    \12\ Ashley H. Hirai et al., Excess Infant Mortality Among Native 
Hawaiians: Identifying Determinants for Preventive Action, AM. J. OF 
PUB. HEALTH (Nov. 2013), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC3828695/pdf/AJPH.2013.301294.pdf.
    \13\ NATIVE HAWAIIAN HEALTH STATUS, OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS 22 
(July 2019), http://www.ohadatabook.com/NHHS.html.
    \14\ ISSUE BRIEF: COVID-19 AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN COMMUNITIES, NATIVE 
HAWAIIANS OVER-REPRESENTED IN COVID-19 AT-RISK POPULATIONS, OFFICE OF 
HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS 2 (2020).
    \15\ Hirai, supra note 7.
    \16\ OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS, supra note 9 at 2.
    \17\ Id. at 1-2.
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    To address the major health disparities, Congress enacted the 
Native Hawaiian Health Care Act in 1988, which was later retitled as 
the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act (NHHCIA) for sums as 
may be necessary for fiscal years 1993 through 2019 (Pub. L. 111-148, 
title X,  10221(a), Mar. 23, 2010, 124 Stat. 935). Today, the Native 
Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act is under continuing resolution. 
OHA recommends that the NHHCIA be permanently reauthorized like the 
Indian Health Care Improvement Act was in 2009, and all Congressionally 
authorized appropriations remain available until expended. The NHHCIA 
established the Native Hawaiian Health Care program, which funds the 
Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems (NHHCSs) administered by POL. 
Together the five Systems on the islands of Kaua`i, O`ahu, Maui, 
Moloka`i, and Hawai`i provide primary health care, behavioral health, 
and dental services. They also offer health education to manage 
disease, health related transportation, and other services. NHHCIA also 
established the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program (NHHSP) for 
Native Hawaiians pursuing careers in designated health care 
professions. It supports culturally appropriate training and the 
placement of scholars in underserved Native Hawaiian communities 
following the completion of their education. More than 300 scholarships 
have been awarded through this program and most program alumni work in 
Hawai`i.
    According to POL, the pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for 
several amendments to the NHHCIA. OHA and POL have advocated for 
increasing funding to the NHHCIA to expand Native Hawaiian health 
resources; removing the matching requirements applied to the NHHCSs for 
parity with other Native health care providers; making the NHHCSs 
eligible for 100 percent of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage 
(FMAP) as well as the Prospective Payment System (PPS) reimbursement 
rate; expanding Federal Tort Claims Act coverage to POL, the Systems, 
and their employees in parity with other Native health care providers; 
allowing federal program funding to be used to collect and analyze 
health and program data which currently falls under the ten percent 
administrative cost cap for the program; allowing the Systems to be a 
specific eligibility group for supplemental federal funding streams; 
and providing a tax exemption for the NHHSP. Additionally, POL has 
established partnerships with other organizations to meet its 
Congressional mandate to coordinate and support Native Hawaiian health 
resources and services, offering capacity building, technical 
assistance, and workshops to promote holistic health and well-being 
through a Native Hawaiian lens. Through POL's coordination and 
partnerships, Native Hawaiian wellbeing across the lifespan and 
throughout various domains can be improved. We urge the Committee to 
support increased funding for, reauthorization of, and technical 
amendments to the NHHCIA, so that POL and the Systems may be able to 
achieve Congressional mandates and uplift Native Hawaiian health 
through as many means as possible.
Native Hawaiian Housing
    The HHHA facilitates Native Hawaiian self-determination by 
supporting part of DHHL's mission--to develop and deliver land and 
housing to Native Hawaiians. Congress enacted the HHHA in 2000. The 
HHHA established the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant (NHHBG) 
program and the Section 184A Loan Guarantees for Native Hawaiian 
Housing. The NHHBG provides much needed funding to DHHL to deliver new 
construction, rehabilitation, infrastructure, and various support 
services to beneficiaries living on DHHL lands. The 184A Loan Guarantee 
program provides eligible beneficiaries with access to construction 
capital on DHHL lands by fully guaranteeing principal and interest due 
on loans. The program currently serves owner-occupant single family 
dwellings on the DHHL lands. Together, these programs help DHHL to 
carry out the vision of our Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana`ole, who as 
the then-Territory of Hawai`i's Congressional Delegate 100 years ago, 
spearheaded one of the first Acts of Congress implementing the trust 
responsibility to Native Hawaiians.
    Like other Native communities, housing has become even more vital 
during this pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Native Hawaiians faced one 
of the most expensive housing markets in the country. In fact, Native 
Hawaiians made up nearly half of the homeless population on the island 
of O`ahu, \18\ whose population accounts for approximately two thirds 
of all State residents. To address housing needs, DHHL has used NHHBG 
funds for emergency rental assistance for eligible Native Hawaiians; 
rental subsidies for lower income elderly; rehabilitation of homes 
primarily for elderly or disabled residents; homeownership 
opportunities for lower income working families; and homeownership and 
rental counseling to address barriers experienced by Native Hawaiians.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\ OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS, supra note 9 at 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The OHA celebrates with the beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission Act (HHCA), the impacts of the historic State of Hawaii 's 
legislature's HB2511 which appropriates $600 million to build out 
infrastructure to create homestead communities and provide mortgage and 
rental assistance, dig into shovel-ready projects, lot options, all 
focused on returning native Hawaiians to the land. \19\ We stand ready 
to collaborate with HHCA beneficiaries and Department of Hawaiian 
Homelands leadership to fulfill the intents of such historic state 
legislation.
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    \19\ http://hawaii.gov/2022/05/05/chair-aila-statement-on-passage-
of-hb-2511/dhhl, retrieved May 28, 2022.
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Native Hawaiian Well-Being--Economic
    Economic well-being and opportunity are central to the ability of 
any community to exercise self-determination. Unfortunately, the 
pandemic devastated Hawai`i's job market. Unemployment in the State 
skyrocketed, and recovery efforts muted by slow federal funding and 
programming implementation. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 
reported that as of December 2020, Hawai`i had the highest unemployment 
rate in the United States at 9.3 percent; \20\ however, with loosening 
COVID-19 restrictions (e.g., stay-at-home orders, business re-opening, 
social distancing, masking) and vaccination policies, the unemployment 
rate in Hawaii dropped to 4.2 \21\ percent in April of 2022. In the 
current report, the state's Department of Business and Economic 
Development & Tourism (``DBEDT'') predicts that Hawai'i's economic 
growth rate, as measured by real domestic product will increase 3.2 
percent in 2022 over the previous year. The economic expansion path 
will continue with a 2.5 percent increase in 2-23, 2.3 percent in 2024, 
and 2.0 percent in 2025. \22\ Hawai'i's recovery has resumed now that 
the Delta and Omicron waves passed and once the Asian COVID-19 wave 
also passes, the long-awaited return of international visitors will 
begin later this spring. Hawai'i's delayed recovery from the pandemic 
means that we expect moderately strong growth, despite clearly 
deteriorating conditions in the U.S. and global economies. The 
worsening global economic environment poses substantial downside risks 
to Hawaii's forecast. \23\
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    \20\ Unemployment Rates for States, U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS 
(Jan. 26, 2021), https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.
    \21\ U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, https://www.bls.gov/eag/
eag.hi.htm, retrieved May 22, 2022
    \22\ https://dbedt.hawaii.gov/blog/22-07/
#::text=Forecasting%20Results,and%202.0%20percent%20in%202025, 
retrieved May 22, 2022
    \23\ https://uhero.hawaii.edu/uhero-forecast-for-the-state-of-
hawaii-foreign-visitors-will-provide-lift-but-risks-have-multiplied/, 
retrieved May 22, 2022
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    Fortunately, several economic development and access to capital 
programs are already in place to serve Native Hawaiian communities. 
Department of Treasury (DOTr), Native American Community Development 
Financial Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institutions 
(MDI) and the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund (NHRLF), are widely 
recognized as being effective. Continued support for these and similar 
programs are critical to minimizing the negative economic impacts of 
this pandemic and the recovery in culturally appropriate ways.
    We further acknowledge and appreciate Executive Orders 14031 \24\ 
and 13985 \25\ and the DOT's implementation efforts to promote 
equitable outcomes. OHA also recognizes DOT's Emergency Rental 
Assistance, Homeowner Assistance Fund, Capital Projects Fund and Small
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    \24\ Advancing Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for Asian 
Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
    \25\ Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved 
Communities Through the Federal Government
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Business Credit Initiative, Emergency Capital Investment Program, 
Rapid Response Program, and Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In 
addition, NHOs are eligible to receive additional funds as sub-
recipients to the state and/or counties, and we recommend the Committee 
consider OHA's state agency status as an accountable mechanism for 
federal funds to quickly flow to Native Hawaiian communities.
    For example, in its nearly three decades in operation under OHA's 
administration, NHRLF closed approximately 2,700 loans valued at more 
than $63 million of lending to Native Hawaiian businesses and 
individuals. In its 2021 Report to Congress, NHRLF reported that 
borrowers: improved their overall economic wellbeing during the loan 
period; experienced improved preconditions to financial stability, 
after receiving a NHRLF loan; and increased their income due to 
education and business loans. The value of NHRLF borrowers' financial 
and non-financial assets increased over time, with smaller gains 
resulting from home improvement loans. As a result of increased asset 
value, the average net worth of OHA borrowers grew over the loan 
period; and Native Hawaiian-owned businesses with NHRLF loans, improved 
their financial performance from before the loan was received to 2019. 
Like many other businesses, the devasting impact of the COVID-19 
pandemic on Hawai`i's economy derailed the positive outcomes NHRLF 
borrowers experienced over the loan period in the areas of economic 
wellbeing, preconditions to financial stability, and income. 
Accordingly, OHA asks the Committee to support programmatic fixes to 
NHRLF, including ending the demonstration status of the program, 
removing restrictions on outdated unallowable loan activities, and 
reducing the Native Hawaiian ownership percentage requirement from 100 
to 50--all to create a broader pipeline of programming and funding for 
Native Hawaiian economic development.
    OHA specifically acknowledges and thanks you, Chairman Schatz, for 
your FY22 $100MM in Native Hawaiian and Native Hawaiian-serving 
appropriations and congressionally directed funding for broad 
programming in multiple sectors (e.g., education, food and agriculture-
based research, indigenous innovation and equity, culture and arts and 
resource center for domestic violence).
Native Hawaiian Education
    The successes of the Native Hawaiian education movement are 
understood throughout the community. According to conversations with 
NHEC, in 2017 and 2018 alone, the 38 NHEP grantees served 95,458 
individuals, including 74,311 students, 18,429 parents, and 2,718 
teachers. They surpassed their target number for participants by 
approximately 65 percent. Additionally, all 38 grantees targeted 
serving Native Hawaiian communities and formed almost 700 strategic 
partnerships with schools, government agencies, or cultural 
organizations to expand the number served and to increase the overall 
impact of their programs.
    Despite the great work of NHEP grantees in recent years and the 
Committee's efforts to secure $85,000,000 of American Rescue Plan Act 
(ARPA) funding for Native Hawaiian education, the program 
implementation of grant funds fell short in equitable allocation for 
relief to our community programs. According to the Education Council's 
profile analysis study of NHEP grantees from 2010 through 2018, over 47 
percent of awardees funded were Native Hawaiian community-based 
organizations. The 2021 ARPA funds for NHEP shows a reduction in awards 
to Native Hawaiian community-based organizations down to 40 percent and 
an increase of awards to State programs from 25.2 percent to 37.1 
percent. \26\ Programs for early childhood education in Hawaiian 
language instruction had to compete for relief funds with programs for 
post-secondary education. Education is a living system. We know that 
each part of the system from early childhood education to post-
secondary education is important to our communities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \26\ Toms Barker, L., Sanchez, R., & McLelland, C. (2021, March). 
NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION COUNCIL EVALUATION OF THE NATIVE HAWAIIAN 
EDUCATION PROGRAM: Portfolio Analysis of the 2010-2018 Grants. IMPAQ 
International, Inc. http://www.nhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/
NHEP-Portfolio-Analysis-AY2010-2018-Submitted-3-18-2021.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The effects of the pandemic still threaten the survival of some 
grantees and widen existing disparities between Native Hawaiian 
students and their non-Hawaiian counterparts. Even before the pandemic, 
data collected in 2015 demonstrated that fewer Native Hawaiian students 
attained proficiency in math and reading than their non-Hawaiian 
counterparts. \27\ Compounding matters during the pandemic, Hawai`i is 
considered the state ``most prone to academic risks during the 
coronavirus outbreak'' and faces the ``widest gap in the amount of 
teacher interaction with lesser-educated households compared with more-
educated ones.'' \28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \27\ A NATIVE HAWAIIAN FOCUS ON THE HAWAI`I PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM, 
SY2015, OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS 9 (2017).
    \28\ Alex Harwin & Yukiko Furuya, Coronavirus Learning Loss Risk 
Index Reveal Big Equity Problems, EDUCATIONWEEK (Sept. 1, 2020), 
https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/coronavirus-learning-loss-risk-
index-reveals-big-equity-problems/2020/09.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Non-profit education programs, particularly language immersion 
programs, have faced unique hardships amid the pandemic. With the 
arrival of new COVID-19 strains in Hawai`i, Native Hawaiian students 
face a precarious situation. To further aggravate this risk, nearly ten 
percent of Native Hawaiian households do not have a computer in their 
homes, while nearly 20 percent do not have Internet access. \29\ During 
the pandemic, many families have been unable to afford the cost of new 
equipment and broadband service because formerly working adult parents 
are now unemployed. We thank you, Chairman Schatz, for the recognition 
of need and funding to strengthen high-speed Internet access in Native 
Hawaiian communities and across Hawai'i, including infrastructure 
funding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \29\ OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS, supra note 9 at 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    OHA again appreciates Chairman Schatz's leadership in finding ways 
to assist Native Hawaiian educators through these difficult times. 
Unfortunately, despite these efforts, our programs and keiki (children) 
are still at risk. We urge the Committee to ensure that Native Hawaiian 
programs and service providers be included in all future federal relief 
efforts, that the Native Hawaiian Education Act be reauthorized, and 
that program implementation is in alignment with accountable and 
equitable consultation with stakeholders, including the Native Hawaiian 
Education Council.
OHA's Ability to Implement Federal Policy for Native Hawaiians and 
        Hawai'i
    In 2020, OHA enacted a new 15-year strategic plan for 2020 through 
2035 entitled Mana I Mauli Ola (Strength to Wellbeing). Our strategic 
plan is built upon three foundations that have the power to affect the 
wellbeing of Native Hawaiians: (1) `Ohana (family), (2) Mo`omeheu 
(culture), and (3) `Aina (land and water). OHA is building off these 
foundations to bring OHA's vision statement to life: Ho`oulu Lahui 
Aloha (To Raise a Beloved Lahui). To raise a Lahui Aloha, Native 
Hawaiians need to operate under principles of self-determination, and 
its related accountabilities, in each of our strategic directions of 
educational pathways, health outcomes, quality housing and economic 
stability. OHA believes that what is good for the conditions of Native 
Hawaiians is good for Hawai`i as a whole--our beloved island home and 
state.
    As a State Agency, OHA is able to be a conduit for effective 
programming and funding for the Committee and Congress. Over the past 
40 years of existence, OHA employed multiple mechanisms such as direct 
service staffing via payroll, contracts, memorandums of understanding 
and agreements, direct appropriations, loans, and grants to and with 
NHOs and communities, to effect its work on behalf of our Native 
Hawaiian beneficiary community. Financially, for the past 18 years, 
including four years of the NHRLF, independently conducted financial 
and single audits, have been issued with ``clean'' or ``unqualified'' 
opinions. OHA is currently administering an emergency grant awarded by 
the Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Native 
Americans (ANA), funded by the American Rescue Plan Act re: Native 
American language preservation and maintenance. OHA chose, with ANA's 
approval, to sub-grant and award to NHO's, enabling organizations to 
focus on the programming implementation and delivery, with OHA focusing 
on grant administration activities.
Conclusion
    Through more than 150 Acts, Congress established its trust 
responsibility to Native Hawaiians based on our status as the 
Indigenous, once-sovereign people of Hawai`i. As a result of those 
Acts, this Committee's presence in our island home at this time, 
provides us with the certainty that the federal government fully 
understands its trust responsibility to all Native Americans, including 
Native Hawaiians. As Chairman Schatz previously stated, the trust 
responsibility ``should be the guiding light'' of this Committee's 
work. While the federal trust responsibility may be implemented 
differently with Native Hawaiians in Hawai'i, because of our unique 
history with the United States, that trust responsibility, should be 
exercised in a manner that ensures the survival and welfare of our 
people, and is equitable with respect to other Native Peoples.
    As a Native Hawaiian leader elected to ensure the well-being of the 
Native Hawaiian community, I urge this Committee and the Congress to 
continue expanded opportunities to all Native peoples, including Native 
Hawaiians. OHA asks you to continue to empower all Native Americans, 
including Native Hawaiians, with the same opportunity and 
accountability, to choose our own path--understanding that each tribe, 
band, nation, pueblo, village, or community is best served through 
their unique, self-determined means. This necessarily includes 
extending access to federal programs implementing the trust 
responsibility to Native Hawaiians where appropriate, and consistent 
with Native Hawaiians' unique history and evolving political 
relationship with the United States.
    OHA continues to celebrate our involvement with the Alaska 
Federation of Natives, the National Congress of American Indians, and 
the National Indian Education Association, and we pledge to support and 
work with our Native cousins across the continent and in Alaska because 
all of us--American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians--are 
strongest when we stand and work together.
    OHA stands ready to assist the Committee and Congress in 
accomplishing this most important work, both now and in the future.
    A hui hou. Until we meet again.
                                 ______
                                 
               Additional Testimony and Question Response
    Aloha e Senator Schatz,
    Mahalo hou (thank you again) for the U.S. Senate Committee on 
Indian Affairs' (``SCIA'' or ``Committee'') field hearing, on June 1, 
2022, focused on ``Upholding the Federal Trust Responsibility: Funding 
& Program Access for Innovation in the Native Hawaiian Community''. In 
my capacity as Chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) 
Board of Trustees, I provided written and oral testimony at the Field 
Hearing upon your cordial invitation. In this correspondence for the 
record, to be additive to OHA's submitted written testimony, I provide 
additional information, and respond to Senator's question regarding 
access to federal resources by Native Hawaiians.
    In our written testimony, we requested the Committee's and 
Congress' support in honoring the federal trust responsibility via 
policy, funding and programming implementation in the following ways: 
(1) funding for a commissioned report of lands ceded to the stewardship 
of and management by the state government via the 1959 Admissions Act, 
\1\ including the Hawaiian home lands, for the benefit of native 
Hawaiians pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (1920); (2) 
ensuring that Native Hawaiians are included in all federal conference, 
coordination, engagement and consultation policies and practices; (3) 
persisting in the accelerated defueling and closure of the Red Hill 
fuel storage tanks; (4) funding environmental assessment and cleanup of 
sacred lands polluted and contaminated by the United States military; 
and (5) ensuring funding and programming equity for all Native 
Americans, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native 
Hawaiians in broad yet integrated areas that impact our families (e.g., 
poverty, violence, human trafficking, foster care, prison reform, elder 
care); our natural environment and resources (e.g., climate change, 
land, water, seas, streams, oceans, lakes); and our culture (e.g., 
language, education, health, traditions, practice, repatriation).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The Admission Act, An Act to Provide for the Admission of the 
State of Hawaii into the Union, March 18, 1959, Pub L 86-3, 73 Stat 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Background on OHA and its Trustees' Fiduciary Responsibilities
    In 1978, the Hawaii Constitutional Convention created the Office of 
Hawaiian Affairs,
    and Article XII of the Hawai`i State Constitution states in part:

        OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS; ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES 
        Section 5. There is hereby established an Office of Hawaiian 
        Affairs. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs shall hold title to all 
        the real and personal property now or hereafter set aside or 
        conveyed to it which shall be held in trust for native 
        Hawaiians and Hawaiians. There shall be a board of trustees for 
        the Office of Hawaiian Affairs elected by qualified voters who 
        are Hawaiians, as provided by law. The board members shall be 
        Hawaiians. There shall be not less than nine members of the 
        board of trustees; provided that each of the following Islands 
        have one representative: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Molokai and 
        Hawai`i. The board shall select a chairperson from its members. 
        \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Constitutional Convention 1978, election November 7, 1978

        POWERS OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES Section 6. The board of trustees of 
        the Office of Hawaiian Affairs shall exercise power as provided 
        by law: to manage and administer the proceeds from the sale or 
        other disposition of the lands, natural resources, minerals and 
        income derived from whatever sources for native Hawaiians and 
        Hawaiians, including all income and proceeds from that pro rata 
        portion of the trust referred to in section 4 of this article 
        for native Hawaiians; to formulate policy relating to affairs 
        of native Hawaiians and Hawaiians; and to exercise control over 
        real and personal property set aside by state, federal or 
        private sources and transferred to the board for native 
        Hawaiians and Hawaiians. \3\
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    \3\ Ibid
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OHA's Standing to Represent Native Hawaiians
    As established by our state's Constitution, \4\ OHA as a semi-
autonomous agency of the State of Hawai`i, guided by a board of nine 
publicly elected trustees, all of whom are Native Hawaiian, fulfills 
its mandate of bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians, through 
advocacy, research, community engagement, land management, and the 
funding of community programs. Hawai`i state law recognizes OHA as the 
principal public agency in the state responsible for the performance, 
development, and coordination of programs and activities relating to 
Native Hawaiians. \5\ Furthermore, state law directs OHA to advocate on 
behalf of Native Hawaiians; \6\ to advise and inform federal officials 
about Native Hawaiian programs; and to coordinate federal activities 
relating to Native Hawaiians. \7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ Haw. Const., art. XII,  5 (1978).
    \5\ Haw. Rev. Stat.  10-3(3).
    \6\ Haw. Rev. Stat.  10-3(4).
    \7\ Haw. Rev. Stat.  10-6(a)(4).
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Creation of and Funding for Hawai'i's First Ceded Lands Inventory and 
        Repository
    The United States and its subdivisions, regulatory and advisory 
bodies, should have documented in 1959, what lands and trust assets 
were being transferred to the newly created State of Hawai'i, who 
likewise, should have had a proper accounting of what exactly was 
received from the United States. The courts have ruled that the federal 
government's fiduciary duty to Hawai'i's Indigenous Peoples must be 
``judged by the most exacting fiduciary standards,'' is codified via 
the 1959 Admissions Act, Section 5(f) of the public trust lands.
    Protections for Indigenous Peoples Human Rights globally was 
established in 2007 when the United Nations adopted the Declaration on 
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Former President Obama made 
it federal law in the United State when he officially endorsed and 
announced support in 2010. Since that time, several Executive Orders 
and Memos have been issued by President Biden, directing all federal 
agencies and offices to implement protections for and consultation with 
Indigenous Peoples, including Native Hawaiians to insure Human Rights 
and Equity for all.
    The first fiduciary obligation of a Trustee is to inventory and 
account for the trust assets. This should have been undertaken by both 
the newly created state, and federal governments in 1959, but never 
was, and in 2022, 63 years after statehood, the State of Hawaii still 
does not have a comprehensive and accurate inventory of the State ceded 
land trust.
    OHA begins this critical trust assets definition and accounting 
work now.
    A comprehensive and accurate inventory of the State ceded land 
trust, including the submerged lands, is critical for the federal 
government to uphold its federal trust responsibility to Native 
Hawaiians and would include: an inventory of the natural resources, 
including fisheries and minerals; classifications by former Kingdom 
Crown and Government lands; holdings by the federal, state and county 
governments; and proceeds and resources of these Native/public trust 
lands. This is the accounting OHA needs to ensure all trust assets and 
lands of the Hawaiian peoples are protected and maintained for their 
use, and that Federal and State agencies are maintaining their 
fiduciary duty to protect the body corpus of our Ceded Lands Trust, 
including the former Kingdom Crown and Government lands. It is 
important to note that this long overdue inventory will not only 
benefit Hawaiians, but the public as well.
    OHA, as the primary state agency with oversight of the Native 
Hawaiian beneficiaries ceded lands trust assets is committed to 
undertaking and completing this endeavor with the Committee and 
Congress' support in the following ways:

        1. Contact federal agencies identified below, and their 
        associated, attached and governed regulatory and advisory 
        bodies, as a start, to request their direct involvement and 
        collaboration with OHA, in gathering and sharing all data, 
        including land and oceanic maps and records, property 
        designations, deeds and leases and data relating to their 
        historical and current uses by federal, state or county 
        government (i.e. land and submerged land records), for the post 
        Statehood period (1959 to present):

        The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Office 
        of Secretary Haaland;

        The U.S. Department of Commerce, including the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (``NOAA'') and Western 
        Pacific Fishery Council (``Westpac''), as an advisory body 
        relating to fisheries;

       The U.S. Department of Defense, all branches;

       The U.S. Department of Education;

       The Library of Congress; and

       The Office the United States Historian.

        2. Identify and contact additional federal agencies, and their 
        associated, attached and governed regulatory and advisory 
        bodies, and other information sources (e.g., academic, museum, 
        archives) in furthering this effort; and

        3. A congressional appropriation to create the first, State of 
        Hawai'i Ceded Lands Records Repository; this will ensure that 
        critical records relating to the Ceded Lands Trust will be 
        maintained and preserved for future use by federal, state and 
        county governments, OHA, and its indigenous beneficiaries.

    OHA remains committed to partnering with the Committee and Congress 
in this endeavor in fulfillment of federal Trust, state custodian and 
OHA Trustee fiduciary responsibilities.
Access to Federal Resources for Native Hawaiians, Intentional, 
        Consistent Federal Conference, Coordination, Engagement and 
        Consultation 
        Policy & Practice
    With the historic and unprecedented Congressional financial and 
programmatic response to COVID-19 related impacts (e.g., CARES, ARPA, 
Infrastructure), navigating access to such resources towards effective 
federal policy implementation, is an imperative for Native Hawaiians. 
Chairman Schatz, your role in providing for and inclusion of Native 
Hawaiians in such federal legislation, needs to be matched with ``on 
the ground'' abilities for constituents and communities to better 
navigate federal departments, programs, and funding mechanisms to 
effectively implement federal policy. OHA, as a state agency, stands 
ready to assist with such implementation, for the benefit of Native 
Hawaiian beneficiaries, communities and organizations, as a convenor, 
navigator and facilitator in collaboration with the Committee and 
Congress.
    OHA restates its observations recently, of expanded conference, 
coordination, engagement and consultation opportunities, in the form of 
listening sessions, with the U.S. Departments of the Interior (DOI), 
Treasury (DOT) and Commerce (DOC). Consultation with the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) organization, on the 
marine sanctuary expansion in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National 
Monument, illustrates a meaningful and productive shared governance and 
stewardship responsibilities among the four co-trustee organizations of 
the DOI, via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the DOC via NOAA, the 
State of Hawaii, via its Department of Land and Natural Resources, and 
OHA.
    OHA has been consulted on matters related to the Native American 
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) applied the tenants of 
this domestic policy to international repatriations, and continue to 
dedicate resources (e.g., staff, repatriation, grants) for communities 
to protect and preserve ancestors and ancestral artifacts. More 
effective State of Hawaii responses, particularly the Department of 
Land and Natural Resources is needed. Congress's thoughtful inclusion 
of Native Hawaiians in key legislation like NAGPRA (25 U.S.C.  3001) 
and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C.  470 et 
seq.) have demonstrated that Native Hawaiians can be effectively 
included in consultation now, with representation through Native 
Hawaiian organizations. Indeed, OHA receives and reviews approximately 
240 requests for federal consultations each year, including Section 106 
NHPA and NAGPRA reviews.
    OHA reiterates that we look forward to more intentional and 
frequent consultation with the Department of Defense (DOD), and all of 
its branches and installations, as it relates to the significant 
presence of DOD operations and activities in addressing national 
security from the Pacific. Notably, the DOD consulted with Native 
Hawaiians on its consultation policy, Department of Defense Instruction 
No. 4710.03, dated October 25, 2011, incorporating changes, August 31, 
2018 (``Instruction'') and the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation guidelines, Consultation with Native Hawaiians in Section 
106 Review Process, A Handbook. The DOD Instruction's policy and 
procedures provide for consultation with NHOs when proposing and 
undertaking that may affect a property or place of traditional 
religious and/or cultural importance or action that may affect a long 
term or permanent change in NHO access to a property or place of 
traditional religious and cultural importance to an NHO, in addition to 
consultation in compliance with NEPA and NHPA. Under the Instruction, 
OHA may serve to facilitate effective consultation between NHO and DOD 
Components, with the understanding that no single NHO is likely to 
represent the interests of all NHO or the Native Hawaiian peoples.
    Ensuring Native Hawaiians are informed of all proposed federal 
actions and allowed to voice their comments and perspectives on them 
enables Native Hawaiians to access and implement this basic tenet of 
self-determination--having a meaningful say in our own governance.
Conclusion
    As a semi-autonomous state agency, OHA stands ready to assist the 
Committee and Congress in accomplishing this most important work, both 
now and in the future.
    Mahalo hou (thank you again)

    The Chairman. Thank you very much, Chair Lindsey.
    Chair Aila, please proceed with your testimony.

  STATEMENT OF WILLIAM J. AILA, JR., CHAIRMAN, HAWAIIAN HOMES 
                           COMMISSION

    Mr. Aila. Thank you, Chair Schatz.
    Aloha, Chair Schatz, Vice Chair Murkowski, who is not here, 
I understand, but her staff is here. Please send our aloha to 
her. Aloha, members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian 
Affairs.Thank you for inviting me to testify on behalf of the 
Hawaiian Homelands, which is governed by the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission Act of 1920, which was enacted by the Congress to 
protect and improve the lives of Native Hawaiians.Spearheaded 
by Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission Act sets aside public lands, called Hawaiian Home 
Lands, to establish a rehabilitative program for Native 
Hawaiians. As required by the Admission Act of 1959, and as a 
compact with the United States, the State and the people of 
Hawaii adopted the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act as a provision 
of the State constitution and agreed to faithfully carry out 
the spirit of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. It is 
important [indiscernible] that we are far away from statehood 
that we remind [indiscernible] State agencies that 
[indiscernible] it is very important in terms of the future 
development for housing.
    DHHL conducted a study amongst all of its beneficiaries, 
current lessees and waitlist applicants for homestead awards in 
2020. The purpose of the study was to assess the current 
condition and needs of DHHL beneficiaries and was designed to 
be consistent and similar to previous studies conducted in 
1995, 2003, 2008, and 2014. These studies provide the most 
recent beneficiary data.
    In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development commissioned the Assessment of Native Hawaiian 
Housing Needs. Some of the key findings of the HUD study 
include: Native Hawaiian households tend to be larger. In 2010, 
the average size of a Native Hawaiian's household was 4.1 
people compared with 2.7 people for residents of other Hawaii 
households.
    Although improvements were made during the 2000 to 2010 
decade, Native Hawaiians living in Hawaii continue to be more 
economically disadvantaged. They have lower incomes, higher 
rates of assistance receipt, and higher poverty rates. Native 
Hawaiian households also experience higher rates of 
overcrowding, 15 percent, compared with residents of Hawaii. I 
have three generations living in my household, [indiscernible]. 
There are numerous other families that are [indiscernible].
    In addition, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act households on 
the waiting list face more significant housing challenges 
across all dimensions than do all other groups. Nearly 40 
percent of beneficiary households on the waiting list were 
overcrowded compared with only 19 percent of households on 
sampled Hawaiian home lands, while 10 percent of beneficiary 
households on the waiting list lack complete plumbing compared 
with 1 percent for all the other groups.
    The conclusions of the study guide DHHL's programs that are 
ultimately aimed at upholding the Federal trust responsibility 
to beneficiaries. The continued support of this Committee will 
help us to address this.
    The first conclusion in the HUD study identifies the 
importance of Title VIII of the Native American Housing 
Assistance and Self-Determination Act to support the critical 
housing needs of Native Hawaiian families who are eligible to 
reside on the Hawaiian Home lands. DHHL is grateful to Chairman 
Schatz for securing $22.3 million in the current fiscal year 
for Native Hawaiian housing, the highest level of funding ever 
appropriated by Congress, and requests continued funding at 
this level. In addition, DHHL applauds the leadership of this 
Committee by both Senator Schatz and Senator Murkowski in 
passing NAHASDA reauthorization.
    The 2020 Beneficiary Study Report identified 887 lessees 
that earn 80 percent or less of the HUD Ami with a house 
needing major repairs. The home assistance program has already 
assisted over 100 income-eligible households and is geared to 
continue addressing this need.
    The final area that I would like to highlight, and there 
are many others, is the plan to utilize NAHASDA funds to 
acquire land. DHHL's Oahu Island Plan noted that approximated 
1,390 acres of land suitable for residential development is 
necessary to meet the homestead needs of beneficiary households 
on the residential waiting list that are not otherwise 
accommodated assuming full implementation of the Oahu Island 
Plan. Because of this high demand and limited availability of 
land on Oahu, the program areas exceed what is currently 
[indiscernible].
    The Native Hawaiian Housing Loan Guarantee Program, known 
as the Section 184A program, provides access to mortgage 
financing to Native Hawaiian families who are eligible to 
reside on home lands and would otherwise face barriers to 
acquiring such financing. As of June 30th, 2021, the HUD 184A 
loan program had 507 loans with a total outstanding balance of 
over $112 million.
    From July 2020 to June 2021, DHHL processed over 77 HUD 
184A loan guarantees, 535 Federal Housing Administration 
insured loans, 26 Veterans Affairs, and 13 Department of 
Agriculture Rural Development loans.
    [Audio gap.]
    Mr. Aila. Hawaiian Home Lands [indiscernible] 1,400 acres 
with a value in 1998 of $75 million to $80 million continue to 
be used by Federal agencies. A subsequent credit of $16.9 
million was transferred [indiscernible]. However, when we are 
finalizing [indiscernible] the ask is that the Committee on 
Indian Affairs consider rather than waiting for Federal lands 
and assets that we come up with a monetary calculation, and 
that [indiscernible] to DHHL in order to acquire lands which 
would occur much quicker and give us the flexibility to find 
lands that are mostly existing infrastructure, lands that are 
not [indiscernible] elevations and lands that we don't have to 
do offsite construction.
    So we ask that you consider [indiscernible] I am just 
looking at my notes one second. I come from [indiscernible] on 
the west side of Oahu. [indiscernible] 18:53. One thing that is 
important to me about where I come from, Native Oahuans, 
[indiscernible] still the greatest [indiscernible] per capita 
[indiscernible]. But they are not there yet.
    [Chant in Native tongue.]
    Mr. Aila. It is a chant that I shared with the Department 
of Natural Resources. It talks about the KU [indiscernible] 
grass that used to grow on the plains of Moloka'i. It talks 
about the [indiscernible] rushes that used to grow in the 
uplands of Hawaii. It no longer exists. So that is my 
motivation for not [indiscernible] more extinctions 
[indiscernible]. As the chair of the HHC, it reminds me that we 
have to do everything we can to ensure survival for Native 
Hawaiian households [indiscernible] they are all 
[indiscernible] whether we partner with them or not. Because 
the worst possible thing that could happen, Senator, is 20 
years from now, somebody has to write another [indiscernible] 
and the [indiscernible] is beneficiaries need [indiscernible] 
some place else because we weren't able to meet housing needs.
    That is what [indiscernible] put [indiscernible] main part 
of that [indiscernible]. Although we sit here at the table 
representing different organizations, when we talk to each 
other, we raise ideas off each other in order to meet the 
challenges that face all of us. I do want to thank the Chair, 
and I want to thank [indiscernible] UHILA for being creative, 
being willing to sit down and just brainstorm on anything 
[indiscernible].
    Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Aila follows:]

 Prepared Statement of William J. Aila, Jr., Chairman, Hawaiian Homes 
                               Commission
    Aloha Chairman Schatz, Vice Chairman Murkowski, and Members of the 
U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs:
    Thank you for inviting me to testify on behalf of the Department of 
Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), which is governed by the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission Act of 1920 (HHCA), enacted by the U.S. Congress to protect 
and improve the lives of native Hawaiians. \1\ Spearheaded by Prince 
Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, the HHCA set aside public lands, called 
Hawaiian Home Lands, to establish a rehabilitative program for native 
Hawaiians. \2\ Under the HHCA, native Hawaiians may obtain 99-year 
homestead leases at $1 per year for residential, agricultural or 
pastoral purposes. The federal government served as the sole trustee of 
the Hawaiian Home Lands program until Statehood.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, Pub. L. No. 67-34, 42 
Stat. 108 (1921), https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/Act-
of-July-9-1921-42-Stat-108.pdf.
    \2\ The HHCA defines a native Hawaiian as any descendant of not 
less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the 
Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As required by the Admission Act of 1959 \3\ and as a compact with 
the United States, the State and the people of Hawaii adopted the HHCA 
as a provision of the State Constitution and agreed to faithfully carry 
out the spirit of the HHCA. \4\ The Admission Act provides that the 
United States continues to have oversight responsibilities over the 
HHCA and certain amendments may be made only with the consent of the 
United States. Thus, the United States and the State assumed the duties 
of a trustee for native Hawaiians under the HHCA. Primary 
responsibility for the management and administration of the Hawaiian 
Home Lands program rests with DHHL, a principal department of the State 
subject to State and Federal laws.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Hawaii Admission Act, Pub. L. No. 86-3, 73 Stat. 4 (1959), 
https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/An-Act-to-Provide-for-
the-Admission-of-the-State-of-Hawai.pdf.
    \4\ HAW. CONST. ART. XII  1-2 (1978), https://
www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol01_Ch0001-0042F/05-Const/
CONST_0012-0001.htm and https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/
Vol01_Ch0001-0042F/05-Const/CONST_0012-0002.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Consistent with the provisions of the HHCA and the Admission Act, 
Congress enacted the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act (HHLRA) in 1995 
to settle land use and ownership disputes as a result of the federal 
government's removal of Hawaiian Home Lands. \5\ In addition, the HHLRA 
provides a procedure for approval of amendments to the HHCA and land 
exchanges.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act, Pub. L. No. 104-42, 109 Stat. 
353 (1995), https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/The-
Hawaiian-Home-Lands-Recovery-Act.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The mission of DHHL is to manage the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust 
effectively and to develop and deliver land to native Hawaiians. Today, 
DHHL is responsible for the management of approximately 200,000 acres 
of these trust lands, 9,957 homestead leases statewide, and 45,854 
lease applications. \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ Lease and application counts as of 3/31/2022. An applicant can 
hold a maximum of two applications, one for a residential lease and the 
other for either an agricultural lease or pastoral lease. The 45,854 
lease applications are held by less than 29,000 native Hawaiian 
applicants.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Most of DHHL's lands are located on the neighbor islands in rural 
or more remote locations with over half of the acreage on the island of 
Hawai'i \7\ including over 56,000 acres on the slopes of Mauna Kea and 
over 11,000 acres at the southernmost point in both the Hawaiian 
Islands and US. \8\ With over 30,000 acres on Maui, \9\ a significant 
portion of those lands include over 22,000 acres on the southern flank 
of Haleakala at Kahikinui with elevation ranges from sea level to 9,700 
feet near the summit. \10\ DHHL's lands on Moloka'i consist of over 
25,000 acres of which over half of those lands at Ho'olehua is a rural 
agricultural community ranging from level plains to rolling hills and 
sea cliffs at the northern coastal boundary. \11\ Kaua'i includes over 
20,000 acres of Hawaiian home lands with over 15,000 acres in Waimea, 
of which two thirds of the area is described as steep, mountainous 
terrain and isolated valleys. \12\ O'ahu, the island with the greatest 
demand of applicants looking for homestead opportunities has the least 
amount of land with just over 8,000 acres, of which over 1,400 acres is 
designated conservation primarily consisting of the steep cliffs along 
the Ko'olau. \13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\ DHHL Hawaii Island Plan (May 2002), https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/Island_Plan_Hawaii_2002.pdf.
    \8\ South Point Resources Management Plan (October 2016), https://
dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/DHHL-South-Point-Final-
Plan_101916_to-DHHL_low-res.pdf.
    \9\ Maui Island Plan (September 2004), https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/Island_Plan_Maui_2004.pdf.
    \10\ Kahikinui Regional Plan (July 2011), https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/
wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Kahikinui_RP_110711.pdf.
    \11\ DHHL Molokai Island Plan (June 2005), https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/
wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Island_Plan_Molokai_2005.pdf and 2019 
Molokai Regional Plan, https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/
02/Molokai-Regional-Plan-Update-Final_02-18-20_HHC.pdf.
    \12\ Kauai Island Plan (May 2004), https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/Island_Plan_Kauai_2004.pdf.
    \13\ Oahu Island Plan (July 2014), https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2013/04/DHHL-OIP-Final-140708.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Along with developing new homesteads, DHHL also has other critical, 
albeit lesser known responsibilities. Like a county, DHHL maintains and 
repairs existing infrastructure (e.g. clearing of flood channels and 
drainage, fire protection of all lands, roads and facilities 
maintenance, sewer emergencies and repairs, etc.) In addition to 
County-like responsibilities, DHHL also performs water utility 
functions. DHHL owns and operates three regulated public water systems 
on Moloka'i, Kaua'i, and Hawai'i islands. Together, the systems have a 
total of 826 meters serving approximately 2,500 individuals (not 
including the schools and airport that are supported by the Moloka'i 
system). DHHL also owns and operates a non-potable water system for 
stock purposes in Pu'ukapu and soon to be constructed non-potable water 
system in Honokaia, both on Hawai'i Island. These non-potable water 
systems are designed to service over 200 connections.
Housing Needs of Native Hawaiians
    DHHL conducted a study among all of its beneficiaries, current 
lessees \14\ and waitlist applicants for homestead awards in 2020. \15\ 
The purpose of the study was to assess the current condition and needs 
of DHHL beneficiaries and was designed to be consistent and similar to 
previous studies conducted in 1995, 2003, 2008, and 2014. These studies 
provide the most recent beneficiary data. In addition, the U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) commissioned the 
Assessment of Native Hawaiian Housing Needs. \16\ Some of the key 
finding of this HUD study include the following:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\ DHHL Beneficiaries Study Lessee Report, 2020 (December 30, 
2020), https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DHHL_Lessee-
UI_Report_FINAL-202101.pdf.
    \15\ DHHL Beneficiaries Study Applicant Report, 2020 (December 30, 
2020), https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/DHHL-
Applicant-Report-FINAL-Revised-210426.pdf.
    \16\ Housing Needs of Native Hawaiians: A Report From the 
Assessment of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian 
Housing Needs (May 2017), https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/
files/pdf/HNNH.pdf.

   Native Hawaiian households tend to be larger. In 2010, the 
        average size of a Native Hawaiian's household was 4.1 people 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        compared with 2.7 people for residents of Hawaii households.

   Although improvements were made during the 2000-to-2010 
        decade, Native Hawaiians living in Hawaii continue to be more 
        economically disadvantaged: they have lower incomes, higher 
        rates of assistance receipt, and higher poverty rates than do 
        other residents of Hawaii.

   Native Hawaiian households also experience higher rates of 
        overcrowding (15 percent) compared with residents of Hawaii 
        households (8 percent).

   Homelessness among Native Hawaiians is prevalent. Although 
        not typically chronically homeless, they are overrepresented in 
        Hawaii's homeless population. Homeless Native Hawaiians often 
        have jobs but cannot afford housing, so they double up (hidden 
        homeless) or live in tents, shelters, cars, or garages.

   HHCA beneficiary households on the waiting list are more 
        economically disadvantaged than are Native Hawaiian households 
        overall, residents of Hawaii households, and Native Hawaiian 
        households living on the home lands.

        --HHCA beneficiary households on the waiting list have the 
        lowest median income of all four groups by a substantial 
        margin: $48,000 compared with more than $60,000 for all other 
        groups.

        --HHCA beneficiaries on the waiting list also receive public 
        cash assistance at more than twice the rate of the other 
        groups: about 20 percent of households on the waiting list 
        received public cash assistance compared with about 7 percent 
        of Native Hawaiians and those living on the home lands and 3 
        percent for residents of Hawaii.

   HHCA beneficiary households on the waiting list face more 
        significant housing challenges across all dimensions than do 
        the other groups.

        --Nearly 40 percent of HHCA beneficiary households on the 
        waiting list were overcrowded compared with only 19 percent of 
        households on sampled Hawaiian home lands, 15 percent of the 
        state's Native Hawaiian households, and 8 percent of residents 
        of Hawaii households.

        --About 10 percent of HHCA beneficiary households on the 
        waiting list lack complete plumbing compared with 1 percent for 
        all other groups.

        --Nearly one-half (46 percent) of HHCA beneficiary households 
        on the waiting list experience cost burden compared with 40 
        percent of Native Hawaiian households, 42 percent of residents 
        of Hawaii households, and only 21 percent of households on the 
        sampled Hawaiian home lands. The much lower rate of cost burden 
        among home lands households is due, at least in part, to the 
        financial benefits of home lands leases, which reduce monthly 
        housing costs, including minimal lease payments for the land 
        and a 7-year exemption from real estate property tax.

    The conclusions in the HUD study guide DHHL's programs that are 
ultimately aimed at upholding the State and Federal trust 
responsibility to beneficiaries.
Continued Support for Title VIII of NAHASDA
    The first conclusion in the HUD study identifies the importance of 
Title VIII of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act (NAHASDA) to support the critical housing needs of 
Native Hawaiian families who are eligible to reside on the Hawaiian 
home lands. \17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\ Title VIII of NAHASDA defines Native Hawaiian as any 
individual who is (A) a citizen of the United States; and (B) a 
descendant of the aboriginal people, who, prior to 1778, occupied and 
exercised sovereignty in the area that currently constitutes the State 
of Hawaii, as evidenced by (i) genealogical records; (ii) verification 
by kupuna (elders) or kama'aina (long-term community residents); or 
(iii) birth records of the State of Hawaii.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    DHHL is grateful to Chairman Schatz for securing $22.3 million in 
the current fiscal year for Native Hawaiian Housing, the highest level 
of Federal funding ever appropriated by Congress and requests continued 
funding at this level. In addition, DHHL applauds the leadership of 
this committee by both Senators Schatz and Murkowski in passing NAHASDA 
reauthorization.
    NAHASDA funding has enabled DHHL to address and target those Native 
Hawaiian households most in need and with continued funding and 
support, reauthorization, and expansion of NAHASDA, even more native 
Hawaiians could realize the legacy of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole 
through award of a homestead lease and the resultant lower housing cost 
burden. In the most recent housing plan submitted to HUD that is 
currently under review, DHHL noted a continued focus on homeowner 
financing and down payment assistance options for native Hawaiian 
households that earn 80 percent or less of HUD AMI as a means for these 
households to realize homeownership. The housing plan also acknowledged 
that while the HUD study noted that HHCA beneficiary households on the 
waiting list face more significant housing challenges, lessees, 
especially in our older homestead communities face aging substandard 
housing. The 2020 Beneficiary Study Lessee Report identified 887 
lessees that earn 80 percent or less of HUD AMI with a house needing 
major repairs. The home assistance program has already assisted over 
100 income-eligible households and is geared to continue addressing 
this need.
    In recognition of the need for increased housing stability, 
especially as families experienced hardships associated with the 
Coronavirus pandemic, DHHL took swift action first by approving the 
postponement of mortgage loan payments for all DHHL direct loans and 
loans assigned to DHHL. Chairman Schatz and the rest of Hawaii's 
Congressional delegation worked to pass legislation that provided 
relief for homeowners with government-guaranteed mortgages including 
mortgages backed by FHA, USDA, VA, HU Sec 184A, Fannie Mae, or Freddie 
Mac. DHHL also initially utilized NAHASDA funds to provide emergency 
rental and homeowner assistance and has since received other federal 
funds for this purpose. DHHL received $2.4 million for rental 
assistance through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The U.S. 
Department of Treasury recognized DHHL as a high performing grantee in 
expending these funds to assist native Hawaiians. DHHL also received $5 
million under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that was used for 
rental assistance for Native Hawaiians. These funds have all been 
expended and DHHL continued to provide rental assistance to Native 
Hawaiian families with an additional $5 million in emergency rental 
assistance funds provided from the State's allocation of emergency 
rental assistance. Over 1000 Native Hawaiian households received 
emergency rental or homeowner assistance funded through NAHASDA or 
these other federal funds.
    DHHL will build upon this emergency assistance by providing rental 
assistance initially to kupuna (elders) and subsequently disabled HHCA 
beneficiary households who have been on the waiting list longest in an 
effort to provide financial assistance for those at risk of 
homelessness or facing financial hardship. As the HUD study points out, 
this complementary approach supports affordable rental options as a 
stepping stone to homeownership.
    The HUD study identified homelessness among Native Hawaiians as a 
significant problem, but also acknowledged that data is not available 
for only Native Hawaiians. In an effort to fill this gap, DHHL entered 
into a Memorandum of Understanding with Partners in Care--Oahu 
Continuum of Care to understand how pervasive the situation of 
homelessness might be among its beneficiaries and especially those HHCA 
beneficiary households on the waiting list. Additionally, the 
conversion of an existing structure on Oahu to a transitional housing 
facility for beneficiaries is intended to begin addressing this need 
and serve as a model for future facilities.
    The final area DHHL would like to highlight is the plan to utilize 
NAHASDA funds to acquire land. DHHL's Oahu Island Plan noted that 
approximately 1,390 acres of land suitable for residential development 
is necessary to meet the homestead needs of HHCA beneficiary households 
on the residential waiting list that are not otherwise accommodated 
assuming full implementation of the Oahu Island Plan. Because of this 
high demand and limited availability of land on Oahu, one of the 
program areas in the housing plan is the development of site selection 
criteria to screen land and existing structures to identify possible 
lands and existing structures for residential units for HHCA 
beneficiary households on the waiting list.
    The fifteen program areas in the housing plan under review by HUD 
projects an expenditure of $18.1 million of NAHASDA funds, underscoring 
the need for continued funding at the current level.
Funding for Homeowner Financing on Hawaiian Home Lands
    The unique legal status of Hawaiian home lands impacts the 
availability of financing. Nevertheless, the existing portfolio of 
nearly 5,000 loans totaling over $700 million financed the 
construction, purchase, or rehabilitation of homes on Hawaiian home 
lands.
    The Native Hawaiian Housing Loan Guarantee program (also known as 
the Section 184A program) provides access to mortgage financing to 
Native Hawaiian families who are eligible to reside on Hawaiian home 
lands and would otherwise face barriers to acquiring such financing. As 
of June 30, 2021, the HUD184A loan program had 507 loans with a total 
outstanding principal balance of over $112 million. In FY 21 from July 
1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, DHHL processed 77 HUD184A loan 
guarantees, 535 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured loans, 26 
Veterans Affairs (VA), and 13 U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural 
Development (USDA-RD) loans. Each of these loans represents an 
opportunity for a native Hawaiian to return to trust lands or to remain 
on these lands. The President's FY 23 budget of $28 million in total 
loan principal for new commitments to guarantee loans as authorized by 
the Section 184A program should continue to serve the demand for 
financing on Hawaiian home lands.
Appropriate Funding to Resolve the Outstanding Balance Under the HHLRA
    The HHLRA authorizes the conveyance of certain non-ceded federal 
fee land in Hawaii to DHHL in exchange for the federal government's 
continued use of Hawaiian home lands at Lualualei and Waimanalo on Oahu 
and Kalaupapa on Molokai. The HHLRA further provides for the settlement 
of claims arising from the lost use, or foregone rent, for past use of 
these lands by federal agencies. Any federal lands that are transferred 
to DHHL are available for development for the benefit of native 
Hawaiians and assume the status of available lands. Before any land is 
transferred to DHHL, the federal property must complete the process of: 
(1) being declared as excess to federal needs; (2) environmental 
cleanup pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation and Liability Act; and (3) completion of surveys and legal 
documents.
    The HHLRA acknowledges that a total of 1,486 acres of Hawaiian home 
lands with a 1998 value of $75 to $80 million continue to be used by 
federal agencies. A subsequent credit of $16.9 million for use of the 
Waipahu Federal Communications Commission Monitor Station property was 
also added into the calculation. Therefore, the total amount due to 
DHHL increased to a total of $92 to $97 million.
    There have been federal land conveyances to DHHL since the HHLRA 
was signed. As of July 2020, 843 acres with a value of $58 to $72 
million had been transferred to DHHL. Therefore, a balance of about $24 
to $33 million in 1998 land value is still due to DHHL. Part of the 
ongoing effort to resolve these outstanding claims resulted in the 
transfer of an 80-acre parcel of surplus property at the former NOAA 
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center on Oahu last year. Even with this most 
recent transfer of lands, an outstanding balance under the HHLRA still 
remains.
    Moreover, while DHHL acknowledges that the greatest demand for land 
is on Oahu and the priority is to obtain lands where offsite 
infrastructure is already in place, under development, or requires 
limited resources to connect to existing infrastructure, the Oahu 
Island Plan cautions that some lands that were previously acquired 
through the HHLRA ended up providing limited homesteading. Therefore, 
it is recommended that any future potential land acquisition follow a 
review process that allows for lands to be rejected if those federal 
surplus lands have limited potential for homesteading. Conditions that 
are conducive for homesteading could include the following:

   A homestead density can be achieved that is consistent with 
        current DHHL Residential or Subsistence Agriculture 
        developments, if acquisition is pursued for homestead purposes.

   Estimated off-site infrastructure costs are comparable to 
        the average cost for current DHHL developments.

   Slopes are less than 25 percent.

   Lands have not been identified as critical habitats or 
        floodways.

   Development potential is not significantly reduced based 
        upon obligatory development restrictions (i.e. location at the 
        end of a runway, within blast zone, habitation conservation 
        requirements, deed restrictions, etc.).

   Acquisitions identified for homesteading are located within 
        areas of high preference.

    In recognition of these issues that require proper consideration, 
it may be more efficient to appropriate funding for an agreed upon 
amount to DHHL to resolve the outstanding balance under the HHLRA that 
could then be used to acquire land on Oahu that better fit the criteria 
rather than waiting for excess federal lands to become available.
Addressing Climate Change
    Hawaii is already feeling the impacts brought forth by climate 
change and as time progresses these effects--rising sea levels, rising 
temperatures, and less & heavy rain will be more prominent aspects of 
our lives. \18\ Sea level is rising at increasing rates indicating a 
growing vulnerability to coastal flooding and erosion. \19\ Sea level 
rise also affects cultural practices like fishpond maintenance, 
harvesting of salt, and gathering from the nearshore fisheries. \20\ 
Climate change and forest loss are working together to make Hawaii 
drier and hotter. Hawaii lost a higher proportion of total land area to 
wildfires than the 12 fire-prone states in the western US combined from 
2005-2011. Warming waters are harming sea life and warmer oceans are 
causing more frequent and intense extreme weather events. \21\ Rainfall 
has declined significantly over the past 30 years, with increasing 
variation in rainfall patterns on each island.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\ Hawaii Climate Change Portal, https://climate.hawaii.gov/.
    \19\ Hawaii Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report 
(December 2017), https://climateadaptation.hawaii.gov/wp-content/
uploads/2017/12/SLR-Report_Dec2017.pdf.
    \20\ Traditional Hawaiian Salt Makers Combat Climate Change (July 
17, 2017), https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/post/traditional-hawaiian-
salt-makers-combat-climate-change#stream/0.
    \21\ Climate Change Brief of the City and County of Honolulu 
Climate Change Commission (June 5, 2018), https://
static1.squarespace.com/static/59af5d3cd7bdce7aa5c3e11f/t/
5bda020bf950b7dd16a458d6/1541014029634/Climate+Change+Brief.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As a member of the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation 
Commission, DHHL along with several other State and County government 
officials have focused on two main areas: (1) understanding and 
developing strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with an 
emphasis on mitigating ground transportation emissions by transitioning 
to clean transportation and (2) implementing the recommendations of the 
Hawaii Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report by supporting 
sustainable and resilient land use and community development through 
prioritizing smart redevelopment in areas outside the sea level 
exposure area, limiting exposure inside the sea level rise exposure 
area, and incentivizing improved flood risk management while addressing 
cultural and environmental vulnerabilities.
    Prior to serving on the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and 
Adaptation Commission, DHHL requested the assistance of the University 
of Hawaii at Manoa's Department of Urban and Regional Planning to 
identify and assess coastal hazard vulnerabilities affecting DHHL 
communities. \22\ 29 DHHL communities with land inside Special 
Management Area boundaries or tsunami evacuation zones were identified 
and of these, the communities with the greatest population exposed to 
the greatest numbers of hazards were identified for each island. Five 
communities underwent a detailed vulnerability assessment, which 
compared four hazard types (tsunami inundation, flooding, coastal 
erosion, and sea level rise) and are among the most vulnerable to 
coastal hazards and should be prioritized in climate change planning 
initiatives. One of those areas is the South Molokai Shoreline. The 
Kapa'akea homestead community is extremely vulnerable to the effects of 
natural disasters including flooding due to serious soil erosion and 
sea level rise. There are a range of measures that can effectively 
mitigate inundation on coastal areas including retreat, accommodation, 
and protection. While the least favorable adaptive measure is retreat, 
depending on how severe the effects of sea level rise in the islands, 
retreat and relocation are likely to be the only options as proper 
drainage becomes less effective in transporting flood water out to the 
ocean. Nevertheless, response to climate change must include Native 
Hawaiians and incorporate traditional knowledge or Native stewardship 
principles. \23\ DHHL is uniquely suited in this effort as a few areas 
on certain islands encompass a traditional land area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \22\ Coastal Resilience for DHHL Communities (May 2015), http://
manoa.hawaii.edu/durp/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Plan-751-Sp-2015-DHHL-
Coastal-practicum-LM-edit.compressed.pdf.
    \23\ Testimony of Chair Carmen Hulu Linsey, Board of Trustees of 
the Office of Hawaiian Affairs before the U.S. House Committee on 
Natural Resources' Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United 
States--Oversight Hearing on ``A Year in Review: The State of COVID-19 
in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Communities'' 
(March 23, 2021), https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/
SCIP%2003.23%20Testimony%20-%20Chair%20Lindsey%20(OHA)1.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Broadband Infrastructure
    The State of Hawaii recognizes robust broadband infrastructure as 
foundational to Hawai'i's economic future and, as importantly, the 
quality of life of its residents. \24\ However, many in Hawai'i, 
primarily from rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, 
lack the necessary digital tools to work, learn, receive essential 
services, and participate in civic and social activities. \25\ If this 
is left to continue, the impacts of digital inequity may become an 
increasingly significant contributor to a widening socioeconomic gap.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \24\ Hawaii Broadband Strategic Plan (October 2020), https://
broadband.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Hawaii-BB-Plan-2020-
FINAL_10-23-20_v1.1.pdf.
    \25\ Broadband Hui, Broadband for A.L.L. (Access, Literacy, 
Livelihood)--A Digital Equity Declaration for Hawai'i, https://
www.broadbandhui.org/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Recently completed DHHL beneficiary studies report that 8.6 percent 
of lessees on Hawaiian home lands indicated that no one in the 
household regularly uses a device to email/access the Internet. Most 
concerning is that lessee households earning less than 30 percent and 
50 percent of the HUD income level reported a significantly higher 
number of no one in the household regularly using a device to email/
access the Internet at 21.5 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively. 
Similar outcomes were reported for native Hawaiians on DHHL's waiting 
list for a homestead award with 5.4 percent indicating that no one uses 
a device to send email or access the Internet with households earning 
less than 30 percent and 50 percent of the HUD income level reporting 
13.4 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively. Thus, DHHL is working with 
the State and the University of Hawaii in prioritizing digital equity.
    Underlying all of these issues is the importance of upholding the 
Federal trust responsibility to Native Hawaiians as consistently and 
expressly acknowledged by Congress through the enactment of the HHCA, 
Admission Act, HHLRA, and the Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act 
codified in Title VIII of NAHASDA.
    With the support of Chairman Schatz, critical funding has increased 
for important programs, yet many unmet housing needs of Native 
Hawaiians remain. DHHL stands ready to assist in accomplishing this 
most important work of ensuring the Federal trust responsibility to 
Native Hawaiians continues to be upheld.
    In closing, I wish to express my appreciation and gratitude to 
Chairman Schatz for inviting me to testify. It has been an honor to 
have had this opportunity to address you and this Committee.

    The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Aila.
    Mr. Lewis, please proceed with your testimony.

  STATEMENT OF KUHIO LEWIS, PRESIDENT/CEO, COUNCIL FOR NATIVE 
                      HAWAIIAN ADVANCEMENT

    Mr. Lewis. Aloha, Chair Schatz, and your amazing Committee. 
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to be here to share. I am Kuhio 
Lewis, from the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. We are 
a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We represent and we 
support over 400 members who make up CNHA's infrastructure. 
They are the backbone of the work CNHA does.
    I want to start off, Senator, by highlighting some of the 
things we have been able to accomplish over the last few years, 
which can be directly attributed to support from the Federal 
Government by way of the Congress. First of all, I want to 
highlight the emergency relief program that CDC administers. We 
have partnered with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, 
State of Hawaii, and with the city and county of Honolulu. We 
have been successful in distributing over $105 million to 
residents of our State. That is 80,000 checks supporting over 
14,000 households.
    The [indiscernible] organization that had the capacity to 
lift up a program of this magnitude. So when billions of 
dollars came out from Congress, we had to move quickly. We 
positioned the organization to be solution-oriented, to help 
uplift Hawaii, not just Native Hawaiians, but all Hawaii, 
because I believe there is a sense of kuleana in this place and 
in everyone who lives here.
    We were recognized recently by the United States Treasury 
as being top performing in the [indiscernible] to inspire 
others. The program has had tremendous success in providing 
immediate stability to our families. However, we continue to 
look at ways in which we can continue that support so long-term 
they can find stability. Many of them have already 
[indiscernible] depending on the program, so now we can figure 
out [indiscernible]. So these are some of the active 
discussions that are going on within CNHA as well as the 
department.
    I want to also thank the Federal Government for the Pop-Up 
Makeke, which really was born also during the pandemic. This is 
an online marketplace. It supported over 300 small businesses, 
provided a means for them to survive. When the State of Hawaii 
shut down, hundreds of our small businesses shut down with the 
State. They didn't have a place to sell their products, their 
Hawaii-based products.
    To date, the Pop-Up Makeke has sold over 230 Hawaiian-based 
products and shipped them around the world. It has put millions 
of dollars into the pockets of these small businesses. Again, I 
want to recognize that money to get it started came from CARES 
Act funds.
    I also want to thank Congress for the SBA program. We 
received millions of dollars from SBA to support our small 
businesses. We supported hundreds of Hawaii's small businesses 
to find the right [indiscernible] so they can survive post-
[indiscernible]. Our Hawaiian Trades Academy, we graduated 
hundreds of tradesmen, so that they can find some degree of 
self-sufficiency in this rapidly moving economy as we seek 
[indiscernible] to provide to dozens of our businesses and 
individuals who don't have access to capital.
    All of these tools and resources have provided many of our 
families stability. Thank you for that.
    I wanted to highlight some of the initiatives I believe are 
critical for CNHA as we move forward. When I say CNHA, I am 
speaking on behalf of those [indiscernible]. Number one, we 
will be focused on housing. As we know, too many of our 
families are moving away from our islands. Over half of our 
population now call home outside Hawaii. With them goes our 
culture, the very thing that keeps Hawaii Hawaiian. So they 
need places to live, so they can find some degree of 
prosperity. It is just out of reach for some.
    Economic development is huge. This is why we are focusing 
on building businesses up. Investing in [indiscernible], first 
of all, businesses' access to capital to ensure that they have 
available resources to support their growth. Also, grooming a 
generation of leaders, helping the next generation find their 
place in Hawaii so that they can [indiscernible] part of the 
solution long-term.
    Most importantly, it is time that we start re-engaging in 
the discussion of our relations to the United States. The last 
few years, we have been focused on survival, and how we survive 
as a people through the pandemic. But as we turn the page, it 
gets a critical conversation for [indiscernible] and the 
intellectual examining of what that means for our people and 
our survival in our home lands.
    With that, Senator, those are the positions of our 
organization. Again, I want to extend a big mahalo, because 
without support from Congress, many of our families wouldn't be 
housed today, they wouldn't have businesses, they wouldn't be 
where they are. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Lewis follows:]

 Prepared Statement of Kuhio Lewis, President/CEO, Council for Native 
                          Hawaiian Advancement
    Aloha mai e Chair Schatz, Vice Chair Murkowski, and members of the 
Committee:
    Mahalo nui for the opportunity to provide this testimony. The 
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) is member-based 501(c)3 
non-profit organization with a mission to enhance the cultural, 
economic, political, and community development of Native Hawaiians. 
Nearly 100 full-time employees work in furtherance of this mission, on 
behalf of over 400 organizations and individuals who comprise our 
membership. Although CNHA was founded in 2001, we have recently 
experienced tremendous growth as we expanded our operations to provide 
more support for our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Over the past two years, we have been able to leverage various 
sources of funding, and federal funds in particular, to create 
partnerships and programs to provide services and direct resources to 
Native Hawaiians and others in Hawai`i. Although we are proud of all 
our accomplishments, before going into further detail we would like to 
highlight two ways that we have been able to utilize federal funds 
during the pandemic.
    First, CNHA has successfully utilized a variety of federal funds--
and not just federal funds specifically set aside for this nation's 
Indigenous people--to uplift Native Hawaiians. For example, CNHA was 
awarded contracts to disburse emergency relief funds (both Emergency 
Rental Assistance and Homeowner Assistance Funds) allocated for Native 
Hawaiians through the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL). We 
invested heavily in technology, human and other resources to establish 
an innovative and integrated system to deploy millions of dollars in 
federal funds quickly, effectively, and efficiently. Having developed a 
track record of success, CNHA was able to secure contracts with the 
City and County of Honolulu (City) to disburse its ERA funds, which are 
not limited to Native Hawaiians. The success of the City and DHHL in 
disbursing these federal funds was recognized by the Department of 
Treasury, which then awarded additional federal emergency relief funds 
to the State of Hawai`i. Because the data indicates that Native 
Hawaiians face disproportionate housing security needs, we believe that 
these additional emergency relief funds will disproportionately be used 
by Native Hawaiians. Ultimately, CNHA was able to leverage native 
federal funds to secure additional non-native federal funds, thereby 
expanding the total pool of federal funds that we know will allow more 
Native Hawaiians to benefit from critical services.
    Second, CNHA has demonstrated that although Native Hawaiians face 
unique challenges, due in large part to the injustices of the past, we 
can still rely on ourselves to uplift our own people while also taking 
the lead in finding answers to issues affecting all Hawai`i residents. 
The needs of minority and Indigenous people are often seen as a drain 
on the rest of society, especially during economic downturns. CNHA 
sought to turn that sentiment on its head during the pandemic, and we 
accomplished this through hard work and initiative, investment in 
technology, networking with our partners, and most importantly, 
listening to our community. The close relationship that we have with 
our people, through our members and our community programs, allows us 
to see immediate and emerging challenges, and take action accordingly. 
This is how we knew that the cancellation of the Merrie Monarch 
Festival would devastate Native Hawaiian crafters and artisans. This 
realization gave rise to Pop-Up Makeke (described in further detail 
below), which now supports Native Hawaiian and non-Native Hawaiian 
small businesses. Innovation is a necessity for native people to 
survive and thrive in the 21st century; our communities are incubators 
for solutions that can be scaled up to address larger societal 
challenges.
CNHA's Services and Programs
Federal Emergency Relief Funds
    Over the past 24 months, CNHA has successfully administered and 
disbursed over $105 million in federal emergency relief funds on behalf 
of the State of Hawai`i, City and County of Honolulu and the Department 
of Hawaiian Homelands, thus playing a crucial role in ensuring that 
Native Hawaiians and all Hawai`i residents received timely financial 
assistance that allowed them to remain in their homes. CNHA 
administered federal rental assistance funds from ERA1 and ERA2 as well 
as mortgage assistance funds from the Homeowner Assistance Fund 
allocated to separate State of Hawai`i and DHHL programs. To date, CNHA 
has cut over 80,000 checks to 14,000 households, and we continue to 
process new applications and recertifications of benefit as many of our 
community members continue to suffer from the financial impact of the 
pandemic. CNHA was a leader of the small hui of community organizations 
who contributed to the city and DHHL's being named as one of the 
highest performing governmental entities in the nation in disbursing 
emergency federal funds by the U.S. Department of Treasury in September 
2021. It brings us great honor to say that a small native organization 
located on what are essentially tribal lands was a nationally-
recognized leader in helping all of its state's residents during a 
catastrophic pandemic.
Certified Native Community Development Financial Institution/Certified 
        HUD-Housing Counseling Agency
    In furtherance of our mission, CNHA also operates as a Certified 
Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and a 
Certified HUD-Housing Counseling Agency. Throughout the pandemic, we 
have witnessed a sharp increase in the demand for our services and 
programs. Despite our limited capacity to meet loan demands, with only 
$7 million in our revolving fund, CNHA was able to extend much needed 
financial assistance to individuals and organizations normally shunned 
by traditional lenders due to poor or non-existent credit history. By 
maintaining close relationship with our borrowers, including providing 
financial literacy, business and money management courses, risk 
counseling, and applying effective portfolio management tools, we 
currently maintain rates lower than 2 precent and 1 percent in 
delinquency and write-offs, respectively.
Pop-Up Makeke
    In April 2020, with assistance from CARES Act funds, we launched 
the Pop-Up Makeke as a response to the economic hardship caused by the 
cancellation of events and craft fairs, and the temporary shut-down of 
local brick-and-mortar stores. Serving as a centralized on-line 
marketplace, the Pop-Up Makeke helped over 300 small business owners, 
artisans, and vendors to reach and sell to tens of thousands of 
customers. Although we had originally intended for the Pop-Up Makeke to 
last for only a couple of months, this endeavor proved to be so 
successful that it continues today, even after the CARES Act funds have 
dried up. To date, Pop-Up Makeke has supported over 400 businesses to 
sell over 180,000 products and generate roughly $3 million in sales.
KuHana Business Program
    We also launched our KuHana Business Program in 2020. Funded in 
part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business 
Administration (SBA), KuHana is a business accelerator that promotes 
the economic development of entrepreneurs and small businesses by 
providing training, technical assistance, and networking opportunities. 
Although KuHana was not originally conceived as a response to the 
pandemic, this program quickly adapted to incorporate best practices 
relevant to the unique challenges businesses are now presented with. 
KuHana just began its eighth cohort, and successful graduates will walk 
away with a completed business plan, a one-year business membership to 
CNHA, ongoing technical assistance support, access to networking 
events, and an opportunity to pitch their business plan to community 
partners and investors. To date, the KuHana business program has helped 
over 150 businesses to accumulate over $600,000 of capital to support 
their collective endeavors.
Hawaiian Trades Academy
    In addition to supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs, CNHA 
also promotes workforce development through the Hawaiian Trades 
Academy, which launched in 2019 with the goal of raising the household 
income of families in Hawai`i. Over an eight-14-week period, 
participants learn and develop skills, gain mentoring, and acquire 
certifications to enter the trades industries. When the COVID-19 
pandemic hit Hawai`i and the unemployment rate shot up to over 20 
percent statewide, this program provided a critical service to up-skill 
and diversify the job opportunities for many in need. The Trades 
Academy has graduated 13 cohorts, spanning three counties, and 
consisting of over 300 graduates in trades programs for carpentry, 
trucking, fire, police, and solar installation. Since its inception, 
the Hawaiian Trades Academy has received over $1.3 million in private 
and state grant funding, and we have recently been awarded grant 
funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, in accordance with the 
Workforce Development Innovation and Opportunity Act.
CNHA's Requests to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
    Through over 20 years of advocating to improve the economic and 
living conditions of Native Hawaiians, our organization has gained 
invaluable experience, built numerous partnerships, and developed a 
keen understanding of the needs of our community. By leveraging these 
assets, CNHA was able to address the challenges presented by the COVID-
19 pandemic and successfully administer programs, provide loans, and 
disburse emergency relief funds to support our community through these 
challenging times. Nonetheless, the needs of our people remain great, 
and demand for our services continues to increase. In light of the 
experience and insights that CNHA has gained, especially over the 
course of the past two years, we humbly submit to the Committee the 
following requests that we believe will foster innovation and improved 
outcomes within our community.

        1. ERA2 Housing Stability Funds--ERA2 funds have had an 
        incredible impact on keeping our families in their homes and 
        off the streets during the pandemic. As these programs begin to 
        conclude due to the spend down in funding, providers are now 
        focusing on finding ways to bridge these programs with long-
        term housing stability initiatives for Hawai`i residents. 
        Recent surges in applications suggest that the demand for these 
        services is increasing. CNHA has been working with the City and 
        County of Honolulu to use ERA2 Housing Stability Funds to cover 
        workforce development and cultural programming such as 
        ho`oponopono, which can be roughly understood as ``family 
        counseling'' within this context. Experience tells us that 
        these interventions are successful at meeting the unique needs 
        of the NHPI community--a community that disproportionately 
        faces housing instability. Moreover, our research indicates 
        that other states are using Housing Stability Funds similarly. 
        Unfortunately, we have been informed by Catholic Charities 
        Hawai`i that the Department of Treasury has rejected our 
        Housing Stability Funds proposal. While the ERA2 funds are not 
        specifically reserved for native peoples, we still believe that 
        the federal government should carefully consider native 
        concerns and requests for the use of all federal funds, 
        especially when they will disproportionately impact our people. 
        Increased flexibility in the use of these funds reflects the 
        understanding that native peoples know what works best for our 
        own communities.

        2. Additional Federal Emergency Funds for Native Hawaiians to 
        be Administered by CNHA--As previously mentioned, our data 
        suggests that the need for emergency rental assistance is 
        growing in Hawai`i. Buoyed by our successes with the 
        administration and disbursements of ERA1 and ERA2 in the past 
        24 months, CNHA believes that we have demonstrated that we are 
        clearly the best entity to disburse large scale federal 
        emergency financial assistance most effectively and efficiently 
        to the Native Hawaiian community. We have in place 
        sophisticated infrastructure, processes, and procedures capable 
        of handling tremendous amounts of data, transactions and 
        communications. Equally important is our dedicated and talented 
        staff of over 100, both permanent and temporary, who have 
        endured a fast-phased work environment like no other. Moreover, 
        after collecting socio-economic and demographic data on Native 
        Hawaiians for the last two years, no other entity has a more 
        complete and current information than CNHA on the economic 
        well-being of Native Hawaiians.

        We are asking that CNHA be a preferred entity in the State of 
        Hawai`i to manage and execute all federal emergency funds, 
        including additional emergency rental or mortgage assistance 
        funds, established specifically for Native Hawaiians.

        3. Native Hawaiian-Owned Bank--Considering CNHA's successes 
        during the pandemic and the recognition it has received from 
        the community as a trusted partner and a community resource, 
        CNHA hopes to leverage our accomplishments to further deliver 
        on our mission. CNHA's management is currently planning to 
        establish the very first Native Hawaiian-owned, Native 
        Hawaiian-serving bank. This entity will be a conduit for 
        capital formation, investment, lending and borrowing for Native 
        Hawaiian individuals, businesses and organizations located 
        within Hawai`i. This Native Hawaiian bank would be unique in 
        many ways, but especially by the fact that it would be serving 
        a subset of Hawai`i's population that is persistently poor and 
        underserved by traditional lenders. Through this bank, Native 
        Hawaiians will have the opportunity to establish consumer 
        credits, learn financial literacy, and assume loans for 
        education, housing and other personal aspirations.

        CNHA asks that the federal government invest in CNHA for at 
        least the initial minimum cash outlay needed to establish a 
        bank, while providing training, education, mentorship and other 
        technical assistance.

        4. CDFI Funding to Native Hawaiians--We request that a separate 
        CDFI program be established specifically for Native Hawaiians. 
        Currently, Native Hawaiian CDFIs are forced to compete with 
        Native Americans for the Native American CDFI Assistance 
        Program (NACA), and our applications are often unsuccessful. 
        Dedicated funding for Native Hawaiian CDFIs would allow our 
        CDFIs to grow and develop so that additional resources could 
        then be acquired and distributed into our communities.

    In closing, we mahalo the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs for 
traveling to Hawai`i to hear from Native Hawaiians directly and in 
person. We thank Chair Schatz, Vice Chair Murkowski, and all the 
members of the Committee for the opportunity to share our mana`o today, 
and for their support of native issues over the years.

    The Chairman. Thank you to all of our testifiers. I want to 
start with Chair Lindsey. OHA had to expand emergency financial 
assistance this year to respond to growing needs. I wonder if 
you can give us either some color or data on what the financial 
picture is now versus pre-COVID times. So you see anything that 
is either encouraging or alarming? Where are we now?
    Ms. Lindsey. I think during pandemic times, we had monies 
coming from all over the place, and being [indiscernible] 
finances [indiscernible] to help our people. But it has dried 
up. I think there is a definite need, there are people who are 
not being able to pay their mortgage and pay their rent and 
[indiscernible]. So I think there is a real need right now to 
see some kind of continuity to help these people.
    [indiscernible] something that we use and I think most of 
the emergency funds use was paid directly to the mortgage 
companies and landlords, and electric companies and water 
companies. So it is not as if the money is being wasted. It is 
true need. There is a possibility of continuity of these kinds 
of funds [indiscernible] need it here in Hawaii.
    The Chairman. Thank you. New topic. We had a hearing a 
couple of weeks ago where we had Mark Patterson from the Hawaii 
Correctional System Oversight Commission. He has had a fair 
amount of success with culturally based trauma and 
[indiscernible] interventions for women and children. My 
understanding is that OHA is sort of stepping into this space. 
I am wondering if you can elaborate on what you are doing and 
how you think maybe the Committee or the Federal Government 
might be of assistance.
    Ms. Lindsey. Thank you for that question. Just 
coincidentally, in the last legislative session, I was invited 
to a special group called the Women's Project, led by the 
Governor, including [indiscernible]. She signaled a very 
[indiscernible] women who wanted to help with this problem. I 
met [indiscernible] with him and he [indiscernible] some of the 
problems in our women's prisons.
    I think there were definitely, there were 10 bills 
introduced in the legislature. Not all passed, but we are going 
to, we have a commission for the women's prison to help guide 
the department to improve the conditions of the women in the 
prison, in that they are able to see their children. The women 
are the domestic part of a family. The children are an 
important part of how they live their lives.
    So being able to be close to their children is a big thing 
in their recovery as well. We would like to see that that 
happens.
    And our prison is so dilapidated. If there are funds that 
can help improve that condition that would be very helpful, 
Senator. I believe Mr. Patterson has a good [indiscernible] and 
I have the highest respect for his leadership and direction. I 
believe he is meeting with you in a couple of weeks.
    The Chairman. Yes. The one thing I would note, and we have 
a couple of [indiscernible] on the next panel, is that 
sometimes it is not a lack of programs, it is a lack of 
connectivity among these programs.
    Ms. Lindsey. Yes.
    The Chairman. I always think back to my non-profit times, 
and folks would get out of prison, where they were receiving 
mental health services, and there would be a break in case 
management, even medication. The only way they could get care 
again is to re-hospitalize or reincarcerate.
    Ms. Lindsey. Right.
    The Chairman. So part of what we all have to do is to 
develop a series of recommendations, in my view, for the next 
Governor. Because this has to be overseen at the sort of 
cabinet meeting level, so that the public safety department is 
talking to the department of health, is talking to the Office 
of Hawaiian Affairs, and we are thinking about the person who 
is coming out of incarceration and how she or he may transition 
back to being a productive community member. It is not enough 
to provide eservices once someone finds themselves in great 
difficulty. It is already too late by then.
    I am struck by the fact that there is always a need for 
resources, but sometimes we need to just coordinate the 
resources that exist a little bit better. I am hoping that 
maybe all the people in this room can develop a series of 
recommendations for whomever ends up being our next Governor to 
kind of oversee this. This is not ideological, this is non-
partisan. This is just about making things work.
    Let me move to Chairman Aila. I have a bunch of questions 
for you, a couple of them are rather technical. Should the 
funding for a loan program be available to eligible Native 
Hawaiians living throughout the State? Just for the record.
    Mr. Aila. [indiscernible]. I think that would be a good 
thing. The department, given the resources that it holds and 
the landings that we have, we are not able to address all the 
concerns. 184A is a [indiscernible] program, it is easily 
understandable and it is easily complied with.
    The only ask that I would ask here is that it be made 
[indiscernible] and changes to [indiscernible] on the homeland 
[indiscernible] clear Congressional [indiscernible].
    The Chairman. That is my partner's job.
    Okay. You are increasingly using your subcontracting 
authorities. Talk to me about how that works and how successful 
it has been.
    Mr. Aila. I was [indiscernible]. We hope that there will be 
more organizations Hawaiian-led that will improve our capacity 
[indiscernible]. We are still a State agency, people oftentimes 
forget that. We still have to go through [indiscernible]. So as 
other groups step up and [indiscernible] we will be more than 
happy to partner with other groups and similar programs that 
the department so desperately needs. It is a great partnership. 
Of course, [indiscernible] say that it is fixed. It is the only 
way to perform.
    The Chairman. So that brings me to the capacity question. 
The legislature did something extraordinary this year, hundreds 
of millions of dollars for Native Hawaiian housing in 
particular. My question is sort of two parts. One is, do we 
need to think about capacity-building, not just the ability to 
subcontract for management, but boy, this is a lot of money to 
expend and to try to do so responsibly. Given that the real 
estate market is really hot, to get excellent construction 
management, people who are real estate experts at a civil 
service salary is an extraordinary challenge.
    I am wondering if you would talk about how you see 
execution. I don't want you to give me a pat answer. If you are 
not there yet, I would rather you say, let me get back to you 
in six weeks, rather than just give me a glib answer. So that 
is one question.
    The other is, how would the big infusion of Federal funds, 
big infusion of State funds, how do these two funds interact? 
Do they end up in a pile going to the same purpose? Or are they 
separate lines of [indiscernible]?
    Mr. Aila. The personal question first. We have 
[indiscernible] utilize positions that [indiscernible] 
appropriated, starting July 1st we actually get to go out and 
[indiscernible]. We also are going to take steps to utilize 
Federal funds to create exempt positions to do exactly that. 
Folks at the project management level to assist us with 
construction side, the procurement that is going to be 
necessary to deal with down payment assistance, mortgage 
assistance. Because we don't have staff to do that, we don't 
have the expertise to do that.
    So that is something that is [indiscernible] in finance, 
they didn't give us a green light to go forward with positions 
that we want to create that on July 1st get funded. Speaking 
with HUD, we feel comfortable through NAHASDA creating six to 
eight more positions to deal with the funds that are coming 
through the Federal side.
    Also, the ability to utilize those Federal funded employees 
[indiscernible]. It is the best plan that we can have for now. 
We do appreciate others joining in with us and creating 
capacity. But two years, three years, is a very short time. So 
we need the Governor to keep President Biden's [indiscernible] 
give us that [indiscernible].
    The Chairman. Let me know what you need. Also, I would just 
add that one of my continuing frustrations, I have not always 
been totally kind to the department in all instances. But it is 
because of my passion for these issues. But I do think you are 
on the right track.
    My new frustration, I won't say you are where you need to 
be, but you are at least on track. My new frustration is that 
there are people in HUD in particular who have not updated 
their view of the department's ability to execute. So we need 
to think together about how to make sure the White House, with 
the Office of Management and Budget, at the secretary's office 
at HUD, understands that this is a new DHHL. And whomever is 
running it in 2023, regardless, you are going to be on a track 
that puts you in a position for success.
    My final question for now is just about density. I have 
communicated directly with the department about my desire to 
kind of open up the aperture, certainly in the kind of Indian 
housing space there are lots of very exciting things happening 
around density. You know, you have a lot of people on that 
waiting list who would be perfectly pleased with a rental 
subsidy or rental apartment or to purchase an apartment.
    So I am wondering how you are thinking about the balance 
between the people who are still on that list, who still want 
that homestead in Kula or on [indiscernible] versus urban 
Native Hawaiians who just want some help and are not so 
particularly about the kind of home, real estate model, or the 
home type. So I am wondering if you can speak to the next 
flexibilities. I think it is not just the chairman of the 
commission, it is the commissioners who may have a view. So I 
wonder how that is all evolving.
    Mr. Aila. Sure, thank you for that question, Senator.
    In the past six or seven years, we have maintained the tool 
kit, if you will, of offerings. So we had [indiscernible] 
awards, which is basically, think of homesteading in the 1920s. 
Government gives you a map, here is your [indiscernible], go 
get them, good luck. We don't have [indiscernible]. We don't 
[indiscernible] and actually build homes and actually thrive 
under those conditions.
    Then we have subsistence agriculture lots, which we 
[indiscernible] do so. It removes the requirement for this 
Congressional two-thirds [indiscernible]. So the idea of making 
lands available with minimal infrastructure [indiscernible] and 
allowing people to do what they say they can do.
    Then we have [indiscernible] from primary, a turnkey 
operation to where the turnkey is still available, because some 
of the folks on the waiting list desire that, but we also offer 
vacant lots. So a vacant lot is something that I did 30 years 
ago with my wife. We hired a contractor and did part of the 
work, we put our [indiscernible] into that house. It is 
something that I could afford on my salary as a harbor master 
at that time. That is what we need to do more of.
    We recognize that there are beneficiaries who are not in a 
financial position and will never be in a financial position to 
own a house. That is where we are doing the rental 
opportunities. So in [indiscernible] we are acquiring a parcel 
right across the street for that. There is a tiny little house 
that is attached to that property. We will acquire it and then 
put that out for an RFP and [indiscernible] 200-plus more 
[indiscernible] as well as [indiscernible]. It is $600 million 
as a guidepost for us, so we are likely to take [indiscernible] 
housing products then we pull people from the wait list but 
also provide [indiscernible] rental [indiscernible].
    So part of the process that we are going through right now 
is to [indiscernible] houses and then try to figure out where 
we get the $600 million to do that, where we take the money 
that you provided to us to do that. If and when we have excess, 
then it is our in-revenue [indiscernible] that we can fill 
those [indiscernible].
    That is where we are. Whoever replaces me has a wonderful 
road map [indiscernible].
    The Chairman. You are not going to [indiscernible]? There 
are many other departments you can [indiscernible].
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. You only run two; there are plenty more.
    Thank you. I am very familiar with William. The first time 
we met was when he was the harbor master and I was a 26-year-
old legislator. He brought me a picture of a pile of severed 
shark fins in a Honolulu harbor. That was the first bill that I 
ever failed to pass, and then the first bill that I ever did 
pass, working together with Mr. Aila. Thank you for that.
    Mr. Lewis, I am really interested in Pop-Up Makeke. I would 
like you talk a little bit more about it. Then also just a very 
basic question: what can the Federal Government do to help you 
to scale? That is number one. And the second question is, is it 
transitioning into a post-COVID model, and does that mean as 
people move to brick and mortar, does that mean the numbers are 
lowering, or is it just a booming economy and therefore it is 
going well? I am interested in mostly scale, but also how you 
are doing it.
    Mr. Lewis. Sure. Thank you, Senator. The Pop-Up Makeke was 
envisioned as just a relief tool initially to help provide 
stability to struggling businesses. But now fast forward a year 
and a half, we have over 40,000 customers now who shop on Pop-
Up Makeke. We have [indiscernible] that tell us what people 
want, where they buy it from, what their interests are.
    So we have the tools that actually are very valuable to 
make a business a business. So we have changed the model of 
Pop-Up Makeke whereas at one time, it was basically, we were 
doing it for free, using Federal funds to market their 
products. We are now using our CDFI to now incubate some of 
these businesses so they can get to a wholesale model, then we 
buy their products wholesale then we sell it on the Makeke 
retail.
    My goal is to make the Makeke self-sufficient so that it 
can live on.
    The Chairman. That is great. How is Treasury treating you?
    Mr. Lewis. A mixed program.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Lewis. They have been good. The challenge with some of 
these programs is that it goes through three layers of 
bureaucracy. It goes from the Fed to the State to the county 
[indiscernible] all three of their interpretations 
[indiscernible] which is not always easy.
    But they have been great. I sit on one of the advisory 
boards now to help advise. There is a cultural gap in terms of 
their understanding of what the [indiscernible] is, for 
example. So when we try to apply [indiscernible] using housing 
stability funds, they are kind of reserved, they don't 
understand it, so their answer is no. So it is an educational 
process. But Treasury has [indiscernible] improved their 
understanding [indiscernible].
    The Chairman. I am reminded of something somebody told me a 
long time ago, which is the best social program is a good job. 
So thank you for what you are doing in this space.
    Are there Federal programs that are not currently open to 
Native Hawaiians? I am going to do this for all three 
panelists. I will start with Mr. Lewis and go this way. Are 
there Federal programs that are not currently open to Native 
Hawaiians that could help? Is there a statute, and statutes are 
hard, right, [indiscernible] need 10 Republicans. Not 
impossible, but more challenging. But sometimes, as I have sort 
of dug into the administration of the law, a lot of the 
difficulty is not that the law prohibits the participation of 
Native Hawaiian agencies and individuals and organizations, but 
rather that there are habits ingrained in the Department of 
Interior and the Department of Treasury and elsewhere.
    So I am wondering if there are any programs that you think 
Native Hawaiians should be eligible for that they are currently 
not eligible for?
    Mr. Lewis. Thanks, Senator. I will take the opportunity to 
highlight a program that I think would be very beneficial to 
Native Hawaiians. It was actually a year ago, after the 
[indiscernible], but I think an amazing opportunity within that 
for Hawaiians to take advantage of that. Because 
[indiscernible] is the backbone employee, it is the 
[indiscernible] employee. We have to get into that economy in a 
meaningful way, we have to tell our own stories.
    I had lunch a while ago with the head of the Hawaii 
Visitors Bureau. We sat at the Pacifica, just [indiscernible] 
at one time they didn't allow Hawaiians to have membership 
there. Well, we had lunch there, and again, I said, let's get 
lunch, he wanted lunch. So I told him, John, take a good look 
around this restaurant, the dining room [indiscernible]. I 
said, are there any Hawaiians here? Why [indiscernible]? I 
said, John, they are back in the kitchen or they are cleaning. 
So I thought [indiscernible] Hawaiians given a chance to be in 
this economy alongside all of you.
    So I think there is real opportunity with this Native 
[indiscernible] for Hawaiians to force themselves into this 
industry in which we can see [indiscernible] business 
development, where we can train our people into these key 
positions that help drive the economy.
    More resources on that would be useful, so we can compete 
against the stakeholders [indiscernible]. Right now, the 
resources that are available are finite, and we are competing 
with people who have deep roots in the industry. So I would 
love [indiscernible], I think there is amazing opportunity 
there and [indiscernible] on being more deliberate and getting 
there.
    As far as other programs where Native Hawaiians are not 
included, the reality right now, Senator, is that there are a 
lot of resources we can pursue that I don't think we are fully 
taking advantage of. We need to build up the capacity of our 
[indiscernible], our non-profits, so they can seek out the 
current funding that is already available. That's the 
challenge, they all [indiscernible] help write grants, we need 
to train more people to help them build up their capacity.
    I don't know of any specific program that at this time does 
[indiscernible] resource.
    The Chairman. Mr. Aila?
    Mr. Aila. One [indiscernible] of course is the USDA 
[indiscernible] Water program. If we could [indiscernible] have 
a much better relationship with the county water system 
[indiscernible] works. So being able to partner with the 
counties, because they will provide revenue with which to pay 
back the loan, which is basically a [indiscernible] grant from 
USDA. We can't do that, because we don't know to fund any more 
water [indiscernible] water programs that we already do.
    So that would be first in mind, because the limiting 
factors for the department to develop is often being able to 
get water credits [indiscernible]. So that comes immediately to 
mind. That is being eligible for Fish and Wildlife grants, 
especially when it comes to wildlife protection, 
[indiscernible] prevention, some grants around [indiscernible] 
climate change. Even in [indiscernible] that is unheard of in 
[indiscernible].
    So we need to be able to manage parlance, and what we are 
seeing, also having access to coastal [indiscernible]. Before I 
forget, because we may be wrapping up shortly, I just want to 
be sure [indiscernible] tell you to make sure you vote 
[indiscernible].
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. I am waiting until it gets a little smaller.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. Chair Lindsey.
    Ms. Lindsey. Being in a policy making position, I depend 
more on operations to share with me where we can get some help 
from the Federal Government. But thanks to you, since you have 
been Chair, we have gotten more than we ever have before. I 
would like for myself to get back to you with recommendations 
on [indiscernible] how you can be more helpful to us. We spoke 
to your staff the other day and asked if we could be more open 
to grants, applying to grants [indiscernible].
    The Chairman. Thank you. I will [indiscernible] questions 
to you, Chair, for the record. The first is the request that 
the [indiscernible] land management by State government under 
the 1959 Admissions Act. I was talking briefly with my staff 
director about that, [indiscernible] I want to make sure you 
can do this, but this may be something we can work on. I would 
also want to pay particular attention to how do we do this in a 
way that is perceived as objective and is objective. Those are 
two different things but they are both equally important, 
because if an analysis comes out and State government disagrees 
with some of the findings, then we are going to be back where 
we started. So thinking about how very much matters if we are 
ever going to pursue the resources.
    The other thing I would like to ask all of you for the 
record is just about capacity. Because we are in an age, and I 
don't know how long it will last, but we are certainly in a 
period where you are receiving more Federal funds than usual. I 
think planning for how to execute on that and how to keep the 
money flowing and how to understand where in each agency there 
are notices of funding opportunities. I know how it was when I 
was running a non-profit. It is one thing to see a grant 
possibility on a piece of paper or on something dot gov 
website. But they you have to figure out how to write the 
thing.
    So organizational capacity building, pursuing and then 
executing on Federal funds is something I would like to submit 
to you, to all of you, as questions for the record.
    I really want to thank you for everything that you have 
done, first of all, but I also want to thank you for a really 
constructive panel. I was hoping it would go this way, which is 
to say, that we have a lot of follow-up homework. Let this be a 
continuation of our conversation and not a culmination of our 
work, but just an agreement that okay, now we have five or ten 
lines of effort in each of your organizations to work on with 
staff.
    So there is a lot more to do together, but I am as hopeful 
as I have ever been about possibilities. I want to extend a 
warm welcome and aloha to our witnesses. The hearing record 
will remain open and I may submit some additional questions for 
the record.
    We will now excuse our first panel. We will take a five-
minute break as our next panelists get situated.
    [Recess.]
    The Chairman. We will reconvene with this hearing of the 
Committee on Indian Affairs for our second panel. We really 
pleased to have some extraordinary leaders talking with the 
Committee and staff about the work that is being done primarily 
in Native Hawaiian education and health.
    First, we have Dr. Sheri-Ann Daniels, Executive Director of 
Papa Ola Lokahi. We also are pleased to have Dr. Winona 
Kaalouahi Lee, M.D., Associate Chair of Medical Education at 
the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the John A. Burns 
School of Medicine, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and 
Dr. Elena Farden, the Executive Director of the Native Hawaiian 
Education Council.
    I will remind our witnesses that your full written 
testimony will be made part of the official hearing record. We 
would like you to talk anywhere between five and ten minutes 
for your testimony.
    Dr. Daniels, please proceed with your testimony.

STATEMENT OF SHERI-ANN DANIELS, Ed.D., CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, 
                        PAPA OLA LOKAHI

    Dr. Daniels. Mahalo, thank you again for inviting us to 
share on behalf of Papa Ola Lokahi. Chair Schatz, mahalo, as 
well as Vice Chair Murkowski, who is on video.
    Our commitment and your commitment to bring us to the table 
is deeply appreciated. I know the other earlier testifiers also 
share that sentiment. In the spirit of the Committee's legacy 
of strong bipartisanship in honoring the Federal trust 
responsibility owed to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and 
Native Hawaiians, we want to thank you all for contributing to 
today's field hearing.
    For those of you who don't know, Papa Ola Lokahi was 
created in 1988 with the premise of improving the health status 
of Native Hawaiians through the passage of the Native Hawaiian 
Health Act, later reauthorized as the Native Hawaiian Health 
Care Improvement Act.
    The language of the NHHCIA established a network of health 
resources, services, and infrastructure for Native Hawaiians 
through five Native Hawaiian health centers and systems, as 
well as the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program under 
the coordination and oversight of POL. Our mandates include 
support and coordination of related health services for Native 
Hawaiians. We are grateful for the support of partners across 
the State, Native Hawaiian organizations and communities who 
trust POL with their work.
    Chairman Schatz, thank you again for your work and 
commitment to improving Native Hawaiian health and to honoring 
the Federal trust responsibility owed to Native Hawaiians. Your 
efforts to secure pandemic relief and support for Native 
Hawaiian health in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which 
we affectionately call ARPA, and other COVID-19 legislation 
have bolstered access to services for all Native Hawaiians 
across the State. After the grant period finishes in July 2023, 
we look forward to sharing the stories and data that underscore 
the critical need for further robust investments in Native 
Hawaiian health.
    POL also acknowledges your work in other fields that affect 
health resource access, community safety, and overall wellbeing 
of Native Hawaiians and Hawaii residents alike. Your specific 
attention to the social determinants of health and the factors 
that facilitate health care delivery, accessibility, and 
utilization, such as increasing broadband coverage throughout 
the State, which ties to tele-health services, is needed to 
address the systemic issues in health care.
    Today, we share the successes made possible by not only 
your work but that of your colleagues that fulfills the 
mandates of the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act and 
addresses the needs exacerbated or created during the pandemic. 
In addition, we identify barriers to fulfilling our mandates 
and ways that Federal legislation can continue to uplift Native 
Hawaiian health.
    The Federal trust responsibility extends to all Native 
Hawaiians, an estimated population of over 300,000 Native 
Hawaiians who reside in the State of Hawaii alone. The Native 
Hawaiian trust responsibility must be legislated with clarity 
so that it is understood and implemented in ways that ensure 
Native Hawaiians receive equitable opportunities as indigenous 
peoples with a trust obligation.
    I would like to share briefly the work POL has been doing 
that would not have been possible without the work of Congress 
continuing to honor that trust responsibility. During the 
pandemic, our staff did everything from writing grants to 
showing up at vaccination and pop-up clinics to help talk to 
and engage with community organizations and especially our 
Native Hawaiians and asking them what they needed.
    Our pivot to digital work has produced dozens of webinars 
to continue providing health resources and information. In 2022 
so far, our social media has reached over 150,000 people. This 
is Facebook analytics alone, and that is huge that we are able 
to track that. We have also shifted health assessments and 
[indiscernible] using the in-person to help guide our decisions 
and what we see as benefits for Native Hawaiian health. This 
week alone our staff is supporting virtual listening sessions 
for communities to discuss elder care needs around Alzheimer's 
and dementia. Generally speaking, the work POL does is in 
culmination of our Federal mandates as well as community 
feedback.
    While we continued to do the COVID-19 work, we were also 
non-stop doing the other functions of Papa Ola Lokahi in our 
pursuit of uplifting Native Hawaiian health. That is seen in 
our growth. POL, over the last two years, has grown to over 30 
staff and to six different departments. We processed and 
applied for over $2 million in Federal, State, county and 
private funding alone. And this is just in our wheelhouse. We 
also oversee the additional $20 million in ARPA as well as our 
$20 million that comes into [indiscernible].
    Under these funds, we were able to uplift a health 
workforce as well as partner with academic institutions around 
a health leadership certificate. I believe [indiscernible] 
talked about workforce, and that was something we identified.
    The pandemic was in 2020 immediately concerning for POL. 
Native Hawaiians are in this perfect circle of risk when it 
comes to COVID-19. There are disparities and chronic diseases, 
such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and obesity. We are 
also talking about social determinants risks, housing, 
economics. All of those things already impacted our Native 
Hawaiians and were over-represented in [indiscernible] shelter 
population, our [indiscernible], our service industry, our 
employment.
    So there is seemingly [indiscernible] not just in the way 
people contracted COVID-19 and their clinical needs, but also 
all the additional impacts around economic, were they going to 
be employed, were they able to provide a roof over their head. 
Because of this context in which we live and work in, we 
recently worked on a report about data just [indiscernible]. 
Native Hawaiian data will be difficult to find and access.
    Fortunately, we weren't alone in thinking about this with 
our [indiscernible]. By June 2020, we actually started 
supporting and providing all the administration for the Native 
Hawaiian and Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response, Recovery and 
Resilience Team, affectionately known as NHPI 3R. With over 60 
partner organizations, both Native Hawaiian and Pacific 
Islanders, we successfully supported dozens of testing and 
vaccination events, worked with our department of health to 
improve COVID-19 data for Native Hawaiians and Pacific 
Islanders. We are the only State that actually does aggregate 
data [indiscernible] from the overall data of COVID-19.
    In the [indiscernible] of COVID-19 relief dollars must pass 
through Congress this omission [indiscernible] team received no 
funding. The power of partnership is real. That is what 
[indiscernible] results.
    I want to make sure I give time for my other colleagues but 
I think people want to know where are the funds going. You have 
all these ARPA dollars, where do they go? We are constantly in 
partnership with various organizations, doing the work.
    I think sometimes we forget that there are such nuances to 
what funding can be used for. So with COVID-19, it was direct 
clinical COVID-19 services, indirect such as outreach, 
education, survey, [indiscernible]. And increasing or 
maintaining resources needed to expand the workforce.
    In addition, we uplifted 20 organizations outside of our 
bubble. This was huge because when an article was signed in 
March, we actually didn't get notification until August. Once 
we got notification, we were able to implement, but we didn't 
execute contracts because funds weren't received until October. 
So we are talking five to six months.
    So for us, that concern that it raised was it was erosion 
of community trust in POL, and we did waiver, because we knew 
that this was something that our community needed. So POL's 
largest portion of the ARPA dollars of what we got, $3.5 
million was distributed to 15 partners, 20 organizations total. 
It wasn't just about giving money. It is about creating a 
collaboration, a whole work source, that we could help them 
build capacity, which you also heard on the first panel, it is 
very important.
    In addition, the Na Makawai partners' work in COVID-19, 
they overlap [indiscernible] existing needs [indiscernible] in 
our community. They will include sustaining primary health 
care, increasing mental and behavioral services, rural health 
youth program, food insecurity and access programs, as well as 
maternal and child services. This pandemic has driven so much 
attention to virtual health. But those delivery systems are not 
accessible for Native Hawaiians that live in rural areas.
    So these funds, ARPA, through [indiscernible] includes a 
whole partnership for our broad infrastructure mapping project. 
So again, health isn't just chronic conditions. We are showing 
that health expands beyond that, and we recognize that there is 
so much more we can do.
    Again, thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Daniels follows:]

    Prepared Statement of Sheri-Ann Daniels, Ed.D., Chief Executive 
                        Officer, Papa Ola LoKahi
    Aloha e Chairman Schatz, Vice Chairman Murkowski, and the Members 
of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (``Committee''),
    Mahalo (Thank you) for inviting me to provide remarks on behalf of 
Papa Ola Lokahi (POL) and Native Hawaiian health during this field 
hearing. Your commitment to bringing the table to us is deeply 
appreciated. In the spirit of the Committee's legacy of strong 
bipartisanship in honoring the federal trust responsibility owed to 
American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, we want to 
thank all who have come or contributed to today's field hearing.
    POL was created in 1988 to improve the health status of Native 
Hawaiians through the passage of the Native Hawaiian Health Act, later 
reauthorized as the NHHCIA. The language of the NHHCIA established a 
network of health resources, services, and infrastructure for Native 
Hawaiians through five health service providers, the Native Hawaiian 
Health Care Systems, and the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program 
under the coordination and oversight of POL. Mandates for POL include 
support and coordination of related health services for Native 
Hawaiians. We are grateful for the support of partners across the 
State, Native Hawaiian serving organizations (NHOs), and communities 
who trust POL to support their work.
    Chairman Schatz, thank you for your work and commitment to 
improving Native Hawaiian health and to honoring the federal trust 
responsibility owed to Native Hawaiians. Your efforts to secure 
pandemic relief and support for Native Hawaiian health in the American 
Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) and other COVID-19 legislation have 
bolstered access to services for all Native Hawaiians across the State, 
and after the grant period finishes in 2023, we look forward to sharing 
the stories and data that underscore the critical need for further 
robust investments to improve Native Hawaiian health.
    POL also acknowledges your work in other fields that affect health 
resource access, community safety, and overall well-being of Native 
Hawaiians and Hawai`i residents alike. Your specific attention to the 
social determinants of health and the factors that facilitate health 
care delivery, accessibility, and utilization--such as increasing 
broadband coverage throughout the State--is needed to address the 
systemic issues in health care. Today, we share the successes made 
possible by your work that fulfill the mandates of the NHHCIA and 
address the needs exacerbated or created during the pandemic. In 
addition, we identify barriers to fulfilling our mandates and ways that 
federal legislation can continue to uplift Native Hawaiian health.
Background
The Federal Trust Responsibility
    Similar to American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians 
have never relinquished the right to self determination despite the 
United States' involvement in the illegal overthrow of Queen 
Lili`uokalani in 1893 and the dismantling of our Hawaiian government. 
As such, Native Hawaiians are owed the same trust responsibility as all 
Native groups in the United States. To meet this obligation, Congress--
often through landmark, bipartisan work of this Committee and its 
Members--has created policies to promote education, health, housing, 
and a variety of other federal programs that build, maintain, and 
enhance resources for Native Hawaiians.
    Over 150 Acts of Congress expressly acknowledged or recognized a 
special political and trust relationship to Native Hawaiians based on 
our status as the Indigenous, once-sovereign people of Hawai`i. Among 
these laws are the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108) 
(1921), the Native Hawaiian Education Act (20 U.S.C.  7511) (1988), 
the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act (42 U.S.C.  11701) 
(1988), and the Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act codified in the 
Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act, Title 
VIII (25 U.S.C.  4221) (2000).
Honoring the Trust Responsibility by Supporting Native Hawaiian Health
    The federal trust responsibility extends to all Native Hawaiians--
an estimated population of over 300,000 in the State of Hawai`i alone. 
\1\ POL asks Congress to include Native Hawaiians in federal 
legislation and programs intended to serve all Native Americans based 
on the federal trust responsibility. Native Hawaiian inclusion must be 
clearly defined in statute so that the trust responsibility is 
understood and implemented in ways that ensure Native Hawaiians receive 
equitable opportunities as indigenous peoples with a trust obligation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). 2020 American Community Survey 5-
Year Estimates Detailed Tables. Retrieved from https://data.census.gov/
cedsci/table?q=b02019&g=0400000US15&tid=ACSDT5Y2020.B02019
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    We urge Congress to make legislation specific to Native Hawaiian 
health because without such language, implementation that honors the 
trust responsibility is subject to interpretation. When the trust 
responsibility for Native Hawaiians is decided in this manner, it 
becomes difficult to ascertain whether Native Hawaiian communities 
receive equitable access to opportunities or benefit from funding as 
intended. A variety of federal health grants continue to aggregate 
Native Hawaiians with with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, 
subsume Native Hawaiians as a special population within state programs 
and block grants, or simply fail to incorporate Native Hawaiians. Such 
implementation is a fundamental misunderstanding of the federal trust 
responsibility and Native Hawaiians as a special political group with 
specific eligibility for federal programs.
    For example, Native Hawaiians are disproportionately impacted by 
sexual violence--including child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and 
domestic abuse. We need to break the cycle of violence--which is a 
result of historical trauma--that harms Native Hawaiian families. There 
is a problem with the Violence Against Women Act. Tribal nonprofit 
organizations and Native Hawaiian nonprofit organizations are both 
eligible for VAWA grants to provide services benefitting Indian and 
Alaskan Native women but not Native Hawaiians. Native Hawaiian grant 
eligibility that does not reach Native Hawaiian communities creates 
confusion and does not fulfill the trust responsibility to Native 
Hawaiians, and we ask Congress to support the amendments needed to 
correct legislation intended to be inclusive.
Funding & Program Access
    The federal context of Native Hawaiian health today is a 
combination of limited direct funding that faces various administrative 
challenges and a structurally inequitable competitive grant system. To 
carry out Congressional mandates, POL both advocates for increased 
direct funding to Native Hawaiian health and equity for NHOs pursuing 
health funding. POL remains of the opinion that Native health should 
have multiple, stable vehicles of non-competitive funding as part of 
the federal trust responsibility. POL asks Congress to continue 
supporting Native Hawaiian health to the extent possible through clear 
and specific legislation. Native Hawaiian health cannot be legislated 
into competition with general population needs or Tribal health, not 
only because those needs have vastly different context, but also 
because the trust responsibility owed to Native Hawaiian health is not 
optional. Equity for all Native health efforts must be uplifted, as all 
Native health falls under federal trust obligation.
    Statutory specificity is one way to ensure that the trust 
responsibility is not diluted in implementation. The success of 
specific Native Hawaiian health inclusion was exemplified in COVID-19 
relief through ARPA. Without this inclusion, NHOs would have the same 
access to federal resources as the general public, which dismisses the 
trust responsibility towards Native Hawaiian health. Today, it is not 
clear what sources of federal funds have reached NHOs both regarding 
pandemic relief or health resources and programs in general, which 
prevents POL from gaining insights to guide its future work to carry 
out Congressional mandates or make data-informed decisions. POL 
continues to pursue data governance, access, and disaggregation 
improvements regarding federal, state, and local Native Hawaiian health 
data.
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
    POL Partnerships and Grants. The establishment of POL as a non-
profit organization allows eligibility to pursue federal, State, 
county, and private sources of funding. Since the first shutdown in the 
State of Hawai`i in March 2020, POL (both alone and in partnership with 
community organizations) has successfully applied for or acted as 
fiscal agent for over $2 million dollars throughout various grants. 
These grant funds are in addition to the roughly $3.5 million of ARPA 
funds that POL is funneling to community organizations. POL is 
committed to pursuing its mandates and mission through multiple funding 
mechanisms to expand opportunities for Native Hawaiian health. POL has 
also engaged its Congressional duties by providing the administration 
for the Hawai`i COVID-19 Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Response, 
Recovery, and Resilience (NHPI 3R) Team, a coalition of over 60 
partners that have engaged on behalf of communities throughout the 
State of Hawai`i, from June 2020 to present.
    Na Makawai. Na Makawai is the name of the initiative that 
encompasses the work of the five NHHCS, POL, and fifteen Native 
Hawaiian serving health entities (20 organizations in total) that have 
received ARPA funding to provide COVID-19 response and recovery 
services and resources throughout the State of Hawai`i. ARPA funding is 
ongoing over the course of a two-year grant period through the Health 
Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). The first year of funding 
for ARPA began retroactively on August 1st 2021, and ends on July 31st, 
2022. The Notice of Award regarding ARPA funding--a grant document that 
signals funding has been awarded, because POL was required to submit a 
grant application for ARPA funds--was received on August 13, 2021, 
about five months after ARPA was signed into law. Community partners 
began receiving funding in August and September of 2021.
    Notably, ARPA language allowed for funds to be applied towards 
health workforce, infrastructure, and community outreach and 
education--critical components of Native Hawaiian health. Given the 
annual appropriations for federal fiscal years 2021 and 2022 ($20.5 and 
$22 million, respectively), a $20 million increase in funding across a 
two-year span increases the total funding to the NHHCIA by 
approximately half. The full impact has yet to be realized, as funding 
will be expended through 2023. As of May 2022, POL has expended 
approximately $1.5 million of ARPA funding to support statewide 
community partners through the Na Makawai initiative. The thoughtful 
flexibility and inclusivity of ARPA language and approved activities 
through HRSA allowed POL to partner with local organizations across a 
wide range of programs and services throughout the State of Hawai`i, 
which includes:

   direct clinical COVID-19 services (vaccination and testing, 
        mobile care, and mobile events);

   indirect COVID-19 services (outreach, education, and 
        surveillance; statewide referral hotline for various 
        resources); and

   increasing or maintaining resources needed to expand COVID-
        19 response (workforce, including community health workers; 
        telehealth capacity and electronic medical records).

    In addition, the Na Makawai partners work in COVID-19 relief needs 
overlap with preexisting needs in the Native Hawaiian community. These 
include: sustaining comprehensive primary health care; mental/
behavioral health; a rural youth program; food insecurity and access 
programs; and maternal/child care. POL also seeks to connect with 
health factors that impact clinical needs, so Na Makawai partnerships 
have also supported a broadband infrastructure mapping project so that 
future telehealth projects and programs that rely on broadband 
accessibility can be informed by and based on high quality, locally 
collected data.
    Implementation Challenges. International supply chain issues 
continue to slow the implementation and execution of relief efforts. 
One of the most highly anticipated approved purchases, mobile health 
units, has an estimated delivery of at or over 12 months. Mobile health 
units are are particularly valuable in rural areas of the State to 
buffer geographic maldistribution of health resources and services, and 
there is no readily accessible short-term, temporary workaround to 
replace the utility and functional gains that mobile health units 
provide.
    Community partners and State data have continued to report COVID-19 
cases rising, which creates system-wide stress. As both the Native 
Hawaiian community and health workforce experience continued COVID-19 
impact, POL urges Congress to continue responding to pandemic needs in 
the Native Hawaiian community.
    Administrative Challenges. POL first engaged with HRSA as ARPA was 
about to be signed in March 2021 to request immediate engagement, as 
this was the first direct COVID-19 Native Hawaiian health funding bolus 
during the pandemic. POL and the NHHCSs agreed that the fastest, most 
responsive way to address COVID-19 needs for Native Hawaiians was to 
funnel the appropriation through POL, so that the NHHCSs could focus on 
on-the-ground activities and for flexibility, as pandemic needs 
fluctuated in range and intensity. To much dismay, HRSA interpretation 
of ARPA language, which was attributed to the Office of General Counsel 
of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS OGC), required POL 
to distribute these emergency funds among POL and the NHHCSs, not 
allowing for the mobility envisioned, despite proactive signaling.
    POL was also informed that the NHHCIA matching requirement for the 
NHHCSs would be applied. POL explained, in meetings and in writing, 
concern about the interpretation that NHHCIA requirements preempted 
emergency relief, which seemed counterproductive. HRSA did not provide 
further comments or a connection to HHS OCG for clarification, instead 
focusing on requesting that POL provide a waiver letter regarding the 
matching requirement. POL, in its letter, reiterated concerns that this 
precedent would affect timeliness. No follow-up was provided.
    Despite repeated outreach to HRSA due to community and delegation 
inquiries in April and May of 2021, and POL's concerns about 
timeliness, the non-competitive grant application was not published 
until June. Funding did not become accessible until August. In 
communications, HRSA responded to POL on May 11th, 2021, with the 
following explanation:

        ``The money is all from the same source--the American Rescue 
        Plan--but the different groups (e.g., CHCs, look-alikes, 
        Primary Care Associations, etc.) have different submission and 
        reporting requirements and in some cases different allowable 
        uses for the money--so we cannot use one mechanism to release 
        it all. So here at HRSA we've had to prepare the different 
        mechanisms to release the money to the various groups, and in 
        many of the cases it requires us to revise electronic systems 
        to be able to capture the information being submitted. These 
        ARP funds have different reporting requirements as well--not 
        only for the award recipients but for HRSA as well--so we need 
        to make sure we have figured out all of the pieces before we 
        release the funding. We have many expedited processes in place 
        to get this funding out as fast as possible, which seem to be 
        working because this ARP funding is going out much faster than 
        our ``regular'' funding.''

    In stark comparison, HRSA notifications and technical assistance 
work regarding ARPA components that applied to the Federally Qualified 
Health Centers (FQHCs) began as early as March 2021. POL's 
understanding is that FQHCs were able to access ARPA funding as early 
as April, four months before ARPA funds were released for Native 
Hawaiian health. POL is cognizant that other HRSA mechanisms may have 
been more readily adaptable, as FQHCs and other entities had been 
eligible for prior COVID-19 relief. In the meantime, POL focused on 
everything under its own control such as preparing to act swiftly once 
the funding opportunity application was opened and to operationalize 
once funding was released.
    Federal Medical Assistance Percentage. POL's lack of contacts in 
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) was a barrier in 
implementation of ARPA Section 9815 regarding 100 percent Federal 
Medical Assistance Percentage eligibility for eight fiscal quarters, 
which started in April 2021 but has yet to begin processing. The work 
of Senator Schatz to inquire with CMS was deeply appreciated, and POL 
identifies that this barrier is part of greater administrative 
challenges facing Native Hawaiian health in general. POL urges the 
Committee to make a permanent extension to the APRA provision for 
Native Hawaiian health.
    Sustainability. The partnerships created through Na Makawai 
demonstrate how an emergency funding bolus can catalyze increased 
coordination and network building in Native Hawaiian health, but also 
indicate the level of funding that POL would be able to distribute in 
NHHCIA annual appropriations to facilitate a stronger network of Native 
Hawaiian health. POL was able to extend funds to a handful of community 
organizations and partners who address some of the most immediate 
vulnerabilities--i.e., the most high need domains of health, geographic 
areas, or contextual factors that had serious inequities prior to 
COVID-19 and were exacerbated during 2020 and 2021. As COVID-19 data in 
the State of Hawai`i indicate that Native Hawaiian disparities are 
increasing, POL seeks pathways to remain responsive to pandemic needs.
Ongoing Native Hawaiian Health Needs
    Although the pandemic has created acute health issues, it has also 
exacerbated many of the standing system-wide gaps in Native Hawaiian 
health. These needs, while particularly salient during COVID-19, must 
become features rather than temporary additions so that Native Hawaiian 
health is ingrained as a function and not an option. POL urges Congress 
to examine these needs and address them through legislation wherever 
possible.
    Increased Access to Relevant Agencies. POL finds its Congressional 
mandate to coordinate and support health services and resources implies 
connections with all of the operating divisions within the Department 
of Health and Human Resources, but lacks specific program inclusion or 
connection to any of the operating divisions besides HRSA. This lack of 
connectivity creates barriers for POL to advance Native Hawaiian health 
or implement Congressional successes through direct connection with 
agencies because HRSA does not administer any other federal programs 
based on the trust responsibility owed to Native Americans. POL is thus 
dependent on HRSA to facilitate interagency relations on POL's behalf 
to carry out coordination efforts. During the pandemic, POL identified 
the need to have contacts in all relevant agencies.
    Recent increase in Native Hawaiian listening sessions and 
interactions with the Administration is a promising step forward, and 
we urge this Committee to support a formal engagement process between 
Native Hawaiians and the federal Departments that administer Native 
Hawaiian programs so that challenges can be addressed.
    Competitive Grants Dilute of Native Hawaiian Trust Responsibility. 
Simply put: NHO eligibility for federal grant opportunities is nearly 
always the same as that afforded to the general public, which is 
dismissive of the trust obligation. Opportunities distributed across 
multiple divisions and offices in multiple Departments make it 
difficult to understand what is available and where, putting NHOs at a 
disadvantage from the start. The competitive grant process is biased 
towards applications written by experienced grantwriters--which does 
not indicate community access or support with consistency. The limited 
resources of NHOs also makes it impossible for NHOs to place resources 
toward an intensive grant writing process. As Native Hawaiians are less 
than 1 percent of the U.S. population, NHO applications in open 
competitive grants face an immediately disadvantage when large service 
populations are a desired metric. Thus by design, the system 
automatically promotes inequity.
    Improving Federal Health Data--Governance and Access. Part of the 
NHHCIA mandates POL to act as a data clearinghouse for Native Hawaiian 
health, a function that is difficult to achieve without statutory 
requirements for the entities that create or compile said data. The 
current NHHCIA does not mandate that federal departments disclose 
health data to POL, and the standing federal requirements for race/
ethnicity data disaggregation are insufficient to identify Native 
Hawaiian data reliably and accurately in datasets. This system leads to 
Native Hawaiian health research facing barriers to federal health data. 
We urge Congress to develop legislative solutions so that Native 
Hawaiian health data are disaggregated and accessible.
    Without changes in governance, POL is left to attempt pursuing 
independent data use agreements with the various relevant federal, 
state, and private data sources. Efforts to do this can be both time 
and cost intensive, and do not guarantee that a data use agreement will 
be established. Given that uncertainty of investment, POL has examined 
what other pathways to improve data governance, access, and 
disaggregation for Native Hawaiian health exist; work during the 
pandemic has included participating in local partnerships that 
successfully led to the disaggregation of COVID-19 data in the State of 
Hawai`i. POL has also focused on supporting the creation of local 
Native Hawaiian health data sets and projects, built in partnership 
with stakeholders and community members. This work includes:

        1. Developing a report on State sources of data that pertain to 
        Native Hawaiian health and address modern data needs like race/
        ethnicity disaggregation, lack of uniformity in data 
        collection, and lack of data access--Data Justice: About Us, By 
        Us, For Us

        2. Publishing the E Ola Mau a Mau report, which builds on the 
        original E Ola Mau health report and includes data governance 
        needs;

        3. Collecting data on a variety of health topics through an 
        iterative survey, Ka Leo Kaiaulu; and

        4. Submitting responses to federal feedback mechanisms that 
        detail needs in the quality and availability of Native Hawaiian 
        health data, such as revision of the Office of Management and 
        Budget (OMB) Directive 15, revisions to the Native Hawaiian 
        Health Care Systems requirements to the Uniform Data System, 
        and the need for Census Bureau products and data that address 
        race/ethnicity at sub-county geographies.

    Data is critical in health for myriad reasons and goals. 
Improvements in disaggregation and access to Native Hawaiian health 
data require work on multiple fronts, including policy, to make 
informed decisions in health.
    Increased Direct & Inclusive Formula Funding. The NHHCIA 
appropriation distributed among POL, the five NHHCSs, and the NHHSP is 
the only vehicle through which the Native Hawaiian Health Care Program 
receives direct funding and one of the only stable programs to support 
Native Hawaiian health. Based on the continuing health disparities and 
challenges facing the Native Hawaiian community, POL urges the 
Committee to examine other direct funding inclusions for Native 
Hawaiian health across various domains of clinical care as well as in 
health infrastructure needs, including but not limited to:

   Mental and behavioral health;

   Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart 
        disease;

   Substance abuse and misuse;

   Suicide prevention, especially for youth;

   Elder care, including programs that support aging in place, 
        facilities needs for assisted living and long-term care, and 
        caregiver resources;

   Maternal and infant health; and

   Sexual violence, including child sexual abuse, sex 
        trafficking, and domestic violence.

    POL also urges the Committee to examine how support for traditional 
healing practices can be uplifted, as these services are not typically 
included in medical insurance coverage, as well as workforce 
development, as many Native Hawaiians express a need for culturally 
sensitive programs that utilize an integrated approach that combines 
traditional healing and modern health that are administered by Native 
Hawaiian health professionals.
    Native Hawaiian health remains excluded or disadvantaged from 
majority of programs, funding, or opportunities from any operating 
division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. 
Department of Justice (e.g. direct funding, set-asides, block grants, 
specific eligibility in competitive grants). This reflects the 
struggles in Native health and related programs to address the social 
determinants of health overall, as the Indian Health Service (IHS) also 
remains underserved, underscoring that Indigenous health overall must 
be prioritized by Congress and the Administration to protect Native 
communities and uplift Native wellbeing.
    POL continues to carry forward its mandates and mission, looking to 
uplift the status of Native Hawaiian health to the highest extent. We 
urge Congress to examine how some of these issues may be addressed 
through legislation, and we continue to seek solutions on multiple 
fronts. We stand ready to do our part to be an active, accountable 
partner in Native Hawaiian health, and we appreciate the continued work 
of Congress to do the same. Mahalo nui for the invitation to discuss 
Native Hawaiian health and the trust responsibility. We look forward to 
working together.

    The Chairman. Thank you so much, Dr. Daniels.
    We will now hear from Dr. Lee. Please proceed with your 
testimony.

   STATEMENT OF WINONA KAALOUAHI LEE, M.D., ASSOCIATE CHAIR, 
            MEDICAL EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF NATIVE 
           HAWAIIAN HEALTH, JOHN A. BURNS SCHOOL OF 
                MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I

    Dr. Lee. Aloha mai e, honorable Chair Schatz and Vice-Chair 
Murkowski and distinguished Committee members. Mahalo nui for 
the opportunity to present this joint testimony on behalf of 
myself and Dr. Joseph Keawe`aimoku Kaholokula, Professor and 
Chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the John 
A. Burns School of Medicine. Dr. Kaholokula sends his regrets, 
he is out of town.
    I am Dr. Winona Kaalouahi Lee. I am a Native Hawaiian 
pediatrician and medical educator. I oversee [indiscernible] 
programs at the School of Medicine to help Native Hawaiian and 
other [indiscernible] and disadvantaged students achieve their 
dreams of becoming physicians.
    This testimony addresses the fiduciary obligation of the 
United States in fulfilling its trust responsibility to Native 
Hawaiians, an obligation codified in Federal law. This Federal 
trust responsibility is exemplified in the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission Act of 1920 and the Native Hawaiian Education and 
the Native Hawaiian Health Care Acts of 1988.
    Native Hawaiians were once a thriving and healthy people, 
with a sophisticated sociopolitical system and a rich cultural 
tradition. Following Western contact, Native Hawaiians were 
decimated by novel diseases, forced to abandon their native 
language, customs, and beliefs. Today, Native Hawaiians face 
higher rates of diseases, including diabetes, obesity, 
hypertension. Native Hawaiians also have higher rates of mental 
health conditions, such as substance abuse, depression, 
suicide. Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic 
amplified these health disparities.
    Access to quality and [indiscernible] healthcare for Native 
Hawaiians is challenging in part due to the severe physician 
shortage we face here in Hawaii, as well as the 
underrepresentation of Native Hawaiians in medicine 
[indiscernible]. Native Hawaiians make up only 4.5 percent of 
the physician workforce, while comprising 21 percent of our 
general population.
    Native Hawaiians are also severely underrepresented in 
health sciences and health-related research. Between 1992 and 
2018, approximately 2 percent of all National Institute of 
Health funding was directed toward Asian American, Native 
Hawaiian and Pacific Islander research. In 2020, 25 NIH 
research grants were awarded to NHPI investigators, compared to 
28,587 awarded to White investigators.
    Pursuing a competitive academic [indiscernible] career is 
often daunting for Native Hawaiian investigators because of 
racial and ethnic discrimination biases [indiscernible] and 
[indiscernible] and a lack of [indiscernible] mentorship. 
Despite these sobering statistics Native Hawaiian professionals 
in communities continue to persevere. They work hard to care 
for their [indiscernible] communities and they contribute 
substantially to the greater good while sustaining the legacy 
of our [indiscernible] and ancestors.
    We present the summary of our recommendations 
[indiscernible] evidenced within the literature, and our 
collective experiences as Native Hawaiian clinicians, 
researchers, educators, and community advocates.
    Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders should not be 
combined with Asian Americans or any other racial/ethnic group 
under a single project or program because of differences in 
health status and the diverse social and cultural determinants 
of health that impact these ethnic groups. Native Hawaiian and 
Pacific Islanders must have their own line of funding and their 
own programs to address unique health concerns, our historical 
context, and our cultural relevance.
    Native Hawaiian representation and consultation should be 
required at the design, implementation and oversight of 
federally supported programs aimed at [indiscernible] Native 
Hawaiian [indiscernible]. Increased Federal funding is needed 
to support community-based programs whose foundation is 
strengthened by cultural perspectives and practices. A vast 
majority of Native Hawaiians identify with their heritage. 
Maintaining [indiscernible] and practices promotes 
psychological wellbeing.
    Some of our successes at the John A. Burns School of 
Medicine include the PILI Lifestyle Program to address obesity, 
the Partners in Care Diabetes Self-Management Program, and Ola 
Hou I ka Hula, restoring life through hula, Program. We 
recommend broad dissemination of these types of programs 
implemented in real-world settings, such as federally qualified 
community health centers and the Native Hawaiian Health Care 
Systems as well as other community-based organizations.
    Federal funding should be used to expand and strengthen 
culturally responsive and strengths-based pathway programs for 
Native Hawaiian students who want to enter the health 
professions. These pathway programs must be implemented 
starting in high school and continuing at the undergraduate and 
post-baccalaureate levels.
    The `Imi Ho`ola Post-Baccalaureate Program and the Native 
Hawaiian Center of Excellence which I oversee are longstanding 
programs that can be modified to create educational models and 
undergraduate [indiscernible] schools through the State.
    Recipients of the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship are 
also being unfairly taxed for their professional school tuition 
by the Health Resources Services Administration. The 
[indiscernible] as additional taxes imposed on tuition can be 
as high as $10,000 annually for these scholarship recipients 
[indiscernible].
    Our final recommendation is that Federal funding to 
increase access to the [indiscernible] health services in rural 
and primary care settings must be [indiscernible]. 
Psychologists should also be included in the ``incident to'' 
language in Medicare to allow reimbursement for services 
provided by graduate trainees under the direct supervision of 
psychologists. This is similar to physician training under 
residents. This will allow for sustainable training 
opportunities for clinical psychologists.
    In summary, we ask that increased Federal funding be used 
to support pathway programs for aspiring Native Hawaiian health 
care professionals, targeted funding for research only 
[indiscernible] and increased support for the implementation of 
culturally responsive community health promotion programs and 
[indiscernible] health interventions for Native Hawaiians.
    Mahalo nui for the opportunity to provide testimony. I 
would be happy to answer questions.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Lee follows:]

  Prepared Statement of Winona Kaalouahi Lee, M.D., Associate Chair, 
   Medical Education, Department of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. 
            Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i
    Aloha mai e (warm greetings) honorable Chair Schatz and Vice-Chair 
Murkowski and distinguished members of the United States (U.S.) Senate 
Committee on Indian Affairs. Mahalo nui (much gratitude) for this 
opportunity to provide written testimony regarding ``Upholding the 
Federal Trust Responsibility: Funding & Program Access for Innovation 
in the Native Hawaiian Community.''
    This testimony is humbly being submitted jointly by Drs. Joseph 
Keawe`aimoku Kaholokula and Winona Kaalouahi Lee:

        I, Dr. Joseph Keawe`aimoku Kaholokula, am a kanaka maoli 
        (Native Hawaiian) whose ancestors lived and thrived in this pae 
        `aina (Hawaiian archipelago) for centuries before Western 
        contact. I am a Professor and Chair of the Department of Native 
        Hawaiian Health (NHH) at the John A. Burns School of Medicine 
        (JABSOM) of the University of Hawai`i at Manoa UHM). In my role 
        as NHH Chair, I oversee pathway programs that are supported by 
        both state and federal funding and designed to increase the 
        number of Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and other 
        persons from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine, other 
        health professions, and the health sciences. I am also a 
        translational behavioral scientist who oversees several 
        federally-funded research programs designed to address the most 
        pressing health concerns of our Native Hawaiian and Pacific 
        Islander communities and to increase the number of persons from 
        these communities in the health sciences. I am also a licensed 
        clinical psychologist who has provided clinical services to 
        Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander patients at federally-
        qualified health centers and the Native Hawaiian Health Care 
        Systems as well as helped to build culturally-responsive 
        behavioral health programs for these populations. I have served 
        and currently serve as a subject matter expert or committee 
        member for several federal agencies concerning Native Hawaiian 
        and Pacific Islander health. On a cultural level, I am a po'o 
        (leader) and member of Halemua o Kuali`i, a grassroots cultural 
        organization whose mission is to revitalize and perpetuate our 
        traditional Hawaiian customs and practices. Altogether, I have 
        over 25 years of clinical, academic, and community experience 
        concerning Native Hawaiian health and wellbeing.

        I, Dr. Winona Kaalouahi Lee, am a Native Hawaiian medical 
        educator driven by a passion for promoting the success of 
        disadvantaged and underrepresented students in medicine. I 
        oversee key diversity programs at the University of Hawai`i 
        John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) including the `Imi 
        Ho`ola Post-Baccalaureate Program and the Native Hawaiian 
        Center of Excellence. In my role as the Association of American 
        Medical Colleges Diversity Officer, I led the creation of 
        JABSOM's first institutional policy on diversity. I am the Co-
        Editor of Ho`i Hou Ka Mauli Ola, Pathways to Native Hawaiian 
        Health, and have led the creation and expansion of culturally-
        responsive, strengths-based enrichment and training programs 
        for the past 20 years. I currently serve as the Director of the 
        Western Region of the National Association of Medical Minority 
        Educators and the Co-Chair of the JABSOM Coordinating Committee 
        on Opportunity, Diversity, and Equity and the `Apu Kaulike 
        Diversity Task Force. I am proud to be a former first-
        generation college student and homegrown leader from `Ewa 
        Beach. I am a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Kapalama campus, 
        received my undergraduate and medical degrees from the 
        University of Hawai`i at Manoa, and completed my residency in 
        Pediatrics at the University of Hawai`i Integrated Pediatrics 
        Residency Program.

    This joint testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs 
addresses the fiduciary obligation of the U.S. in fulfilling its trust 
responsibility to Native Hawaiians--an obligation codified in federal 
law. This trust responsibility is due to the role the U.S. played in 
the unlawful overthrow of the Sovereign of the Kingdom of Hawai`i, 
Queen Lili`uokalani, on January 16, 1893, and the subsequent U.S. 
occupation of Hawai`i. A fact recognized by two U.S. Presidents--
President Glover Cleveland based on the findings of the Blount Report 
that same year and President Bill Clinton in 1993 with the Apology 
Resolution (U.S. Public Law 103-150). This federal trust responsibility 
is exemplified in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 and the 
Native Hawaiian Education and the Native Hawaiian Health Care Acts of 
1988. However, the trust responsibility of the U.S. extends beyond 
these three significant federal laws and should be a bipartisan issue.
Historical Context for the Health Inequities Experienced by Native 
        Hawaiians
    Native Hawaiians are the Indigenous People of the Hawaiian Islands, 
territories now controlled by the U.S. Hawai`i was a sovereign nation 
under the Kingdom of Hawai`i from the time the islands were united 
under one government by King Kamehameha I in 1810 until the illegal 
overthrow of Queen Lili`uokalani in 1893. \1\ Native Hawaiians never 
relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty over their 
national lands to the U.S. \2\ ``either through the Kingdom of Hawai`i 
or through a plebiscite or referendum,'' as stated in U.S. Public Law 
103-150.
    Before Western contact, Native Hawaiians were a thriving and 
healthy people, with a sophisticated sociopolitical system and a rich 
cultural tradition. Following Western contact, Native Hawaiians were 
decimated by novel infectious diseases; forced to abandon their native 
language, customs, and beliefs; manipulated by foreign powers, and 
marginalized through legislation. \1\,\3\-\5\ These deleterious changes 
were exacerbated after U.S. control of Hawai`i. \1\ Similar to American 
Indians (Native) Americans) and Alaska Natives, the discrimination and 
marginalization experienced by Native Hawaiians under U.S.-control led 
to significant social, educational, and economic disadvantages as well 
as cultural repression, placing many Native Hawaiians at a greater risk 
for physical and mental health concerns than any other racial/ethnic 
group in their homeland and throughout the U.S.
    Today, Native Hawaiians have higher rates of physical diseases and 
mental health disorders than other racial/ethnic groups in Hawai`i 
across all ages. \6\-\11\ Among these conditions are obesity, \12\,\13\ 
hypertension, \14\, \15\ diabetes, \16\, \17\ chronic kidney disease, 
\18\ cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CVD), \19\, \20\ and 
certain cancers (e.g., breast and lung cancer), \10\,\21\ which are 
identified national health disparate priorities by the Office of 
Minority Health for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. \22\ They 
contract these conditions at younger ages. \20\ In Hawai`i and 
nationally, Native Hawaiians also have a higher prevalence of mental 
health conditions, such as substance use and abuse, \11\,\23\ 
depression, \11\,\24\ adverse childhood events, \7\ and suicide. \25\
    Many of these physical and mental health conditions are strongly 
linked to one another (e.g., comorbid depression and diabetes). \26\-
\28\ Native Hawaiians have among the lowest life expectancy (an average 
of 10 years lower overall) of any other racial/ethnic group. \9\,\29\ 
They are more likely to be diagnosed with a chronic disease at later 
stages or with greater severity, \10\ readmitted to the hospital, \30\ 
and frequent users of the emergency room and outpatient services. \31\ 
Compared to other racial/ethnic groups, they are more likely to live in 
impoverished and obesogenic neighborhoods and crowded conditions, and 
to work in low-paying jobs. \32\-\35\ They are less likely to obtain a 
college degree or to own a home. \33\-\35\ A third (30 percent) are 
uninsured/underinsured \36\,\37\ and 15 percent live in extreme 
poverty. \38\,\39\ Native Hawaiians experience high levels of 
discrimination with adverse effects on their health. \40\-\42\ They are 
also overrepresented among Hawai`i's other health-disparate underserved 
and vulnerable populations, such as rural (60 percent), \43\,\44\ 
homeless (57 percent), \45\ and sexual/gender minorities (52 percent). 
\46\ Native Hawaiians, along with other Pacific Islanders, in Hawai`i 
and other states (California, Oregon, and Washington) were among the 
hardest hit by COVID-19. \47\,\48\
    To effectively eliminate the health inequities experienced by 
Native Hawaiians the following actions need to be taken: 1) an increase 
in federally supported programs and legislation specifically targeting 
Native Hawaiians and their most pressing health concerns and 2) an 
increase in federal support to increase the number of Native Hawaiians 
in the health professions and health sciences.
The Need for Federally-funded Culturally-Responsive Health Equity 
        Programs
    Many Native Hawaiian serving organizations have and continue to 
benefit from federally-funded programs, such as those offered by the 
Administration for Native Americans (ANA), Health Resources and 
Services Administration (HRSA; e.g., Center of Excellence program), and 
the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)--all under the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). And, in recent years, 
there have been significant federal investments made toward improving 
Native Hawaiian health. Some examples include the recent funding 
announcement by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration (SAMHSA) to establish an Asian American, Native 
Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Behavioral Health Center of Excellence; 
by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of 
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research proposals 
concerning epidemiologic studies in Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, 
and Pacific Islanders; and by the Office of Minority Health (OMH) to 
establish a Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity.
    Although these recent funding opportunities are much needed and 
appreciated, they are often tied to, or aggregated with, other racial/
ethnic groups or subjected to a competitive process that casts such a 
wide net that inadvertently limits, if not excludes, meaningful 
participation by Native Hawaiians or academic and community 
organizations working of their behalf. For example, the arbitrary and 
pervasive practice of aggregating or attaching funding for Native 
Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders to the larger and broader Asian 
American rubric, such as in the case of SAMHSA's call to establish an 
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Behavioral Health 
Center of Excellence, is highly problematic. The funding being offered 
($700,000 annually over 5 years) is not enough to meet the unique 
behavioral health needs of the over 24 million Asian Americans in the 
U.S. who comprise over 20 different sub-groups as well as the 1.6 
million Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who comprise over 12 
different sub-groups based on the 2020 U.S. Census.
    There is no justifiable reason to attach Native Hawaiians and 
Pacific Islanders to Asian American populations. This erroneous 
practice perhaps came about because of a previous racial/ethnic 
category by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that aggregated 
these three groups together. Although Native Hawaiians and Pacific 
Islanders have been disaggregated from Asian Americans under OMB 
Directive 15 since 1994, the practice of aggregating them continues--a 
practice that needs to stop because it masks the true health issues 
faced by all racial/ethnic subgroups involved. \49\
    In thinking about establishing new federally-supported programs, it 
is important to consider that Native Hawaiians have called for and 
responded best to culturally responsive health promotion programs--
programs that are either built upon or leverage their cultural 
perspectives and practices. A vast majority of Native Hawaiians (93 
percent) strongly identify with their Native Hawaiian heritage and 
culture \50\ and 80 percent strongly believe it is important to 
maintain their unique cultural values and practices for psychological 
wellbeing. \51\ Rigorous scientific research we have conducted with NIH 
funding has found that community-based and led, culturally responsive 
health promotion programs can improve the health and wellbeing of 
Native Hawaiians as well as other Pacific Islanders. Among these 
programs is our PILI Lifestyle Program to address obesity, \52\-\55\ 
the Partners in Care Diabetes Self-Management Program, \56\,\57\ and 
Ola Hou i ka Hula (restoring life through hula) Program to lower 
cardiovascular disease risk in Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. 
\58\ For example, our Ola Hou i ka Hula program--a culture-based 
lifestyle program using our traditional dance of hula--led to 
significant improvements in blood pressure control and a 10-year risk 
for CVD among Native Hawaiians with previously uncontrolled 
hypertension.
    The innovation of these culturally grounded programs resides in 
their paradigm shift away from an exclusive focus on Western notions of 
health promotion based on treating disease-associated physiology toward 
an Indigenous perspective of health promotion based on leveraging or 
strengthening cultural and community assets. However, what is often 
made available for funding are programs deemed ``evidence-based'' for 
which the evidence was based on research that included predominately 
White samples. This is unacceptable since the validity of any 
intervention can only be linked with any high degree of confidence 
within the population(s) in which it was tested. Thus, health promotion 
programs for Native Hawaiians that have proven their effectiveness 
among Native Hawaiians need to be disseminated and implemented in real-
world settings, such as federallyqualified community health centers and 
the Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems as well as other community-
based organizations.
The Need for Federal Support for Native Hawaiians to Enter the Health 
        Professions
    Despite their significant health disparities, access to quality and 
timely medical care for Native Hawaiians is poor and, in part, due to 
the severe physician shortage in Hawai`i and the underrepresentation of 
Native Hawaiians in the medical profession. The physician shortage in 
Hawai`i rose across all counties from 2019 to 2020. Primary care (i.e., 
Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Geriatrics) 
represents the largest shortage statewide (412 FTEs needed) on all 
islands. Despite comprising up to 21 percent of the population in 
Hawai`i, Native Hawaiians represent less than 4.5 percent of the 
physician workforce.
    Complicating matters, many Native Hawaiians harbor mistrust and 
suspicion of Western medicine and science because of past 
transgressions against them. \59\-\61\ They also face numerous 
sociocultural and socioeconomic challenges, such as economic 
deprivation, the need to hold down multiple jobs, and strong family and 
community obligations, that often prevent or hinder their ability to 
seek timely medical care. For all these reasons, growing our local 
physicians, especially Native Hawaiians, has never been more critical, 
as well as vital efforts to create a robust culturally-responsive 
physician workforce committed to Hawai`i and its people.
    The social and economic challenges faced by Native Hawaiian 
students who are pursuing careers in medicine and other health 
professions impact their ability to succeed at the undergraduate level. 
In Fall 2021, the University of Hawai`i at Manoa (UHM) reported that 
only 14.5 percent of the UHM student population were Native Hawaiian. 
\62\ Native Hawaiians face higher poverty rates than the statewide 
average with 15.5 percent of NH families with children under 18 living 
in poverty compared to the statewide average of 10.5 percent. \63\ 
These early challenges are critical reasons to create a pathway for 
potential medical students starting at the high school level by 
providing outreach and service programs that address academic 
preparedness, college readiness, and financial and career planning. 
Native Hawaiian students are more likely to be first-generation college 
students and only 13.2 percent of Native Hawaiian students over 25 
years of age have a bachelor's degree, compared to the statewide 
average of 22.1 percent of Caucasians. \64\ Without Native Hawaiian 
role models or mentors, it is difficult for Native Hawaiian students to 
realize that attending a health professions school is within their 
reach. These students do have academic potential and with the right 
mentors and supportive learning environment, can achieve their career 
goals.
    Pathway programs such as the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence 
(NHCOE) and the `Imi Ho`ola Post-Baccalaureate Program at JABSOM serve 
as educational models of success that should be replicated and expanded 
to create a sustainable, expansive solution to meeting the academic, 
personal, and professional needs of Native Hawaiian students pursuing 
careers in medicine. NHCOE has strengthened the nation's capacity to 
produce a diverse, culturally competent health care workforce that is 
prepared to meet the needs of diverse and underserved patient 
populations. NHCOE is the only Center of Excellence in the U.S. focused 
on Native Hawaiian student and faculty pathways to success in medicine. 
Since its inception in 1991, NHCOE has evolved and expanded its 
activities, engagement, and outreach with the support of the Bureau of 
Health Workforce under HRSA, JABSOM, and NHCOE's extensive and long-
standing community and educational partnerships.
    One of our premier programs, the Native Hawaiian Student Pathway to 
Medicine Program (NHSPM) has now completed its 12th cohort since its 
inception in 2010. NHSPM has successfully led culturally responsive, 
student-centered training sessions for 186 Native Hawaiian premedical 
and other health professions students. Of these, 51 NHSPM students were 
accepted to medical school at JABSOM (n = 30) and the continental U.S.A 
(n = 21). Thus, 61 percent of NHSPM students who applied to medical 
school (n = 51/83) were accepted. Within JABSOM, NHCOE is the lead unit 
providing cultural competency training to 100 percent of JABSOM 
matriculated medical doctorate (MD) students, supporting clinical 
training in communities that serve Native Hawaiians, and integrating 
traditional healers within the context of western medicine. In 2014, 
NHCOE established the first Dean's Certificate in Native Hawaiian 
Health awarded to JABSOM medical students who meet culturally intensive 
studies as well as academic, research, and community service 
requirements. NHCOE has also supported the Indigenous Faculty Forum 
(IFF), an ongoing partnership between NHCOE and the Northwest Native 
American Center of Excellence at the Oregon Health Sciences University 
to create a formal networking and collaborative partnership with 
indigenous faculty across the nation.
    The `Imi Ho`ola Post-Baccalaureate Program is a proven pathway 
program that provides educational opportunities to disadvantaged 
students pursuing careers in medicine. Since 1973, `Imi Ho`ola 
(Hawaiian meaning those who seek to heal) has successfully equipped 
students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to achieve success 
in the competitive field of medicine. Up to 12 students are enrolled 
each year and once students complete the rigorous program, they 
matriculate as first-year students in the JABSOM MD program. To date, 
297 `Imi Ho`ola alumni have successfully graduated from JABSOM. `Imi 
Ho`ola's contributions to Pacific Islander diversity at JABSOM are 
significant. Thirty-eight percent (38 percent) of all Native Hawaiians, 
34 percent of Filipinos, 57 percent of Micronesians, and 89 percent of 
Samoan students who graduated from JABSOM--came through `Imi Ho`ola. 
`Imi Ho`ola graduates also produce more MDs who choose primary care and 
residency programs in Hawai`i when compared to non-`Imi Ho`ola MDs (72 
percent vs 57 percent). \65\
    JABSOM is one of only 45 (forty-five) schools across the nation 
that have a post-baccalaureate program. Of these schools, only 16 
(sixteen) programs consider student groups that are underrepresented in 
the health professions as a criterion for enrollment and only 6 (six) 
programs grant admissions to an affiliated medical school upon 
successful completion. `Imi Ho`ola not only strengthens our ability to 
diversify the workforce here in our island state but is an exemplar of 
excellence across our nation. In short, `Imi Ho`ola and NHCOE are vital 
pathways to address the current physician workforce shortage and can be 
used as models to effectively produce a health care workforce that 
reflects and understands our diverse communities by supporting Native 
Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students in achieving their dreams of 
becoming healers for their communities.
The Need for Federal Support for Native Hawaiians to Enter the Health 
        Sciences
    As recognized by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Native 
Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders along with American Indians/Alaska Natives, 
African Americans, and Hispanics are underrepresented in science, 
technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields and 
the health sciences. \66\ This is reflected in the dismal number of 
Native Hawaiians who apply for federal funding and the number of 
projects funded that focus on Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders. 
According to a recent report, only 0.17 percent (529) of NIH's entire 
funding went to Asian American Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander-
focused research collectively between 1992 and 2018. \67\ And, only 35 
of these research projects were focused on Native Hawaiians and/or 
Pacific Islanders. In 2013 and 2018 there were only 18 applicants of 
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander ancestry in both years, which 
represents a 0 percent increase. In 2020, only 25 research grants 
awarded went to Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander investigators 
compared to 102 for American Indians/Alaska Natives, 1,052 for African 
Americans, 8,858 for Asians, and 28,587 for Whites.
    Complicating this issue in Hawaii is the significant disparities in 
the number of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander faculty at UHM at 
all levels--individuals eligible to apply for federal funding--compared 
to their racial/ethnic representation in the overall population of 
Hawai`i. \68\ The overall population of Hawai`i is about 25 percent 
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 25 percent non-Hispanic White, and 23 
percent Asian. Yet, only 8.9 percent of HM faculty are Native Hawaiian/
Pacific Islander compared to 46 percent non- Hispanic White and 29.2 
percent Asian. Of tenure-track and tenured faculty, the number drops to 
8 percent for Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders but increases for non-
Hispanic Whites to 52.2 percent. At JABSOM, only 7.8 percent are Native 
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander compared to 32 percent non-Hispanic Whites 
and 45.3 percent Asians.
    Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders face considerable challenges 
that prevent or complicate their pursuit of an MD or PhD in scientific 
fields and in securing tenure-track faculty positions. \69\ Like most 
individuals of minority status, there is high attrition in their 
transition from training status into facultylevel research careers. 
\70\ Pursuing an academic or research career is often daunting for them 
because of racial/ethnic discrimination and biases; isolation and a 
lack of network and mentors with similar backgrounds; fewer career 
development opportunities; heavy clinical and community obligations; 
and a heavy mentoring load of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students 
and early career faculty. \71\, \72\ Native Hawaiian physicians often 
turn to private practice to pay off their educational loan debt, which 
leads them away from an academic career. Recently, COVID pandemic 
related financial challenges at UHM have further limited the ability of 
JABSOM to provide competitive academic opportunities across all 
disciplines, but this most significantly impacts Native Hawaiian/
Pacific Islander professionals seeking an academic health career in the 
Pacific. The limited research on IPP faculty echoes the barriers 
experienced by other URM.
    Although Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are Indigenous to 
territories now under US control, they do not receive the same level of 
attention and special consideration by federal funding agencies as do 
American Indians/Alaska Natives. For example, Native Hawaiians and 
Pacific Islanders are excluded from the Native American Research 
Centers for Health (NARCH) program funded by NIH and the Indian Health 
Services, designed to support biomedical research and career 
enhancement opportunities to meet the health needs of American Indian/
Alaska Native communities. The 33 percent increase in R01 applications 
from American Indian/Alaska Native principal investigators over the 5 
years is no doubt due to NARCH and other similar research 
infrastructure programs focused exclusively on American Indians/Alaska 
Natives. A similar investment in Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders 
is urgently needed.
Program and Policy Recommendations
    Given the dire need for culturally responsive health promotion 
programs for Native Hawaiians, health professionals who can provide 
culturally responsive care for Native Hawaiian patients, and 
healthrelated researchers to identify and develop promising 
intervention programs for Native Hawaiian communities, we offer the 
following recommendations for consideration:

        1. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders should not be 
        combined with Asian Americans, or any other racial/ethnic 
        group, under a single project or program for funding because of 
        large differences in health status and outcomes, as well as the 
        social and cultural determinants of health impacting these 
        different ethnic groups. Combining Native Hawaiians and Pacific 
        Islanders with Asian populations only directs attention and 
        resources away from Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders 
        because of their smaller representation in the U.S. compared to 
        Asians. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders must have their 
        own programs and line of funding to address their unique 
        concerns.

        2. Native Hawaiian representation and consultation should be 
        required in the designing, funding, and oversight of all 
        federally-supported programs aimed at improving Native Hawaiian 
        health including any special interest groups and committees 
        tasked with Native Hawaiian health. All too often Native 
        Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are lumped with Asians in many 
        federally-supported programs with very little to no Native 
        Hawaiian or Pacific Islander representation or input.

        3. Culturally responsive, community-based health promotion 
        programs are needed, which go beyond the current strategy of 
        simply adapting and implementing interventions deemed as 
        `evidence-based' from research with mainly the majority 
        population. What is needed are funding opportunities and 
        technical assistance to support the dissemination and 
        implementation of culturally responsive interventions already 
        identified as effective for Native Hawaiians and to support 
        innovative health-related research programs exclusively aimed 
        at improving Native Hawaiian health, as well as for other 
        Pacific Islanders, similar to those designed for American 
        Indians/Alaska Natives (e.g., NARCH).

        4. We have documented the success of our pathway programs at 
        JABSOM for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. However, 
        resources are limited to meet the needs of our Native Hawaiian 
        and Pacific Islander learners and to meet our goal of 
        increasing the number of Native Hawaiians in medicine. Federal 
        funding is needed to expand and strengthen culturally-
        responsive and strengths-based pathway programs for Native 
        Hawaiian students to enter the health professions (e.g., 
        medicine, psychology, nursing, and social work). These pathway 
        programs need to be implemented starting in high school and 
        continuing at the undergraduate and post-baccalaureate levels.

        5. Given the large inequities in adverse childhood experiences 
        and behavioral health issues across the board among Native 
        Hawaiians, an issue exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a 
        special emphasis is needed on addressing Native Hawaiian/
        Pacific Islander behavioral health disparities, especially 
        funding to increase behavioral health services and programs in 
        rural and primary care settings, as well as in educational 
        settings. Also, more behavioral health providers are needed in 
        the professions of clinical psychology, psychiatry, and 
        clinical social work.

        6. To support the increase in behavioral health services for 
        Native Hawaiians as well as increase the number of clinical 
        psychologists, psychologists need to be included in the 
        ``incident to'' language in Medicare to allow reimbursement for 
        services provided by graduate trainees under the supervision of 
        psychologists similar to physicians and medical residents. This 
        will allow for sustainable training opportunities for clinical 
        psychologists.

        7. As we understand it, the recipients of the Native Hawaiian 
        Health Scholarship are being unfairly taxed for their 
        professional school tuition by HRSA, and this is in addition to 
        being taxed for the monthly stipend they receive for their 
        living expenses. The additional tax on tuition can be as high 
        as $10,000 annually for these scholarship recipients. The IRS 
        tax code exempts the tuition for National Health Service Corps 
        recipients from taxation. Native Hawaiian students face 
        economic challenges and these taxes only add to their economic 
        burdens. Out of financial necessity, it also deters many 
        physicians and other health professionals (e.g., psychologists, 
        social workers) from practicing in rural settings and 
        community-based clinics where salaries are lower than in urban 
        settings and larger healthcare systems.

    Again, mahalo nui for this opportunity to provide testimony 
regarding ``Upholding the Federal Trust Responsibility: Funding & 
Program Access for Innovation in the Native Hawaiian Community.'' 
Should you have any questions regarding this testimony please feel free 
to contact us.

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Approach to Increasing the Diversity of the Biomedical Research 
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medicine no. 1 case for minority faculty development today. Mt Sinai J 
Med. 2008;75(6):491-498.

    The Chairman. Thank you very much, Dr. Lee.
    Ms. Farden, please proceed with your testimony.

STATEMENT OF ELENA FARDEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIVE HAWAIIAN 
                       EDUCATION COUNCIL

    Ms. Farden. Thank you, Chairman Schatz, Vice Chair 
Murkowski, as well as her staff and members of the Committee, 
and all those here visiting our lahui.
    My name is Elena Farden. I am a kanaka `oiwi and serve as 
the executive director for the Native Hawaiian Education 
Council. We are a 501(c)(3) [indiscernible] through the Federal 
Native Hawaiian Education Act. On behalf of the 67 current 
Native Hawaiian Education Program grantees and our 13-member 
Council including staff, I appreciate the opportunity to share 
testimony today regarding the statutes and cases that govern 
the accounts, funds, and assets that are held in trust by the 
United States government for Native Hawaiians.
    Our Council [indiscernible] testimony submitted. I would 
like to highlight the challenges in Federal policy and intent 
as well as program implementation [indiscernible] assessment 
and access to [indiscernible]. We seek the Committee's aid to 
explore solutions for long-term success in our programs.
    For Federal intent and programming implementation we know 
that passion provides permanence, but data drives decisions. 
With education comes [indiscernible] both. It is our 
[indiscernible] experience, however, that at the heart of this 
challenge is a misalignment of the Federal intent of the Native 
Hawaiian Education Act and its program implementation. In 2021, 
due to the great work of the Senate Committee on Indian 
Affairs, $85 million was allotted to Native Hawaiian education, 
with the intent to bring immediate monetary relief and 
resources to programs to address COVID impacts.
    We know this as the largest infusion of Federal funds and 
the largest award of funds into programs [indiscernible]. To 
give you an example, there are 67 current grantees, 44 that are 
funded from our [indiscernible]. When you look at the patterns 
that were awarded in [indiscernible], 2000, and 2018, or eight 
years down, the current grantees make up almost two-thirds of 
that.
    So we are so excited that so many grant programs were 
awarded and doing great work in our community. These funds came 
just in time. NHEP [indiscernible] use the funds 
[indiscernible] received zero relief aid from the States. Many 
of our NHEP grantee programs were [indiscernible] operations 
for over a year and a half through the pandemic.
    But with relief in sight, the administration of those 
relief funds came in the same form and fashion of a regular 
grant competition, a minimum of a 50-page application with 
mandatory forms, a 35-day turnaround to complete the 
application, and the same grant priorities inviting NIA as in 
pre-COVID competitions.
    This resulted in early learning Hawaiian language medium 
instruction programs having to compete against post-secondary 
college and career readiness programs for funding. Education as 
a whole is a living system and each part of that system is 
critical. Discretionary funding in this form causes unstable 
funding that impacts a continuum of services for essential 
programs.
    We also saw an increase in funding to Native Hawaiian 
community-based organizations and increased funding for State 
programs. Whereas Native Hawaiian community-based organizations 
typically make up 47 percent of awarding or [indiscernible] for 
[indiscernible] in 2021 our distribution shows NHCBOs down 7 
percent, while the State programs increased by almost 12 
percent, from 25 up to 37.1.
    While both types of grants and organizations provide needed 
services, we know that State programs have access to both 
Federal and State funding streams, while Native Hawaiian 
community-based organizations [indiscernible].
    So our ask, as we come to the table we also make sure that 
we are bringing a solutions [indiscernible] way to explore. Our 
ask to the Committee is to advance community-based resource 
equity. The Education Council is committed to all allies in 
this effort to explore funding and program access for 
innovation in Native Hawaiian education. We seek the 
Committee's assistance and leadership to investigate 
opportunities of formula funding to be included through a 
statutory fix or the next reauthorization of NHEA for Native 
Hawaiian community-based programs that have successfully 
demonstrated longstanding program outcomes and impact in Native 
Hawaiian education, while fund remain available to seed new, 
innovative programs through discretionary funding.
    For assessment and access to data, the Council's charge is 
to coordinate, assess, report, and make recommendations on 
Native Hawaiian education. So we function without the agency to 
collect such data. For example, our preliminary findings of our 
impact assessment and learning study for the 2020 NHEP grantees 
show that a majority of programs target Native Hawaiian school 
students at 63 percent, and they do so to address priority 
fields where Native Hawaiians are underemployed at 78 percent.
    This is a vastly different funding pattern than we have 
seen from the last NHEP competition in 2017 through 2018. NHEP 
awardees from that time targeted early childhood education and 
elementary and middle school student achievement. So 
understanding why this is happening and its implications can 
activate formative processes toward improved support and 
essential resources for grantee program success.
    Due to limited funding the Council has yet to engage in an 
impact assessment and learning study for the 2021 ARPA 
grantees, the largest funding received and the largest grantee 
[indiscernible].
    We are also restricted in data access. Rather than sharing 
data, the Department of Education refers the Council to request 
grantee data through the Freedom of Information Act. That can 
take up to 214 working days, or seven months and may include 
fees as part of that data.
    So we have resorted to the requesting that individual 
grantees provide the data to us. This expands our timeline to 
research and evaluation and assessment, while also burdening 
the grantees with sharing their data with us.
    So how do we evolve this relationship? We know that sharing 
[indiscernible] success. Our intent has been clear from the 
beginning that NHEC is not here to compete with the Department 
of Education because we want everyone to win.
    So our ask is assessment and analysis and shared access and 
learning to data. The Education Council's continued work to 
fulfill our statutory mandate to gather high-quality data and 
contribute to evidence-based policymaking for Native Hawaiian 
education is an essential activity. We seek the Committee's 
assistance to include new language under Administration 
Provisions in the next NHEA reauthorization that directs the 
U.S. Department of Education to provide a copy of all direct 
grant applications and grantee reporting documents to the 
Education Council.
    To also allocate an additional $1 million to be allotted to 
the Education Council for Fiscal Year 2023 in order to conduct 
an impact assessment and learning study on the 44 NHEP grantee 
programs awarded from the ARPA.
    We also ask to establish an Office of Indigenous Language 
and Native Hawaiian Education within the U.S. Department of 
Education to work with the U.S. Department of Education in 
meeting its trust responsibility as stated in the Act, to 
support work in aligning Federal reporting requirements for 
culturally relevant assessments and program evaluation, and 
[indiscernible] efforts with the Council.
    Lastly, we ask to include new language in the next NHEA 
reauthorization to require training for all senior level and 
program staff of the Department of Education specifically the 
Rural, Insular and Native Achievement Program, to educate them 
on baseline understanding of the U.S. trust responsibility and 
the legal and political history of Native Hawaiians with the 
Federal Government and the history of the Native Hawaiian 
Education Act in order to engage more intentional, 
collaborative, and mutual support for Native Hawaiian education 
success with the Committee and Council.
    In closing, we offer [indiscernible]. We know that 
[indiscernible] produces what is needed.
    With much aloha and gratitude, our Council appreciates this 
opportunity to provide testimony. We stand ready to assist the 
Committee in this work, and [indiscernible].
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Farden follows:]

Prepared Statement of Elena Farden, Executive Director, Native Hawaiian 
                           Education Council
    Chairman Schatz, Vice Chair Murkowski, and members of the 
Committee. Aloha kakahiaka kakou.
    My name is Elena Farden. I am a kanaka `oiwi and serve as executive 
director for the Native Hawaiian Education Council. On behalf of the 67 
current Native Hawaiian Education Program grantees (as well as hundreds 
more of previously funded grantees) and our 13-member Council including 
staff, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today regarding the 
statues and cases that govern the accounts, funds, and assets that are 
held by the United States government in Trust Responsibility for Native 
Hawaiians.
    Our Council stands here in today's field hearing to discuss 
challenges in Native Hawaiian education and offer areas to explore 
together towards long-term success outcomes.
    We cannot dismiss the overbearing weight of this discussion without 
acknowledging the alarming changes to our everyday lives resulting from 
the impacts of the pandemic that continue to reverberate in inadequate 
funding, increased administrative processes, and lack of equitable and 
meaningful consultation from all stakeholders on program priorities and 
needs.
    For these reasons, the Council has focused our testimony towards 
two specific and connected areas:

        1. Accountability and Alignment: Bridging the gap between 
        federal policy intent and program implementation by advancing 
        community-based resource equity

        2. Assessment, Analysis, and Access & Learning to Data: Shared 
        Learning is Shared Success

    We believe at the heart of this challenge is the incongruence of 
federal intent of the Native Hawaiian Education Act and its program 
implementation. We understand the constitutional restrictions that 
prevent the federal government from directly providing educational 
services and instead, federal policies and programs must be 
administered through the intergovernmental system. The structure of the 
system thus allows multiple options for federal agencies to interpret 
for themselves how the program should be applied that can leave room to 
exclude ethical, equitable, shared responsibilty or accountability to 
community stakeholders. We know that collectively we can rethink a 
better structure. Mission defines strategy, and strategy informs 
structure.
    ACCOUNTABILITY AND ALIGNMENT

        ''The Education Council shall use funds made available through 
        a grant under subsection (a) carry out each of the following 
        activities: (1) Providing advice about the coordination of, and 
        serving as a clearinghouse for, the educational and related 
        services and programs available to Native Hawaiians, including 
        the program assisted under this part. . .(3) Providing 
        direction and guidance, through the issuance of reports and 
        recommendations, to appropriate Federal, State, and local 
        agencies in order to focus and improve the use of resources, 
        including resources made available under this part relating to 
        Native Hawaiian education, and serving, where appropriate, in 
        an advisory capacity.''

        --NHEA, Sec. 6204(c) Use of Funds for Coordination Activities

    In 2021 due to the great work of the Senate Committee on Indian 
Affairs, $85,000,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds were 
secured for Native Hawaiian education (ARPA, Title XI, Sec. 11006). At 
a high-level, the intent of ARPA was ``intended to continue combating 
COVID-19, bringing immediate monetary relief to households and 
providing resources to schools and businesses.'' \1\ The administration 
of the largest infusion of government relief funds, and the largest 
award made for the Native Hawaiian Education Program, was implemented 
in the same form and fashion as a traditional grant competition.
    Native Hawaiian education program applicants encountered the same 
restrictions on grants, the same bureaucratic application processes, 
and the same grant priorities in the notice inviting applications (NIA) 
that were identical in pre-COVID competitions. Nothing changed. 
Applicants were required to complete 10 mandatory forms of which 
totaled--at minimum--49.5 pages: \3\

------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Document Type        Form Description and Number     Est. # of Pages
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preliminary           Application for Federal            3
 Documents             Assistance Standard Form SF-424
                      ED Supplemental Information SF-    1.5
                       424
Budget Documents      ED Budget information for non-     5
                       construction Form 52
                      Budget narrative attachment form   1
Abstract              Project abstract (pdf)             1
Narrative             Project Narrative Attachment Form  30
                       (pdf)
Other Forms           Individual resumes of project      10
                       directors and key personnel
                       (pdf)
                      Copy of indirect cost rate         1
                       agreement
Lobby Disclosure      Grants.gov                         1
GEPA Statement        General Education Provision Act    (incl. In
                       (GEPA) Form 427--Applicants are    narrative doc
                       asked to include in their          count)
                       project narrative description of
                       the steps they propose to ensure
                       equitable access to and
                       participation in its federally-
                       assisted program
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The May 28, 2021 NIA for the Native Hawaiian Education Program 
describes the funding opportunity for exiting grantees and new 
applicants to propose projects that ``address current needs in the 
Native Hawaiian community in connection with the COVID-19'' while 
existing grantees ``may propose either new projects to address newly 
identified needs in response to COVID-19'' or build upon current NHE-
funding activities to address pandemic impacts. \2\ However, the 
Absolute Priorities identified in the NIA did not prioritize programs 
focusing on emergency or immediate COVID-19 impacts.
    The administration of the $85M of ARPA funding for Native Hawaiian 
education through discretionary, competitive grant process advanced 
higher barriers for community-based organizations to receive needed 
funds in the pandemic. We understand community-based organizations to 
be agile and nimbler in responding to community needs. In challenging 
times of COVID-19, we needed these organizations on the ground with a 
continuum of services in place.
    Instead, the Education Council saw a decrease in ARPA funds to 
community-based organizations compared to previous, pre-COVID grant 
allocations.
    The Education Council's profile analysis of NHEP grantees from 2010 
through 2018 show that 47.7 percent of awardees were Native Hawaiian 
community-based organizations that received approximately 63 percent of 
the total funding. The 2021 ARPA NHEP profile shows a reduction in 
awards to Native Hawaiian community-based organizations to 40 percent 
and an increase in awards to the State, up to 37.1 percent from 25.2 
percent previously. \4\
    Programs for post-secondary achievement and programs for early 
education in Hawaiian language medium instruction had to compete 
against one another for funding. Education as a whole is a living 
system. Each part of that system from early childhood education to 
college and career readiness are critical. Discretionary funding in 
this form causes unstable funding that impact a continuum of services 
for essential programs across Native Hawaiian education.
    Further, our Native Hawaiian community-based organizations play a 
critical role in public service delivery, and in turn, this specific 
federal funding for Native Hawaiians plays a key component in meeting 
the financial needs of nonprofit service delivery organizations. The 
NHEP is the only federal funding specifically designated for Native 
Hawaiian early learning, as well as for Native Hawaiian elementary and 
secondary education programs. We strongly advocate that NHEP resources 
ensure Native Hawaiian programs can educate students in classrooms. 
While statute allows for other uses of NHEP funding, programs that 
directly touch our students and their families are of utmost 
importance, particularly during an emergency. Other educationrelated 
activities have alternative federal funding options. The statute 
further states that NHEP funding is intended to supplement and expand 
Native Hawaiian education. We recognize the capacity of the State of 
Hawai`i to expand its Native Hawaiian education offerings and that it 
also has access to sources of funding to do so that are unavailable to 
the majority of communitybased, NHEP-eligible organizations. For that 
reason, for the purpose of expanding Native Hawaiian education, we 
believe its most effective to ensure community-based organizations 
receive NHEP funds as one of the few funding opportunities available to 
them.
    OUR ASK: ADVANCING COMMUNITY-BASED RESOURCE EQUITY
        The Education Council is committed to all allies in this effort 
        to explore funding and program access for innovation in Native 
        Hawaiian education. We seek the Committee's assistance:

        To investigate opportunities of formula funding to be included 
        through a statutory fix or next reauthorization of NHEA for 
        Native Hawaiian community-based programs that have successfully 
        demonstrated long-standing program outcomes and impact in 
        Native Hawaiian education. While funds to remain available to 
        seed new, innovative programs through discretionary funding.

    ASSESSMENT:

        ''The act will not meet its objectives, nor will it overcome 
        the troubles of the Hawaiian people by simply throwing money at 
        the problem. Success will ride on the quantity and quality of 
        the programs implemented. The impact that these programs have 
        on their intended beneficiaries will be the ultimate measure of 
        the legislation's success.''

        --Testimony of Myron Thompson on the NHEA hearing, Nov. 14, 
        1979 to the Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and 
        Vocational Education and Subcommittee on Postsecondary 
        Education, and Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of 
        Representatives

    The Education Council is charged to coordinate, assess, report, and 
make recommendations on the effectiveness of existing educational 
programs for Native Hawaiians, and improvements that can be made to 
existing programs, policies and procedures to improve the education 
attainment of Native Hawaiians.
    For example, our preliminary findings of our impact, assessment, 
and learning (IAL) study for the NHEP 2020 grantees show a majority of 
programs target Native Hawaiian high school students (63.2 percent) to 
address the authorized priority of fields where Native Hawaiians are 
underemployed (78.9 percent). This is a vastly different funding 
pattern than we've seen from the last NHEP competition from 2017--2018. 
NHEP awardees from 2017--2018 targeted early childhood education and 
elementary and middle school student achievement (73 percent). 
Understanding why this is happening and its implications can activate 
formative processes towards improved support and essential resources 
for grantee program success.
    However, the Education Council as an intermediary entity is charged 
with urgency through NHEA to meet these statutory mandates of program 
assessment, but does so without the agency to obtain such data. For 
each NHEP competition, the Education Council petitions the U.S. 
Department of Edudcation (ED) to share grantee documents, evaluation, 
and grantee data in order for us to engage in IAL and other effective 
studies to meet our statutory mandate. ED has directed the Education 
Council to make our request through the Freedom of Information Act that 
can take between 9 to 214 working days for requests and may include 
associated fees depending on the agency. So, the Education Council must 
resort to requesting grantee documents from the individual grantees 
themselves that necessitate an expanded timeline to our research and 
burdens grantees with extra report sharing duties. Data sharing 
barriers between ED and the Education Council delays thorough, robust, 
and meaningful program assessment.
    Meaningful program assessment can be key in times of crisis. During 
the pandemic, the Education Council leveraged its research studies, 
analysis, and consultation with NHEP grantees to advocate for funds at 
the state and federal levels for Native Hawaiian education. The table 
below outlines our funding and advocacy request efforts and data sets 
we used to calculate the appropriate amount of funds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Request to                             Funding      Data Source(s) to
     Entity         Funding Request       Received      Inform  Request
------------------------------------------------------------------------
State of          $10,000,000 of       $0             Estimated from Yr.
 Hawai`i, Office   CARES Act funding                   2 and Yr3
 of the Governor   for Native                          expected grant
                   Hawaiian Education                  funds
                   (March 2020)                        dispersement of
                                                       the current 2017
                                                       and 2018 NHEP
                                                       grantees
Hawai`i           $1.47B in facility   $0             HIDOE Six-year
 Congressional     replacement,                        Plan Report and
 Delegation        renovation,                         HFCS Facilities
                   repair, and                         Needs Survey with
                   deferred                            figures used to
                   maintenance from                    calculate need
                   American Jobs Plan                  for 36 Hawaiian
                   for Kaiaupuni                       schools (19 Kula
                   schools and                         Kaiaupuni, 17
                   Hawaiian Focused                    HFCS).
                   Charter Schools
                   (May 2021)
Hawai`i           $44,000,000 for      $38,900,000    Estimated from
 Congressional     NHEP FY22 (Feb.                     funding for
 Delegation,       2021)                               grantee programs
                                                       to address
                                                       pandemic program
                                                       safety
Senate Committee                                      protocols
 on Indian
 Affairs
Hawai`i           $50,000,000 for      Awaiting       The estimate of
 Congressional     NHEP FY23            response       additional
 Delegation,       appropriations of                   $1,000,000 funds
 Senate            which includes a                    for NHEC impact,
 Committee on      request for an                      assessment, and
 Indian Affairs,   additional                          learning study is
 Appropriations    $1,000,0000 to                      based on current
 Subcmte. Labor,   NHEC for program                    IAL study for the
 Health and        impact,                             2020 NHEP
 Human Services,   assessment, and                     grantees or 23
 and Education;    learning (IAL)                      programs, while
 and WHAANHPI      study of NHEP 2021                  the 2021 NHEP
                   grantees. (Feb.                     grantee estimate
                   2022)                               will be double
                                                       due to 44
                                                       programs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Education Council's research, evaluation, and learning also 
produces an annual report of priority recommendations for grant funding 
and program support provided to ED each December. Yearly data collected 
from our statewide community consultations and grantee program 
evaluation conducted by the Education Council inform these priorities. 
The aim in sharing these priorities with ED each year is to help align 
and inform priority grant funding areas for Native Hawaiian education 
from the community level. The Council meets quarterly with ED, however 
the dynamics of the relationship is conducted more like grantor and 
grantee rather than co-researchers in supporting program success.
Shared Learning is Shared Success
    The Council's approach to impact, assessment, and learning is 
action-oriented. It enables the Council to better understand the 
effectiveness of ED's grantmaking and our statutory mandates (technical 
assistance, coordinating activities, and community consultations) in 
the context in which the grantees are working, make mid-course 
corrections as necessary, and identify opportunities to share our 
insights with internal and external audiences. ED's grantmaking to 
Native Hawaiian education focuses on the near and medium term program 
outcomes through annual performance reports and evaluation reports. IAL 
studies, positions the Council to monitor indicators of progress and 
outcomes of the program as a whole over the long term. Seeking ways 
both the Council and ED can leverage our collaborative strengths will 
benefit programs and our communities.
    The Council is also constrained by internal challenges when it 
comes to research and evaluation. NHEA allocates $500,000 each year to 
fund the Council directly and is optimized for all operational and 
programmatic expenses. As multiple factors affect the Council's 
research and evaluation activities (e.g., increase of grantee programs 
funded, changes to grantee Governmental Performance and Results Act or 
GPRA measures, and impacts on reporting or program execution due to a 
pandemic) our available budget to contract these studies becomes 
limited. Our current IAL study for the NHEP 2020 grantees is just under 
$500,000 total for FY2021 through FY 2023. This IAL study will follow 
the 23 grantee programs for their three year grant period for formative 
and summative evaluation of the program as a whole.
    Our intent this year was to also start a IAL study for the NHEP 
2021 grantees (44 programs) as this is the largest funding the program 
has received and the intent of funds are to address COVID-19 pandemic 
impacts. It is imperative we understand the impacts of this funding 
through each year of the program in order to track development or 
adjust for improvement. We also want to maintain a summative evaluation 
at the end of the grant cycle to have a clear conclusion on program 
efficacy. In order for the Council to engage in this work, we estimate 
budget funds would need to be at least double of what we have budgeted 
for the NHEP 2020 IAL study.
    The Council is already engaged in two major multi-year projects 
that account for a substantial part of our budget for 2023 and 2024 
that addresses our statutory mandates of developing an online data 
clearinghouse of Native Hawaiian education data and the NHEP 2020 IAL 
study. Without additional funds, the Council is budget contrained to 
fulfill a comprehensive IAL study of the NHEP 2021 grantees.

    OUR ASK: ASSESSMENT, ANALYSIS, AND SHARED ACCESS & LEARNING TO 
DATA:

        The Education Council's continued work to fulfill our statutory 
        mandate, gather high-quality data, and contribute to evidence-
        based policymaking for Native Hawaiian education is an 
        essential activity. We seek the Committee's assistance:

        To include new language under Administrative Provisions in the 
        next NHEA reauthorization that directs the U.S. Department of 
        Education to provide a copy of all direct grant applications 
        and grantee reporting documents to the Education Council.

        To allocate an additional $1,000,000 to be allocated to the 
        Education Council for FY23 in order conduct an impact, 
        assessment, and learning (IAL) study on 44 NHEP grantee 
        programs awarded from the 2021 ARPA funds, the largest funding 
        in NHEP's history.

        To establish an Office of Indigenous Language and Native 
        Hawaiian Education within the U.S. Department of Education to 
        work with ED in meeting its Trust Responsibility as stated in 
        the NHEA, and to support work in aligning federal reporting 
        requirements for culturally relevant assessments and program 
        evaluation.

        To include new language in the next NHEA reauthorization to 
        require training for all senior-level and program staff of the 
        ED to educate them on baseline understanding of the US Trust 
        Responsibility and the legal and political history of Native 
        Hawaiians with the federal government in order to engage more 
        intentional, collaborative, and mutual support for Native 
        Hawaiian education success.

    In closing, the constructs of the U.S. Trust Responsibility to 
Native Hawaiians is based on assets, funds, and resources held in trust 
for Native Hawaiians. At the same time, Native Hawaiians as a community 
are capable and have long demonstrated full capacity in determining 
their internal affairs and responsibility for their common welfare and 
for their future economic and social development. It is time to evolve 
our trust relationship to advance trust that reflects our modern times 
and developing challenges in order to better adapt and address 
immediate and emerging needs of our community. On behalf of the Native 
Hawaiian Education Council, we express our aloha and appreciation to 
the Chairman and Vice Chaiperson for leading this effort and 
responsibility. It is an honor to carry the work of the Education 
Council that so many of our community leaders, advocates, and families 
stood up for and have paved the way for us to be here. It is an honor 
to share testimony with the Committee today.
    The Education Council stands ready and in full support to assist 
you in advancing this important work for Hawaiian communities.
    WORKS CITED
    1 Maruyama, L., & Hampe, M. U. (2021, September 15). The American 
Rescue Plan Is A Boon To Hawaii's People And Nonprofits. Honolulu Civil 
Beat. https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/09/the-american-rescue-plan-is-a-
boon-to-hawaiispeople-and-nonprofits/
    2 Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of 
Education. (2021, May 28). Applications for New Awards; Native Hawaiian 
Education Program. Https://Www.Federalregister.Gov/Documents/2021/05/
28/2021-11497/Applications-for-New-Awards-Native-Hawaiian-Education-
Program.
        https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/05/28/2021-
        11497/applications-fornew- awards-native-hawaiian-education-
        program
    3 Rural Insular Native Achievement Program, Native Hawaiian 
Education Program. (2021, July 2). Native Hawaiian Education Program 
Technical Assistance Webinar [Slides]. OESE.Ed.Gov. https://
oese.ed.gov/files/2021/06/NHEP-Applicant-Webinar-2021.pdf
    4 Toms Barker, L., Sanchez, R., & McLelland, C. (2021, March). 
NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION COUNCIL EVALUATION OF THE NATIVE HAWAIIAN 
EDUCATION PROGRAM: Portfolio Analysis of the 2010-2018 Grants. IMPAQ 
International, Inc. http://www.nhec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/
NHEP-Portfolio-Analysis-AY2010-2018-Submitted-3-18-2021.pdf

    The Chairman. Thank you so much to our testifiers. I was 
struck toward the end of your testimony, Ms. Farden, that this 
is why we have the hearing. This is why are fly our staff out 
from Washington, D.C. is to listen. Retired Senator Barbara 
Mikulski used to say, ``nothing about me without me.'' I just 
love that, and especially as it relates to the way people in 
the Federal legislature interact with Native communities. 
Nothing about me without me.
    So before I get into my questions, I want to let you know 
that our staff is taking copious notes and in the spirit of 
solutions potluck, we will receive all of your offerings and 
try to get back to you. Some of this just at a technical level 
is not within the jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on 
Indian Affairs. For example, Dr. Lee, the taxable nature of 
scholarship revenue is something I have to fix on the Finance 
Committee side. So that is a bit more challenging because I am 
not the chairman of the Finance Committee.
    But we will follow up. We will also let you know, because I 
think you deserve this, what we can and can't do. There is no 
sense in your looking for revenue that is phantom. There is no 
sense in me telling you that I am going to work on something if 
I really don't think I can accomplish it. But since you have 
given us a pretty big potluck, there is a lot for us to do 
together. So thank you very much.
    I will start with Ms. Daniels. How is [indiscernible]?
    Dr. Daniels. I think like Ms. Farden's comments, I think we 
all struggle in finding our place with our Federal partners. I 
think that is the generous version of it. I think we have to 
come in recognizing where our strengths are and where we are 
not quite accustomed to their world that they have to work in. 
So we recognize that.
    But I think we continue to push the envelope, to ask 
questions. If we don't, then we are not being fair to our 
community. But I think HRSA has its own challenges in terms of 
when they turn over, when there is a new administration. I 
think they don't quite know where to fit us as Native Hawaiian 
Health, because we are not an FQHC, we are not a rural health 
center. Although we have one system that is old.
    So we don't fit into the box very well. Oftentimes we are 
not maybe given some of the same access as other health 
systems, other health sectors. So I think we have really 
learned to understand our role and ask our questions.
    It could be waivers. Historically, we have had a very 
uncomfortable relationship with HRSA. But I think moving 
forward, we are recognizing that our work benefits our 
community and that is what is our motivation. So really working 
with HRSA to understand how we can be better partners, and then 
seeing what we can change in terms of administrative language, 
what we can change, and figuring out how we can still 
accomplish our work.
    So I think we put the onus on us instead of putting it on 
them.
    The Chairman. Fair enough. I would just observe that we can 
play a role, too. To the extent that these barriers are really 
internal to the civil service, and I come from a family of 
civil servants, so I use the word bureaucrat admiringly, there 
are a lot of excellent people who work in agencies.
    So I don't want to just sort of rail on the bureaucracy. 
But when policy is made especially through statutory law, and 
it is already authorized, there is not the discretion to treat 
you like don't belong, just because they haven't figured out 
how the statute reads.
    So to the extent that you have to fit in and adapt and be 
patient and work with them, that is all fine. To the extent 
that they are violating or ignoring the statute, that is when 
you should inform us so that we can say, hey, we know this is 
different, there is not an FQHC, as it relates to DOI, you know 
they are not a tribe.
    There are all these conversations where we have to kind of 
walk folks through. I do this with my Senate colleagues, to 
have to explain. For example, the last mile of broadband is 
underwater. Trying to explain that to my colleagues from West 
Virginia and New Hampshire is a real challenge.
    But I don't doubt that just because I have explained it to 
another Senator, that implementation, that you are not still 
struggling with difficulties that really should have been 
handled 20 years ago. My question is, please ask us where we 
can be useful without being too domineering.
    Dr. Daniels. I think I think ARPA is a prime example where 
it was signed in March, we didn't get it then. We didn't get a 
notice of award. In fact, we had to apply for our ARPA dollars 
even though they were appropriated to come to us. We all had to 
apply. So some of those things were very challenging and 
delayed helping our community. So those we have taken and 
shared with both your personal office and the Senate Indian 
Affairs Committee as well.
    The Chairman. I have two more questions for you, Dr. 
Daniels. The first is about the way we are using 
subcontracting. The second is about tele-health. So in whatever 
order you want. How do you use the subcontracting, and then 
what is the future of tele-health?
    You may know that I have been the primary author of several 
pieces of legislation to enable tele-health primarily through 
Medicare reimbursement, but also in my capacity on the 
Committee for Military Construction [indiscernible]. But 
wherever I can, within health services, wherever I can, I find 
that being clear, even in the international space, that tele-
health absolutely is the future for equity, for high quality 
care, for reducing cost. Certain things can only be done in 
person. The universal things that can only be done in person 
continues to shrink.
    So I am wondering how you are thinking about that.
    Dr. Daniels. So let me go back to our partner and using 
that. Through the Act, we have the administrative capacity to 
subcontract. What we have been able to do is recognize that 
unfortunately or fortunately, our committee or our folks 
believe that we are tied to our systems. What it is is, we are 
the oversight for our systems. Our systems are one subsection 
of our act.
    So POL actually reaches out to the community-based 
organizations and we subcontract with them quite heavily. We 
look at our portfolio of about $2 million. A majority of that 
goes out through different partners, including ourmakamaka'ole, 
which is a small sponsorship to what I tend to call mom and pop 
organizations.
    It is like the auntie who is running her vegan 
[indiscernible] with the kids in the community. They are not 
going to be able to write a grant. But you know what, she needs 
to have some water, and they need some rakes and gloves. She is 
looking for $1,000. So we do those small, we do quite a bit of 
those smaller makamaka'oles.
    Then we also do larger grants where [indiscernible], they 
partner with [indiscernible] fund, they are [phrase in Native 
tongue] program. It is a culturally based program. It is not 
something one of our systems does, but we can reach deeper into 
our community and push our dollars out further, so that it is 
an enhancement of the Act, but it also supports a close 
relationship with our systems and community partners.
    So we have been doing that. I think ARPA is our biggest 
flagship that we are watching. Because it wasn't about giving 
money to 50 organizations. They had to meet criteria. They were 
already doing the work. Not only that, we wanted to see, and we 
had a range, they were across [indiscernible], small, large, 
but we wanted to see what they looked like in terms of 
capacity.
    So if we had a smaller organization and they needed help in 
building organization, learning how to do crafts, we had 
partners who already knew that, that they could work together, 
build a cohort. But also we could insert opportunities for 
learning for these CBOs.
    So it wasn't just about us, it was about these other 
partners that maybe people don't say fit into our wheelhouse. 
So we also started evaluating our program, because we wanted to 
see whether this $20 million would really give us in terms of 
celebrating communities, really uplifting CBOs, not just our 
systems.
    So our ARPA dollars are split into our tier ones, which is 
our systems, and our tier twos, which is our CBOs. We are able 
to look at the data in terms of what they are collecting, how 
they are collecting, all of those things. We are going to do a 
roll-up report. This is very new for us. Because we wanted to 
demonstrate that we have capacity to take in large numbers, 
large monies from the Federal Government.
    So ARPA really helped kind of invigorate what Hawaiian 
health could look like. Then we were able to secure money from 
HRSA. We were able to partner with national partners such as 
Morehouse [indiscernible] to get niche dollars. All of those 
big dollars were coming to us, not into the State. That is a 
change in that direction. We got it because we could 
demonstrate that it wasn't just the small, little 
[indiscernible] folks, that Hawaiians are larger than just what 
our systems see. So, yes.
    The Chairman. I will just observe that when I am fighting 
for Federal funds, looking at this panel, all three of you, the 
challenge when you are advocating for your home State's 
priorities is to articulate two things. One is that it fits 
into the national Federal box, that part is easy. The second is 
to make sure that I can look my colleagues in the eye and say, 
they will execute, they will execute responsibly.
    Because of your track record, and your growing track 
record, I think we are in a position to make the argument to, 
whether it is Patty Murray, who is the Chairman of the Health, 
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, or the Chair of the 
Appropriations Committee, that they know that my word is my 
bond but also that the organizations that we try to fund to 
excellent work, and they will not be embarrassed. So thank you 
for that.
    Just quickly on tele-health. What do you see in the future 
for tele-health?
    Dr. Daniels. I think it is expanding. I do think we saw 
systems not take full advantage early on in the pandemic. But I 
think people are playing catch-up. Some of the areas that we 
are still trying to navigate is when we look at prescriptions, 
being able to use docs that are not in State, because then we 
could use locums. So if they are not able to prescribe in 
State, what does that look like.
    So those are some areas. Another piece is the prescribing 
space. Also I think having folks recognize the growth of what 
tele-health could be and having the foresight to plan ahead in 
terms of equipment, so we are not saying, oh, a couple of years 
have gone buy, the equipment is not useful anymore. But really 
being thoughtful about how they do that. That is part of one of 
our partners, is finding the broadband mapping project, so we 
could understand more clearly how broadband affects Ka`u over 
in the south point of the Hawaii Island, how it affects up in 
Princeville, or [indiscernible] in Hawaii. In these rural 
areas, how do we help create success for them?
    So yes, I think it has potential. We just have to recognize 
some of those little bumps and address them ahead of time.
    The Chairman. A couple of closing thoughts on tele-health 
before I move on to Dr. Lee. First of all, we have a doctor 
[indiscernible] here in the University of Hawaii who has 
authored several pieces of legislation around tele-health. So 
we have some really good expertise locally. A lot of our 
original bills came from organizations based on Oahu. So there 
is room to learn from each other.
    Then just one final observation is that I worry a bit that 
although there is a need for high-speed internet connectivity 
for some tele-health, there is not a need for high-speed 
connectivity for all tele-health. A lot of the technology is 
pretty low-tech, even telephonic communication, store-it-
forward technology.
    My favorite example is that because I grew up here, because 
I am always checking for moles on my shoulders to see whether 
everything is cool or not, I have learned now that Kaiser will 
let me take a picture, send it to my PCP, they email it to 
Derm, and then everybody saves a ton of money and time.
    Those are the kinds of things that I think can precede the 
deployment of broadband. Broadband is spreading, and we should 
be working on this for health but also economic and cultural 
equity reasons. But in the meantime, there is a bunch of tele-
health we could be deploying as we go along.
    I want to linger on that disaggregation of the data effect. 
Because I struggle with it too. NDNQI is not a phrase that I 
even remember having heard before I got appointed to the United 
States Senate 10 years ago, because we don't lump everybody 
together. Now, I understand the political impetus because there 
is strength in numbers. So if you can form a coalition of Asian 
American and Pacific Islanders, that is more people, therefore 
there is more political clout.
    But in the context of the delivery of service, it makes no 
sense. I am wondering if you could just articulate exactly why 
you feel it is so important to disaggregate data. I remember my 
staff coming to me and saying, we need to disaggregate age 
data. I confess it took me maybe 18 months to figure out why it 
mattered. But now I get it, and I am interested in your 
articulating it for the record.
    Dr. Lee. Thank you for the question. I do think there is 
strength in numbers and collaborations are so important. So 
[indiscernible] consortiums it is [indiscernible] Asian 
American and others [indiscernible] this is crucial.
    When we are looking at data, it is so important to 
disaggregate the data. In my professional work, I work on 
pathways, so I work on helping medical students and pre-med 
students get into medical school. Right now, the American 
Association of Medical Colleges has not been disaggregating or 
reapplying student data. So we are clumped together with 
Pacific Islanders, at times with Native Americans. So you don't 
get a clear picture, a clear and accurate representation of 
where we really are.
    So we are trying to work toward increasing the number of 
Native Hawaiian students. We have no idea where we are on that, 
we don't have a guide. So it is really important that the data 
matters. I know that our panelists have talked about having 
capacity to have data.
    So I think part of our goal and our research is to get 
disaggregated data, to demand it. So the AANC has allowed us to 
get disaggregated data on our students. That is the first step.
    When it comes to Native Hawaiian health statistics, it is 
also very similar. If we don't understand how our people are 
being affected by diseases like hypertension, vascular health, 
we don't have a clear picture of what is really plaguing the 
health of our people.
    So it is really important in our community-based health 
[indiscernible] programs such as our hula study, we were able 
to do comparisons of Native Hawaiians with other ethnicities. 
There we got a better picture of the impact of these cultural 
dimensions along with modern medicine.
    So it is really [indiscernible], I think, of the strengths 
of people. We have had a very difficult history, but we have 
survived. Now we are in the [indiscernible]. So I think data is 
powerful and data is very important.
    The Chairman. One more data question. You said 4 and a half 
percent or so of medical students are Native Hawaiian?
    Dr. Lee. Of the physician workforce [indiscernible].
    [Simultaneous conversations.]
    The Chairman. In Hawaii, okay. Do you have similar data for 
nurses or nurse practitioners, or do we not know that?
    Dr. Lee. I believe there is data on nurses as well as 
allied health. I could provide that information to you. 
[indiscernible] that information.
    The Chairman. I assume they are correlated maybe slightly 
better on your side.
    Dr. Lee. Yes. There is some great work being done at the 
University of Hawaii School of Nursing. They have seen a boost 
in their Native programs [indiscernible] nurses. We have seen, 
it is a small move of the needle, but previously we had a 3 
percent prevalence of Native Hawaiians, and now we are up to 
4.5 percent. So it is slow-moving, but we are seeing that 
increase.
    The Chairman. I assume that it is everything, right? It is 
educational attainment, it is money, it is pathways, it is 
mentorship?
    Dr. Lee. Yes.
    The Chairman. But if I had to guess, it is money?
    Dr. Lee. That is the biggest one. So in our testimony, we 
really outlined what keeps Native Hawaiian students 
[indiscernible] higher education. It is really, 15 percent of 
our Native Hawaiian students under the age of 18 are in extreme 
poverty. When you are in a situation where you are just trying 
to make ends meet, your parents are working multiple jobs, the 
thought of college is so far beyond.
    So for us, our hope is to get out to the communities, 
supply the families with information and to work on building 
financial plans for this family to ensure that the student can 
go on to college.
    The Chairman. Thank you very much.
    Ms. Farden, the Department of Education has, in my view, 
failed to recognize the special legal relationship between the 
Native Hawaiian community and the United States. Can you just, 
without getting yourself in trouble, articulate some of the 
difficulties you have experienced with NHEC as a result of this 
failure?
    Ms. Farden. I think the relationship just seems to have 
[indiscernible] the way that we interact with the Department of 
Education. We want to be best friends, we are just not sure 
where we land. We are also treated in a way that even though 
there is a certain amount of lands that are allotted to the 
Native Hawaiian Education Council, each appropriation 
[indiscernible] the statutory mandates [indiscernible] 
technical assistance, for daily activities, and other research 
[indiscernible] the Department of Education views the Council 
as a grantee rather than a full partner or a full researcher.
    The Chairman. I am sorry to interrupt, but what does the 
law say on that question? Do they get to view you as a grantee 
if you are not? Are you a grantee at the technical level?
    Ms. Farden. I am going to say that we are in the system to 
get funds that way. But it doesn't say whether we are a grantee 
or not. The origins of the Native Hawaiian Board of Education 
comes from King [indiscernible], was it 1904 [indiscernible] 
for the Native Hawaiian Education Act, it was a movement from 
the grassroots themselves.
    But where two or three grantees come together 
[indiscernible] many of them working in the education spectrum 
but not knowing who is working in that same sort of arena, as 
was mentioned on the first panel, sometimes just a coordination 
that needs to happen.
    So the grantees asked for some sort of coordinating entity, 
a leader entity that can help us [indiscernible] support for 
the grantees themselves. These [indiscernible] before then but 
also support the Department of Education.
    So we see the department being very well situated to 
monitor short-term and medium-term outcomes in the program, 
based on that cycle. But we see the Council better positioned 
for long-term outcomes, what happens after the grants come, 
what are the impacts on the community.
    So we see our services and our as very complementary, and 
also very much a part of the community. We have skin in the 
game, everybody plays. We are hoping that the Department of 
Education would also be open to playing with us, too.
    The Chairman. Thank you very much. You are all much more 
diplomatic than I am.
    Let's do this just as a follow-up item for all three of 
you. We have a tendency to, and it is a reasonable way to 
operate, to openly ask for my intervention if things get in 
extremis, and if it gets quite bad for you to get on the phone 
or write that, as we say in Washington, a sternly worded 
letter. But I think there may be some value in kind of trying 
to get in front of some of these questions.
    The Biden Administration has a mindset of being more open. 
Now, the execution on that often can't just be that the Oval 
Office is committed, because individuals burrow into various 
agencies that you work with every day. They may not be super-
thrilled to have a Senator intervening on small things.
    So you make your judgments about when you want me to be 
engaged. But I would just offer that I am willing to be engaged 
on the front end and maybe we can avoid some of these 
difficulties and clear some of the underbrush. I ran a non-
profit, and I remember by small favors, it is not the big 
things that you need. You have these big grants, sometimes you 
need to unstick something, or have someone to remind an agency 
head or a line analyst that oh, no, the statute permits this, 
and this is what the health chair wants, and all the rest of 
it.
    Allow us to try to get in front of it to the extent that it 
is appropriate. I also understand that you need to maintain 
your working relationships line to line and not feel like every 
time you don't get what you want you are going to come running 
to me, because that will create new difficulties for you. So 
let's try and figure out how we can get a little bit in front 
of this.
    The most recent elementary and secondary education 
reauthorization changed the composition of the Native Hawaiian 
Education Council. How is that working? Is it going well? Tell 
me about that.
    Ms. Farden. It is progressing. There is always room for 
improvement. I think since the last reauthorization in 2015, it 
took maybe three or four years to get everyone on board. So of 
the 15-member council, we have 11 seats filled, there are some 
vacancies. I think what might help in moving forward better is 
understanding how we recruit our Council members with the 
[indiscernible] that they already have. So research and 
innovation on language and cultural education are 
[indiscernible] in the research the Council does. It may not be 
the [indiscernible] that everyone sitting on the Council has to 
do.
    The Chairman. I don't understand what that means.
    Ms. Farden. Sure. So [indiscernible] played on someone's 
passion and [indiscernible] liberty what they [indiscernible] 
to already. Oftentimes there is a long onboarding process for 
our Council to get up to speed on what the work is, why it is 
important, how it impacts. Then to get [indiscernible] the 
actual work that we do in the community. Not only 
[indiscernible] but the research background, Native Hawaiian 
education background or policy background. But as long as we 
have someone who is willing to work with us.
    In addition to that, I might want to also share that with 
the appointees to the Council as each election cycle 
[indiscernible] out it is a new opportunity for us to have to 
reach back out to these organizations that are State 
institutions to name an appointee to the Council. So it is a 
continual cycle of onboarding-offboarding.
    The Chairman. I am embarrassed, this is probably a terrible 
way to end a hearing, to say I don't know something. But I am 
embarrassed to say I don't know how the Council members get 
appointed. Are they gubernatorial appointments? How does this 
work?
    Ms. Farden. The Council is named within the law, so it will 
identify educational institutions that are named in the law. So 
each system, the Governor might name an OHA chair, the KS CEO, 
for example, these are all named, as well as all of the county 
[indiscernible] offices are being [indiscernible].
    The Chairman. I see. So then each Oahu or Maui County 
mayor, there is a new mayor, there is a new member. So part of 
the process is to make sure you don't get someone who is just 
close to the mayor and knows nothing about this, or whatever it 
be. They may be close to a mayor, but you want them to provide 
oversight and stability and guidance.
    I really want to thank you for the work you do. We have had 
a bunch of hearings, this is my favorite, not just because I 
get to come home. But you do extraordinary work, and you make 
us all incredibly proud. So I want to thank all of you. I want 
to thank everybody for being here. I want to thank my staff.
    The hearing record remains open for a couple of weeks, and 
we may submit additional questions for the record. The other 
members of the Committee on Indian Affairs may do so as well.
    Thank you very much. This hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at approximately 12:25 p.m. HST, the hearing 
was adjourned.]


                      UPHOLDING THE FEDERAL TRUST 
 RESPONSIBILITY: FUNDING AND PROGRAM ACCESS FOR INNOVATION FOR NATIVE 
                           HAWAIIANS--PART 2

                              ----------                              


                         THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2022


                                       U.S. Senate,
                               Committee on Indian Affairs,
                                                          Hilo, HI.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m. HST in 
the Lumi Pahiahia Auditorium of Hale'olelo, College of Hawaiian 
Language, University of Hawaii Hilo, Hon. Brian Schatz, 
Chairman of the Committee, presiding. *
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    * Due to poor audio reception; there are several indiscernible text 
throughout this hearing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

            OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN SCHATZ, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII

    The Chairman. Good morning, aloha.
    This hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will 
come to order. Aloha, good morning, welcome, everybody.
    I really want to thank the University of Hawaii and the 
Hilo community for an incredible welcome, a very meaningful 
protocol in bringing us into this space. I want to thank you 
for your hospitality, I want to thank you for the work that you 
are doing. It is extraordinary that we are doing what we are 
doing in this beautiful space, which I am embarrassed to admit 
I had never been in. Thanks for everybody's hard work in 
putting this beautiful room together, including my dear friend, 
Dwight Takamine, who I am sure had no small role in putting 
this together.
    Hilo is a place where rich tradition and cutting-edge 
innovation meet. I am interested in learning from the panelists 
about how you use those resources to serve the Native Hawaiian 
community.
    The Federal Government has a trust responsibility to act in 
the interests of Native Hawaiians, just like it does with 
American Indians and Alaska Natives. That trust responsibility 
cannot be fulfilled if the Federal Government is not hearing 
directly from community leaders like you.
    I always like to say, nothing about me without me. That 
rings especially true here. Native Hawaiian voices should 
always be part of the broader Federal conversation about how 
best to support Native communities. That is why we brought this 
community to Hilo, to hear directly from you about the 
innovative ways you are advancing Native Hawaiian education, 
tradition, and culture, economic development, and the arts. We 
want to hear about your successes, your challenges, and your 
recommendations for supporting a thriving Native Hawaiian 
community.
    I will just let you know that normally, my opening remarks 
are around five minutes. But consistent with my goal here, 
which is to have a little bit more of an informal conversation 
and for us to develop essentially an action list for us to work 
on together over the next several months and years, I am going 
to forego my long statement and just extend a warm welcome and 
aloha to our witnesses.
    I will introduce our first panel. First, we have Namaka 
Rawlins, the Senior Director at Hale Kipa `Oiwi at `Aha Punana 
Leo. We have Ms. Kahealani Nae`ole-Wong, Head of School at 
Kamehameha Schools, Kea'au Campus. Dr. Keiki Kawai'ae'a, the 
Director of the College of Hawaiian Language at the University 
of Hawaii at Hilo. And Ms. Amy Kalili, a partner at Pilina 
First LLP.
    I want to remind our witnesses that we have your full 
written testimony. It will be made part of the official record.
    I normally say please keep your statement to no more than 
five minutes, but take whatever time you want. Ms. Rawlins, 
please proceed with your testimony.

STATEMENT OF NAMAKA RAWLINS, ALAKA'I, DIRECTOR, HALE KIPA `OIWI

    Ms. Rawlins. [Greeting in Native tongue.] Aloha, Senator 
Schatz. Warm greetings to you and to those who have traveled 
with you to be with us here in Hilo. My name is Namaka Rawlins. 
I was born and raised in the [phrase in Native tongue] Hawaiian 
Home Lands and continue to reside in [phrase in Native tongue] 
agricultural farm lands.
    I have my grandchildren, my moopuna, my grandchildren, my 
grandnieces and nephews, are students in the Hawaiian Medium 
Education program that we have here in Hilo. I want to first 
acknowledge too that it is a privilege to be here, to be with 
you, to educate and come up with some or the solutions that we 
have been doing here in Hilo, and to be sitting here with this 
panel of esteemed colleagues and friends. Even your second 
panel that you are going to be listening to, my dear friend 
Luana and some of those others that will be testifying. I think 
you put together some great community members to be speaking 
with you today.
    Senator Schatz, I remember when you first visited us soon 
after you entered Congress. You were welcomed by our entire 
student body at our Kea`au campus, our Punana Leo Hilo, our 
infant-toddler and our pre-school language nest, as well as our 
K-12 students at Ke Kula `o Nawahiokalani`opu`u, we often call 
Nawahi.
    We thank you also for sending, shortly after that, sending 
staff to come back and follow up with us, and then with the 
years, continue to be involved. Again, thank you for inviting 
me to this hearing on Upholding the Federal Trust 
Responsibility, and to provide these innovations and access to 
innovations. I gave you my testimony, so I am going to stick to 
my script, so that I don't go off too much.
    My first point is that `Olelo Hawai`i, our Hawaiian 
language, is the innovation. That is what we have seen over the 
last 40 years, is that this is the innovation for our people 
and for our families. The legislation that this Committee 
passed and that become law, the Native American Languages Act 
of 1990, is the historic moment in which the United States 
government reversed its practice of discrimination against the 
use and promotion of the first peoples of this United States of 
America's languages, to include its use in education.
    In 1990, we were there to ensure our Hawaiian medium and 
immersion Schools which were already operating under the 
State's two official languages would be protected in Federal 
law. We were joined by other Native Americans and Alaska 
Natives in getting this law passed.
    E Hawaii lahui, e hoolilo i hana na kakou pakahi, ka imi 
ana aku i na hana e hoomau ia aku ai ka kakou olelo lahui, 
which translates to, ``Hawaiian people, let each of us take up 
ways and searching ways to preserve our national language.'' 
This comes from an article published 100 years ago on April 
10th, 1912, in the Hawaiian newspaper, Hawaii Holumua. There 
are hundreds of newspaper articles with similar views that 
encourage the readership to preserve the Hawaiian language.
    This year, the United Nations begins the International 
Decade of Indigenous Languages. The global initiative seeks to 
highlight the important contributions of indigenous languages 
to the cultural diversity of peoples and knowledge systems tied 
to these languages. The Hawaiian medium innovation has a global 
reach.
    I hope that your Committee on Indian Affairs, which has 
been so important to our overall effort to this point, will be 
able to help us address the maintenance and development issues 
for future generations. The three issues to be addressed are, 
one, relative to P-12 Native Hawaiian education as a whole 
regardless of the language in which it is delivered lacks 
regular Federal funding similar to other Native American 
educational programs. Addressing those needs can be seen as 
part of the overall Federal trust responsibility to Native 
Hawaiians.
    Two, specific to Hawaiian language medium education, which 
is part of the larger national Native American language schools 
and programs is direct regular funding to address the specific 
and distinct language medium educational needs. Addressing the 
needs can be seen as mitigating the effects of past Federal 
policies and practices controlling the education of Native 
Americans, including Native Hawaiians, in boarding schools and 
day schools.
    And three, disseminate information on best practice in 
assessing Native American language medium education programs 
and its students. The NALA should be followed and guide the 
Federal Government in implementing education law. Furthermore, 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title III, Sections 
3124 and 3127 do provide legal flexibility but is never used to 
support the schools and programs using Native American 
languages in education.
    I want to mention there is currently a national study of 
programs in Native American language medium education being led 
by internationally recognized expert in indigenous education, 
Dr. Teresa McCarty, of the University of California at Los 
Angeles, and including Native American professors Dr. Tiffany 
Lee, a Navajo of the University of New Mexico, and Dr. Sheila 
Nichols, a Hopi of the University of Alaska. Nawahi is one of 
the research sites along with a representative sample of sites 
who are part of the National Coalition of Native American 
Language Schools and Programs. My understanding is that the 
preliminary results are quite positive. We are hopeful that 
this well designed and carefully implemented study will provide 
data useful to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and to 
other Federal and State and territorial governments.
    [Phrase in Native tongue], mahalo nui loa, [phrase in 
Native tongue], thank you again for allowing me to provide 
testimony this morning. Mahalo.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Rawlins follows:]

    Prepared Statement of Namaka Rawlins, Director, Hale Kipa `Oiwi
    Aloha e Chairman Schatz, Vice Chairwoman Murkowski and members of 
the Committee on Indian Affairs,
    My name is Namaka Rawlins. I am the director at the `Aha Punana Leo 
Hale Kipa `Oiwi program.
    Senator Schatz, I remember your first visit with us soon after you 
entered congress. You were welcomed by the entire student body, staff 
and faculty at our demonstration site in Kea`au, Puna. You were able to 
get a glimpse of our work in Hawaiian language medium from the pre 
kindergarten Punana Leo to grade 12 Ke Kula `o Nawahiokalani`opu`u 
(Nawahi). Mahalo nui again for visiting with us, for sending your staff 
to follow up within months of your initial visit, for your tireless 
work over your years in the U.S. Senate to support our vision and for 
holding this hearing in Hilo and for inviting me to provide testimony 
on ``Upholding the Federal Trust Responsibility: Funding & Program 
Access for Innovation in the Native Hawaiian Community.''
    The legislation that this committee passed and become law, the 
Native American Languages Act of 1990 (NALA) is the historic moment in 
which the United States government reversed its practice of 
discrimination against the use and promotion of the first peoples of 
this United States of America's languages, to include its use in 
education. I believe the following thought provoking quote from the 
wonderful first woman Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller 
sums up my views on the federal trust responsibility as it relates to 
education. Wilma Mankiller said ``I don`t think anybody anywhere can 
talk about the future of their people or of an organization without 
talking about education. Whoever controls the education of our children 
controls our future.''
Background History
    E Hawaii lahui, e hoolilo i hana na kakou pakahi, ka imi ana aku i 
na hana e hoomau ia aku ai ka kakou olelo lahui which translates to 
Hawaiian People, let each of us take up searching for ways to preserve 
our national language. This comes from an article published 100 years 
ago on April 10, 1912 in the Hawaiian newspaper Hawaii Holomua. There 
are hundreds of newspaper articles with similar views that encouraged 
the readership to preserve the Hawaiian language.
    Only three years after the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, the 
new imposed government in 1896, enacted a law that officially declared 
and only recognized that the English language ``shall be'' the medium 
and basis of instruction in all public and private schools. We know 
that our language was in serious trouble and by the time the 1912 
article was published we know that our kupuna were traumatized and 
physically suffered for speaking Hawaiian. This is documented in the 
May, 2022 Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative 
Report. https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/inline-files/
bsi_investigative_report_may_2022_508.pdf
    In 1983, ninety years after the overthrow, dedicated to the 
revitalization of the Hawaiian language, the `Aha Punana Leo (`APL), a 
501(c)(3) tax exempt organization was established. By this time even 
though our state constitution in 1978 declared Hawaiian and English 
official languages, the remaining speaker count dwindled and included 
less than 50 children below the age of 18, elderly kupuna most being 70 
years and older from rural districts and the small population from the 
island of Ni`ihau. The ban on Hawaiian was in effect through the 
territorial period and continued into statehood. Our Hawaiian language 
newspapers discontinued as our native speaking population dwindled. The 
`APL's vision is E Ola Ka `Olelo Hawai`i, the Hawaiian language shall 
live sought to reverse language loss and to return our language to our 
homes. We established Punana Leo or language nests as full day 
exclusive use of Hawaiian at the optimal time of child development and 
language acquisition. The keiki became fluent speakers within 3-4 
months. In 1986 we were successful in removing the barrier and changing 
the law to recognize Hawaiian language use in public schools, reversing 
the ban established during the Republic of Hawaii. We then took our 
Punana Leo model of full use of Hawaiian into public schools starting 
at two sites on Hawai`i and O`ahu. Our `APL grassroots movement will be 
celebrating its 40th anniversary next year. Our Punana Leo or language 
nests are the longest standing indigenous language medium early 
learning program in the United States. The `Aha Punana Leo is 
recognized nationally and internationally for Native language 
revitalization in indigenous education and care. Together with our 
consortium partners we deliver a successful model of preschool through 
adult Hawaiian language programming. The Hawaiian Language College 
partner offers a full array of degrees in Hawaiian language and culture 
from the B.A through doctoral program. The college also provides for 
designing and accommodating a professional development program for 
Punana Leo instructional staff that responds to our curricular and 
instructional priorities. The `APL statewide preschool system is a 
laboratory program of the college. Ke Kula o Nawahiokalani`opu`u 
(Nawahi) is our public charter k-8 and public DOE grades 9-12 partner, 
also a laboratory program and teacher training site of the college. The 
Nawahi high school component is a program within Hilo High School in 
the Hilo-Waiakea Complex Area. Together with our partners we share the 
same educational philosophy, Ke Kumu Honua Mauli Ola. Our aligned 
preschool curriculum and kindergarten literacy goals ensure school 
readiness of Punana Leo preschool graduates. We are committed to 
ensuring high literacy rates for all students. In addition, the `APL 
administers 13 infant, toddler and preschool programs across the state. 
The sites are located on Hawai`i, Maui, Moloka`i, O`ahu and Kaua`i. Our 
infant toddler program is temporarily closed due to the pandemic and 
need to reshuffle for adequate staff ratio and room to accommodate 
licensing guidelines. We look forward to starting the Hi`i Pepe infant/
toddler program again when appropriate.
Amplify Our Voice
    The Native Hawaiian community has unique linguistic needs to learn, 
perpetuate, and speak `olelo Hawai`i. Our language is a lens through 
which our people understand our identity, culture and history that ties 
us to our ancestors and carries us forward to future generations. We 
recognize access to our language and culture as a basic human right for 
our people. Our language is the innovation and strategy for improved 
outcomes in academics, social and physical well-being for our keiki.
    Since 1978, Hawai`i was the only state with two official languages 
until 2014 when Alaska declared all 20 Alaska Native languages as 
official. And, in 2019, South Dakota declared its Indigenous Lakota-
Dakota-Nakota language group official.
    Punana Leo preschoolers have graduated from public Hawaiian medium 
charter and DOE immersion schools, public and private English medium 
schools. The data that I share is from the laboratory school partner 
Nawahi as students are followed from our infant/toddler program through 
grade 12. Nawahi includes two satellite site campuses in Waimea on 
Hawai`i and Wai`anae on O`ahu. Those programs, Alo Kehau I Ka `Aina 
Mauna and Ma`ilikukahi were initiated by the community as parents 
wanted for their Punana Leo keiki to have a continuation of the 
Hawaiian medium language pathway. A milestone for us this year, in 
2022, includes the first three pepe/babies from the infant/toddler Hi`i 
Pepe program. The three are also the hiapo or first born in their 
families. Younger siblings attend Nawahi and their families represent 
the growing number of families across the state that want support for 
the Hawaiian medium pathway.
Native Hawaiian Language Medium Education Success and Challenges
    My testimony is focused on preschool to grade 12 Native Hawaiian 
language and culture education with a particular focus on Hawaiian 
language medium education (HME). I will connect HME to the larger 
national movement of Native American language medium education among 
American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native American Pacific 
Islanders. My familiarity with Native American language medium 
education is based on hosting numerous fellow Native Americans from the 
continental US states and territories in their visits to learn about 
our work in HME. Through those relationships I was encouraged and was 
elected to serve on the Board of the National Indian Education 
Association and continue to serve on its adhoc advocacy committee. I 
was also called to serve on an international indigenous peoples led 
NGO, Pawanka Fund that supports indigenous peoples throughout the seven 
United Nation regions of the world to maintain vital cultural 
traditions. Specific to Native American language medium education, I am 
the Vice President of the National Coalition of Native American 
Language Schools and Programs. The Coalition was founded as the result 
of a gathering of Native American language medium schools held here in 
Hilo in 2014.
    Native Hawaiian Language Medium Education has been a huge success--
indeed, I would venture to say that it is the most successful 
educational effort for Native American children aged 0 to 18 in the 
United States.
    Our hope is that your Committee on Indian Affairs, which has been 
so important to our overall effort to this point, will be able to help 
us address the maintenance and development issues for future 
generations. Listed below are challenges to overcome:

        1. Relative to P-12 Native Hawaiian education as a whole 
        regardless of the language in which it is delivered lacks 
        regular federal funding similar to other Native American 
        educational programs. Addressing those needs can be seen as 
        part of the overall federal trust responsibility to Native 
        Hawaiians.

        2. Specific to Hawaiian language medium education, which is 
        part of a larger national constellation of Native American 
        language medium education is direct regular funding to address 
        the specific and distinct language medium educational needs. 
        Addressing those language specific needs can be seen as joining 
        with the Native American language medium education 
        practitioners in mitigating the effects of past federal 
        policies and practices controlling the education of Native 
        Americans including Native Hawaiians in boarding schools and 
        day schools.

        3. Disseminate information on best practice in assessing Native 
        American language medium education programs and its students. 
        The NALA should be followed and guide the US Department of 
        Education in implementing education law. Guidance to states and 
        BIE on their education plans that promote best practices as 
        provided by law expressed in Section 105 of NALA. Furthermore 
        discriminatory assessments ignore specific legal terminology in 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in Sections 3124(3) 
        and 3127 that provide for assessments through Native American 
        languages.

    The above challenges have had a major impact on the implementation 
and spread of Native American language medium education in the U.S. as 
a whole and also here in Hawai`i. Fortunately, here in Hilo, we have 
been able to make major progress through a combination of perseverance, 
strong leadership, and state legislative support for distinctive 
structures outside the standard P-12 system. We have been able to 
produce the following four highly noteworthy outcomes:

        1. Hawaiian language medium education has produced very high 
        academic outcomes, that is high school graduation and college 
        going rates, for students who because of their ethnicity, 
        economic circumstances and language background have been 
        identified in state data and studies to have very low academic 
        outcomes.

        2. Hawaiian language medium has produced very high social 
        engagement outcomes, that is high participation in the larger 
        Hawai`i state community in a wide variety of areas that 
        positively impact on the overall wellbeing of our state.

        3. Hawaiian language medium education has produced a noticeable 
        level of interaction with the larger global community of 
        nations as model representatives not only of Hawai`i but of the 
        United States as a whole.

        4. And, Hawaiian language medium--which began as a movement to 
        revitalize the Native Hawaiian language is succeeding in that 
        language revitalization goal. It is thus reversing the negative 
        impact of past ill advised federal policies and practices that 
        led to near extinction of the Hawaiian language and the many 
        aspects of Hawaiian culture that depend on the language for 
        their full survival.

    Similar outcomes are being realized in other programs in Hawai`i 
and in Native America, especially when following the Indigenous 
language and culture-based education model.
    OUTCOME #1 ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
    The first of the four outcomes that distinguish the Hawaiian 
language medium program at Nawahi is academic excellence. That academic 
excellence is reflected in the major goals sought by the federal 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act--high school graduation and 
preparation to enter college or the workforce.
    Since the first graduating class in 1999, Nawahi has recorded a 100 
percent high school graduation rate and consistently exceeded the 
college going rate of the state public schools average for all ethnic 
groups. These accomplishments have been for students who come largely 
from Native Hawaiian ethnicity, lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and 
from homes and an educational environment that leads them to be 
characterized by the federal government as educationally at risk 
``English Learners''. For instance, in 2020, the rate of college 
entrance for Native Hawaiians statewide was 35 percent according to the 
Hawai`i Data Exchange. Nawahi graduates college entrance was 69 percent 
in 2020. Since the first graduating class, Nawahi graduates have 
college entrance rates between 70%--80 percent. In 2020, the state 
graduation rate was 86 percent the highest ever recorded in the state. 
Nawahi graduation rate has consistently been 100 percent.
    By high school, Nawahi students have developed strong study habits 
and the ``lawena'' or Native Hawaiian values-aligned behavior that 
enhances their ability to perform academically in the school's college 
preparatory high school curriculum.
    The Nawahiokalani`opu`u college preparatory program is inclusive of 
students with individualized educational plans. It provides an 
opportunity for early college that is accessed by the majority of its 
high school students. A majority of Nawahiokalani`opu`u students 
graduate with over 24 college credits as well as an undergraduate 
certificate in Multidisciplinary Hawaiian Studies. Their college 
coursework provides a means for them to fulfill such common general 
education requirements as World History and Statistics. Those credits 
provide the means for eliminating a year off the standard four years 
for graduating with a baccalaureate degree in Hawai`i and out-of-state 
universities. Besides our own University of Hawai`i system, among the 
universities that have enrolled Nawahiokalani`opu`u students are 
Stanford, Northern Arizona University, Dartmouth and Loyola Marymount.
    OUTCOME #2 POSITIVE SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LARGER COMMUNITY
    The second outcome--high social engagement in contemporary Hawai`i 
and the United States. The Native Hawaiian cultural perspective that 
permeates schooling at Nawahi encourages students to learn outside the 
school first from family members and then from the broader community 
and world. That philosophy and the social interaction that it promotes 
has resulted in strong integration with the rest of Hawai`i and the 
world, in spite of limited financial means.
    Here are a few examples. Nawahi graduates work in medicine, the 
media, private business, conservation, government service, technology 
and various levels of education. While in high school they participate 
with Hilo High School's English medium students in extracurricular 
activities. They are especially well represented in athletics and have 
represented Hilo High School as team captains and Big Island 
Educational Federation players of the year in a number of sports.
    On a national level a Nawahi graduate has won three Grammy Awards 
in the Regional Roots category. Two Nawahi elementary students have won 
national titles in pageants. One for Little Miss Tourism and the other 
for Miss America Elementary Sixth Grade.
    OUTCOME #3 INTERACTION WITH THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
    Our model of multilingual multidialectal Hawaiian language medium 
education at Nawahi produces proficiency in Hawaiian Standard English 
and Hawai`i Creole English, but it also teaches foreign languages and 
cultures to direct student attention to the larger world of which we 
are a part. Not only is the contemporary world shrinking and becoming 
more connected. Contemporary Hawai`i and the families of the Native 
Hawaiian children enrolled are the product of generations of 
extraordinary interaction by Native Hawaiians for generations.
    Before students are taught their first course in Standard English 
in grade 5, we begin teaching what we call ``heritage languages'' that 
connect Nawahi students to their non-Native Hawaiian ancestors and 
neighbors. Oral and written Japanese is taught from grades 1 through 6. 
One of our Nawahi graduates spent three months of her junior year in a 
high school on a small island in Japan where there was only one 
proficient speaker of English. She is now in her junior year at 
Dartmouth. We hope to be able to afford to send more students to attend 
schools in Japan and elsewhere in the world.
    Until we lost our Chinese teacher as a result of turmoil in Hong 
Kong, in middle school all children were studying Chinese as a heritage 
language building from the Japanese program in the lower grades. The 
focus of our school on Japanese and Chinese is because those two ethnic 
groups are the major plantation immigrant populations that have 
contributed to the Native Hawaiian community.
    We have also experimented successfully in honoring the Portuguese, 
Puerto Rican and Hispanicized Filipino heritages of students and the 
broader Hawai`i community through teaching Latin in grades 1 through 
four. We have also found Latin to be an especially useful bridge to 
English and understanding the larger Western European heritage of 
Hawai`i. In all our heritage language programs, and as with all course 
work at Nawahi the classroom language is Hawaiian with the other 
language used for specific written products and oral recitation.
    Any Hawaiian speaking child already has had considerable experience 
with those who speak languages other than Hawaiian by the time they 
enter kindergarten. Certainly they have heard Hawai`i Creole English 
and Standard English and have seen written English, if they are not 
already fairly proficient orally in those languages. Hawaiian speaking 
students are therefore open to languages. Furthermore the Hawaiian 
cultural perspective used at Nawahiokalani`opu`u emphasizes honoring 
ancestors--one's own ancestors and those of others.
    Research into multilingual children shows that if you speak two 
languages, it is easier to learn a third and a fourth. This is 
certainly the case for Nawahi students. Among graduates of Nawahi is a 
student who went on to graduate from college in three years with a B.A. 
in French and Spanish and then continued on to graduate school in 
education. Another graduate worked for a magazine in Italy. Graduates 
have also participated in the Peace Corp where they have been 
recognized for their ability to learn what are considered difficult 
exotic languages such as Kazakh and Malagasy.
    OUTCOME #4 HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION SUCCESS
    Finally, Native Hawaiian language revitalization, the initial 
motivation for this movement. I'd like to share some news highly 
important for the continuity of distinct Native peoples. Four decades 
ago when our work began there were no children speakers or whose first 
language was Hawaiian on this island. Today, according to the U,S. 
Census Bureau, Hawaiian is the largest non-English language spoken 
among children in homes on this island. It can also be heard 
increasingly on the streets and in stores as parents use the language 
with children in public places. Hawaiian is again becoming the normal 
first language of an important portion of the Native Hawaiian 
population.
    Most of today's parents who are raising their children as Hawaiian 
speakers in the home are second language speakers of Hawaiian who 
mastered Hawaiian to a high level of proficiency through intensive 
college courses or through being educated in a Hawaiian medium school 
themselves.
    Today's Hawaiian speaking parents face a huge challenge in 
maintaining Hawaiian among their children. As happened among the last 
remnants of ``home'' Hawaiian speaking children in the 1930s and early 
1940s, today's children raised as Hawaiian speakers tend to refuse to 
speak Hawaiian to their parents if they leave HME and become enrolled 
in an English medium school. There is the desire to be like the other 
monolingual English children and to fit in.
    Hawaiian language medium schooling provides a place where all 
children speak Hawaiian. It therefore serves a protective function for 
families that are trying to maintain Hawaiian in the home. Hawaiian 
language medium education also provides a pathway for other parents to 
give their children the gift of the Hawaiian language, a gift lost in 
earlier generations of their families through the actions of the 
government. Those children can bring Hawaiian back into the home and 
help parents learn the language as well.
    I want to emphasize that in normalizing Hawaiian, our movement is 
not abandoning Standard English. Furthermore we are not abandoning 
Pidgin, that is Hawai`i Creole English, an important lingua franca of 
interethnic interaction that draws together all segments of our highly 
diverse state.
    We assure through our course work and overall program that products 
of Hawaiian language medium education have proficiency in Hawaiian, 
Standard English and Hawai`i Creole English. Ours is a multilingual and 
multidialectal model of education that is based in primary identity 
with Native Hawaiian culture as expressed in the Native Hawaiian 
language. Students graduate from high school with the ability to use 
the Hawaiian, Standard English and Hawai`i Creole languages in any 
aspect of life in contemporary Hawai`i. Reflecting, however, our base 
in Hawaiian, all class discussions, all school operations and all 
school administration in our demonstration laboratory P-12 site 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u is through the endangered Hawaiian language.
    In teaching standard English at Nawahi, we follow a European model 
that assumes increased access to actual use of Standard English through 
globalized use of English in the media, Internet, travel, and business. 
We begin our eight year program of Standard English study in grade 5. 
By middle school students are using English medium on-line and printed 
resources to write papers and prepare their oral presentations in both 
Hawaiian and English. This process continues through high school. We 
find that insisting on a base identity in Hawaiian and an approach to 
English as a tool to interact with the larger world actually improves 
student attitudes toward mastering Standard English. Those attitudes 
are a key factor in our success in teaching students Standard English. 
Indeed, our English courses focus on English literature and culture as 
used outside Hawai`i in the rest of the United States. Hawaiian 
literature and cultural material is taught through Hawaiian, especially 
in our P-12 Hawaiian language arts stream.
    Nawahi also provides students the opportunity to formally study the 
structure and vocabulary of Hawai`i Creole English. This is done in 
high school through dual enrollment in linguistics-based college 
courses at the Hawaiian language college. Those courses were developed 
with federal funding and include a two semester contrastive study of 
the features of Hawaiian relative to those of Standard English and 
Hawai`i Creole English. These courses draw student attention to 
features of Hawaiian are found in Hawai`i Creole English and how 
Hawai`i Creole English has served to preserve Hawaiian cultural 
elements during the many generations under which Hawaiian itself had 
been suppressed.
    This contrastive study of the three languages helps students 
strengthen their Standard English and their Hawaiian and it raises 
their pride in the Hawaiian derived features of Pidgin that has brought 
Hawai`i's multiethnic peoples together as one community. The 
demonstrated use by Nawahiokalani`opu`u teachers of Hawaiian, Standard 
English and Pidgin with different adults visiting the campus as well as 
off campus models the linguistic future sought by our movement.
    Our multilingual and multidialectal Hawaiian language medium 
education model aligns to those of small distinctive European and East 
Asian communities with high performing multilingual populations: 
Examples are Finland, Singapore and the Frisian area of the 
Netherlands.
    NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE MEDIUM EDUCATION RELATIVE TO DUAL LANGUAGE 
IMMERSION EDUCATION.
    The ability to interact well with other cultures is touted as a 
benefit of ``dual language immersion'' and ``foreign language immersion 
education''. I want to point out the difference between the terms 
``dual language education/immersion'' and ``Native American language 
medium education'', before continuing to other positive outcomes of 
``Native American language medium education''.
    ``Dual language/immersion education'' as becoming increasingly 
common in the United States has many similarities to ``Native American 
language medium education'', however, there are important differences. 
The most obvious similarity is the use of a non-English language to 
teach academic content. There are also similarities in the effect of 
such education on the brain. Proficiency in two languages has a 
positive effect on the brain. It also produces positive attitudes 
toward linguistic and cultural diversity.
    The differences are not insignificant, however. First of all the 
key purpose of Native American language medium education is to 
revitalize an endangered language. That goal is focused on a benefit to 
an entire people whose distinctive political identity is tied to that 
Native American language. Mainstream American Dual language/immersion 
education is focused on foreign and immigrant languages. The goal is 
primarily to benefit individual students rather than serve as a means 
to maintain a nationally identified political group. Foreign languages 
have homelands where they hold distinct political status outside the 
United States. Those foreign countries are responsible for the survival 
and growth of the non-English languages used in those programs. Native 
American language survival is the responsibility of the United States 
working together with Native American peoples.
    Because of the difference in goals relative to the survival of the 
non-English languages, Native American language medium programs use 
much more of the non-English language than dual language/immersion 
programs. By federal law, Native American language medium education 
must be conducted in the Native American language over 50 percent of 
the time. Many dual language programs begin at half the day in English, 
rather than the target non-English language, and typically all use the 
non-English language considerably less than half the day by middle 
school. Nawahiokalani`opu`u is 100 percent taught through Hawaiian. 
Even English and Japanese are taught through Hawaiian, although 
students recite and write assignments through English and Japanese.
    Research into dual language/immersion has shown that a higher level 
of use of the non-English language results in high proficiency in the 
non-English language without negatively impacting ultimately high 
English proficiency. Indeed, the higher the proficiency in the non-
English language, the greater the overall cognitive and other benefits.
    THE BROADER PICTURE OF NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION BEYOND OUR 
DEMONSTRATION SITE AT NAWAHIOKALANI`OPU`U
    While Nawahiokalani`opu`u and the Punana Leo preschool located on 
its campus serve as our demonstration laboratory school site, it is 
important to provide a picture of the larger Native Hawaiian Culture 
Based Education Movement statewide and the larger Native American 
Language Medium Education movement nationally. Both face lack of access 
to regular federal support of the sort available to mainstream American 
Indian education.
    Statewide in Hawai`i there are nearly 4,000 students enrolled in 
Hawaiian medium/immersion students in standard DOE sites (including the 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u program of Hilo High School). These schools and 
programs are distributed over 27 campuses. https://
www.hawaiipublicschools.org/TeachingAndLearning/StudentLearning/
HawaiianEducation/Pages/Hawaiian-language-immersion-schools.aspx
    A significant portion of Hawaiian medium/immersion students are 
enrolled in six charter school campuses. Indeed for several communities 
outside Honolulu and Maui Island the only available access to Hawaiian 
language medium education in its entirety or at certain grade levels is 
through charters. In s/y 2020-2021 Hawaiian language medium/immersion 
enrollment in charters was approximately 1,200 students.
    English medium Hawaiian culture based education is most developed 
in what we refer to as Hawaiian Focused charter schools. Because the 
state constitution requires that publicly funded education teach 
Hawaiian language, culture and history, but with no definition of 
exactly what that entails it is difficult to determine an English 
medium Hawaian culture-based school. For the purposes of this hearing, 
I will define as English medium Hawaiian culture-based charters as 
those identified by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. In s/y 2020-2021 
the total enrollment in the 12 OHA identified English medium Hawaiian 
focused culture-based charters was approximately 3,425 students. One 
charter school on Moloka`i has two language pathways and enrolled a 
total of 309 students in s/y 2020-2021.
    NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE MEDIUM EDUCATION THROUGHOUT THE UNITED 
STATES
    In my capacity as Vice President of the the National Coalition of 
Native American Language Schools and Programs (NCNALSP) I serve schools 
and programs similar to that of the Punana Leo and Nawahiokalani`opu`u 
taught through languages identified as Native American language in the 
Native American Languages Act of 1990. The NCNALSP has identified 
programs in 17 states (Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, 
Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming, 
Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska, Hawai`i. 
and one US Pacific territory (Guam) that are stable providers of Native 
American language medium/immersion education. Such stability means 
providing over 50 percent of the day through a Native American language 
in at least the lower grades of the program. Other programs are in the 
process of developing but have not had more than a year or two of 
stable existence.
    Many programs begin at the language nest or preschool level and 
some are still at that level. Others have begun at the elementary level 
or moved into it. A few have reached middle school. Currently none 
other than programs in Hawai`i are being operated at the high school 
level. The NCNALSP estimates that there are some 6,000 children 
enrolled with the majority being in programs in Hawai`i.
    The number of different languages involved, including both 
established and establishing programs is currently between 20 and 25. 
It is not uncommon for different programs to use different dialects of 
what linguists consider a single language. This is due to related 
peoples having separate sovereignty in different political units. The 
difference in dialects is reflected in differences in vocabulary, 
pronunciation and spelling systems. This is part of the reason why 
assessments need to be aligned with the curriculum of individual 
schools following ESEA section 3127 and ESEA section 3124(3).
    There is currently a national study of programs in Native American 
language medium education being led by internationally recognized 
expert in Indigenous education, Dr. Teresa McCarty of the University of 
California at Los Angeles and including Native American professors Dr. 
Tiffany Lee (Navajo) of the University of New Mexico and Dr. Sheila 
Nichols (Hopi) of the University of Arizona. Nawahiokalani`opu`u is one 
of the research sites along with a representative sample of sites who 
are part of the NCNALSP. My understanding is that the preliminary 
results are quite positive. We are hopeful that this well designed and 
carefully implemented study will provide data useful to the Senate 
Committee Indian Affairs and to other federal, state, territorial and 
tribal government entities.
Federal Trust Responsibility
    Public law 103-105 signed by President Clinton in 1993 acknowledges 
the United States involvement in the illegal overthrow of the sovereign 
Hawaiian nation under rule of Queen Lili`uokalani. https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-107/pdf/STATUTE-107-Pg1510.pdf
    Public law 103-105 was signed 100 years after the 1893 overthrow 
and apologizes to Hawaiian people. The first act of Congress on behalf 
of the Hawaiian people after the insurrection in 1920 was the Hawaiian 
Homes Commission Act. The legislation championed by Prince Kuhio 
Kalaniana`ole set aside 200,000 acres of the 1.8 million acres ceded to 
the United States for the rehabilitation of native Hawaiians. Public 
law 103-105 lays a foundational understanding of federal trust 
responsibility and subsequent federal legislation and programs enacted 
specifically benefitting Native Hawaiians besides the Hawaiian Homes 
Commission Act include the Native Hawaiian Education Act, the Native 
Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act, and Title VIII of the Native 
American Housing and Self Determination Act. In addition, Native 
Hawaiians share status with American Indians and Alaska Natives in a 
myriad of federal statutes: the Native American Grave Protection and 
Repatriation Act, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the 
National Museum of the American Indian and the Native American Veterans 
Memorial Act, to name a few.
    The Native American Languages Act specifically addresses the first 
languages of America. The Hawaiian language is a Native American 
language. The preservation and revitalization of the first languages 
spoken in the lands that comprise the United States of America is a 
federal trust responsibility. These indigenous languages are a part of 
our national heritage, national identity and global citizenship. We 
must work together to ensure that Native American languages remain 
living languages into the future.
    Mahalo nui loa for hearing my testimony.

                                addendum
INTRODUCTION TO HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE INNOVATION SYSTEM IN HAWAI`I
    `Aha Punana Leo, Inc. or translated as a ``language nest 
organization''; the state of Hawai`i Hawaiian language college located 
at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo and Ke Kula `o Nawahiokalani`opu`u 
(Nawahi) public k-8 charter school and 9-12 DOE school. Together, these 
entities represent the Hawaiian language medium education from a 
preschool through doctorate or P-20 model in the state of Hawai`i. 
Significant milestones in our state include over 40 years as an 
official language status and nearly 40 years since the establishment of 
the `Aha Punana Leo. The P-20 model is the most developed education 
program in a Native American language and offers in the state of 
Hawai`i a Hawaiian language medium pathway, with special strengths in 
early childhood program delivery, secondary programming, teacher 
training and certification, assessments in our native language, and 
graduate education offered all through the Hawaiian language.
    `Aha Punana Leo (`APL) administers 13 statewide early childhood 
education center based language nests for preschoolers as well as 2 
infant and toddler language nest centers with babies as young as 9 
months. The 2 infant and toddler language nest programs are suspended 
during covid. There are over 325 children and their families annually 
in our language nests program. The University of Hawai`i at Hilo's 
Hawaiian Language College provides B.A. M.A. & Doctoral degrees, an 
indigenous teacher education certification, a laboratory school program 
including the k-12 Nawahi, the state's Hawaiian language curriculum and 
testing center, Hale Kuamo`o and Mokuola Honua: Center for Indigenous 
Language Excellence a joint `APL and language college initiative. The 
P-20 continuum is a promising model of Native American language 
revitalization, reversing language loss while exceeding the nation's 
Native student high school graduation rate and college admission rate.
EFFORTS FOR CONTINUUM IN EDUCATION
    The children from the Punana Leo were in high school in 1996. With 
the support of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, `APL purchased a former 
private school and moved to the campus 11 miles from Hilo, in Kea`au, 
in the district of Puna in 1995. In 1997, the state legislature passed 
the law that established the Hawaiian language college at the 
University of Hawai`i at Hilo. This college designation also 
established a teacher training and certification program and a 
laboratory school program of the college. Ke Kula `o 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u (Nawahi) was also named in the law to serve as a 
laboratory school and teacher training center. The law allowed for 
other sites to become laboratory sites as well. We were already 
training teachers at Nawahi so this designation was appropriate. Two 
years later in 1999 we graduated the first cohort of high school 
students to have been educated entirely through the Hawaiian language.
    Nawahi is the demonstration site of innovation and best practices 
in Hawaiian medium education. Since 1999, we have had a 100 percent 
graduation rate and an average of 80 percent college attendance rate. 
Our graduates are part of the program within the DOE high school 11 
miles away. Nawahi graduates have received distinguished awards and 
served as valedictorians, state athletic champions and have been dual 
enrolled at the university of Hawai`i's campuses at the community 
college, arts and sciences and Hawaiian language college.
    In 2017, the Board of Education passed its Seal of Biliteracy 
policy. The awards are given upon graduation to students who 
demonstrate a high proficiency in both of the state's two official 
languages (English and Hawaiian) or either of the state's two official 
languages and at least one additional language, including American Sign 
Language. In its inaugural year, only 36 seals were awarded statewide. 
Nawahi students received 12 of those awards. Nawahi students are multi-
language learners. We have been teaching the Japanese language since 
1994. We introduced Latin at the middle grades and recently 
experimented with teaching Latin in grades 1--4. Our students have 
attended and graduated from prestigious colleges from Stanford, Loyola 
Marymount and our own University of Hawai`i and one is a professor of 
English at Oxford.
    NAWAHIOKALANI`OPU`U CLASS OF 2022 ACCOMPLISHMENTS (chart retained 
in the Committee files.)

    EXPLANATORY NOTES:

    1. The Native Hawaiian students at Nawahiokalani`opu`u are part of 
the single largest racial/ethnic group in state HIDOE public and 
charter schools, where they represent some 26 percent of all students. 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u has no racial/ethnic criteria for enrollment, 
however, non-Native Hawaiian students typically make up no more than 5 
percent of the Nawahiokalani`opu`u enrollment. Most non-Native Hawaiian 
students at Nawahiokalani`opu`u are, like the Native Hawaiian students, 
multiracial. Within public and charter schools as a whole Native 
Hawaiians are a racial/ethnic group with a significant achievement gap.
    2. Nawahiokalani`opu`u operates as a Hawaiian language medium 
school (HRS 304H 1-7) designed for students entering school as Hawaiian 
speakers. Under ESEA such students are classified as EL if Hawaiian is 
their first language, the language most used in their home, or the 
language most used by the student. However, the state of Hawai`i does 
not officially record Nawahiokalani`opu`u students as EL with EL 
services unless they transfer to a state English medium school.
    3. Nawahiokalani`opu`u is by law a laboratory school of the 
Hawaiian language college (HRS 304A 1301-1302). The enrollment at 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u as a whole is 535 (P-12). The Nawahiokalani`opu`u 
elementary and middle school programs are operated as a charter school 
and explore ways to better adapt charter schooling to Hawaiian language 
medium education. The Nawahiokalani`opu`u high school program operates 
as an off-campus Hawaiian language medium program of Hilo High School 
and explores ways to better adapt standard public schooling to Hawaiian 
language medium education. Funding for its students goes to Hilo High 
School. At the preschool level, Nawahiokalani`opu`u operates a program 
that bridges a state charter operated program and the Native Hawaiian 
non-profit `Aha Punana Leo operated infanttoddler program and language 
nest preschool exploring ways that such cooperation can benefit 
students in the state. Nawahiokalani`opu`u also serves as a training 
site for student teachers from the College's Hawaiian language medium 
teacher education program.
    4. The Nawahiokalani`opu`u senior class of 30 is part of the larger 
Hilo High School class of 263.
    5. The Nawahiokalani`opu`u high school program is located on a 
distinct campus in the Puna District thirty minutes from the Hilo High 
School campus. Nawahiokalani`opu`u students participate with other Hilo 
High School students in athletics and extracurricular events (e.g., 
prom, commencement).
    6. Nawahiokalani`opu`u has consistently outperformed the state 
average in high school graduation since its first graduation in 1999. 
That was the first class graduating from a Hawaiian language medium 
school in over a century. The state of Hawai`i high school graduation 
rate as an average for students of all races has been 83%-86 percent, 
for Native Hawaiian students at around 79 percent.
    7. Nawahiokalani`opu`u has a long history of outperforming the 
state average in direct enrollment in college. The college going rate 
directly from high school for Hawai`i public schools as an average of 
all races is approximately 50%-55 percent, with the rate for Native 
Hawaiian students at 35%-44 percent. Nawahiokalani`opu`u's students 
have been able to enroll in out-of-state universities as well as the 
state Hawaiian language college and other state tertiary institutions. 
Among out-of-state universities from which Nawahiokalani`opu`u students 
have graduated are Loyola Marymount, Northern Arizona and Stanford.
    8. Students who demonstrate readiness for Nawahiokalani`opu`u's 
early college program are enrolled in Hawaiian language medium courses 
that allow completion of one of two certificates offered by the 
University of Hawai`i at Hilo, either a) the Hawaiian Culture 
Certificate (19 credits no less than 10 at the 300 level or higher) or 
b) the Multidisciplinary Hawaiian Studies Certificate (26 credits with 
no less than 10 at the 300 level or higher).
    9. Among the sports in which these Nawahiokalani`opu`u seniors have 
participated are football, girls and boys soccer, boys basketball, 
girls and boys volleyball, girls softball, track and field, riflery, 
Hawaiian outrigger canoe paddling, boys wrestling.
    10. Hawai`i's requirements for the Seal of Biliteracy include a 3.0 
overall high school grade point average, a 3.0 grade point average in 
Language Arts classes in an official state language (English or 
Hawaiian) and passing a national on-line assessment of another language 
at the equivalent of ACTFL Intermediate Mid. All Nawahiokalani`opu`u 
students who have met the grade point requirements for the Seal and who 
have chosen to take the on-line assessments for the Seal have passed 
the assessment. Nawahiokalani`opu`u students use a 3.0 grade point 
average in Hawaiian language arts as their base and take an on-line 
assessment in another language (typically English) for the seal. Since 
the initiation of the Seal in 2017, Nawahiokalani`opu`u students have 
comprised a considerable percentage of awardees statewide.
    11. Hawai`i requirements for an honors certificate include a 3.0 
overall grade point average, no less than two credits at the AP or 
college level and completion of one or more distinct courses of study 
as described at  https://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/
TeachingAndLearning/StudentLearning/GraduationRequirements/Pages/
Requirements.aspx.
    12. Hawai`i requirements for the valedictorian designation are an 
overall 4.0 grade point average and meeting the requirements for an 
honors certificate.
HEALTHY FAMILIES; HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
    In 2016 a new research linking positive health outcomes in Native 
American communities to native language revitalization holds promise 
and best practices for improving the mental and physical health of 
those who participate in these programs. There is data that shows a 
return to native spirituality that improves treatment results for 
substance abuse and addiction. The native language holds the key to the 
practices related to spirituality and identity. Daryl Baldwin, director 
of the Myaamia Center at Miami University and co-author in the research 
states that ``Language transmission is a particularly effective means 
of reinforcing culture and identity within a community.'' He further 
states that ``language is also an efficient means of reinforcing 
membership or inclusion in a community.'' (``Healing through language: 
Positive physical health effects of indigenous language use'' (F1000 
Research 2016))
    We have seen the ownership of programming as a positive outcome for 
our children and families. These are ``our'' schools. Pride, self 
esteem, self worth, self identity and identity to a community are 
reflected in the decision to be a part of a community movement to 
revitalize a language.
    The Native American Languages Act of 1990 provides the framework to 
ensure and support the survival of Native American languages. Language 
survival comes from the use of the language or the will of the people. 
The congress can assist by allowing statutory flexibility to align and 
support best practice. We do not want to disadvantage our Native 
American language medium programs by creating barriers including 
measures of success similar to the very same measures for programs that 
continue to fail our children. The numerous research and studies on 
behavioral science lists several factors in promoting positive social 
behavior, academic success, emotional well-being, physical health and 
positive relationships for positive youth development. Native American 
language use is a best practice in promoting all of these factors for 
our children and even our families. Our own languages describe our 
world and our relationship to all our surroundings. It is our own 
language that provides for a healthy mind, a healthy spirit and a 
healthy body.

    The Chairman. Thank you very much.
    Ms. Nae`ole-Wong, please proceed with your testimony.

STATEMENT OF KAHEALANI NAE`OLE-WONG, HEAD OF SCHOOL, KAMEHAMEHA 
                            SCHOOLS

    Ms. Nae`ole-Wong. Aloha nui, Chairman Schatz, Vice 
Chairwoman Murkowski, and members of the Committee on Indian 
Affairs that are joining us online, and to all the staff 
members and lahui who are present today. Aloha nui kakou.
    Mahalo to you for visiting us in our home to hold this 
important informational hearing. My name is Kahealani Nae`ole-
Wong and I am the head of Kamehameha Schools, Hawaii. 
Originally from Ka`a`awa, Oahu, and have had the privilege of 
serving as an educator in our Hawaii island community for over 
25 years, first in the public school system in Hawaiian 
immersion, and I now lead Kamehameha Schools Hawaii in 
developing Hawaiian leaders for our community, alongside others 
who have worked tirelessly and sacrificed for the advancement 
of Native Hawaiian education.
    I am honored to share the ways in which Kamehameha Schools 
supports and advocates for educational excellence for all 
students in Hawaii, especially for Native learners. I will also 
share some of Kamehameha Hawaii's advancements with `Oiwi Edge, 
our pathway of Hawaiian culture-based education, including 
through Hawaiian language education.
    Established in 1887 by Ke Ali`i Bernice Pauahi Bishop, 
Kamehameha Schools is the largest educational charitable trust 
and private landowner in Hawaii. We remain steadfast in our 
mission to create educational opportunities in perpetuity to 
improve the capability and wellbeing of her lahui, the Native 
Hawaiian people.
    Kamehameha Schools consists of three K-12 campuses serving 
thousands of Native Hawaiian students on Oahu, Hawaii and Maui, 
and 30 preschool sites across the State. We steward 364,000 
acres of land and extend our reach through numerous 
partnerships. Our educational mission has been realized across 
our islands by generations of successful students, community 
leaders, and robust community programs.
    We are guided by our Kuhanauna Strategic Map 2025 and the 
Kamehameha Schools Vision 2040, which states: ``Within a 
generation of 25 years, we see a thriving lahui where our 
learners achieve postsecondary educational success, enabling 
good life and career choices. We also envision that our 
learners will be grounded in Christian and Hawaiian values and 
will be leaders who contribute to communities, both locally and 
globally.''
    Each of our Kamehameha campuses are unique, and as such 
pursue Hawaiian culture-based education through their own 
pathways. At Kamehameha Schools Hawaii, `Oiwi Edge is our 
campus pathway to Hawaiian culture-based education, and serves 
to reclaim and collectively advance a narrative of Native 
Hawaiians thriving whereby students will have a strong 
ancestral foundation that shapes their agency, adaptability, 
and well-being, giving them a competitive advantage to fulfill 
their unique purpose and lahui kuleana.
    This reclamation, history and genealogy is brought to life 
by educators deeply involved in research grounded in Hawaiian 
and global scholarship, a future-focused, student-centered 
practice. It reexamines the paradigms and structures of a one-
size-fits-all educational system by cultivating culturally 
vibrant and affirming learning environments. It has a moral 
obligation to avoid historic erasure and to encourage culture 
and linguistic diversity in order to cancel systemic 
inequalities that are faced by Native Hawaiian students.
    Through our campus research and innovation system, new 
educator proficiencies are being developed, bringing `Oiwi Edge 
learning and teaching to every child in the classroom. Students 
are deepening their perspectives and knowledge to strengthen 
their academic achievements. As our world continues to evolve 
and shift, we are committed to delivering an education rooted 
in sound practice with the promise of innovation. `Oiwi Edge 
represents a meaningful mindset for our students to gain 
knowledge and skills, resisting toxic narratives by shaping a 
Hawaiian identity of leadership and restoration.
    `Oiwi Edge is rooted in the belief that Native Hawaiian 
identity is a source of internal strength and inspiration, 
which serves as a cultural armor for our learners. As our 
students venture into the global economy, they will find that 
the most valuable job skills are no longer technical in nature. 
Instead, durable skills like empathy, adaptability, innovation, 
and critical reflection will prove crucial to their success.
    Our Native Hawaiian ancestors excelled in these same skills 
and attributes. `Oiwi Edge ensures our learners tap into those 
ancestral strengths as a driver of success in the modern world. 
Our goal is to then give students an opportunity to engage 
their cultural identities through exploration of their 
convictions of social justice. We are committed to empowering 
our youth and community to ensure paths of postsecondary 
success. Our greatest commitment is that our learners find 
their unique purpose and passion to meet the bold vision of 
becoming leaders who play significant roles in creating strong 
families and communities throughout Hawaii and beyond, and to 
influence and shape their worlds.
    Service to ancestral lands is a core tenet of Hawaiian 
culture. One of our most notable works to date is a joint 
effort involving our high school AP biology students, our 
campus' Kumuola Marine Science Education Center, the University 
of Hawai`i at Hilo, and Hawai`i Pacific University. The 
collaboration focused on investigating the pattern of visually 
indistinguishable native and invasive mullet recruitment into a 
network of three fishponds in East Hawai`i to inform mitigation 
and eradication strategies of invasive species.
    The result of this partnership was the development of a new 
genetic barcoding technique for early identification of young 
mullet entering the ponds along with graphs of their seasonal 
migration. This early identification of fish species was 
presented at the World Aquaculture Society's Conference in 
2020.
    These uniquely engineered Native Hawaiian aquaculture 
systems once provided a reserve of valued resources for a 
healthy lahui and today are models of integrated resource 
management that support community resilience. Student-led 
research provides new opportunities in our classrooms and in 
our communities to collectively brainstorm and build solutions 
to contemporary issues.
    While Kamehameha Schools is an English medium school, our 
students must have foundational knowledge in Hawaiian language 
to reclaim the language of our ancestors and to develop a 
strong Hawaiian identity and worldview. In recent years, 
Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i has implemented an oral-proficiency 
model to ensure students achieve higher levels proficiency at 
younger ages resulting in an increase in the number of young 
Native Hawaiians who have greater confidence in speaking 
Hawaiian in everyday situations.
    In our experience, despite the various challenges that 
Native Hawaiian students face, Hawaiian culture-based 
education, including Hawaiian language medium education, has 
proven to support their success in education and life. We 
believe that culturally relevant educational programming, 
developed and administered within the unique context of each 
Native community, will better support the educational and life 
outcomes of all Native students across the Country.
    As such, we urge the Committee to further support Native 
culture and language-based educational models, and the 
organizations that administer them, in all the Country's Native 
communities.
    Mahalo piha for this opportunity to provide testimony here 
today. We truly appreciate the Committee taking time to hear 
from us here in our community. Mahalo.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Nae`ole-Wong follows:]

     Prepared Statement of KaHealani Nae`ole-Wong, Head of School, 
                           Kamehameha Schools
    Mai ka puka `ana a ka la i Ha`eha`e ma keia mokupuni o Hawai`i no a 
i ka welona a ka la i Lehua, aloha nui kakou e ka Luna Ho`omalu Schatz, 
ka Hope Luna Ho`omalu Murkowski, a me na lala o keia Komike o ka `Aha 
Kenekoa. As is customary for us, we offer warm greetings to you all 
from the rising of the sun at the easternmost point of our archipelago 
at Ha`eha`e on Hawai`i island to where the sun sets near the small 
island of Lehua, west of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau. Mahalo for visiting us in 
our home to hold this important informational hearing about Native 
Hawaiian education.
    My name is Kahealani Nae`ole-Wong. I am from Ka`a`awa on the island 
of O`ahu and have lived on Hawai`i island for over three decades. I am 
a graduate of the University of Hawai`i at Hilo, the very campus in 
which this hearing is being held, and have had the privilege of serving 
as an educator in our community for 25 years--first in the Hawai`i 
public school system, then in Hawaiian immersion, and I now have the 
responsibility to lead Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i in raising the next 
generation of Hawaiian leaders for our community. I am very grateful to 
those who have worked tirelessly and sacrificed for the advancement of 
Native Hawaiian education.
    I am honored to share current issues and prospects for Native 
Hawaiian students, and the ways in which Kamehameha Schools supports 
and advocates for educational excellence for all students in Hawai`i, 
especially for our Indigenous learners. I will also share some of 
Kamehameha Hawai`i's advancements with `Oiwi Edge, our pathway of 
Hawaiian Culture-Based Education (HCBE), including through Hawaiian 
language education. Finally, I'll cover Kamehameha's institutional 
priority to increase access to early childhood education for every 
three- and four-year-old child in Hawai`i.
Kamehameha Schools Background
    Established in 1887, Kamehameha Schools is an educational 
charitable trust founded by Ke Ali`i Bernice Pauahi Bishop. As the 
largest educational charitable trust and private landowner
    in Hawai`i, we remain steadfast in our mission to fulfill Ke Ali`i 
Pauahi's desire to create educational opportunities in perpetuity to 
improve the capability and well-being of her lahui, the Native Hawaiian 
people.
    Kamehameha Schools consists of three, K-12 campuses serving 
thousands of Native Hawaiian students on O`ahu, Hawai`i and Maui, and 
30 preschool sites across the state. We steward 364,000 acres of land 
and extend our reach through numerous partnerships. Our educational 
mission has been realized across our islands by generations of 
successful students, community leaders, and robust community programs. 
We are guided by our Kuhanauna Strategic Map 2025 and the Kamehameha 
Schools Vision 2040, which states:

        Within a generation of 25 years, we see a thriving lahui where 
        our learners achieve postsecondary educational success, 
        enabling good life and career choices. We also envision that 
        our learners will be grounded in Christian and Hawaiian values 
        and will be leaders who contribute to communities, both locally 
        and globally.

    In the late 1990s, a growing demand for the Kamehameha Schools 
standard of Hawaiian education led to the construction of two new 
campuses--one on Maui and one on Hawai`i island--in addition to the 
original Kapalama campus. In 1999, Kamehameha Schools purchased 312 
acres of land in Kea`au to build our Hawai`i island campus. 
Construction began in mid-2000 and, in 2001, we opened our doors to 
serve Hawai`i island families. In 2006, we celebrated the graduation of 
our first cohort of high school students. Since that time, we have made 
strides in building our unique contribution to the larger Kamehameha 
Schools trust, the resurgence of Hawaiian cultural identity, and the 
well-being of the lahui as a whole. We actualize this contribution 
through `Oiwi Edge, our distinct campus identity and brand of HCBE.
History of Education in Hawai`i
    Formal Western education through the Hawaiian language began in 
1822 with the printing of a Hawaiian spelling book (Hawaiian Imprint). 
By 1839, ``literacy [in Hawai`i] was `estimated as greater than in any 
other country in the world, except Scotland and New England''' (Sai). 
By 1841, Hawai`i was the fifth nation in the world to provide 
compulsory education for its students, preceded only by four European 
countries-Prussia, Denmark, Greece, and Spain--with the United States 
eventually requiring compulsory education some 77 years later (Ibid.).
    The Hawaiian Kingdom structure of education was as follows:

        The Privy Council in 1840 established a system of universal 
        education under the leadership of what came to be known as the 
        Minister of Public Instruction. A Board of Education later 
        replaced the office of the Minister in 1855 and named the 
        department the Department of Public Instruction. This 
        department was under the supervision of the Minister of the 
        Interior. . . And in 1865 the office of the Inspector General 
        of schools was formed in order to improve the quality of the 
        education being taught (Ibid.; Kuykendall 352).

    In 1893, the Hawaiian Kingdom was illegally overthrown. Three years 
later, the Republic of Hawaii made English the primary language of 
instruction in all public schools, further contributing to the decline 
in education through the Hawaiian language. In 1900, Congress passed 
the Hawaiian Organic Act creating the Territory of Hawai`i. In 1907, 
the Territory's Department of Public Instruction began instituting an 
Americanization program called ``Programme for Patriotic Exercises in 
the Public Schools'' (Sai). Indigenous students were assimilated in 
part through the erasure of history. In the process, Native Hawaiians 
faced the loss of land, language, and culture. As a result of being 
materially and culturally disconnected, ``Hawai`i's Indigenous people 
came to struggle disproportionately with poverty, illness, 
homelessness, and poor educational outcomes in their homeland'' 
(Kana`iaupuni et. al. 312).
Our Lahui Hawai`i Today
    Today, Native Hawaiians continue to suffer disproportionately in 
comparison to other major ethnicities in Hawai`i. The publication, Ka 
Huaka`i: Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment 2021, consists of over 
600 pages of compiled data and summary analysis. It is produced by the 
Kamehameha Schools with authors Kana`iaupuni, Kekahio, Duarte, and 
Ledward. This enormously comprehensive study is an all-inclusive 
analysis of not only Native Hawaiian students and communities, but of 
other major ethnicities in Hawai`i across all island districts. Most 
conclusive is the data that explains the dire rates of poverty, 
illness, unemployment, and negative socio-political and -economic well-
being suffered by Native Hawaiians as compared to other major 
ethnicities.
    Specifically, regarding the education of Native Hawaiian students, 
some of the statistics are as follows:

   Across Hawai`i, nearly one in ten Native Hawaiian high 
        school students (8 percent) report being hungry because of lack 
        of food at home (393);

   In 2013 and 2017, Native Hawaiian high school students also 
        had higher rates of obesity (at or above the 95th percentile 
        for BMI), compared with other major ethnicities statewide 
        (402);

   Among all Native Hawaiian students in public schools, 62 
        percent are economically disadvantaged, with East Hawai`i (74 
        percent) and West Hawai`i (72 percent) having notably higher 
        percentages. This is consistent with findings showing that East 
        Hawai`i has the largest percentage of Native Hawaiians living 
        in poverty (433);

   By 2017, Native Hawaiian students (15 percent) were more 
        than twice as likely as their Chinese (6 percent), Filipino (7 
        percent), and Japanese (7 percent) peers to be enrolled in 
        special education programs (435);

   Despite the fact that Native Hawaiians make up almost one-
        fourth of the student population in the Hawai`i Department of 
        Education (DOE) system, only 10 percent of Hawai`i DOE teachers 
        are Native Hawaiian-less than the percentage of teachers who 
        identify as Caucasian (25 percent), Japanese (23 percent), and 
        Other (25 percent) (Hawai`i Department of Education 2020b) 
        (438);

   Schools with high concentrations of Native Hawaiians saw the 
        greatest fluctuation in principal turnover (439);

   The consequences of standardized tests for minority students 
        are paramount, as the rigidity and inherent biases of the tests 
        may inhibit opportunities to demonstrate learning that is 
        grounded in cultural ways of knowing and being (449);

   Among Hawai`i's major ethnic groups, Native Hawaiians have 
        the lowest proficiency rates in language arts. In 2015, for 
        example, 34 percent of Native Hawaiian students in public 
        schools achieved language arts proficiency-14 percentage points 
        lower than the Hawai`i total of all public school students in 
        the same year. By 2017, the gap in language arts proficiency 
        between Native Hawaiians and the Hawai`i total widened to 16 
        percentage points. When comparing across subject matter, 
        overall proficiency rates in language arts are higher than they 
        are in mathematics (453);

   Between 2015 and 2017, Native Hawaiians persistently 
        exhibited the lowest mathematics proficiency rates of all major 
        ethnicities in Hawai`i. In 2017, just 27 percent of Native 
        Hawaiian test takers achieved math proficiency-18 percentage 
        points below the rate of Filipino students, who had the second-
        lowest scores (458);

   Over the three school years examined, mathematics 
        proficiency rates were highest among schools with low 
        concentrations of Native Hawaiians. The math statistics are 
        also consistent with science standards and measurements (461);

   Our findings reveal that Native Hawaiian students exhibit 
        the highest chronic absenteeism rates in Hawai`i, relative to 
        other ethnicities. Recent research suggests that asthma is a 
        primary contributor to absenteeism among Hawai`i students, 
        especially for Native Hawaiians, with Leeward, East and West 
        Hawaii leading the pack (469);

   In comparing ethnicities, Native Hawaiian students across 
        cohorts exhibit relatively high dropout rates, second only to 
        Whites. Military status and mobility may partially explain the 
        high percentage of White dropouts (477);

   Trend data show that AP enrollment rates for Native 
        Hawaiians increased gradually with each successive cohort. 
        Still, AP enrollment rates among Native Hawaiian high schoolers 
        were the lowest of the five major ethnic groups in Hawai`i. For 
        example, in the 2017 cohort, there was a 14 percentage point 
        difference between Native Hawaiian students (17 percent) and 
        the Hawai`i total (31 percent). Chinese and Japanese students, 
        relative to their peers, generally had higher rates of AP 
        enrollment across all cohorts (484);

   For two-year colleges, among all Hawai`i DOE students in the 
        classes of 2011 to 2014 who enrolled in UH community colleges 
        in the first fall after finishing high school, the three-year 
        graduation rate was approximately 20 percent. College 
        completion rates of Native Hawaiian students were consistently 
        the lowest among each graduating class (491); and ` Like the 
        two-year college completion data, Native Hawaiian public high 
        school graduates attending four-year institutions had the 
        lowest six-year completion rates for the classes of 2011 and 
        2012 (494).

    This educational and social well-being data analysis for Native 
Hawaiian students is dire. According to these same authors, however, 
Indigenous education re-examines the paradigms and structures of a one-
size-fit-all educational system by cultivating culturally vibrant and 
affirming learning environments (``Mohala i ka Wai''). They believe 
that culture-based education has a moral obligation to avoid historic 
erasure and to encourage cultural and linguistic diversity in order to 
cancel systemic inequalities that are faced by Indigenous students.
`Oiwi Edge--Our Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i Pathway to HCBE
    Each of our Kamehameha campuses are unique and, as such, pursue 
Hawaiian culture-based education through their own pathways. At 
Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i, `Oiwi Edge is our campus pathway to HCBE. 
`Oiwi Edge was adopted by Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i in 2017 to 
facilitate learning and teaching through a Hawaiian cultural lens, 
grounded in excellence and `ike, or knowledge, from our rich history 
and genealogy as Hawaiians. `Oiwi Edge learning mirrors the ingenuity 
and forward thinking of our ancestors. `Oiwi Edge serves to:

        Reclaim and collectively advance a narrative of Native 
        Hawaiians thriving, whereby Kamehameha Hawai`i haumana, or 
        students, will have a strong ancestral foundation that shapes 
        their agency, adaptability, and well-being, giving them a 
        competitive advantage to fulfill their unique purpose and 
        kuleana, or responsibility (`Oiwi Edge: Our Path To E Ola!'').

    At Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i, this reclamation, history and 
genealogy is brought to life in classrooms by educators deeply involved 
in research grounded in Hawaiian and global scholarship and future-
focused, student-centered practice. Through our campus research and 
innovation system, new educator proficiencies are developed bringing 
`Oiwi Edge learning and teaching to every child in the classroom. 
Students are deepening their perspectives and knowledge to strengthen 
their academic achievements. As our world continues to evolve and 
shift, we are committed to delivering an education rooted in sound 
practice with the promise of innovation, ``Meeting students where they 
are-literally where they are-the places that ground them and the layers 
and culture that surround them is important'' (DeRego 58).
`Oiwi Edge Learning & Teaching--HCBE as a Means of Reclaiming 
        Excellence
    We believe that Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i serves as a powerful 
socializing agent to reinforce our unique and specific approach that 
will shape community expectations as well as student, educator, and 
parent norms. Furthermore, `Oiwi Edge builds on the seminal work of 
past and current Hawaiian scholars, researchers, historians, 
practitioners, educators, and cultural elders whose efforts reflect a 
conscious and purposeful shift in delivering education. Recognition and 
dependence on the foundations of existing Hawaiian scholarship and 
contribution made by previous generations is a critical component to 
the `Oiwi Edge vision, for `Oiwi Edge represents a relevant and 
meaningful mindset for our students to gain knowledge and skills in 
resisting toxic narratives by shaping a Hawaiian identity of leadership 
and restoration.
    `Oiwi Edge is Kamehameha Hawai`i's embodiment of the KS mission, 
and offers a specific approach to campus-wide plans and priorities that 
describe our brand of education and value proposition. `Oiwi Edge 
provides all learners, educators and students alike, personal, 
cultural, academic, and social tools required to thrive and contribute 
to the lahui. Through strategic programming, curricula, experiences, 
and instruction, `Oiwi Edge ensures relevance and rigor to grow next 
generation kupuna (elders) and leaders who will shape their individual 
futures as they take their place on the global stage. ``Our goal is 
then to give students an opportunity to engage their cultural 
identities through exploration of their convictions of social justice'' 
(Cabatu and Kanno 175).
    `Oiwi Edge will continue to advance a narrative of Native Hawaiians 
thriving. We are committed to empowering our youth and community to 
ensure paths of postsecondary success. Our greatest commitment is that 
our learners find their unique purpose and passion to meet the bold 
vision of becoming leaders who play significant roles in creating 
strong families and communities throughout Hawai`i and beyond and to 
influence and shape their world.
Living HCBE Through `Oiwi Edge--Examples from Our Campus
    He ali`i ka `aina, he kaua ke kanaka; Land is the chief, man is its 
servant. A 5th Grade Model of `Oiwi Edge

    Service to ancestral lands is a core tenet of Hawaiian culture. As 
an example, our grade 5 learners employed a social lens in a year-long 
inquiry of sustainability. Students asked, ``Who are we as Native 
Hawaiians, and what is our responsibility to our land, ourselves, our 
families, and our communities as descendants of strong `Oiwi 
(Indigenous) leaders`'' Students kept journals of their projects which 
captured their personalized journey over the course of the school year. 
Student learnings ranged from deep self-reflections affirming their 
identity as Native Hawaiians to gaining understanding of relationships 
and how these relationships can be used as `Oiwi leadership to sustain 
community. Students then researched the many contributions of Queen 
Lili`uokalani, dove into the historical accounts of her life, and 
reflected on her compelling musical compositions and prose which she 
authored during her lifetime. Her mele or musical compositions convey 
kaona or hidden meanings, which proved thought provoking for our 
students. They gained invaluable insight into the Queen's thoughts, 
opinions, and world-view--as a reflective guidepost to lean upon now 
and always.

    Huli ka lima i lalo. Turn the hands to work. A Model of `Oiwi Edge 
Advocacy in Middle School

    From introspection to advocation, students on our campus enact 
their `Oiwi Edge in response to real issues affecting our community. 
Starting at our shores, our 6th graders were inspired by their 
participation in a cleanup project at Kamilo, a beach located at the 
Southernmost tip of our island chain that has been dubbed ``Plastic 
Beach,'' because of the unique ocean currents that deposit waste on our 
shores from as far away as Japan and Russia. Students took steps to 
deepen and integrate these experiences into their 7th grade Innovative 
Technology course, applying their skills in photography and graphic 
design to create recyclable materials in their continued fight against 
single use plastics. Then, as 8th graders, students digitally designed 
personal original artwork that depicted native Hawaiian plants and 
other imagery, superimposed them on beeswax wraps, a sustainable, eco-
friendly alternative to single use plastics, and produced them for sale 
in communities near and far. They honed their marketing skills and 
learned how to ``side-hustle'' ethically and effectively in order to 
raise funds for their airfare and earn the opportunity to present their 
work at the International Society for Technology in Education 
Conference to be held in New Orleans this summer. Their advocacy and 
entrepreneurship continue on through a student organized company called 
``Ho`onele Ea.''

    He ola na ka `Oiwi. Earn one`s own livelihood. Harnessing the Power 
of `Oiwi as an Edge to Sustain Our Community. A High School Model of 
Empowered HCBE

    Perhaps our most groundbreaking work to date is a joint effort 
involving our high school AP Biology students, our campus' Kumuola 
Marine Science Education Center, the University of Hawai`i at Hilo, and 
Hawai`i Pacific University. The collaboration focused on investigating 
the pattern of visually indistinguishable native and invasive mullet 
recruitment into a network of three fishponds in East Hawai`i to inform 
mitigation and eradication strategies of invasive species. The result 
of this partnership was the development of a new genetic barcoding 
technique for early identification of young mullet entering the ponds 
along with graphs of their seasonal migration. This early 
identification of fish species was presented at the World Aquaculture 
Society's Conference, Aquaculture America 2020, as part of a special 
session related to Native Hawaiian aquaculture.
    These uniquely engineered Native Hawaiian aquaculture systems once 
provided a reserve of valued resources for a healthy Lahui and today 
are models of integrated resource management that support community 
resilience. Student-led research provides new opportunities in our 
classrooms and in our communities to collectively brainstorm and build 
solutions to contemporary issues. Students have been involved in all 
facets of this research, from reclaiming of physical space and building 
fishpond walls, to the collection and processing of samples, to 
experimental design and data analysis, as well as, innovation and 
advocacy. Students positioned to responsibly steward our land by 
building and accessing multiple knowledge sets through research and 
agency will ensure our fishponds are never without fish.
An `Oiwi Edge Commitment to a Thriving and Living Language
    `O ka `olelo ke ka`a o ka mauli. \1\ Language is the fiber that 
binds us to our cultural identity. The 1970s & 1980s Resurgence of 
Hawaiian Language and Culture.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ This is the motto of Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani, College of 
Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo.

    `Olelo Hawai`i is the language of our homeland and is currently 
used and celebrated by thousands across Hawai`i in government, 
education and commerce alike. Following the illegal overthrow of 
Hawai`i and the subsequent enactment of culturally detrimental policies 
by the subsequent governments, `olelo Hawai`i was on the brink of 
extinction by the 1970s and its survival was looking very bleak. 
Outside of the vibrant Ni`ihau island community with multi-generational 
speakers, the number of speakers in the children, youths, and young 
adults across the other islands were very sparse.
    A resurgence of Native Hawaiian cultural identity in the public 
schools system began when, as a result of the 1978 Hawai`i 
Constitutional Convention, the State was required to ``promote the 
study of Hawaiian culture, history, and language.'' In addition, 
Hawaiian language was formally recognized through the Constitutional 
Convention as an official State language, along with English. In 1980, 
HCBE entered Hawai`i's public schools in the form of two components, 
(1) the Kupuna Component, a K-6 program that brought practitioners from 
the community into the classroom; and (2) focused Social Studies 
courses such as Hawaiian Monarchy (7th grade), and Modern Hawaiian 
History (grades 9 or 11) (Johnson et. al.).

    E Ola ka `olelo Hawai`i. The Hawaiian Language Shall Live. Hawaiian 
Medium Education Schools.
    In 1983, `Aha Punana Leo, a grassroots organization dedicated to 
reviving `olelo Hawai`i (the Hawaiian language) was established by a 
group of Hawaiian language educators from across the state. Punana Leo 
O Kaua`i, the first Hawaiian immersion preschool, opened in 1984, and 
grew to include Punana Leo O Hilo and Punana Leo O Honolulu the 
following year. In 1986, the Hawai`i State Legislature passed a bill 
repealing the 1896 law making English the primary language of 
instruction in public schools. In 1987, the Hawai`i Board of Education 
approved the Hawaiian Language Immersion program with the first 
elementary Indigenous language immersion classes in the United States 
officially beginning at Keaukaha Elementary in Hilo and Waiau 
Elementary at Pearl City. The opening of Hawai`i's first charter 
schools followed in 1995. Today, there are 38 charter schools across 
the islands, of which, ``more than half have a Hawaiian cultural focus 
and 5 are immersion schools'' (Bender). Fifteen of these 38 charter 
schools are in our own communities on Hawai`i island (``Charter 
Schools'').
    While Kamehameha Schools is an English medium school, our students 
must have foundational knowledge in Hawaiian language to reclaim the 
language of our ancestors and to develop a strong Hawaiian identity and 
worldview. In recent years, Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i has implemented 
an oral-proficiency model in our language program to ensure students 
have greater access to higher levels of Hawaiian language at younger 
ages and greater access to courses which teach content through Hawaiian 
language. As our program matures, our renewed focus has not only 
resulted in students demonstrating higher language proficiency skills 
but also having greater confidence in speaking Hawaiian in everyday 
situations, the latter being a great testament to our hope for 
reclamation.
    It is through the foresight and fortitude of a small group of 
people, our Native Hawaiian educators, who actively fight every day to 
reclaim our history, culture and language, that Hawaiians and all 
people today know more about our past and are able to help our lahui 
move towards our future. Despite their efforts, ``in our contemporary 
educational system, `ike kupuna Hawai`i \2\ has been characterized as 
inferior and irrelevant to other types of knowing, doing, and living, 
resulting in a toxic narrative that oppresses our `Oiwi learners'' 
(Norman 123). We recognize that this experience is shared across native 
communities and encourage this committee to continue uplifting 
Indigenous languages and cultures for the benefits they provide for all 
our people, including by supporting such legislation as the Native 
American Language Resource Center Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ `Ike kupuna Hawai`i can be translated as ancestral Hawaiian 
knowledge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As is evident in these impactful HCBE models and programs of `Oiwi 
Edge learning & teaching, reclamation and advancement of a narrative of 
Native Hawaiians thriving is alive at Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i. `Oiwi 
Edge is rooted in the belief that Native Hawaiian identity is a source 
of internal strength, and inspiration, which serves as cultural armor 
for our learners. As our students venture into the global economy, they 
will find that the most valuable job skills are no longer technical in 
nature. Instead durable skills like empathy, adaptability, innovation, 
and critical reflection will prove crucial to their success. Our Native 
Hawaiian ancestors excelled in these same skills and attributes. `Oiwi 
Edge ensures our learners tap into those ancestral strengths as a 
driver of success in the modern world, enabling them to uplift their 
families, their communities, their lahui, and their world.
    In our experience, despite the various challenges Native Hawaiian 
students face, HCBE, including Hawaiian language medium education, has 
proven to support their success in education and life. We believe that 
culturally relevant educational programming, developed and administered 
within the unique context of each Native community, will better support 
the educational and life outcomes of all Native students across the 
country. As such, we urge the Committee to further support Native 
culture- and language-based educational models, and
    the organizations that administer them, in all the country's Native 
communities. For Native Hawaiians, this includes continued support for 
the Native Hawaiian Education Program, Alaska Native and Native 
Hawaiian Serving Institutions of higher education, Native American 
language immersion schools and programs, including the Esther Martinez 
program, and the Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education 
Program.
Access to Early Learning
    An institutional level, Kamehameha Schools highest priority in 
addressing the systemic needs of Native Hawaiian learners is ensuring 
every three- and four-year-old child in Hawai`i has access to early 
childhood education. Every year, we educate approximately 1,600 keiki 
(children) at our 30 preschool sites; provide scholarships to 1,500 
keiki at our preschools and at other private preschools; and support 
many more keiki through partnerships with public and private 
preschools, family-child interaction learning centers and other early 
learning programs. In sum, every year, we spend approximately $50 
million in our local communities to assist over 6,000 keiki begin their 
journey.
    Despite our efforts, along with others in Hawai`i, there is still 
lots of ground to cover to ensure all our keiki have access to early 
learning. Prior to the pandemic, only one in four children in Hawai`i 
attended early learning programs. During the pandemic, the early 
learning capacity dropped significantly to seats being available for 
nearly one in five children. A 2020 report found that there were 25,247 
seats in childcare facilities regulated by the Hawai`i Department of 
Human Services, serving 108,340 children ages five or younger (Hawai`i 
Early Childhood Comprehensive Needs Assessment). Therefore, even prior 
to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the regulated segment of the 
child care market in Hawai`i only had the capacity to serve less than a 
quarter (23.3 percent) of young children.
    As a key component of delivering early learning access, we further 
believe Native Hawaiian families in Hawai`i must continue to have the 
option to choose Hawaiian medium education and Hawaiian-culture based 
education for the benefits previously discussed. Such education is 
currently predominantly provided for by private pre-K providers. We 
also know that not all families desire center-based care and continue 
to support the inclusion of a range of options that provide gains in 
learning and achievement through multi-generational, whole family, and 
whole child methods, especially through the Native Hawaiian culture and 
language.
    We recognize that establishing universal access to preschool was a 
notable component of the Build Back Better legislative package. While 
the future of this legislation is uncertain, we strongly encourage this 
committee to continue supporting expanding access to early learning for 
native children in whatever related legislation may continue to 
progress and to specifically advocate for the additional prioritization 
of Native American language nests in such legislation. Federal support 
for the construction and renovation of early learning facilities and 
the training of preschool teachers, including Native language immersion 
teachers, would greatly benefit our collective efforts to increase the 
number of available preschool seats for Native Hawaiian keiki.
Summary
    Mahalo for this opportunity to provide testimony to the Senate 
Committee on Indian Affairs. We truly appreciate the committee taking 
time to visit our home to hear from us and our community. We hope that 
this testimony has been illuminating in sharing the history and status 
of Native Hawaiian education, the unique approach to Hawaiian culture-
based education at Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i, and our institutional 
priority for early learning access for all three- and four-year-olds. 
Please direct any follow-up to this testimony or on other matters to 
Kamehameha Schools' Manager of Community & Government Relations, `Olu 
Campbell, at [email protected]. We look forward to continuing our 
collaborative engagement with the committee in the future.

    BIBLIOGRAPHY:

    Bender, Paula. ``Education by Charter.'' Malamalama: The Magazine 
of the University of Hawai`i System, http://www.hawaii.edu/malamalama/
2008/01/f5-charterschools.html. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Cabatu, Alana M.M. and Corrine Kanno. ``Defining Authenticity in 
Learning and Teaching.'' E ULU, Halau Kupukupu: Kamehameha Schools 
Hawai`i, 2022, pp. 174-194
    ``Charter Schools.'' Hawaii State Department of Education, https://
www.hawaiipublicschools.org/TeachingAndLearning/EducationInnovation/
CharterSchools/Pages/home.aspx. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    DeRego, Nancy. ``Storied Places: Developing an `Oiwi Critical Lens 
through Critical Reading of Place- and Cultural-Based Stories.'' E ULU, 
Halau Kupukupu: Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i, 2022,pp. 57-68
    ``Hawaiian Imprint Collection: A Resource Guide.'' Library: Library 
of Congress, https://guides.loc.gov/early-hawaiian-imprints/about-the-
collection. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    ``Hawai`i Early Childhood Comprehensive Needs Assessment.'' State 
of Hawai`i Executive Office on Early Learning, https://
drive.google.com/file/d/13bqraLSLXAtoCoLo5wUjS6AG3uxjSP4z/view.
    Johnson, Kamalani, et. al. Ke Kulia e Kamau Ai: He Ho`ili`ilina 
Holomua `olelo Hawai`i. Hilo,
    Hawai`i, Hale Kuamo`o, 2020.
    Kailihou, S. Aolani. ``Ke Kuapapa Nui.'' Leadership Engagement 
Conference, 21 Jun. 2021,Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i.
    Kamehameha Schools Report On Financial Activities: July 1, 2018-
June 30, 2019. Kamehameha Schools, https://www.ksbe.edu/assets/
annual_reports/Financial_Activities_2019.pdf. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Kana`iaupuni, Shawn Malia, et. al. Ka Huaka`i, Native Hawaiian 
Educational Assessment 2021.
    Kamehameha Schools, 2021, https://www.ksbe.edu/assets/research/
ka_huakai/2021_KaHuakai.pdf. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Kana`iaupuni, Shawn Malia, et. al., ``Mohala i ka Wai: Cultural 
Advantage as a Framework for Indigenous Culture-Based Education and 
Student Outcomes.'' American Educational
    Research Journal, vol. 54, no. 15, April 2017, pp. 311-339, p. 312, 
https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216664779. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Kuykendall, Ralph S. The Hawaiian Kingdom Volume 1. University of 
Hawaii Press, 1938, https://ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?e=d-
0kingdom1-000Sec--11en-50-20-frameset-book--1-
010escapewin&a=d&d=D0.19.18&toc=0. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Maly, Kepa and Onaona Maly. Ka Ho`oilina A Ke Ali`i Wahine `o 
Pauahi Bishop: Ke Kahua Kula Kamehameha Ma Kea`au--Legacy of the 
Chiefess Pauahi Bishop: The Kamehameha School Campus at Kea`au. Kumu 
Pono Associates LLC, 2018.
    Norman, Noelani. ``Changing the Untruths of the Past for the 
Future: Proposing a Framework for Centering `Oiwi Narratives at 
Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i.'' E ULU, Halau Kupukupu: Kamehameha Schools 
Hawai`i, 2022, pp. 121-146.
    ```Oiwi Edge: Our Path To E Ola! Strategic Map 2020-2025.'' 
Kamehameha Schools, https://drive.google.com/file/d/
1MQ6uGA_Pqog6gwzw3qg0ShZiCkPyxVM0/view. Accessed 24 May 2022.
    Sai, Keanu Ph.D. ``The Impact of U.S. Occupation on the Hawaiian 
People.'' NEA: National Education Association, 13 Oct. 2018, https://
www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/impact-us-occupation-
hawaiian-people. Accessed 24 May 2022.

    The Chairman. Thank you very much, Ms. Nae`ole-Wong.
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a, please proceed with your testimony.

STATEMENT OF KEIKI KAWAI'AE'A, Ph.D., DIRECTOR, KA HAKA `ULA O 
KE`ELIKOLANI COLLEGE OF HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF 
                            HAWAI`I

    Dr. Kawai'ae'a. Aloha e Kenekoa Schatz, [phrase in Native 
tongue]. My name is Keiki Kawai'ae'a, and I would like to 
welcome you to Hale`olelo, the main building of Ka Haka `Ula O 
Ke`elikolani, the College of Hawaiian language. We are humbled 
by the privilege to have you here on campus today for the field 
hearing on Funding and Program Access for Innovation in the 
Native Hawaiian Community.
    I serve as Director of Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani College 
of Hawaiian Language, and I am also a proud parent of the first 
students of the Punana Leo and Kaiapuni Hawai`i. My children 
graduated from Nawahiokalani`opu`u, and my grandchildren today 
are enrolled there.
    I am also engaged with other critical work, such as the 
Native Educator Education Committee of the National Indian 
Education Association and the Accreditation Board of the World 
Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium.
    Today I will be providing testimony on the work of our 
college as a primary resourcing entity for Hawaiian language 
revitalization and education as mandated by our State 
legislature. Included in its P through 25 pre-school through 
doctorate programs, our Hawaiian medium pathway focuses on 
Hawaiian-speaking families and other forms of education for 
producing high efficiency in Hawaiian.
    Like Namaka Rawlins, I will list barriers to the human and 
other resource development work of the college before going 
into details of our work here at the college. Helu ekahi, 
number one, most university faculty and administrators outside 
our college and external funders see us as a standard foreign 
language and foreign area studies program. However, we lack the 
resources that such foreign language and area studies programs 
receive, including any of the 15 federally funded National 
Foreign Language Resource Centers.
    The lack of such support severely hampers our ability to 
reach the full potential of our various Native Hawaiian and 
other Native American programs. We therefore are very much 
appreciative the work, Senator Schatz, that you have done, in 
the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to have put into the bill 
to establish a Native American Language Resource Center.
    Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani focuses highly on teacher 
training for Hawaiian language medium and immersion P-12 
teachers. There is a critical shortage of fully proficient 
teachers in Hawaiian, well prepared in a wide range of content 
areas and trained in delivering education from a Native 
language and culture-based foundation. Because of the unique 
language and cultural elements, our teachers require more 
preparation than standard English medium teacher preparation.
    There is a nationwide shortage of teachers prepared for 
Native language medium and immersion school settings, Native 
culture-based schools and schools in communities with a high 
population of Native students. Not addressing this critical 
teacher shortage hinders and impedes the implementation of 
highly successful Native language and medium education that 
builds upon its language and cultural strengths.
    Our State DOE projects that Hawaiian medium/immersion 
schools will have a shortage of 75 teachers for the upcoming 
school year. This data does not include the Hawaiian medium/
immersion charter school shortage. Some estimate that the total 
State shortage for the upcoming school year will be around 100 
teachers statewide for the 28 K-12 Hawaiian medium/immersion 
schools.
    The National Indian Education Association has collaborated 
on new legislation called the Native American Teacher Education 
Pathway Act. I am part of the Committee working on developing 
this bill which has received national feedback in its 
development from all three Native American groups. We would 
like to request your consideration, Senator Schatz, in 
introducing the bill. I brought several copies with me that I 
shared with your staff.
    Three, our College provides curriculum materials and 
resource materials to schools. We and other Native American 
language programs lack access to direct funding to create such 
materials and resources. Grants are highly competitive and 
require much work to develop grants to fit them into 
competitive preferences while still focusing on the priorities 
we know to exist in the schools we are serving.
    What limited competitive grants are available are generally 
written with requirements based on the needs of English medium 
schools rather than Native American language medium/immersion 
schools that we serve. In addition, as a State system with no 
tribal schools or boards, we also do not meet the criteria for 
some of the grants that fit well with the needs of our schools 
and students we serve. Improving grant definitions and where 
the grants are administered may increase access to Hawaiian 
medium/immersion education and other potential funding support 
for innovation in the Native Hawaiian Community.
    Four, there is a need for direct funding for Native 
students and services of students enrolled in our Native 
Hawaiian and Native American streams. Native American language 
and culture study is largely under the radar of Federal and 
private foundation support. Available funding that focuses on 
individual Native Americans is most commonly directed to areas 
where Native students are highly underrepresented, such as 
engineering, computer science, and medicine.
    Although programs in higher education teaching languages 
and cultures are uncommon, where they exist, such as here in 
our college, it is always the area of higher education where 
indigenous students are the majority. Because our area of study 
has a majority of Native students, our students can be 
designated as a lower priority in funding focused on increasing 
the percentage representation of indigenous students. However, 
because so many of our students become involved in education, 
they have a much more significant impact on Native youth as a 
whole than areas for which funding for Native students is more 
readily available.
    A further barrier for students in our area is that they 
often take longer to finish their undergraduate studies, as it 
takes longer to learn the language and obtain a degree. This is 
because we are training individuals who are not only becoming 
proficient in an indigenous language and culture but also in an 
academic content area that they intend to teach Native 
students.
    Thus, here at Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani, many of our 
Native Hawaiian Studies students are pursuing double majors in 
other areas. The time to accomplish this typically extends 
beyond the standard four to five years of scholarship support 
provided to Native students.
    I would like to share a little bit about some of our work 
and our innovations at the college. Ka Haka `Ula O 
Ke`elikolani, where we are today, is administered and operated 
through Hawaiian. All of our faculty and staff are bilingual in 
Hawaiian and English, and several are proficient in other 
languages. Although we face many barriers, our college has made 
steady progress in developing its P-25 model by bringing 
together the Hawaiian Studies Department, the Hale Kuamo`o 
Hawaiian Language Center, and Nawahi K-12 school.
    In addition to our basic Hawaiian language medium B.A. in 
Hawaiian Studies, other programs include a Hawaiian language 
medium graduate teacher education certificate in indigenous 
language and culture education, an M.A. in indigenous language 
and culture education, and a Ph.D. in indigenous language and 
culture revitalization. We also have a lower division 
certificate indigenous language medium early education, really 
running the gamut from the babies all the way to adult and into 
the community.
    We also provide dual college enrollment for Hawaiian-
speaking high school students in a selected range of general 
education courses taught in Hawaiian, including world history, 
statistics and sociology. We hope to expand those courses to 
fulfill our legislative mandate to provide liberal education to 
Hawaiians.
    We have an outreach program for other Native Americans and 
indigenous peoples on a more extensive level. Our most 
developed program in serving other Native American peoples is 
at the doctorial level. The language is represented in that 
strand are Lakota, Mohawk, Arapaho, Tlingit, Dakota, Inupiaq, 
Ojibwe, and Samoan. Our non-Hawaiian students in the Ph.D. 
program typically work in Native American language medium 
schools or higher education while studying in our program.
    We have been working on expanding our support to Native 
America beyond our Ph.D. and Linguistics B.A. through our 
graduate-level teaching certificate with the Jemez language of 
the Jemez Pueblo, and the Ojibwe language in Wisconsin.
    The Hale Kuamo`o Center is a primary resource provider for 
the Hawaiian language and culture-based education movement in 
the State of Hawaii. The Hale Kuamo`o focuses on material 
originally written in Hawaiian or developed from a Hawaiian 
perspective for over two decades now. Hale Kuamo`o creates and 
disseminates school and online resources, holds in-service 
training for teachers and parents, and a Hawaiian language 
newspaper. The Hale Kuamo`o has produced over 700 publications.
    The volume of material support that we provide is very 
substantial. However, the development and even distribution and 
maintenance of those materials are highly dependent on winning 
competitive grants.
    In addition to the publication of the Hale Kuamo`o, the 
Ulukau Hawaiian Electronic Library contains collections of 
Hawaiian newspapers, the Kani`aina tapes, Hawaiian language and 
cultural books, genealogy collections, and among its most 
frequently visited collections, its electronic dictionaries. 
This year, Ulukau celebrates its 20th year with over 400 
million hits.
    Mahalo nui for this invitation to provide testimony on this 
very important issue.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Kawai'ae'a follows:]

Prepared Statement of Keiki Kawai'ae'a, Ph.D., Director, Ka Haka `Ula O 
 Ke`elikoLani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai`i
    Aloha e Kenekoa Schatz, a mahalo nui ia `oe a me na limahana o ke 
ke`ena SCIA no ka malama `ia o keia halawai ho`olohe ma Hilo nei. My 
name is Keiki Kawai`ae`a, and I'd like to welcome you to Hale`olelo, 
the main building of Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani, the state Hawaiian 
language college. You may have seen our other building, the portable on 
the other side of the stream with adjoining Matson shipping containers. 
That is the site of our Hale Kuamo`o Hawaiian Language Center and some 
of our faculty and staff offices. We are humbled by the privilege to 
have you here on campus today for the field hearing on Funding & 
Program Access for Innovation in the Native Hawaiian Community. I'd 
like to echo the earlier mahalo from Namaka Rawlins for holding this 
hearing here at Hale`olelo.
    As a bit of background history to provide context for my testimony, 
I am one of the parents of the first students in the Punana Leo and 
Kaiapuni Hawai`i (Hawaiian immersion programs). My eldest child 
graduated in the first class of Nawahiokalani`opu`u in 1999. She now 
works here in the College as a faculty member in teacher education. My 
other children also graduated from Nawahiokalani`opu`u, and my 
grandchildren are enrolled there today.
    My professional background is in elementary education, curriculum 
and instruction, and Indigenous education. I began my career teaching 
the Hawaiian language and culture through English at the Kamehameha 
Schools on the Kapalama campus. When Punana Leo families on Maui sought 
to have a public elementary Hawaiian immersion program begin there, I 
moved with my family as the founding teacher of the Hawaiian immersion 
site at Pa`ia School. Later, when the Hale Kuamo`o Hawaiian Language 
Center was opened, I was recruited to lead that effort in providing 
curriculum materials for Hawaiian medium/immersion education statewide. 
The much needed work continued in developing our graduate level 
Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education program and then its follow-up 
M.A. degree in Indigenous Language and Culture Education. I am also one 
of the faculty members delivering our Ph.D. in Hawaiian and Indigenous 
Language and Culture Revitalization.
    In my present position, I serve as the Director of Ka Haka `Ula O 
Ke`elikolani College of Hawaiian Language. I am also engaged with other 
critical work, such as the Native Educator Education Committee of the 
National Indian Education Association and the accreditation board of 
WINHEC, the World's Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium.
    Today I will be testifying before the Committee on the work of our 
Hawaiian Language College as a primary resourcing entity for Hawaiian 
language revitalization and education as mandated by our state 
legislature. Included is a P-25 (preschool to doctorate) Hawaiian 
language medium/immersion pathway that focuses on Hawaiian speaking 
families and other forms of education toward producing a high 
proficiency in Hawaiian. These include various courses taught through 
Hawaiian at the college level and some high school and community 
language learning. I will also include information on parallel work of 
our College in resourcing Native American language medium education on 
a national level and a Native American Teacher Education Pathway bill.
    Like Namaka Rawlins, I will list barriers to the human and other 
resource development work of the College before going into details of 
that work.

        1. Most university faculty and administrators outside our 
        college and external funders see us as a standard foreign 
        language and foreign area studies program. However, we lack the 
        resources that such foreign language and area studies programs 
        receive, including any of the fifteen federally funded National 
        Foreign Language Resource Centers. The lack of such support 
        severely hampers our ability to reach the full potential of our 
        various Native Hawaiian and other Native American programs. We, 
        therefore, very much appreciate the work that you, Senator 
        Schatz, and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee have put into 
        the bill to establish Native American Language Resource 
        Centers.

        2. Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani college focuses highly on 
        teacher training for Hawaiian language medium/immersion P-12 
        teachers. There is a critical shortage of fully proficient 
        teachers in Hawaiian, well prepared in a wide range of content 
        areas and trained in delivering education from a Native 
        language and culture-based foundation. Because of the unique 
        language and cultural elements, our teachers require more 
        preparation than any standard English medium teacher 
        preparation. There is a nationwide shortage of teachers 
        prepared for Native language medium/immersion, Native culture-
        based, and schools in communities with a high population of 
        Native students. Not addressing this critical teacher shortage 
        hinders and impedes the implementation of highly successful 
        Native language/medium education that builds upon its language 
        and cultural strengths. Our state DOE projects that Hawaiian 
        medium/immersion schools will have a shortage of 75 teachers 
        for the upcoming school year. This data does not include the 
        Hawaiian medium/immersion charter school shortage. Some 
        estimate the total state shortage for the upcoming school year 
        to be around 100 teachers statewide for the 28 K-12 Hawaiian 
        medium/immersion schools. The National Indian Education 
        Association has collaborated on new legislation called the 
        Native American Teacher Education Pathway Act. I am part of the 
        Committee working on developing this bill which has received 
        national feedback in its development from all three Native 
        American groups. We would like to request your consideration, 
        Senator Schatz, in introducing the bill.

        3. Our College provides curriculum materials and resource 
        materials to schools. We and other Native American language 
        programs lack access to direct funding to create such materials 
        and resources. Grants are highly competitive and require much 
        work to develop grants and fit them into competitive 
        preferences while still focusing on the priorities we know to 
        exist in the schools we are serving. What limited competitive 
        grants are available are generally written with requirements 
        based on the needs of English medium schools rather than the 
        Native American language medium/immersion schools that we 
        serve. In addition, as a state system with no tribal schools or 
        boards, we also do not meet the criteria for some grants that 
        fit well with the needs of the schools and students we serve. 
        Improving the grant definitions and where the grants are 
        administrated may provide increased access to Hawaiian medium/
        immersion education and other potential funding to support 
        funding and program access for innovation in the Native 
        Hawaiian Community.

        4. Fourth, there is a need for direct funding for Native 
        students and services of students enrolled in our Native 
        Hawaiian and Native American streams. Native American language 
        and culture study is largely under the radar in terms of 
        federal and private foundation support. Available funding that 
        focuses on individual Native Americans is most commonly 
        directed to areas where Native students are highly 
        underrepresented, e.g., engineering, computer science, and 
        medicine. Although programs in higher education teaching 
        Indigenous languages and cultures are uncommon, where they 
        exist, such as here in our College, it is always the area of 
        higher education where Indigenous students are the majority. 
        Because our area of study has a majority of Native students, 
        our students can be designated as a lower priority in funding 
        focused on increasing the percentage representation of 
        Indigenous students. However, because so many of our students 
        become involved in education, they have a much more significant 
        impact on Native youth as a whole than areas for which funding 
        for Native students is more readily available. A further 
        barrier for students in our area is that they often take longer 
        to finish their undergraduate studies. This is because we are 
        training individuals who are not only becoming proficient in 
        the Indigenous language and culture but also in an academic 
        content area that they intend to teach to Native students. 
        Thus, here at Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani, many of our Native 
        Hawaiian Studies students are pursuing a double major in 
        another area. The time to accomplish this typically extends 
        beyond the standard four or five years of scholarship support 
        provided to Native students.

    Although we face many barriers, our College has made steady 
progress in developing our P-25 preschool to the doctorate (P-25) 
programs.
    The Hawai`i State Legislature mandated Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani 
College. The establishment of the College brought together the Hawaiian 
Studies Department, the Hale Kuamo`o Hawaiian Language Center, and the 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u K-12 School site (then operated with special 
support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the non-profit `Aha Punana 
Leo and the Hawai`i Department of Education. The mandate is reflected 
in Act 315 and resulting HRS 304A 1301-1302 and other statutes that 
refer to distinctive responsibilities of the College.
    Since the passage of that mandate in 1997, we have added to our 
basic Hawaiian language medium B.A. in Hawaiian Studies, a Hawaiian 
language medium graduate level teacher education certificate in 
Indigenous language medium education, a Hawaiian medium M.A. in 
Indigenous Language and Culture Education, a Hawaiian medium Ph.D. in 
Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization and a 
Hawaiian language medium lower-division certificate in Indigenous 
language medium early childhood education. We also provide dual college 
enrollment for Hawaiian speaking high school students in a selected 
range of general education courses taught in Hawaiian, including World 
History, Statistics, and Sociology. We hope to expand those courses to 
fulfill our legislative mandate to provide liberal education through 
Hawaiian.
    Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani is administered and operated through 
Hawaiian, the only College administered and managed through a Native 
American language. All our faculty and staff are bilingual in Hawaiian 
and English, and several are proficient in other languages. Our 
exceptionally high credit load for our majors and our cultivation of 
Hawaiian as our working language is necessary to reach the high level 
of proficiency essential to resource Hawaiian language medium schools. 
However, we also serve the general student body of UH Hilo, who simply 
want to fulfill the standard second language study in other 
universities. For those non-majors, we offer introductory Hawaiian 
language and culture courses in English.
    On a more extensive level, we have an outreach program to other 
Native Americans and Indigenous peoples that runs parallel to our 
Hawaiian language medium undergraduate and graduate program. Such 
outreach is also part of our legislative mandate.
    Linguistics is the scientific base from which we approach language 
revitalization. At the undergraduate level, we provide an English 
medium B.A. in Linguistics. Students may also simultaneously pursue the 
study of their traditional Native American languages while enrolled in 
our Linguistics program and apply that study to our undergraduate 
Certificate in Indigenous Multilingualism. Another alternative is to 
develop their traditional Native American language knowledge before 
transferring to our Linguistics program, perhaps by attending a Tribal 
College.
    Our most developed program in serving other Native American peoples 
is at the doctoral level. Beginning over a decade ago, we initiated an 
English medium strand in our Ph.D. program that enrolls Native American 
students. That program is an important resource for the United States 
and Canada as there are no programs like it at present elsewhere. The 
languages represented in that strand are Lakota, Mohawk, Arapaho, 
Tlingit, Dakota, Inupiaq, Ojibwe, and Samoan. Our non-Hawaiian students 
in the Ph.D. program typically work in Native American language medium 
schools or higher education while studying in our program. Our first 
graduate from this English strand is Dr. Lance X'unei Twitchell, who 
heads the Native Alaskan program in Juneau at the University of Alaska 
Southeast. He was recently recognized as the Young Alaska Native of the 
Year. Several others are employed in higher education or are 
administrators in Native Schools.
    We have been working on expanding our support to Native America 
beyond our Ph.D. and Linguistics B.A. Our graduate-level teaching 
certificate has been approved to be delivered in languages other than 
Hawaiian.
    We have discussed offering it through Ojibwe and/or Towa. For our 
Towa program, we have been working closely with the Education 
Department of Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico. We have also begun a pilot 
offering an English stream for non-Hawaiian-speaking Indigenous peoples 
of our Master's in Indigenous Language and Culture Education. Another 
feature of our work with other Native Americans is a shared course at 
the Master's level where we work with Indigenous teacher training 
universities in Arizona and Alaska as well as those in British Columbia 
and New Zealand. We see our work in cooperation with other U.S. 
universities and tribes as a model for what could be done cooperatively 
should the Native American Language Resource Center bill pass. Mahalo 
again to you, Senator Schatz, for introducing that bill with strong 
support from Senator Murkowski. Work with Alaska Natives has 
strengthened our programs here. In particular, I'd like to mention the 
late Dr. Bill Demmert, Tlingit, a founder of the National Indian 
Education Association. Dr. Demmert provided key advice to us in our 
beginning efforts in the assessment of our Hawaiian medium program and 
sponsored Native Hawaiian inclusion in the National Indian Education 
Association, with Namaka and myself among the pioneering members that 
he brought into the NIEA.
    I mentioned earlier that Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani also maintains 
the Hale Kuamo`o Hawaiian Language. That work is crucial for Hawaiian 
Language Medium Schools, university students at UH Hilo and elsewhere, 
and adult learning.
HALE KUAMO`O HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE CENTER
    The Hale Kuamo`o Hawaiian Language Center was established in 
association with the UH Hilo Hawaiian Studies Department in 1989. The 
`Aha Punana Leo worked in partnership to provide materials to the 
Center for distribution to the growing number of Punana Leo preschools 
and follow-up Hawaiian immersion elementary school programs. The Hale 
Kuamo`o is operated through awards of competitive grant funds and 
student workers from the College.
    The Hale Kuamo`o focuses on material originally written in Hawaiian 
or developed from a Hawaiian perspective for over two decades now. It 
has produced over 700 of these kinds of publications. It also produces 
the curriculum materials used by the College itself and those used from 
preschool through grade 12 in the larger Hawaiian language medium 
education effort. Entities and individuals also use its materials for 
studying Hawaiian as a second language. Print materials include posters 
and charts as well as actual books. Some of the early publications of 
the Hale Kuamo`o were translations of standard required textbooks in 
math and science for the state public schools.
    The Hale Kuamo`o has allowed some of its materials to be translated 
into the Ni`ihau dialect to serve the needs of that small community and 
others to be translated into English for use in English medium Hawaiian 
culture-based education when appropriate. It has also participated in 
projects to produce bilingual Hawaiian-English materials, such as the 
`Aina Lupalupa Science materials, in partnership with the Kamehameha 
Schools. However, the bulk of the materials produced by the Hale 
Kuamo`o is solely in Hawaiian. The Hale Kuamo`o does not only create 
and disseminate resources for schools; it also holds in-service 
training for teachers and parents on how to use materials.
THE ULUKAU ELECTRONIC HAWAIIAN LIBRARY
    In addition to its print publications, the Hale Kuamo`o has led the 
electronic dissemination of Hawaiian language materials. This began 
with the first Hawaiian computer fonts and Hawaiian email services. 
Electronic versions of its print books allow Hawaiian medium/immersion 
schools to print out copies of books when students lose them or they 
are somehow destroyed.
    The Hale Kuamo`o pioneered the electronic dissemination of archival 
written materials in Hawaiian. Those include land deeds and other 
government materials; however, the most significant for Hawaiian 
language medium schools are Hawaiian language newspapers, which span 
from 1834 through 1948, consisting of some 125,000 pages in the 
Hawaiian language. These newspapers, available through the Hale 
Kuamo`o's Ulukau Electronic Hawaiian Library in various formats and in 
cooperation with partners such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, are 
extremely important in providing materials for the study of Hawaiian 
history, literature, and culture for the Hawaiian language medium 
schools and college students.
    A parallel collection of materials, the Kani`aina Hawaiian language 
tape archives available through Ulukau include audio and videotaped 
collections of the last traditional Hawaiian language-speaking elders. 
College faculty member Dr. Larry Kimura collected the majority of these 
tapes from the early 1970s to the end of the 1990s. These materials are 
widely accessed by students of Hawaiian and teachers in Hawaiian 
language medium schools.
    While there are several thousand hits to the Ulukau electronic 
library collections of Hawaiian newspapers and the Kani`aina tapes, the 
most widely used collection of Ulukau is its Hawaiian dictionaries 
collections. Those collections include most of the dictionaries and 
lexicons of Hawaiian since the establishment of the Hawaiian writing 
system in the 1820s. It includes the words collected and created by the 
Komike Lekikona Hawai`i established with elders at the beginning of the 
`Aha Punana Leo and continuing through to the present. Over 35,000 
Hawaiian words are available through these dictionaries. The 
dictionaries' sites receive over 1.7 million hits per month.
    The Hale Kuamo`o has a process for approving what materials can be 
posted. The main criteria are in or about the Hawaiian language and 
culture and are useful for a segment of the population seeking to learn 
and spread the Hawaiian language. Many other documents are useful for 
Hawaiian language and culture study and schooling on the Ulukau site, 
including materials created by teachers for their students and the 
Hawaiian Bible.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
    Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani is the venue for conferences, meetings, 
and ceremonies for the Hawaiian speaking public, the Native Hawaiians 
involved in the more extensive education of Hawai`i, other 
professionals and community members, Native American educators, and 
Indigenous educators.
    In closing then, Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani is the primary 
resource provider for the larger Native Hawaiian language and culture-
based education movement in the state of Hawai`i. Those resources are 
the first human, highly trained teachers and researchers, and second 
material. We are the primary source of such human resources in the 
state.
    The material resources that we provide are publications, primary 
resource materials, and reference materials. The volume of material 
support that we provide is very substantial. However, the development 
and even distribution and maintenance of those materials are highly 
dependent on winning competitive grants.
    Mahalo a nui loa for the invitation to provide testimony on this 
very important hearing topic.

    The Chairman. Thank you.
    Ms. Kalili, please proceed.

       STATEMENT OF AMY KALILI, PARTNER, PILINA FIRST LLP

    Ms. Kalili. [Greeting in Native tongue.] Aloha kakou. 
Mahalo nui as well for this opportunity to speak with you 
today, Senator. My name is Amy Kalili, and while my ohana hails 
from Pa'ala'a, we are commonly known today as Hale'iwa on the 
north shore of Oahu. I grew up right here in Hilo, Hawaii. I 
have been involved in the Hawaiian language movement since the 
1990s. In fact, my mentors and the programs that nurtured and 
cultivated my fluency now occupy this very building that we are 
meeting in today. So I am honored to be here with all of them 
this morning.
    I am privileged to have worked alongside these amazing 
[phrase in Native tongue]. To my right Namaka [indiscernible], 
she was in our immersion program, and Keiki [indiscernible], in 
varying capacities at Aha Punana Leo here at and Ka Haka `Ula o 
Ke`elikolani and at Ke Kula `o Nawahiokalani`opu`u as well. My 
more recent endeavors, however, have taken me a step away from 
the core group of this Hawaiian Language Consortium and those 
partners, if you will, out into the broader community, 
advocating for and supporting language efforts there.
    There is no doubt that our preschool through 12th grade 
Hawaiian language programs are the driving force of our 
Hawaiian language movement. But we all know that this movement 
is much more than a collective of children in schools. At the 
core of this movement are the ohana, whose keiki are in the 
schools and they are pursuing `olelo Hawai`i as the primary 
language for their children and for their homes. As that core 
continues to grow, so do the concentric rings that ripple out 
from that core. Those rings include individuals and ohana that 
know some Hawaiian words and phrases or are even learning 
`olelo Hawai`i but aren't necessarily pursuing an extremely 
high `olelo fluency.
    Some run businesses and organizations that use `olelo 
Hawai`i in some capacity, and there are thousands more who 
support the movement in other ways. They give financially, they 
support and pass policy measures necessary to ensure equity and 
parity for these language programs, they lend their celebrity 
and influence to elevate the perceived status of language. They 
provide platforms and dissemination mechanisms to extend the 
capacity, reach, and impact of our `olelo Hawai`i. Whatever 
their specific contribution, these outer rings of engagement 
and support are fundamental to the movement overall, and to the 
ultimate success of the group of students, `ohana and kumu that 
are at the core in these Hawaiian language schools.
    The perceived relevance and capacity of `olelo Hawai`i as a 
thriving, living language that should be used in all sectors of 
Hawaii is critical to the sustained progress of our language 
schools and programs. Its relevance, the relevance of the 
language, will either be cultivated or diminished in the larger 
context of the movement. For example, next year, correct me if 
I am wrong, next year, 2023 will mark the 40th anniversary of 
`Aha Punana Leo. We have educated thousands of kamali'i and 
`opio entirely through Hawaiian language. Many of them are now 
well into their careers, some gaining high paying positions, 
not in spite of but because of their fluency in Hawaiian and 
the perspective and worldview that comes with that
    Yet wee still have policy makers and leaders in our own 
community wondering, what is the real value of them gaining 
fluency? Why are we trying to use `olelo Hawai`i in as many 
contexts as possible? That, in my humble opinion, is an 
awareness perception and relevance issue, an issue that has 
unfortunate implications for the long-term support of the 
language schools and programs regardless of the amazing work 
being done therein.
    Whether for the benefit of our political and community 
leaders, our own `ohana, and especially for our `opio and 
keiki, it is imperative that we support the use of `olelo 
Hawai`i in the domains that affirm that it is a language of 
capacity. One of the most important domains for language 
presence is media. The ubiquitous nature of media makes it such 
that if we do not embrace and harness its power to our benefit, 
it will become an immense barrier to the normalization of all 
of our Native languages.
    `Aha Punana Leo's longstanding partnership with `Oiwi 
Television Network blazed a trail of sorts in this area back in 
2008 with our `Aha`i `Olelo Ola news programming on Hawaii's 
CBS-affiliate, Hawai`i News Now. It was an honor to anchor, 
produce, and write for that programming, and it was even more 
rewarding because I got a chance to see first-hand how this 
work in media, in the broader landscape of the language 
movement, had a direct impact on the work being done in our 
language schools and programs. We still to this day have 
students and parents approach us to say how seeing Hawaiians on 
TV, Hawaiians using Hawaiian in that way and in that space, was 
a game-changer. It broadened the imagination of our community 
in terms of what is possible and how our language can and 
should be used.
    Equally satisfying is watching local programming, like our 
Merrie Monarch broadcast, where now we have each and every 
commercial break including spots or commercials that are in 
Hawaiian, commercials by businesses who understand the added 
economic value of connecting with our community and our culture 
in this way.
    Unlike many of our indigenous cousins around the world, 
however, our Native language broadcast programming doesn't 
receive stable government funding, State or Federal. This is in 
stark contrast, for example, to the Maori broadcast efforts in 
Aotearoa that receive upwards of 40 million New Zealand dollars 
annually and Welsh initiatives that receive well over 80 
million pounds annually from the government.
    Another key partner in the Hawaiian Language Consortium 
working to uplift and normalize the use and relevance of 
Hawaiian language in broader context is our `Imiloa Center, 
which is right across the street, up the road here. One of 
`Imiloa's recent initiatives that brought our language front 
and center in the world of astronomy and landmark discoveries 
being made therein is the A Hua He Inoa program, meaning ``to 
bring forth a name.'' A Hua He Inoa is a collaborative effort 
led by `Imiloa that is weaving traditional indigenous practices 
into the process of officially naming astronomical discoveries. 
This is yet another acknowledgement of the capacity and 
relevance of `olelo Hawai`i and the worldview that it informs 
in modern context.
    The program creates a context where Hawaiian-speaking 
students are immersed in knowledge from `olelo Hawai`i experts, 
education leaders, and top research scientists from Hawaii's 
astronomical observatories. These haumana working alongside 
these mentors to create [phrase in Native tongue] or Hawaiian 
names.
    Building on the impact that this integrated programming has 
on our haumana when they are given skills and platforms that 
reiterate the relevance and importance of their fluency, we 
will be combining the efforts of `OiwiTV and `Imiloa's work in 
science and technology this fall to create coursework in 
digital storytelling to be delivered here at Ka Haka `Ula 
through Hawaiian Language College. We will be teaching news 
writing and distribution strategies, along with components of 
production work, data visualization, animation, and even 
exhibit development, all again through the Hawaiian language.
    While these and other Consortium initiatives are made 
possible by creative collaboration and creative funding, having 
stable streams of support for innovative program development 
like this is critical to the continued success of the 
Consortium's work.
    Another vital complementary component of our movement that 
has been fundamental to the growth of our Hawaiian language 
medium schools has been cross-community collaboration with both 
Keiki and Namaka have referenced. From early advocacy efforts 
to simply affirm the right to educate our children in their 
Native language to the ongoing development of the educational 
programming that has been referenced today, and then our 
delving into media even, and these science and technology 
endeavors, collaborating with other indigenous language 
communities has been fundamental to success.
    Our Mokuola Honua, Global Center for Indigenous Language 
Excellence, was developed as a gathering place, both physical 
and virtual, to foster collaborations on a wide range of 
indigenous issues and strategies, all of which are grounded in 
strong language fluency. The Consortium had organically been 
developing strong relationships with other indigenous 
communities engaged in language efforts since the 1980s. These 
informal efforts were born out of necessity due to the limited 
resources that are typically available to indigenous language 
efforts as well as the small numbers of those actively pursuing 
such initiatives.
    The Center's goal is to provide structure, purpose, and 
space to create a national and international network supporting 
indigenous language revitalization globally, and it is housed 
here at Hale`olelo.
    In conclusion, support for the integration of `olelo 
Hawai`i as a practical language of capacity and prominent high 
impact and high visibility domains, such as media and science 
and technology are critical to the ongoing relevance of our 
language to have it actually [phrase in Native tongue] or to 
live and be used in our community. This in turn solidifies the 
broader context for support and normalization to ensure our 
language schools and programs thrive.
    And our ability to continue to engage with and support the 
language revitalization and normalization efforts of our 
indigenous cousins nationally and internationally will allow 
for accelerated success as a global collective, impacting these 
individual communities and precious [phrase in Native tongue] 
here in Hawaii and around the world.
    Mahalo nui loa [phrase in Native tongue.]
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Kalili follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Amy Kalili, Partner, Pilina First LLP
    E ka Luna Ho`omalu `o Schatz, ka Hope Luna Ho`omalu `o Murkowski a 
me na lala a pau o keia komike, aloha nui kakou and mahalo for this 
opportunity to speak with you regarding funding and program access for 
innovation in the Native Hawaiian Community, particularly as it relates 
to the renormalization of our Hawaiian language in its homeland.
    My name is Amy Kalili. While my `ohana Hawai`i hails from Pa`ala`a, 
more commonly known today as Hale`iwa on the north shore of the island 
of O`ahu, I grew up right here in Hilo Hawai`i. I have had the 
privilege of being involved in the Hawaiian Language movement since the 
1990s. My mentors and the programs that nurtured and cultivated my 
fluency now occupy this very building we are meeting in today and they 
continue to be at the tip of the spear, leading a movement that has 
become a national and international model of indigenous language 
revitalization.
    Although the Hawaiian language medium schools--that my colleague 
Namaka Rawlins will speak to at length in this hearing--were 
established well after my formative years, I did ``grow up'' in and 
around these efforts starting early on in my college years. From the 
undergraduate (BA Business Administration, BA Hawaiian Studies) and 
graduate (JD/MBA) degrees I have completed, to the positions I have 
held and businesses I have built and run in my professional career, all 
were motivated by an aloha and commitment to uplifting our `olelo 
makuahine. The goal of E Ola ka `Olelo Hawai`i--the Hawaiian Language 
Shall Live--is an audacious one, but one that changed my life and 
thousands of others who are a part of our aukahi `olelo Hawai`i, our 
Hawaiian language movement.
Success of Native Language Schools and Programs Dependent on Broader 
        Reach and Awareness
    My testimony is an extension of Namaka Rawlins' testimony--
highlighting the P-12 segment of our Hawaiian language medium schools--
as well Keiki Kawai`ae`a's--which focuses on higher education and its 
crucial role in resourcing the P-12 programming. While I have worked 
alongside both Namaka and Keiki at the `Aha Punana Leo and Ka Haka `Ula 
o Ke`elikolani Hawaiian Language College, as well as Ke Kula `o 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u, my more recent endeavors have taken me a step away 
from this core Hawaiian Language Consortium \1\ out into the broader 
community, advocating for and supporting language efforts there.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The Hawaiian Language Consortium partners include the `Aha 
Punana Leo, Ka Haka `Ula o Ke`elikolani Hawaiian Langauge College, Ke 
Kula `o Nawahiokalani`opu`u, and the `Imiloa Center.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    While the P-12 schools are the driving force of the Hawaiian 
language movement, the movement is more than a collective of children 
in schools. It is a collective of people, young and old, many with 
keiki, mo`opuna, and nieces and nephews in these schools. Many are 
parents who have gone back to school themselves to become teachers and 
administrators. There are `ohana who have learned alongside each other 
to engage civically in order to change and promote policy in support of 
the movement. And we also have our graduates who are well into their 
careers using and applying `olelo Hawai`i in those settings and many 
now raising their own children, completing and continuing the cycle.
    At the core of this movement are the `ohana whose keiki are in our 
schools and they are pursuing `olelo Hawai`i as the primary language 
for their homes. As that core continues to grow, the concentric rings 
that ripple out from that core are growing as well. Those rings include 
individuals and `ohana who know some Hawaiian words and phrases or are 
even learning `olelo Hawai`i but will never reach a high level of 
fluency. They run businesses and organizations that use `olelo Hawai`i 
in some capacity. There are thousands more who support the movement in 
other ways. They give financially. They support and pass policy 
measures necessary to ensure equity and parity for these language 
programs. They lend their celebrity and influence to elevate the 
perceived status of the language. They provide platforms and 
dissemination mechanisms to extend the capacity, reach and impact of 
our `olelo Hawai`i. Whatever their specific contribution, these outer 
rings of engagement and support are fundamental to the movement overall 
and to the ultimate success of that core group of students, `ohana, 
teachers, professors, curriculum developers, and administrators in the 
Hawaiian language medium schools.
    I have had the honor and privilege of being a part of that core 
group, as a student and lecturer at this Hawaiian Language College, a 
student-teacher at Nawahiokalani`opu`u, and in multiple capacities at 
the `Aha Punana Leo including Executive Director. However, my work 
outside of that core group--currently in media and communications 
alongside partners and clients who see and embrace the value of a 
living language here in Hawai`i--has been just as critical as my time 
spent in the core of the movement.
    The perceived relevance and capacity of `olelo Hawai`i as a living 
language to be used in all sectors of Hawai`i is fundamental to the 
long-term success of our language schools and programs. This relevance 
will either be cultivated or diminished in the larger context of the 
movement and Hawai`i overall. Next year, 2023, will mark the 40th 
anniversary of the `Aha Punana Leo. We have educated thousands of 
kamali`i and `opio entirely through Hawaiian. Many of them are now well 
into their careers, some gaining high-paying positions not in spite of, 
but because of, their fluency in Hawaiian and the perspective and 
worldview that comes with that. Yet, it was just a few months ago in 
casual conversation about the schools and programs that one of our 
policymakers here in Hawai`i asked what the real value of having these 
children educated in `olelo Hawai`i was. That is an awareness, 
perception, and status issue; an issue that has unfortunate 
implications for the long-term support for the language schools and 
programs regardless of the amazing work being done therein.
    Whether for the benefit of our political and community leaders or 
our own `ohana, and especially our `opio and keiki, it is imperative 
that we support the use of our native languages in the domains that 
affirm that it is a language of capacity.
Supporting Use of Language in Media
    One of the most important domains for language presence is media, 
both broadcast media but also new media. The ubiquitous nature of media 
makes it such that if we do not embrace and harness its power to our 
benefit, it will become an immense barrier to the normalization of our 
native languages. Media has a significant potential to contribute to 
language revitalization. It can help address the issue of prestige and 
status, but can also help expand the use of the language into other 
domains including government and business, and can also support 
language learning itself.
    `Aha Punana Leo's long-standing partnership with `Oiwi Television 
Network--and its key partners including Paliku Documentary Films, 
Makauila Inc., and Pilina First--blazed a trail in this area back in 
2008 with our `Aha`i `Olelo Ola news programming on Hawai`i's CBS-
affiliate, Hawai`i News Now. It was an honor to anchor, produce and 
write for that programming as I got to amplify the stories--to multiple 
thousands of Hawaiian speakers and non-speakers each morning and on the 
weekends--about the amazing work being done in our communities. This 
platform also gave us an opportunity to bring a different perspective 
to issues impacting not only the Native Hawaiian community, but Hawai`i 
overall. It was even more rewarding because I got to make the 
connection, firsthand, to how this work in media, in the broader 
landscape of the language movement, had a direct impact on the work 
being done in our language schools and programs. We still to this day 
have students and parents approach us to say how seeing Hawaiians on 
TV, more so speaking Hawaiian and using Hawaiian in that way, was a 
game-changer. It broadened the imagination of our community in terms of 
what is possible and how our language can and should be used. Even more 
satisfying is watching programmings like the Merrie Monarch broadcast, 
the largest locally produced show, where the talent is not only able to 
speak about this traditional practice of hula in both languages but 
each and every commercial break includes spots done in Hawaiian; 
commercials by businesses who understand the added economic value of 
connecting with our community and our culture.
    Unlike many of our indigenous cousins around the world, however, 
our native language broadcast programming does not receive stable 
government funding, state nor federal. This is in stark contrast for 
example to the Maori broadcast efforts in Aotearoa that receive upwards 
of $40 million annually and the Welsh initiatives that receive well 
over 80 million pounds annually.
Ongoing Support for Bilingual Science and Technology Programming
    The `Imiloa Bilingual Science Center--located just across the road 
from where we are gathered here at Hale`olelo--is another key partner 
in the Hawaiian language consortium working to uplift and normalize the 
use and relevance of Hawaiian language in areas of cutting-edge 
technology. `Imiloa is an informal science center; the only Hawaiian-
English bilingual center of its kind. It was envisioned by the late 
Senator Daniel Inouye to bring Hawaiian culture and science together.
    One of `Imiloa's recent initiatives that brought our language front 
and center in the world of astronomy and landmark discoveries being 
made therein is the A Hua He Inoa program. Meaning ``to bring forth a 
name,'' A Hua He Inoa is a collaborative effort led by `Imiloa that is 
shifting global paradigms, positioning Hawai`i as the first place in 
the world to weave traditional indigenous practices into the process of 
officially naming astronomical discoveries. As we celebrate 40 years of 
revitalizing `olelo Hawai`i, this is yet another acknowledgment of the 
capacity and relevance of `olelo Hawai`i--and the world view that it 
informs--in modern contexts.
    The program creates a context where Hawaiian-speaking students are 
immersed in knowledge from `olelo Hawai`i experts, education leaders, 
and top research scientists from Hawai`i's astronomical observatories. 
They peer into the world of scientific research, learn about the recent 
discovery of celestial bodies, and expanded their understanding of the 
vital relationship, and role, of tradition and culture in modern-day 
science.
    Building on the impact that this integrated programming has on our 
haumana when they are given skills and platforms that reiterate the 
relevance and importance of their fluency, we will be combining the 
media efforts of `OiwiTV and `Imiloa's work in science and technology 
this fall. We will be developing coursework in digital storytelling to 
be delivered at the Hawaiian Language College. These will be dual-
credit courses whereby Nawahiokalani`opu`u high school students can 
enroll in the courses and receive both high school and college credits. 
We will be teaching storytelling, news writing, dissemination and 
distribution strategies, along with components of production work, data 
visualization, animation, and exhibit development, all through the 
Hawaiian language.
    While these and other Consortium initiatives are made possible by 
creative collaboration and funding, having stable streams of support 
for innovative program development like this is critical to the 
continued success of the Consortium's work.
Support for Cross-community Collaboration
    From the early advocacy efforts to simply affirm the right to 
educate our children in their native language, to the ongoing 
development of educational programming, and then our delving into media 
and even these science and technology endeavors, collaborating with 
other indigenous language communities has also been fundamental to 
success.
    Our Mokuola Honua: Global Center for Indigenous Language Excellence 
was developed as a gathering place--both physical and virtual--to 
foster collaborations on a wide range of indigenous issues and 
strategies, all of which are grounded in strong language fluency. The 
Consortium had been organically developing strong relationships with 
other indigenous communities engaged in language revitalization efforts 
since the 1980s. These informal collaborative efforts were born out of 
necessity due to the limited resources that are typically available to 
indigenous language efforts as well as the small numbers of those 
actively pursuing such initiatives.
    The Center's goal is to provide structure, purpose, and space to 
create a national and international network supporting indigenous 
language revitalization globally and it is housed here at Hale`olelo.
    Mokuola Honua has hosted symposiums engaging representatives from 
indigenous communities around the world. The Center has also developed 
and delivered programming for high school and college students to 
broaden their understanding of international language efforts and what 
it is like to advocate at the United Nations for indigenous language 
rights; advocacy efforts that increase their own understanding and 
appreciation for what they are fortunate to be a part of here at home. 
Mokuola Honua has also supported candidates in the College's Masters 
and Ph.D. programs from other indigenous communities allowing them to 
earn these degrees in a program focused on the language work they do 
with their own people. The Center is also an extension of the work that 
`Aha Punana Leo has done for decades in welcoming other peoples to 
visit and learn from our programs here in Hawai`i.
Conclusion
    Mahalo nui loa again to you all, e ka Luna Ho`omalu `o Schatz, ka 
Hope Luna Ho`omalu `o Murkowski a me na lala a pau o keia komike, a 
peia pu ia `oukou e na limahana kako`o for this opportunity to share 
some of the work we are intimately involved in. I leave you with a few 
points to consider as it relates to areas of needed support for the 
broader context of the aukahi `olelo Hawai`i that are vital to the 
success of our core language schools and programs.

        1. Dedicated Hawaiian language media funding streams will allow 
        us to harness the ubiquitous nature and power of this domain, 
        affirming the status, relevance, and capacity of our language. 
        This will address the issue of prestige and status, but can 
        also help expand the use of the language in other domains, and 
        can also directly support language learning through the 
        delivery of educational content and curriculum to even more 
        learners.

        2. Dedicated funding that supports continued innovations in the 
        integration of language and culture in science and technology 
        in meaningful, practical ways is another means to affirm the 
        capacity of our language and the place of our worldview in 
        modern contexts.

        3. Dedicated resources for the ongoing collaboration on 
        research, innovation, and program development across indigenous 
        language communities will allow us to continue to visit, lean 
        on, learn from and share with each other.

    The Chairman. Mahalo to all of you. Incredible information. 
Just the way we are going to work, my staff is taking notes, 
this is going to be part of the official hearing record. I want 
to reiterate, hearings can be a little performative, actually 
they usually are performative. I see members back in the Senate 
come in, do their five minutes, post it in Instagram. That is 
not this. This is to figure out what we can all do together.
    So I am going to give you a few minutes of advance warning 
about kind of the main question I want to ask each one of you. 
What are your recommendations? What can we actually do for you? 
If you can be as specific as possible, I want to make sure we 
have our marching orders from you.
    While you are thinking on that, I wanted to start with Ms. 
Kalili, and just think about the normalization and 
popularization of the Native Hawaiian language everywhere. I 
was thinking about the bank machine in Hawaiian now, and I 
think the Star Advertiser does it as well. So lots of it is 
happening.
    The question is twofold. What is next? What is the next 
level of normalization, so that it becomes commonplace and not 
just, oh, that is neat that they did that, but rather, it is 
expected that they do that. Then, do you have any concerns, how 
do you balance that against outside forces who may want to 
commercialize or own or even bastardize the use of language and 
culture? In a way, it is a high class problem to have lots of 
people enthused about the Native Hawaiian language. But it does 
strike me that it could be a problem if you have international 
corporations who want to monetize this without, you know, 
nothing about me without me. Some of these folks love to make 
decisions without us.
    So what are the next steps in normalization and 
popularization of the Native Hawaiian language, and how do we 
balance against people who may not share our values?
    Ms. Kalili. Yes, acknowledging off the top that it is a 
delicate dance, if you will, I think personally as it relates 
to normalization, absolutely continuing, being able to develop 
that core of our movement that I was talking about, in the 
schools and the graduates that are coming out of them, we have 
come a very long way in the last, it is going to be 40 years. 
We now have graduates who have come out of our programs.
    That in and of itself is key to normalization because you 
have literally a new generation of humans walking around who 
are speaking Hawaiian and using Hawaiian in a much more normal 
way than would have occurred actually 40 years ago. I think it 
is also about this cycle of now we have these graduates who 
have their own keiki. I remember, I don't know if it was your 
moopuna keiki, but I remember having a conversation with a 
parent or a moopuna about their keiki, we had gotten to the 
place where when they are born, if they are fortunate to be 
born in a Hawaiian-speaking home and have access to a punana 
leo and to the infant-toddler program, there may very well be 
at this point a time period where they think everybody in the 
world speaks Hawaiian. Then they figure out that, oh, gee, not 
everybody does.
    That is huge. That is a bummer probably for that child. But 
as a measure of how far a movement has come, that is huge. And 
that is all of that to say I think that is definitely a step 
toward normalization.
    But I do think definitely what we are seeing as `olelo 
Hawai`i starts to make its way into other domains and how 
strategic we can be about assisting the sustainability of that 
is also key. Again, to my point in my comments about the use of 
media, it is there. It will be there whether we like it or not. 
Media is all around us all the time.
    So being able to make use of `olelo Hawai`i in that domain 
is huge as well, because it does, it just starts to become a 
little more normal. Even for myself, and I admit that I am part 
of the forest, I am in the forest of `olelo Hawai`i-speaking 
trees. So initially, however, when I would hear another 
Hawaiian speaking person and I didn't know, that was huge for 
me. I would be like, wow, what is that.
    It has gotten to the point now where it kind of doesn't 
phase me anymore. I think that is also part of my 
normalization, just hearing it. I am thinking of an example 
right now, and no, it is not my voice on the plane, but when I 
hear other----
    [Laughter.]
    Ms. Kalili. Not talking about that voice. But when I hear 
other flight attendants just naturally speaking Hawaiian on the 
plane, that is another example, I think, of normalization. So 
just being able to have it used in other domains is huge.
    To your second point about outside forces, not joking, I 
think we are also fortunate to have so many smart, educated 
Hawaiians in our community who are literally papered up. We 
have individuals with degrees, we have attorneys, Native 
Hawaiian IP attorneys is where I am going to with this. I think 
we are fortunate because of that. I definitely personally, I do 
not think that we should shy away from having our language be 
used in other domains, even if it is by, as you mentioned, 
corporate entities. But I think the onus is on us to do it in a 
way to make sure that we have the resources shored up that can 
support that and make sure that it is done well and done 
correctly.
    But I definitely think, again, to reiterate, I don't think 
it is something that should cause us to step back.
    The Chairman. That is great. I just think it should be 
intermediated by Native Hawaiians.
    Ms. Kalili. Absolutely.
    The Chairman. So let's start with Ms. Rawlins. I think this 
might also be for Dr. Kawai'ae'a. What I know about Nawahi is 
that you have done a fair amount of conferences and trainings 
with other Native communities that may be in a different phase 
in terms of the revitalization of language. I am wondering if 
we can talk specifically about what you have been up to and 
also more generally for the Committee purposes, when we were 
contemplating, frankly, a bigger piece of legislation last 
fall, we had some pretty big plans in the language space across 
Native American Indian tribes and Alaska Native tribes. We were 
very excited.
    Now, we are probably going to have to do this in increments 
instead, rather than getting all the money all at once to 
establish this. But I still want to think through, what is the 
structure of making sure that it is organically generated from 
individual and Native communities. But also you learn a ton, 
right? And how do we share that with other Native peoples 
across the Country?
    Ms. Rawlins. So what we have been doing, we have been doing 
this for many, many years, and that is to host. We have been 
hosting Native American communities to come and visit with us 
at our campus. On our campus we are able to demonstrate, we 
call it the model, we are able to have the private non-profit, 
Punana Leo, with our infants and toddlers program, then into 
the charter K-8 Nawahi, then into the 9-12 DOE immersion. So 
right there is a demonstration of private and public education 
systems where the children are able to get educated, be 
educated there.
    So we have hosted from many tribes the welcoming and then 
being able to visit classrooms, sit down with us, and we 
discuss with them, this is how the program here at the 
university, the doctorate program, was able to bring an 
outreach to these individuals who are in their community that 
are now driving their own revitalization efforts in their own 
languages to be able to work back here with our college. 
Because they have come through and were able to see what the 
possibilities are. They come back again and again. Every time 
they come back, they always say they keep learning more. 
Because you can't do it all, the 40 years in two days. So they 
keep returning and they want to know more, and how do we do 
this. So we have been doing this for many years.
    So I think what we saw when you were talking about the big 
Native American language, what we were wanting to see in 
potential legislation that was coming forward, it was being 
able to get, ensure the protection of our Native American 
languages. We want to have the protection in any kind of 
legislation that came out that would be protecting our Native 
American languages. These are small. We are not big 
governments. We could get run over by the big governments.
    So all the funding that we currently have is through 
competitive, it is competitive funding. We don't even have the 
space to open up to protect our Native American language nests. 
We are talking about the nests [indiscernible] that would 
actually prioritize because if it is that important to us then 
it becomes prioritized, then the funding does reach into the 
community and not get swallowed up by the government agencies 
or what have you.
    So it was talking about how funds that might have reserves 
for these types of programs, and that we would be able to have 
access into the funding mechanisms that were being talked about 
and discussed at that time.
    The Chairman. It seems to me that we have done a little 
better. I remember one of the first projects that we had was to 
kind of educate the U.S. Education Department about what you 
were up to and make sure that under Race to the Top that we 
were still compliant. But we actually got through that little 
labyrinth together.
    I imagine that it continues. I would just ask you to 
continue to ask us to oversee. It is DOI sometimes but it is 
also U.S. Ed to make sure that they get it. Even when we have 
established public policy, either through law or rule, that 
doesn't mean that individual person at the Education Department 
who is administering a competitive grant program knows where to 
put this. That is often the difficulty, that there is not a 
tribe. There is a trust relationship, not a treaty 
relationship. Once you are talking like that with an education 
analyst somewhere in Washington, D.C., you are already behind 
the eight ball trying to explain not just Hawaii but Hawaiians 
and Hawaiian history and statute and laws and our obligation 
and the overthrow. They are busy.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. But we do need to continue to educate them, 
because that to me is one of the big challenges. We can make 
good policy, but sometimes where the rubber hits the road, they 
are still not listening to you and they still don't know where 
to put you.
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a?
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a. You have made some really good points. I 
think one of our biggest challenges is really fitting into a 
box that we don't fit into. Our needs, several of the points 
that I mentioned, the structure, the fact that we are not 
tribal, and yet the grants are going to different offices that 
we can't apply for, for example.
    The Chairman. Can I ask you a quick question? I think you 
were particularly interested in where the administration of the 
grants occurred. Can you flesh that out? I think I get it; I 
think you want people who are a little closer to Hawaii to 
oversee these grants. What do you mean by that?
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a. I will give you an example. There are 
immersion funds that are available, they are housed in the 
Office of Indian Education. The language reads in Native 
Hawaiians included, but yet as they are administering it, 
Native Hawaiians aren't able to apply for those. So there are 
some glitches in the system with how and where they are 
assigned in the administration. I think even some of the 
interpretation, that may meet or not meet the true intention of 
the bill.
    The Chairman. Thank you for that. We experienced this with 
some of the ARPA funds going to the Department of Hawaiian Home 
Lands, just for example, where the statute was clear and the 
appropriation was there. Then they made DHHL apply as if it was 
competitive grant funding. And there is no other agency 
specified in the statute.
    So two things. First, we are always willing to 
troubleshoot. But I also think it would be valuable for us to 
try to anticipate some of these problems and get on the phone 
in a consultative way to kind of walk some of these folks 
through what was intended by the statute and what you are up 
to, so that you are not just kind of in hand-to-hand combat 
with someone who holds your ability to get funding over you.
    You can kind of overdo it, if they are always hearing from 
the Senator's office. They may shut us all down. So we have to 
be respectful of your need to have good line-to-line working 
relationships. But let's be in contact. I don't mind 
troubleshooting, but I would love to get in front of some of 
the trouble.
    Ms. Nae`ole-Wong, I want to talk to you a little bit about 
the sort of, I call it experiential learning, service learning, 
field stuff. When I was young, that was my first job. I started 
a non-profit, and everyone was talking about environmental 
education. I didn't have the technical background in 
environmental education. So my philosophy was essentially why 
don't we just get a bunch of kids out and they can help 
wherever there is a need, pull weeds, plant trees, stabilize 
soil. The learning will happen organically. I didn't honestly 
have the background to develop lesson plans. So I just went to 
schools, recruited them, and then referred them to agencies 
that needed bodies.
    So I am always captured by the idea that someone can learn 
science through culture or culture through science. So I am 
wondering if you could talk a little bit more about what you 
are doing there, and what are the plans for expansion? How can 
we help?
    Ms. Nae`ole-Wong. Thank you so much for the question, 
Senator. I think one of the things is just taking a look and 
hearing about this wonderful past three decades of Hawaiian 
medium education, and thinking about the broader Hawaiian 
culture-based education. I think of the time that we were 
growing up in school, there was just this false dichotomy that 
there were academic things and there were cultural and 
linguistic things. There was a dichotomy. And that is a false 
dichotomy.
    So I think that what we are trying to do is to be able to 
use our culture and our linguistic abilities to be able to 
teach and educate our students and use that as an edge for the 
future. So taking a look at the unique interests and purpose of 
each individual child and student, providing an education that 
is student-centered around that, to develop their unique 
interests and to be able to give them hands-on experience in 
'aina, across the pae`aina, be it students on the campus or 
students beyond the campus, to be able to have those 
connections, be connected to the stories and the mindsets of 
our kupuna, that come through language, that come through 
mo'olelo, to be grounded in those mindsets, to be prepared for 
the future.
    The Chairman. Thank you for that.
    Okay, now my original question, which I warned you about. I 
will start with Ms. Rawlins. If there are one or two things 
that you want these people who do all the work to know and to 
work on going out of this hearing, what might it be?
    Ms. Rawlins. I like what you said, to get in front of 
things before they kind of hit. So in preparing for future 
legislation, I would like to ensure that our Native American 
language programs are protected. That means that in any 
opportunity that becomes available, that we would have an 
opportunity to, if there are reservations that need to be set 
aside for these programs or a block, whatever they call it, 
some kind of stable, it is all about stable funding, so that we 
can ensure that our teachers, when we talk about having 
teachers that we can count on, that we would have the funding, 
that we can count on the teachers, we can employ them and they 
can count on having this employment and not having burden for 
us in the child care and early child education and not have 
that burden on the families so that we can help our families, 
grow our teachers, and be able to help in that way.
    The Chairman. Ms. Nae`ole-Wong?
    Ms. Nae`ole-Wong. KS has been providing, has been 
privileged to not only serve the students on our campus, but 
the 93 percent of Native Hawaiians that are on our campus and 
has been privileged to partner with the 17 public charter 
schools that we serve, an additional 4,000 students, support 
and partner, 34 additional organizations to offer [phrase in 
Native tongue] Hawaiian culture-based education opportunities 
during intersession and summer breaks, providing preschool 
scholarships, serving an additional 1,200 keiki via Hawaii 
Keiki Scholars. And we support over 1,000 Native Hawaiian K-12 
students with scholarships to private schools across the State.
    At the higher education level, we have partnered with two 
private universities to jointly provide full scholarships and 
wraparound support to ensure strong student traditions, 
retention, and completion. But when I take a look at all those 
partnerships, it is really, really evident to us, echoing what 
the [phrase in Native tongue] here have already said, is that 
equitable State and Federal funding for these Hawaiian culture 
and Hawaiian language based programs at the State and Federal 
level is what is essential in order for our entire [phrase in 
Native tongue] to thrive.
    The Chairman. Thank you. I now just observe that because of 
the history of Kamehameha Schools, and the IRS and all of that, 
I think there has been a caution on behalf of KS but also on 
the part of Federal officials to engage. I think it is okay to 
engage. Not that we don't meet and talk. But I do think there 
has been a sense that maybe we give each other a little space 
for udnerstadnable historic reasons. But that is behind us now, 
and we would love to strengthen our existing partnership. Thank 
you.
    Doctor?
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a. One of the most important things, I think 
the strategy that has worked really well, and one of the 
reasons why we have so many Native indigenous people in the 
Nation, in the world coming to visit us here in Hawaii, is our 
work around language revitalization that has recentered its 
focus in family and community.
    So bringing families into the fold of education has been 
very important. To that point, there have been many families 
that have come in and come into teacher education, to be part 
of that solution. It is an area of great need. I think for 
revitalizing Hawaiian language and any indigenous language 
education has been a huge successful strategy in doing that. 
Yet it is the most challenging and endangered language. 
Learning an endangered language at levels you can use across 
multiple contents and the training that teachers need is huge.
    But the result and the investment in that is a game changer 
in terms of re-centering families and community vitality. So I 
am really concerned about the teacher education area, because 
our teachers, teachers across many of the three indigenous 
groups in the U.S., are also involved in revitalizing highly 
endangered languages that are treasures for the United States, 
that are treasures for our peoples in our [phrase in Native 
tongue] land.
    But it takes levels above that, because now they have to 
have the language, the content knowledge, all the necessary 
skills and the licenses. It is a struggle for them. I think we 
need to have a lot more investment in teacher education that is 
really centered in the way that we need to do that in 
revitalizing our languages.
    The Chairman. I forgot to ask you this specific question 
about the shortage. You said 75 to 100?
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a. Right.
    The Chairman. Does that compound every year?
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a. It is compounding every year. COVID has 
made a huge hit and our numbers have increased tremendously 
during the last two years of COVID.
    The Chairman. Learning a language on Zoom is--I am not 
going to say impossible, but not easy at all.
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a. Absolutely. I give them so much credit. 
They put so much heart and soul into the work. It is more than 
teaching, it is revitalizing families and communities by 
grounding them through our language and culture. To do that, 
they need to do all the other teacher preparation things in the 
content areas and methodologies, and knowing how to work with 
families. So they are in school longer, the proficiency levels 
that each individual person, their journey they need to take, 
is a little bit different.
    So our programs, in order to meet those needs, have to be 
really super-rigorous. I don't think the scholarship packages 
are long enough to ensure that we will be able to support them, 
to learn and revitalize, to learn their language proficiently 
enough to now take it into the education field. What in fact we 
are seeing in Hawaii is Hawaiian language is increasing. We 
know that it is going through a language shift, it has gone 
through a language shift. We now have very few Native speaking 
kupuna; I can count them on my hands and toes now. But we have 
a whole generation of first speakers that were raised by second 
language speakers.
    So there are some changes, and different kinds of needs.
    The Chairman. I suppose the sign that things have their own 
momentum is that there is a generation of kids who learned 
Hawaiian not int eh classroom.
    Ms. Rawlins. Yes.
    The Chairman. Right.
    Dr. Kawai'ae'a. Bringing that into the family across three 
generations, that is healthy vitality. Education has been a 
major strategy in that success. So, paying attention to teacher 
education, helping to support building critical mass of 
Hawaiian language speakers means that it doesn't only impact 
education but it now starts to roll in many of the other 
workforce fields that are seeing in Hawaii.
    The Chairman. Thank you. Ms. Kalili?
    Ms. Kalili. Listening to everybody respond, and I don't 
know that I have something specific to that, is separate from 
what has already been said, from what Namaka said about the 
ability to have resources, Federal resources, and I don't know 
what the answers to these are, that is what all the smart 
people figure out, that isn't competitive. I think that 
overlays with what I hear Keiki saying. It resonates with me 
because I was one of those people who was in school forever.
    I think it partly is, it is applicable to a whole bunch of 
things. I am going to get to my immediate point as well. We are 
trying to excel, when we are talking about education and 
academics, we are trying to provide an excellent academic 
opportunity for these keiki and these ohana. But we are trying 
to do it through a language that we are revitalizing at the 
same time that we are trying to provide this excellent 
education.
    I think there is enough examples, thankfully, because we 
are so far into it, to show that it can be done. It is very 
successful, and has positive impacts well beyond academics.
    To the extent that we can figure out ways to carve out 
resources or to talk about that kind of programming that has 
this complex additive to it, and I have no idea what that is 
legislatively or otherwise but totally willing to work on it 
with people to figure that out, that would be just a huge 
support for the Hawaiian language movement.
    Not being one of the founders, I constantly give them props 
for the creative nature with which they have done all that they 
have done. But to have opportunities that allow us to not have 
to be that creative in terms of resourcing but in actually 
growing and expanding these impactful programs would be huge.
    I have a similar comment about media. I say it all the 
time, I have a love-hate with our relationship with our modern 
cousins, and I use them as an example all the time and I did in 
my testimony about the type of funding that they get from the 
government. I know that that is a very different relationship, 
the relationship that they have with their government and ours 
as Hawaii.
    But figuring that out, and I don't know what agency and 
what approach that might be, but to figure out a way, whether 
that is through whatever agency's impact, CPB, we can get into 
the minutiae which I won't right now. But there are certain FCC 
regulations that have impacted our ability to garner funds 
locally on a State level.
    So again, trying to find those creative ways where we can 
garner Federal support for indigenous language media 
programming, whether that is broadcast media, new media, would 
be huge.
    The Chairman. I want to thank all the panelists for their 
extraordinary work, and their great testimony. This feels like 
a culmination of a lot of important work that we have already 
done together, mostly you guys, but we try to be as helpful as 
possible to you in doing your work. It is a culmination of 
decades, really, of work. It is also to me a restarting of this 
relationship, even people I know, even people with whom I 
believe I have a strong existing work relationship with. It is 
like a renewal of this and a rededication.
    To see you, you are talking about the founders, to be able 
to see that all in one's mind's eye and say, this is going to 
happen, there are going to be kids speaking Hawaiian, there are 
going to be bank machines in Hawaiian, there is going to be 
news in Hawaiian, was a gutsy vision back in the day. Now that 
it is happening, I think we owe that generation, not just a 
debt of gratitude, but an additional effort to go that 
additional step.
    I want to thank you very much. I have no additional 
questions. I want to thank our first panel of witnesses for 
your testimony. You may receive follow-up written questions for 
the record from me and other members of the Committee. This 
panel is excused.
    Now we will take a brief recess while we switch out panels. 
Thank you very much.
    [Recess.]
    The Chairman. The Committee will come back to order. We are 
really pleased to have an extraordinary second panel of 
witnesses. Without further ado, I would like to introduce our 
three panelists.
    First, we have Ms. Luana Kawelu, President of the Merrie 
Monarch Festival. Then we will have Dr. Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, 
the Advisor to the Hawai`i `Ulu Cooperative, and Research 
Professor at the University of Hawaii. Finally, we have Mr. 
Kuha'o Zane, Creative Director at Sig Zane Designs and on the 
Board of Directors at the Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation.
    I will remind our witnesses that your full written 
statement will be made part of the record. We are going to, as 
you know, do this formally enough so that it still can be 
considered a hearing, but informally enough so that we can have 
an exchange of views and really learn from each other.
    Ms. Kawelu, please proceed with your testimony.

  STATEMENT OF LUANA KAWELU, DIRECTOR, MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL

    Ms. Kawelu. I am glad you said that because I am here to 
talk story with you.
    The Chairman. Good.
    [Laughter.]
    Ms. Kawelu. My name is Luana Kawelu. My parents were Ronald 
Saiki and Dorothy Thompson. I was raised by my grandparents, 
and from the hospital I was taken home by my grandmom and 
raised by her in Keaukaha. I have three children, Colleen 
Kawelu, Albert Kawelu, Jr., Cathy Kawelu, all who volunteer at 
the Merrie Monarch with me. They have no choice, like I didn't 
have a choice.
    [Laughter.]
    Ms. Kawelu. So now I am going to talk about the history of 
the festival. When I first talked to your team, I told them 
about the history. I said, that is all I can say. And they 
still invited me to come and tell you the story.
    So in 1963, the chairman of the county of Hawaii, which is 
comparable to the mayor now, wanted to get some kind of 
economic boost for the county, because we were just devasted by 
a tsunami in 1960. So she sent two of her administrative 
assistants to look for something that would boost our economy 
here and sent them to Maui, because there was a festival on 
Maui, the Maui Whaling Spree, that was doing good at the time.
    So Gene Wilhelm and Uncle George Na'ope were sent over 
there to see what they could bring back to start and help the 
economy here. When they came back, they decided to do a 
festival on behalf of King David Kalakaua. So that was in 1963.
    The first festival actually happened in 1964. It included, 
Uncle George's forte was coronation and pageantry. So he 
depicted the coronation of King Kalakaua. We also had King 
Kalakaua beard contests, look-alike contests. We had a 
barbershop quartet, we had relay races in which mullets were 
the batons. We actually had a bike race, I don't think even 
Hilo people know about it. It was a race from the King 
Kamehameha statute in Kohala all the way to Kilo. That was 
something. Pete Beemer was the one who wanted that race to go 
on. We did it.
    We also had the grog shop, with everybody happy in Hilo. We 
also had exhibition hulas. Merrie Monarch was put together by 
the county, sponsored by the county, the Hawaiian Island 
Chamber of Commerce, the different chambers of commerce, the 
Japanese Chamber of Commerce, and the Big Island Business 
Bureau.
    In 1965, with the new election, the county pulled out as a 
sponsor. So it was kept on by the Hawaii Island Chamber of 
Commerce. They were the ones that named a chairperson for the 
event. That continued until after the festival in 1968. The 
chairperson stepped down, nobody wanted to come forth to do it. 
Also, I think the lack of interest in the festival was a big 
part of that.
    So my mom stepped forward in November of 1968 and 
volunteered to chair this festival. She was working for the 
County of Hawaii Department of Parks and Recreation in the 
cultural department, culture and arts. So the end of 1968, she 
volunteered. She got together with Uncle George Na'ope, because 
he was a hula master of his time, and asked him to come back. 
She also asked Albert Nahalea to come back to tend to the 
music, Uncle George would be the pageantry.
    Through Uncle George's connections with the hula world, he 
met the hula masters of Hawaii at the time. In 1970, she flew 
to Oahu to meet with some of them. They encouraged her to have 
a competition.
    Then she met more of the hula masters to set up the 
guidelines, the rules. Auntie `Iolani Luahine and Lokalia 
Montgomery were part of that committee. Those are the rules 
that we have tried to abide by until today.
    So 1971 was the first real competition of the hula. That 
was with nine wahine halau and the Miss Hula contestants. It 
went okay, not too bad, from 1971 until 1976. Not too bad 
meaning we had a hard time to sell, we sold buttons as entries 
to come to the festival for $1. We had a difficult time in 
selling those buttons. My mom told me stories about her and 
Uncle George Na'ope frequenting the bars because the people in 
the bars were the best people to sell to. They bought the 
buttons.
    So we got to sell our buttons and at times we even were, we 
cut down the price. We would say to the schools, if your club 
in the school would sell a button, we get 50 cents and you 
folks take 50 cents. That is how desperate we were to get 
monies to put the festival on.
    Then in 1976, my mom decided to bring the kane halau in. 
Then it took off after that. I guess everybody wanted to see 
kane do hula. They had never seen it before probably. So from 
there on, it just took off.
    We are coming upon our 60th anniversary next year. In 1970 
was when my mom met with those hula masters. They set new goals 
which focused more, instead of the grog shop and the bearded 
contest, more cultural stuff, the hula, arts and crafts, and 
more of the things King Kalakaua wanted to bring back to 
Hawaii. He really tried hard to bring that back during his 
time. So because the festival was named for him, she felt that 
was appropriate to go that way, with the blessing of all the 
hula masters at the time.
    The competition is just only one facet of the festival. We 
have a craft fair, which the crafters that are affiliated with 
the Merrie Monarch Craft Fair have to be vetted, that their 
crafts have to be authentic Hawaiian crafts. We were saddened 
that during COVID, a lot of the crafters are older, and some of 
them used that time to make money for their families. So I was 
very saddened to see that we couldn't do that for them for two 
years.
    But we have a parade also, which includes about 10,000 
people that come to watch it. Also, with the craft fairs, ours 
is the official Merrie Monarch Craft Fair. But we have about 10 
craft fairs all around the city of Hilo that participate also 
during the week of the festival.
    I would like to read to you some of the questions that we 
were given, we wanted to know what we would talk about. All I 
know is the history of it. So I wanted to address this.
    Some of the figures I will share with you are from the TV 
station. So I am not too bright about computer stuff and social 
medial. What figures and verbiage I say you will probably know, 
but I am just telling you what the TV station gave me.
    The festival's role in sharing Hawaiian culture beyond 
Hawaii. The mission of the Merrie Monarch Festival is to 
perpetuate, preserve, and to promote the art of hula and the 
Hawaiian culture. We endeavor to develop and augment a living 
knowledge of Hawaiian culture, arts and crafts through 
workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions and performances of the 
highest quality and authenticity.
    In doing so, we seek to enrich the lives of all Hawaii's 
people and beyond, including individuals who might not 
otherwise have an opportunity to participate in the culture. 
For example, the global reach of the festival is reflected in 
our social media presence in 146 countries around the world, 
including eight countries in Africa, Syria, Iraq, Japan, 
Canada, Mexico, Germany, New Zealand and Australia.
    When I told your staff about reaching those in Africa, I am 
not sure if it was Brianne that told me, yes, that is the kind 
of stuff we want to know. So the countries, just to let you 
know, some of the countries in Africa that were represented 
with viewers were Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, 
Rwanda, Ghana, Ethiopia, Somalia. We also had audiences in 
Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Bahrain, and [indiscernible]. But we 
have through the TV reached audiences worldwide.
    The broadcast extends the reach from those in stadium each 
night to over 750,000 additional Hawaii viewers on the TV 
broadcast, plus online users, generating over 30 million 
impressions. I don't know what impressions means, so you folks 
can figure it out.
    The Chairman. One impression is one eyeball seeing a thing.
    Ms. Kawelu. Well, that made me kind of feel good.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. Important.
    Ms. Kawelu. Yes. Anyway, the festival's role in supporting 
local artists and designers through our invitational arts and 
crafts fair. The four-day long invitational fair, featuring 
Hawaiian arts and crafts, is a huge draw in and of itself. I 
know some people, this one lady who couldn't get tickets this 
year, she is an optometrist in San Francisco. She wanted to 
come, just to come to the craft fair.
    We also have people from Oahu that I know of who fly up 
specifically just for the craft fair. They don't come to the 
hula shows. They fly up, they do their shopping and go home. So 
the craft fair is very successful. Hopefully, all the other 
craft fairs around town are successful as well.
    The festival's greatest successes and challenges over the 
last 59 years. Although longevity is one of our successes, we 
have only canceled the festival once, and you know that because 
I talked to you on the day that I canceled. That was because of 
COVID. That was the only time. Otherwise, we have continuously 
held the event every year since 1963.
    This longevity is due in large support to the support of 
the hula community. Every year, 20 some odd halau make the 
commitment to come to Hilo to participate in the hula 
competition. It takes them between $45,000 and $50,000 to come 
to bring their halau here. That includes the air 
transportation, lodging, food, local transportation, costumes, 
it is amazing that they still want to come. My heart goes out 
to them. That is why I will fight all the way for the halau and 
the [phrase in Native tongue] is their passion and dedication 
to their culture that keeps bringing them back. I am in awe of 
them; how much love they have for hula and their culture that 
they keep wanting to do this. I highly respect them for that. 
Their sacrifice and their desire of other halau to participate 
in the festival ensures the continuation of this event.
    Part of the reason the halau want to come back to the 
festival each year is because of our commitment to perpetuating 
the traditions of hula and our support of the Hawaiian culture 
and our community as a whole. We see this as one of our biggest 
successes, providing a place for cultural practitioners to 
showcase our living culture and the depth of knowledge that 
still exists in our community.
    Upholding our Hawaiian values and traditions are also one 
of our greatest challenges today. We have meetings pre-festival 
once a year with [phrase in Native tongue] and judges. 
[Hawaiian name] is a judge with us for many, many years. So she 
knows the challenges. A lot of times the younger people come in 
and they challenge us, they want to change the rules. We want 
to keep it as strict as possible to adhere to the traditions. 
My retort to them when it comes up to the panel and to myself 
is, why would I change rules that the hula masters gave us? 
They were our masters, they knew more than us. So I am not 
going to change. And if it has lasted for 60 years, why would I 
be a fool and change it?
    So my next retort to them is, maybe this festival isn't for 
you.
    [Laughter.]
    Ms. Kawelu. But they still keep coming back. They want to 
come back.
    The hula masters who gave us these rules cautioned us to 
hold fast to these practices and teachings of our elders and to 
ensure that we don't stray from the path that was set forth 
before us.
    I thank you for hearing me out.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Kawelu follows:]

 Prepared Statement of Luana Kawelu, Director, Merrie Monarch Festival
The Merrie Monarch Festival's Role in Supporting Hula
    The beginnings of the festival did not include an emphasis on the 
art of hula. It was actually an attempt by the Hawai`i County Executive 
Officer, what we now call the Mayor, to revitalize Hawai`i Island's 
struggling economy. In the 1960s the island was still recovering from a 
devastating tsunami as well as the declining sugar industry. The first 
5 years of the festival were organized by various island chambers of 
commerce including the Hawai`i Island Chamber of Commerce and centered 
around the pageantry of the Hawaiian monarchy, and the life of our last 
reigning king, David La`amea Kalakaua. Activities like a coronation 
pageant, a King Kalakaua beard look-alike contest, barbershop quartet 
contest, a relay race, and Holoku Ball were part of these early years 
of the Festival.
    In 1968, declining interest from the public and the lack of a 
chairperson from the chamber of commerce set the festival on a 
different path, one that sought to replicate the work of Kalakaua by 
gathering the best halau hula from around the islands, showcasing 
Hawaiian arts and artisans, and ultimately celebrating a thriving and 
resilient Hawaiian people.
    Today, 59 years after the Festival's inception, we hold fast to the 
goals set forth by our kupuna so many years ago. In 1971, encouraged by 
the hula masters of the day, the Festival held a hula competition 
featuring 9 wahine halau. 5 years later men were invited to join the 
competition, and from that point the interest and excitement around the 
festival grew. Today, we showcase up to 25 halau over 3 days of 
competition, providing a platform on which today's kumu hula, who held 
tight to the teachings of their kumu, can showcase their generational 
knowledge. Many more halau await their opportunity to share their hula 
traditions on the Merrie Monarch Stage.
    However, the hula competition is just one facet of the week-long 
Festival, which includes a free all-day Ho`olaule`a presenting hula and 
music, mid-day hula performances at the local hotels, a 4-day Hawaiian 
arts and crafts fair, and one of the longest parades in the islands. 
All of these activities serve to perpetuate a multitude of Hawaiian 
cultural practices, like hula, chanting, language, music, cooking, lei 
making, weaving, carving, and pa`u riding
The Festival's Role in Sharing Hawaiian Culture Beyond Hawai`i
    The mission of the Merrie Monarch Festival is to perpetuate, 
preserve, and promote the art of hula and the Hawaiian culture. We 
endeavor to develop and augment a living knowledge of Hawaiian culture, 
arts, and crafts through workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions, and 
performances of the highest quality and authenticity. In doing so, we 
seek to enrich the lives of all of Hawai`i's people, and beyond, 
including individuals who might not otherwise have an opportunity to 
participate in the culture.
    For example, the global reach of the Festival is reflected in our 
social media presence in 146 countries around the world, including 8 
countries in Africa, Syria, Iraq, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Germany, New 
Zealand, and Australia. The broadcast extends the reach from 
approximately 6,000 in-stadium attendees each night to over 750,000 
additional Hawai`i viewers on the TV broadcast plus online users, 
generating over 30,000,000 impressions.
The Festival's Role in Supporting Local Artists and Designers Through 
        Our Invitational Arts and Crafts Fair
    The 4-day long invitational fair featuring Hawaiian arts and crafts 
is a huge draw in and of itself. Some people travel to Hilo 
specifically to shop at our craft fair, some come as far away as 
California. Some Hawai`i residents will travel to Hilo for the day, to 
come and take advantage of the opportunity to buy authentic Hawaiian 
art at our fair. The fashion industry in Hawai`i is booming, and the 
businesses of several of these designers were amplified by their 
participation in our fair, as it is a major venue that draws thousands 
of people to Hilo each year. We strive to present only authentic 
Hawaiian cultural art and products, made by the artists themselves, and 
vet their work before we invite them into the fair. This means that our 
local businesses benefit from their hard work, and the economy in 
Hawai`i benefits in turn.
    The increase in visitors to Hilo during the festival week has also 
created an opportunity for other Hilo organizations and businesses to 
take advantage of the opportunity to attract patrons as well. Craft 
fairs, music concerts, and food vendors pop up in Hilo during the week 
of Merrie Monarch, creating further opportunities for local artists, 
businesses, and organizations.
The Festival's Greatest Successes and Challenges Over the last 59 Years
    Our longevity is one of our successes. We have only canceled the 
festival once in our 59 year history, and that was for health and 
safety reasons in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. Otherwise we have 
continuously held the event every years since 1963. This longevity is 
due in large part to the support of the hula community. Every year two-
dozen or so halau make the commitment to come to Hilo to participate in 
the hula competition, investing their time, energy, knowledge, and 
resources to the endeavor. Their sacrifice, and the desire of other 
halau to participate in the festival, ensures the continuation of this 
event.
    Part of the reason the halau want to come back to the festival each 
year is because of our commitment to perpetuating the traditions of 
hula, and our support of Hawaiian culture and our community as a whole. 
We see this as one of our biggest successes, providing a place for 
cultural practitioners to showcase our living culture and the depth of 
knowledge that still exists in our community.
    Upholding our Hawaiian values and traditions is also one of our 
greatest challenges today. The temptation to relax some of our 
traditions and rules, to cater to the changing whims of the times is 
something that the hula experts who helped to establish the Merrie 
Monarch Festival warned against. They cautioned us to hold fast to 
those practices and teachings of our elders, and to ensure that we 
don't stray from the path that was set before us.

    The Chairman. Thank you very much.
    Dr. Lincoln, please proceed.

STATEMENT OF NOA KEKUEWA LINCOLN, Ph.D., ADVISOR, HAWAI`I `ULU 
    COOPERATIVE; PRESIDENT, MALA KALU`ULU COOPERATIVE; AND 
      ASSOCIATE RESEARCH PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I

    Dr. Lincoln. [Greeting in Native tongue.] Aloha kakou.
    Thank you for the invitation and opportunity to present 
today. I am sure my State employer would like me to clarify 
that my testimony represents my own views as a Native Hawaiian 
citizen and not those of my employer or affiliations.
    If you will forgive me one second, I feel it is paramount 
to begin with a reminder that the Kingdom of Hawaii, which was 
a member of the Family of Nations, was illegally overthrown 
with the assistance of the U.S. military, which has been 
formally acknowledged but never addressed by U.S. public law, 
and to state for the record that the highest pursuit of justice 
would be to support the repossession of the approximately 1.8 
million acres of Hawaii's ceded governmental lands to an 
independent Native Hawaiian government.
    This is particularly important in terms of agriculture and 
our indigenous agriculture and food systems, where the greatest 
barriers to our development remains the access to land and 
water resources for the provisioning and growing of food.
    Our traditional agricultural management, which cultivated 
approximately 1 million acres to supply food and resources to 
an order of about 800,000 individuals, was a manifestation of 
our Hawaiian kinship worldview that considered humans and human 
health as inseparable from the environment. Following colonial 
influences in Hawaii, our economy came to be dominated by 
plantation agriculture producing specialty crops for export 
markets, which began to decline in the 1970s and was 
subsequently replaced by tourism construction and military 
spending.
    Today, Hawaii is really a State of small farms. We have 
over 7,400 farms in the State with 90 percent of those being 
less than 50 acres. Our gross agricultural value is currently 
about $550 million, largely for export, and dominated by a 
small proportion of farms, about 10 percent of farms produce 90 
percent of that value. Hawaii imports 85 to 90 percent of our 
food supply, and we rely on the just-in-time importation 
system, meaning that at any given point in time we have about a 
three-day food supply stored in the State, putting us in a very 
precarious place in terms of disaster resilience and food 
security, and equating to about $5.9 billion in food imports to 
the State every year, placing a drain on our economy.
    We produce less than .5 percent of our staples locally. 
Particularly our indigenous crops and indigenous staples are in 
very low supply. Even our most critical and sacred staple of 
kalo we still import because we don't produce enough with our 
own State.
    Local calls for food system reform, which have often been 
led by Native Hawaiian leaders, focus on strengthening our food 
security, resilience, landscape preservation of our State as 
well as cultural revitalization.
    I didn't focus on my own work so much, so I would like to 
quickly highlight some general success stories to demonstrate 
where I see key opportunities lying in terms of rebuilding 
Hawaii's food system and Native Hawaiian wellbeing.
    MA`O Organic Farms is the largest certified organic 
vegetable producer in the State, with 100 percent of production 
going toward local markets. Their approach, which is rooted in 
Hawaiian epistemology, marries agricultural production to 
community education, engagement, and health outcomes. This 
approach has attracted a whole new generation of youth that 
want to be engaged in working in agriculture. It has attracted 
new sources of capital funders and investors, and built new 
partnerships between our agriculture and health education and 
social work.
    The Hawai`i `Ulu Producers Cooperative is a farmer-owned 
business focused on aggregating, processing and distributing 
local traditional staples, providing an equitable democratic 
process of engagement and revenue sharing while tackling our 
lack of food security, particularly in that critical realm of 
staple foods. The `Ulu Coop has leveraged its network of 
farmers to achieve a scale of production and processing that 
has allowed them to gain access to infrastructure and markets 
that would not have otherwise been possible by individual 
producers.
    Ho`oulu `Aina operates a 100-acre farm and nature preserve 
that supports community feeding, health and subsistence. What 
is unique here is this organization operates on a lease of 
State park. Such public-private partnerships could provide 
unique access to land for local food services that directly 
provide community benefit instead of private profit.
    Da Bux is a local program funded through a combination of 
private philanthropy and Federal funds that doubles the 
purchasing power of SNAP EBT users if purchasing locally grown 
produce, increasing access to healthy local foods for our most 
disadvantaged populations who are disproportionately Native 
Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, while simultaneously increasing 
the demand and markets for local agriculture.
    Finally, I would highlight legal battles such as those that 
have allowed food safety exemptions for our traditional 
preparation of kalo and other efforts that hold our State 
accountable to its own water laws that showcase Native Hawaiian 
efforts and leadership to hold the State accountable to the 
public trust guarantees of our environmental and cultural 
rights.
    I would emphasize that the bulk of the progress I see being 
made in this realm is really is really being led through small, 
grass-roots organizations often leading the way and pulling our 
State and large private organizations behind them.
    While the barriers to growing Hawaii's local agricultural 
system are substantial and many of them I feel are not easily 
addressed by Federal bodies, I would like to offer a few key 
areas where I think potential action might have impact.
    Due to our history and in particular our plantation 
history, Hawaii has a severe lack of physical infrastructure 
needed to support a local food system, because we have built 
infrastructure to support large scale export of just a few 
crops. To ensure equitable access of our many small farmers, 
publicly-owned or not-for-profit infrastructure is essential to 
really building a just and effective local food supply. So 
investment in State lands and facilities can also spur the 
private investments as is evidenced by existing facilities 
including by the `Ulu Coop.
    Access to reasonable capital with fair rates and low costs 
to engagement can remove many barriers as well without 
requesting a handout from the government. Of particular 
emphasis I feel needs to be the access to capital for Hawaiian 
Homeland recipients. As lessees who do not have the collateral 
of their property, they cannot access normal lines of capital 
and are often left with a landholding that cannot be developed 
to contribute to local food.
    A little bit more broadly, I think increasing funding or 
advocacy for community, indigenous or environmental health 
helps to strengthen most of the most impactful organizations. 
Tying agriculture and engagement with the land to mental and 
physical wellbeing could position support for nutritious foods 
under human health initiatives. We have seen some very 
impactful organizations leveraging the interface between health 
initiatives and local food.
    Furthering advocacy regarding environmental health and 
particularly regulating the environmental impacts of 
agriculture would help to level the playing field between 
small, local food producers and large scale industrial 
agriculture. Direct funding for food and health and the 
environment would obviously be more impactful.
    Finally, the Farm Bill, you have already heard it talked 
about a lot in the conversations beforehand, but it inherently 
subsidizes much of the large scale commodities in the market, 
skewing the price of food to support highly processed wheat and 
corn products, and fundamentally placing all other forms of 
agriculture and crops at a disadvantage.
    Improved support for specialty crops and rural development 
under the Farm Bill would aid in supporting small, diversified 
producers in Hawaii and disadvantaged regions. In particular, 
research for our underutilized and indigenous crops is a major 
barrier to adoption because many farmers simply don't know how 
to deal with the many pressing problems on our traditional 
crops.
    Thank you very much for the opportunity today.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Lincoln follows:]

Prepared Statement of Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, Ph.D., Advisor, Hawai`i `Ulu 
   Cooperative; President, MaLa Kalu`ulu Cooperative; and Associate 
               Research Professor, University of Hawai`i
Introduction
    I appreciate the invitation to provide this testimony to the U.S. 
Senate Committee on Indians Affairs. I would like to clarify that my 
testimony, although pulling from knowledge and expertise obtained 
through my employment and organizational relationships, represents my 
own views and beliefs as a Native Hawaiian and concerned citizen of 
Hawai'i, the United States, and our planet.
    I feel it is paramount to begin with a reminder that the Kingdom of 
Hawai`i, which was a member of the family of nations, a status 
recognized through dozens of international treaties including with the 
United States, was illegally overthrown in 1893, with the assistance of 
the US military, followed by the subsequent annexation, against the 
wishes of over 95 percent of the Native population, to the United 
States, eventually becoming the 50th State in in 1959. Both the 
occurrence and the illegality of the overthrown has been formally 
acknowledged by the United States (U.S. Public Law 103-150) and the 
United Nations (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 
Memorandum issued February 25th, 2018). The above facts can only result 
in the conclusion that Hawai`i currently exists as a form of prolonged 
military occupation by the United States, and the highest pursuit of 
justice would be to support the repossession of the approximately 1.8 
million acres of Hawai`i's ceded governmental lands to an independent 
Native Hawaiian government.
Background: Native Hawaiian Agriculture
    The Hawaiian archipelago was settled by Polynesian ocean voyagers 
no later, but possibly much earlier, than 1000 AD. Over centuries, 
Native Hawaiian cultivators developed a range of cultivations 
strategies and constructed vast infrastructural developments to support 
widespread food production. Hawai`i is among the most ecologically 
diverse locations on the planet, containing over two-thirds of the 
Holdridge life zones and ten of the 12 soil orders of the world. Native 
Hawaiians, in adapting their agricultural systems to the extreme 
ecological and topographic diversity of the islands, arguable developed 
the most diverse agroecological diversity of world--an underappreciated 
fact. The ability to sustainably cultivate food in a wide variety of 
ecosystems was highly dependent, as with many indigenous cultivation 
systems globally, upon intimate knowledge and understand of the local 
environments, preservation of ecosystem function and services, and 
adaptative management strategies. In total, the best estimates to date 
suggest that Native Hawaiians, in various forms, cultivated 
approximately one million acres of land to supply food, timber, 
textiles, medicine, and other resources to a population of 400,000 to 
800,000.
    Within Hawaiian society, agriculture was not an economic pursuit, 
but an integrated system of sustenance that incorporated education, 
religion, and other social norms. It is essential to include the 
context of a kinship worldview, in which, unlike western cultures, 
Native Hawaiians perceive that humans do not supersede the environment, 
but rather have a familial relationship with all components of the 
natural world. This is perhaps most clearly manifested and communicated 
in Native Hawaiian cosmology, in which mankind is portrayed as the 
younger brother of the kalo (taro) plant, placing humans not only as 
direct relatives to the environment, but also in a subservient 
position. The central tenant of Hawaiian culture is critically 
important, because the separation of Native Hawaiians from their land 
that accompanied the socioeconomic changes associated with the 
overthrow does not only impact the agricultural economy of the Hawaiian 
people, but destroys their entire cultural identity. This concept was 
well articulated by congressional testimony by Reverend Akaiko Akana 
over a century ago, in which he states on behalf of Ahahui Pu`uhonua in 
favor of the establishment of what eventually passed as the Hawaiian 
Homes Commission Act of 1920.

        The soil is a redeeming factor in the life of any race, and our 
        plan for the rehabilitation of the Hawaiians is futile unless 
        the question of returning to mother earth takes precedent to 
        all other considerations in such a plan.

Background: Current Food System of Hawai`i Approx.
    Hawai`i's economy was dominated from 1850 to 1960 by plantation 
agriculture producing specialty crops for export markets, which began 
to decline with statehood, after which tourism, construction, and 
military spending all rapidly surpassed agriculture. Starting in 1970, 
the plantations began to shut down, with the last plantation in the 
state shuttering operations in 2016. Some substantial export 
agriculture still exists in terms of macadamia nuts (Approx. 21,500 
acres), coffee (Approx. 610,000 acres) and cattle operations (Approx. 
761,000 acres). Other specialty markets were also maintained, such as 
flowers and foliage (Approx. 2,400 acres) and tropical fruit (Approx. 
12,300 acres), while some new specialty markets emerged, such as seed 
production (Approx. 24,000 acres) and aquaculture (Approx. 650 acres). 
Offshore fisheries should not be ignored, as Pacific fishing fleets 
that operate out of Hawai`i land Approx. $62 million annually.
    Hawai`i is a state of small farms, with 7,328 farms in the state 
and 90 percent of those being less that 50 acres. Total agricultural 
value has consistently declined over the past decade, and in 2017 stood 
at $563 million, with 90 percent of this value produced by only 13 
percent of the farms. In the wake of the plantations, several programs 
aimed at supporting the development of new industries, but programs 
were fragmented and were ultimately met with minimal success. The 
Hawai`i Department of Agriculture received Approx. 0.4 percent of the 
state's operating budget and is hampered by oftentimes obscene 
bureaucratic protocols. Currently, Hawai`i imports approximately 85-90 
percent of its food supply, equating to $5.9 billion in food imports 
annually. By food category there is tremendous variation. Hawai'i 
produces about 60 percent of its fruits and vegetables, 40 percent of 
its seafood, and 10 percent of its meat locally. However, in critical 
categories such as staple carbohydrates and dairy, we produce less than 
0.5 percent locally. Recently, and particularly in the wake of the 
COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a strong movement to increase the 
local food system for food security, resilience, landscape 
preservation, and culture revitalization.
Needs and Barriers
   Land. High cost and demand for land is prohibitive to most 
        farmers. State lands are poorly administered, often creating 
        insurmountable barriers to engagement, or the loss of 
        operations on state land due to negligence. Poor enforcement of 
        zoning standards on agricultural lands has led to misuse of 
        much agricultural land (e.g. ``gentleman farms''). Some 
        agricultural lands lack adequate infrastructure such as water 
        or fencing from ungulates. Competing interests for agricultural 
        lands threaten production, including rezoning for urban 
        development and alternative land usage such as solar energy 
        production.

   Infrastructure. There are many basic infrastructural issues 
        in Hawai`i that prevent local food system, in particular by our 
        small farms. Investment over the past century has focused on 
        export by large private producers and a ``just in time'' 
        importation of food. Hawai`i lacks adequate infrastructure for 
        aggregation, processing, storage, and transportation of local 
        food within the state. Significant investments in state- or 
        cooperatively-owned infrastructure is necessary.

   Social Infrastructure. Due to the small producer nature of 
        the islands, organizational structures are necessary in order 
        to access adequate scale and operational capacity in order to 
        access and operate infrastructure. The recent establishment of 
        several local food hubs has worked to fill this gap, with 
        growing capacity and support.

   Farm and Food Management. Appropriate technical support is 
        essential for success of emergent farms and food system actors. 
        The University of Hawai`i, and in particular the College of 
        Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR, which is the 
        state's Land Grant Institution, has a critical role to play 
        through workforce development and extension services. CTAHR is 
        moderately effective, but has shrunk severely since the closure 
        of the plantations and has not fully pivoted its services to 
        represent the new agricultural realities of Hawai`i.

   Capitalization. Access to capital is essential for the 
        establishment and growth of agricultural businesses. Limited 
        options exist, with the State largely underfunding capital 
        pools and overburdening applicants with paperwork and 
        reporting. This is a particularly pervasive issue with the 
        Department of Hawaiian Homeland and other agricultural leases, 
        as their land cannot be leveraged to access liquid capital.

   Scale. Scale of operations is an important component that 
        help to induce investment and optimize efficiency, and offer 
        opportunities for a reasonable risk-adjusted return. While some 
        operations can achieve scale, many small producers need 
        collaborative opportunities to reach such scale.

   Labor. A sufficient quantity of skilled labor must be 
        attracted and available at a cost that provides just 
        compensation and financial viability, and they must possess the 
        passion and resilience to endure volatility. Currently, access 
        to labor, and in particular access to skilled labor, is a 
        significant barrier.

   Integrated value chain. Robust communication and balance of 
        demand and supply must be developed. Increased processing is 
        essential to increasing total value of the small agricultural 
        industry and to deal with seasonal excess. Equitable sharing of 
        revenues across the value chain is necessary.

Opportunities and Successes
    Here I highlight some key success stories that demonstrate where 
some key opportunities lie in terms of rebuilding Hawai`i's food 
system, culture, and Native Hawaiian wellbeing.

   MA`O Organic Farms. MA`O Farms has grown to be the largest 
        certified organic vegetable farm in the state, with 100 percent 
        of production going towards local markets. Their success is 
        rooted in their approach that marries agricultural production 
        to community outcomes, focused on engaging local youth, 
        enhancing Hawaiian culture, and providing educational 
        opportunities to emphasize the potential social benefits of 
        local agriculture. By realigning food production with Hawaiian 
        epistemology-emphasizing engagement with land, community 
        health, and integration of agriculture and food with education- 
        MA`O has attracted a new generation of individuals interested 
        in working in agriculture, new sources of capital, funders, and 
        investors, and new partnerships in health, education, and 
        social work.

   Hawai`i `Ulu Producers Cooperative (HUPC). Cooperative 
        organizations are not extensive is Hawai'i but are marked by 
        some notable examples including the Kaua`i Island Utility 
        Cooperative. HUPC, established in 2017, focuses on aggregating, 
        processing, and distributing traditional local staples, and has 
        grown to represent 124 farmers. As a cooperative organization, 
        it is directly owned by the farmer-members, providing an 
        equitable, democratic processes of engagement and revenue 
        sharing. HUPC has leveraged its network to achieve a scale of 
        production and processing that has allowed them to gain 
        infrastructure and markets that would not have been possible by 
        any of its individual members.

   Ho`oulu `Aina. This organization operates a 100-acre farm 
        and nature preserve that supports community feeding, health, 
        and subsistence. While the mission and activities are not 
        necessarily unique, it is unique that this organization 
        operates on a lease of a state park. Such public-private 
        partnership could provide unique access to land for local food 
        services that provide direct community benefit as opposed to 
        private profit.

   Mahi`ai Matchup. A competitive program supported by 
        Kamehameha Schools (the largest private landowner in the 
        state), in which agricultural leases are presented based on a 
        business plan pitch that emphasizes a multiple-bottom line 
        (economics, culture, community). While this program has been 
        limited and small-scale to date, it is a potential model for 
        redistributing agricultural lease lands to individuals who are 
        dedicated to community impact and local agriculture.

   Da Bux. A local program largely funded through private 
        philanthropy that matches the federal SNAP program, doubling 
        the purchase power for SNAP users to purchase locally grown 
        foods. This has the double outcome of increasing demand for 
        local food while allowing access to healthy, local foods to our 
        most disadvantaged populations, which are disproportionately 
        Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders.

   Legalize Pa`i `Ai. Not an organization, but a movement that 
        sought to provide regulatory exemption for a traditional food 
        production method. Ultimately SB101 was passed in 2011 
        (although with amendments that removed the practitioner 
        suggestions and put the rule-making authority under the 
        Department of Heath). The grassroots effort to move this bill 
        forward also spawned in ``Ku'i at the Capital,'' in which 
        thousands of proponents of our Native foods gather at the State 
        Capital on opening day to bring awareness to our local 
        legislators.

   Na Moku Aupuni O Ko`olau Hui. A non-profit collection of 
        Native Hawaiian kalo farmers and subsistence gatherers fought, 
        and recently won, and 20+ year legal battle against the state, 
        claiming the state of Hawai`i violated water leasing laws by 
        allowing the endless renewal of large, temporary water permit 
        to a massive land-holder without environmental review. The 
        reaffirmation by Hawai`i's supreme court of the important of 
        cultural subsistence and environmental health is an important 
        victory for Native Hawaiian communities that persist in our 
        remote regions.

Actionable Items
    The main progress towards an equitable and just local food system 
have been made by small, grassroots organizations. While the barriers 
to growing Hawai`i's local agricultural system are substantial and many 
are not easily address by federal bodies, I offer a few key areas where 
potential action may have impact.

   Infrastructure. The historical trajectory of Hawai`i has 
        resulted in a severe lack of physical infrastructure necessary 
        to support local food. While some of this can and should be 
        accomplished by private businesses, in order to ensure 
        equitable access and opportunities for Hawai`i's 7,000+ small 
        farms, public-owned, or at least not-for-profit, infrastructure 
        is essential. Federal infrastructural investment into state 
        lands and facilities could catalyze projects to overcome some 
        of the needs and spur private investment. For instance, the 
        Hawai`i `Ulu Producers Cooperative operates in a state-owned 
        warehouse, but has outfitted that warehouse with over $1 
        million in equipment and building upgrades.

   Capital. Access to reasonable capital is a constant 
        bottleneck for players at all levels within Hawai`i's food 
        system. Generating loan funds that offer fair rates, with 
        barriers to access and reporting that are not onerous, could 
        overcome some of these issues without requesting a handout. Of 
        particular emphasis should be the access of capital for 
        Hawaiian Homeland recipients, who are often socially 
        disadvantaged and due to not owning the land cannot access 
        normal lines of capital.

   Community and Indigenous Health. Furthering funding on 
        community health and equity plays to the strengths of many of 
        the most impactful organizations. This includes mental and 
        physical health. Any opportunities to better tie agriculture 
        and engagement with land to mental and physical health outcomes 
        would support better integration of our food, land, and 
        community health.

   Environmental Advocacy. Furthering any agendas or advocacy 
        regarding environmental health, and particularly regulating the 
        environmental impacts of agriculture, levels the playing field 
        between small producers, who tend to engage in more 
        environmentally friendly and diversified practices, and large-
        producers, who tend to have substantially higher inputs, 
        impacts, and reduced labor.

   Farm Bill. The farm bill inherently subsidizes much of the 
        large-scale commodities in the market, skewing the price of 
        food to support highly processes wheat and corn products, and 
        fundamentally placing all other agricultural forms and products 
        at a disadvantage. Improved support for ``specialty crops'' and 
        rural development would aid in supporting diversified, small 
        producers.

    The Chairman. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Zane, please proceed.

 STATEMENT OF KUHA'O ZANE, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SIG ZANE DESIGNS 
AND SZKAIAO AND KALAIMOKU BOARD OF DIRECTORS, EDITH KANAKA`OLE 
                           FOUNDATION

    Mr. Zane. Aloha kakou. Just in general, I am a product of 
Punana Leo as well as a product of Merrie Monarch, and a very 
proud product of indigenous [indiscernible]. So thank you, 
Senator Schatz, for wearing my shirt.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Zane. That said, [phrase in Native tongue]. Edith h 
Kanaka`ole Foundation stands as a continuance for the 
indigenous knowledge of Edith and Luka Kanaka`ole, as 
generational practitioners of our once banished but now 
thriving native dance, hula `aiha`a, and most importantly as 
Native Hawaiians implementing our ancestral insight as 
solutions in our modern world. Our work helps to provide 
solutions as it relates to conservation and restoration of 
historical sites, land and resource management, performance 
art, design and education
    Fluency and familiarity with both `olelo Hawai`i or the 
Hawaiian language as well as the chants, songs and stories is 
the cornerstone for our foundation. Our Halau or dance troupe 
led by the daughter of Edith, Kumu Nalani Kanaka'ole, Halau O 
Kekuhi, has continually practiced our style of hula `aiha`a for 
eight generations, translating ancestral and familial chants 
into world renowned choreography and dance.
    The practice of our hula `aiha`a not only includes the 
movements of choreography, but also it is inclusive of learning 
about the key native plants within our forests, the gathering 
process and creation ideals in creating our regalia and in the 
training and execution of ceremony and protocol.
    Our organization's founder, Pualani Kanahele Kanaka`ole, 
received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hawai`i 
for her life's work in Hawaiian studies, education and 
curriculum. She brought to light the Papaku Makawalu 
Methodology, that is the Native Hawaiian approach to science 
and observation of our land and natural phenomena. This 
methodology employs the translation of ancient Hawaiian chants 
as generational in-depth observational data of place and how it 
coincides with current scientific research today.
    These pillars of knowledge are an extension of our 
foundation's namesake, my grandmother Edith 
Kekuhikuhipu`uoneonaali`iokohala Kanaka`ole and her life's 
work. It is her teachings that inspired my father to start Sig 
Zane Designs and drove his trajectory from an early artist to 
an established cultural mainstay in Hawaiian fashion. Mahalo to 
my [phrase in Native tongue].
    In my work today, I uplift and carry forth this ancestral 
insight and apply cultural solutions through design, 
consultancy and commerce over the past two decades. Doing 
branding identity for some of the largest organizations in 
Hawai`i and expanding my father's art to athletic uniforms, 
airplane liveries and architecture, has really led me to the 
ask the one question: what is the bridge between culture and 
commerce?
    The answer to me is as simple as my grandmother puts it, 
``We must educate.'' We push on innovating platforms to educate 
audiences and continue her mission.
    I am humbled by this opportunity to share our story. Mai ka 
ho`oku`i a ka halawai.
    But I would like to do the top story part. So as far as 
Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation, and having a conversation about 
educational platforms, some of the products that we are working 
on currently is our KIPA program, which is a tourist industry 
certification. We can't blame somebody for putting out wrong 
information if we are not properly educating them.
    We also have some work with the national park here, and 
understanding GPS mapping, but not GPS mapping just by what you 
can see with your eyes, GPS mapping by using the ancient chants 
to be able to identify what has been here for generations. Then 
also we have the [phrase in Native tongue] which is going 
through [phrase in Native tongue] as well as a kapu process not 
only just with local entities or Native Hawaiian entities, but 
also corporate entities. We have entity naming strategies, 
cultural narrative and design strategies, and then currently 
what we are working on is, how can the blessing chant, [phrase 
in Native tongue], actually inform architecture and buildings.
    Also, we have work with the University Office of Indigenous 
Innovation which also speaks to the health equity, and also 
projects with soil health. If that is not enough, sometimes my 
grandma likes to just remind us that we still need to do a lot 
of work. So currently, in 2023, she will be honored by the U.S. 
Mint on the quarter coming up very soon.
    All of that said, I will just finish off with this. In the 
conversation of education to my little girl who can name each 
cloud [phrase in Native tongue] in the Hawaiian language, and 
not only understands that Hi'iaka is a goddess, but understands 
that Hi'iaka is a life-giving element and a nomenclature, for 
her, who has this understanding, what kind of career and salary 
will she have? So I believe that halau `olelo as well as the 
renaissance of the 1970s that brought Merrie Monarch, I think 
that was important to bring vitality to Hawaiians, to Hawaiian 
cultures. But I think the current mission is to be able to 
bring some viability to Hawaiian culture.
    Mahalo.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Zane follows:]

Prepared Statement of KuHa'o Zane, Creative Director, Sig Zane Designs 
 and Szkaiao; Kalaimoku Board of Directors, Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation
    Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation stands as a continuance for the 
indigenous knowledge of Edith and Luka Kanaka`ole, as generational 
practitioners of our once banished but now thriving native dance--hula 
`aiha`a and most importantly as Native Hawaiians implementing our 
ancestral insight as solutions in our modern world. Our work helps to 
provide solutions as it relates to conservation and restoration of 
historic sites, land and resource management, performance art, design 
and education.
    Fluency and familiarity with both `olelo Hawai`i or the hawaiian 
language as well as our chants, songs and stories is the cornerstone 
for our foundation. Our Halau or dance troupe--led by the daughter of 
Edith, Kumu Nalani Kanaka'ole--Halau O Kekuhi has continually practiced 
our style of hula `aiha`a for eight generations, translating ancestral 
and familial chants into world renowned choreography and dance. The 
practice of our hula `aiha`a not only includes the movements of 
choreography, it's inclusive of learning about key native plants within 
our forests, the gathering process and creation ideals in creating our 
regalia and in the training and execution of ceremony and protocol.
    Our organization's founder, Pualani Kanahele Kanaka`ole received an 
honorary doctorate from the University of Hawai`i for her life's work 
in Hawaiian Studies, education and curriculum. She brought to light the 
``Papaku Makawalu Methodology'' that is a Native Hawaiian approach to 
science and observation of our land and natural phenomena. This 
methodology employs the translation of ancient hawaiian chants as 
generational in-depth observational data of place and how it coincides 
with current scientific research today.
    These pillars of knowledge are an extension of our foundation's 
namesake, my grandmother Edith Kekuhikuhipu`uoneonaali`iokohala 
Kanaka`ole and her life's work. It is her teachings that inspired my 
father to start Sig Zane Designs and drove his trajectory from an early 
artist to an established cultural mainstay in Hawaiian fashion. In my 
work today, I uplift and carry forth this ancestral insight and apply 
cultural solutions through design, consultancy and commerce over the 
past two decades. Doing branding identity for some of the largest 
organizations in Hawai`i and expanding my father's art to athletic 
uniforms, airplane liveries and architecture, has really lead me to the 
ask the question, what is the bridge between culture and commerce` The 
answer is as simple as my grandmother puts it, ``We must educate''. We 
push on innovating platforms to educate audiences and continue her 
mission.
    Humbled by this opportunity to share our story. Mai ka ho`oku`i a 
ka halawai.

    The Chairman. Thank you.
    Thank you to all of you. This is incredible. I want to 
start with one easy question, Ms. Kawelu.
    Ms. Kawelu. Easy.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. What is next for the festival?
    Ms. Kawelu. We already have everything in place for 2023 as 
far as judges and the halau. June 1st is my deadline for the 
next year. They have to have ``Pawdagee'' sausage sales to earn 
the $50,000 to come. So I have to let them know early.
    But we will continue, we will continue just plugging along 
doing what we know best.
    The Chairman. There is a tendency among people who have 
positions of authority to assume that we are always needed. So 
I am not going to assume that we are needed. But please do let 
us know if there are things that we can do. You are succeeding 
just fine without Federal intervention. We don't need to fix 
anything. But please let us know how we can be useful to you.
    Dr. Lincoln, a couple of thoughts. You named a bunch of 
grassroots organizations. I wanted to kind of flag this really 
as an action item, not so much for the committee staff, but for 
my personal office staff. Earmarks are now allowable in Federal 
appropriations process. I have to say it is maybe the top five 
most fundings that I get to do, because we get to receive all 
these requests from extraordinary community organizations and 
give them resources. So I would just ask you to flag viable 
projects for us. There is criteria, they have to be a non-
profit or government, they can't be a private business that is 
a for-profit business. So there are some criteria.
    But a lot of the organizations that you identified I think 
would be worthy recipients of what we call Congressionally 
directed spending. They use Congressional directed spending, 
because on the continent, earmark is a bad word. In Hawaii, 
earmark is no problem.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. So, please, would you let us know how we can 
be helpful?
    You talked a little bit about infrastructure for 
agriculture to sort of be owned by the collective, owned by the 
community. What are we talking about here? Are we talking about 
processing facilities? Are we talking about water 
infrastructure, roads, marketing? How should I picture that in 
my mind's eye?
    Dr. Lincoln. The physical infrastructure is a lot of the 
immediate need. For better or for worse, people do tend to come 
around, coalesce around things, places. There is a lot of 
social infrastructure that needs developing as well, which I 
think starts to relate to the marketing and things like that.
    We see a lot of the social cohesion coalesce around 
physical things. But yes, we are talking about processing 
plants, cold storage integrity, marshaling yards, aggregation 
facilities, even simple infrastructure like pack-wash stations 
that allow for food safety certifications. Yes, just really 
basic stuff.
    In some cases it is literally just a building is all that 
is needed, a big warehouse. Then access to that space, groups 
can come in and start to outfit it, make it usable to them.
    So State-owned or non-profit owned, but basically because 
we are a State of small farms, the small producers don't have 
the capital or scale typically to invest in these kinds of 
larger pieces of infrastructure, which I think is what a lot of 
the success, for instance, of the `Ulu Coop has been, is 
pulling together lots of small producers that suddenly make the 
investment into the infrastructure worthwhile and have a rate 
of return that is feasible.
    At the same time, they couldn't put up the building. They 
are in a State-owned building, which allowed all of it to 
happen. But they outfitted that building an extra $1 million of 
equipment and upgrades.
    The Chairman. That is extremely helpful. How helpful is the 
USDA Rural Office?
    Dr. Lincoln. They are good. Of course, it could always be 
more. But yes, USDA, the LFPP program and other programs, some 
of the rural development programs have been instrumental with a 
lot of our small grassroots businesses.
    The Chairman. Finally, on the Farm Bill, I don't sit on the 
Agriculture Committee, so the way the committee structure works 
is the people who are on the committee are able to play more of 
a hand in shaping the legislation. But I have been thinking a 
lot about how the food system is essentially broken because of 
our Farm Bill. That is not something we are going to be able to 
fix in one Farm Bill, because in order to pass it we still have 
to have the votes of people who represent States with large-
scale industrial agriculture.
    What I am asking from you, Dr. Lincoln, is input, ideas. We 
need ideas for just advancing the ball. I know Debbie Stabenow, 
who is the Chair of the Agriculture Committee, has a lot of 
sympathy in these areas. But she is always trying to figure out 
how to get 65 votes for the Farm Bill. So it is a question of 
forging a compromise.
    I would like a few marching orders from you, not right this 
moment, but a few thoughts in terms of what specifically to 
push for. So if you would take that for the record, and we will 
try to work together.
    Mr. Zane, I have two questions. I didn't get that thing 
about GPS. How does this work, this project?
    Mr. Zane. GPS mapping in general is literally what it 
states, with GPS mapping. But within a lot of the chants, 
especially with some of the new areas that the park has taken 
over, some of the chants actually speak about specific areas, 
and will talk about flows and what has happened thousands of 
years ago. When you take that concept, that these chants aren't 
just hulas, these chants are actually data, so when you are 
taking these data points and inputting GPS data points, then 
that is how it can be informative to creating a resource or 
land management tool.
    The Chairman. So people could theoretically go around 
Volcanos National Park, see where they are --
    Mr. Zane. And understand in a larger context, and a 
historical context where they stand. I think that goes to both 
build a regard as well as respect, not necessarily just for the 
chants and the historic value, but also for these translators 
of this historic value.
    The Chairman. At Arlington National Cemetery, they now 
have, I don't know if they have built it in totally now, but I 
know they are at least in the process of doing it where every 
gravestone where they have a record, you can walk around, as 
long as your location services are on, you can know the history 
of that particular fallen soldier. What an extraordinary 
resource.
    It also enables a kind of exploring, while you are 
learning, but you are really just walking around and gathering 
information. I think it has high potential. Let me know how I 
can help.
    Tell me a little more about the tourist industry 
certification. I am very sympathetic to the idea that we want 
people to know how to act, but we actually have to tell them 
how to act. Tell me how that works, and whether it is starting 
to scale or what you are doing with that.
    Mr. Zane. We just ran with a pilot program recently, it is 
called KIPA, [indiscernible] KIPA, kind of how Auntie Luana was 
talking about the grog shop, there are a lot of good ideas that 
happen maybe down on the beach with a few beverages. Basically 
what it was is we heard a lot of content that was being shared 
while we were down at the beach that wasn't necessarily some of 
the content that we felt was important or we felt was relevant 
or valid. Instead of just complaining about it, we decided to 
create a curriculum for it.
    The Chairman. So you are talking about tour guides who just 
make up stuff, among other things?
    Mr. Zane. You said it, not me.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. We all see it, even on Oahu. In fact, 
arguably on Oahu it could be worse.
    Mr. Zane. I have to say, too, my mom's brother, my uncle, 
he was actually a tour guide, and he would share a lot of his 
stories that he had. So he was a lot of the inspiration for 
this.
    But that idea of being able to educate people within 
Hawaii, that they are within the district they are in, and what 
are the stories of that place, and who are the people that are 
participating both tourism-wise as well as some of the visitors 
that are there, who are the people who are participating in 
that area and how we can we at least create a curriculum that 
would be able to educate them properly. From there, ideally, 
what we want to do is just as much as it is to see an organic 
stamp that you would understand that there is some valid 
information as well as some other information.
    The Chairman. Yes. Once you get that scale, getting that 
into Trip Advisor and everybody else, so they click around and 
see the top one and they know, oh, this person is legit, and it 
comes down to that. You are going to get tourists who don't 
care, but you are going to get a lot of people who want to 
understand.
    Mr. Zane. Hopefully, it is similar to getting people to 
purchase an [phrase in Native tongue] shirt.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. Yes. That was smooth.
    Kuha'o, I am struck by, and I want to finish with one of 
the things you said about hula, but I think it applies to 
Native culture here and everywhere. It was three or four weeks 
ago, the report from the Department of Interior about primarily 
Indian boarding schools. Even though you know that history, 
just to read that report is devastating, to think that the 
United States government systematically eliminated culture, 
harmed children, incarcerated children, shaved their heads, 
beat them up for speaking their language. Once banished, but 
now thriving. So thank you very much.
    This hearing record will remain open for a couple of weeks. 
We may submit a few questions for the record. Don't worry, 
Auntie Luana.
    Thank you very much. This hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at approximately 12:36 p.m. HST, the hearing 
was adjourned.]

                  additional statement for the record

      Prepared Statement of Dr. William H. Wilson, Ka Haka `Ula O 
    Ke`elikolani College of Hawaiian Language, University of Hawai`i
    Aloha Senator Schatz, Senator Murkowski and members of the Senate 
Indian Affairs Committee.
    My name is Dr. William H. Wilson. I am a faculty member at Ka Haka 
`Ula O Ke`elikolani College of Hawaiian Language. I am a professor of 
Hawaiian Language, Hawaiian Studies and Linguistics. I was the initial 
tenured faculty member in our Hawaiian Studies program here at UH Hilo 
and the proposal writer for most of the programs that over the years 
have developed into what is now its own college within the University 
of Hawai`i at Hilo. Our colleges includes a P-20 Hawaiian language 
medium program ranging from a preschool to grade 12 laboratory school 
program, to a B.A. program, to a graduate level teacher certification 
program, to an M.A. program and to a Ph.D. program. I have taught in 
all of those programs. As part of my duties in our Ph.D. program I have 
used my expertise in Linguistics to guide Native American students 
(Hawaiian, American Indian and Alaska Native) to higher levels of 
proficiency in the traditional languages of their peoples. I have also 
written a number of articles on language revitalization focused 
education, often with other faculty members of our college including 
Dr. Kauanoe Kamana and Dr. Keiki Kawai`ae`a.
    I want to first thank the Committee for holding a hearing here in 
Hilo and at our Hale`olelo Building and also for the fine line up of 
testifiers chosen for the two panels. I fully support the testimony of 
those panelists.
    My written testimony here is to provide some details that may be of 
use to the Committee in collecting more data on enrollment in Hawaiian 
language medium/immersion education, its unique needs, and failures of 
federal agencies to implement relevant legislation that support 
Hawaiian language medium/immersion education in both its wording and 
intent. My testimony on Hawaiian language medium/immersion education 
relates to the larger issue of Native American language medium/
immersion education of which Hawaiian language medium/immersion 
education is but a part, albeit a groundbreaking part.
    The overall goal for the information that I will be providing is to 
assist your Committee and others in Congress to provide needed support 
to these Native American language medium/immersion schools and their 
Native American students. Such support is appropriate simply for the 
success that these schools and programs have had in delivering benefits 
in the areas of increased high school graduate rates, increased college 
going rates, increased involvement in academics, lowering negative 
social statistics, cultural benefits and econonic benefits. On another 
level, Native American language medium/immersion schooling is a means 
to partially address the role that the federal government has played in 
suppressing and actually destroying the linguistic and cultural 
heritage of Native American peoples, including Native Hawaiians, as 
partially detailed in the recently released report entitled the Federal 
Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report May 2022 https:/
/www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/inlinefiles/
bsi_investigative_report_may_2022_508.pdf
    While the above Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative 
Investigative Report did include the effects of the US federal 
government on the loss of Native Hawaiian culture, it does not include 
two important details. The first is that when Hawai`i was annexed to 
the United States, the Organic Act of 1900, assigned to the President 
of the United States control of the public schools through appointment 
of the governor of the territory. The governor of the territory held 
veto power over actions of the territorial legislature, thus assuring 
that any attempt by the territorial legislators to reestablish public 
Hawaiian medium education could be blocked. Control by the 
presidentially-appointed governor over public education thus resulted 
in the maintenance of the closure of access to public Hawaiian language 
medium education on the model of government control American Indian and 
Alaska Native education elsewhere in the United States. Access to 
public education through Hawaiian, which previously had a long history 
in Hawai`i, was closed off by those who overthrow of the Hawaiian 
Monarchy with military involvement of the United States. Access to 
Hawaiian language medium education remained closed until 1986.
    A few years before 1986, parents led by the Native Hawaiian non-
profit `Aha Punana Leo began participating in private Hawaiian language 
medium language nests, contrary to state law. They then lobbied for 
restoration of legal status to Hawaiian language medium education. Then 
under the powers as a state rather than as a territory, and at the 
insistance of parents, the Hawai`i state legislature provided a legal 
means for the implementation of Hawaiian language medium education at 
the private early childhood and public school levels.
    The second highly relevant power assigned under the Organic Act to 
the President of the United States was appointment of the justices of 
Hawai`i's territorial Supreme Court. Those justices were responsible 
for appointing the highly powerful trustees of the Bishop Estate, the 
largest single non-govermental land trust in Hawai`i. Native Hawaiian 
children were, and are, the primary intended beneficiaries of the 
Bishop Estate. The Bishop Estate was established during the Hawaiian 
Monarcy through the inheritance of Ke Ali`i Pauahi to provide for the 
private Kamehameha Schools including its boarding program. The 
suppression of Hawaiian language and culture at the Kamehameha Schools 
operated with funding from Native Hawaiian Bishop Estate trust lands 
was therefore largely implemented under the control of the federal 
government. Some documentation of that suppression is available from 
the Kamehameha Schools itself  https://kaiwakiloumoku.ksbe.edu/article/
essays-supression-of-hawaiian-culture-atkamehamehaschools#:. 
Presidential responsibility for the suppression of Hawaiian culture and 
language at Kamehameha actually carried past 1959 when Hawai`i became a 
state, as several earlier appointed trustees remained in control of the 
Kamehameha Schools beyond statehood.
    Before, I begin providing information relevant to Hawaiian language 
medium education as a federal trust responsibility, I would like to 
commend the Committee as an entity for its role since Hawai`i statehood 
in seeking to protect Native Hawaiian young people and their access to 
their language and culture. It was Congress, through the Senate Indian 
Affairs Committee, that passed the Native American Languages Act (NALA) 
in 1990. Since then, Congress has consistently included NALA provisions 
in the Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA)s since 1993. Your 
Committee, including in recent years, has passed other legislation 
aligned with NALA that provides supplementary funding and definitions 
of Native American language medium education.
    In spite of the historical advocacy of the Senate Indian Affairs on 
behalf of Native American language medium education, today some 30 
years after NALA and the first NALA amendments to the ESEA were passed, 
those provisions have not, in large part, been implemented by the 
states, Department of the Interior/Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), or 
the US Department of Education (USDE). I see the USDE as primarily 
responsible, and the BIE as secondarily responsbile, for this neglect. 
Lack of direction from the USDE on NALA and NALA provisions in the ESEA 
relative to how to implement them has led states, the BIE and others to 
fail to implement those provisions. The BIE failed to provide 
information to Native Americans as a whole (including Native Hawaiians) 
relative to NALA and NALA provisions of ESEA since 1990 and 1993 and 
has failed to provide sugnificant technical assistance to tribes 
relative to implementing NALA provisions including Section 104(5) and 
ESEA NALA provisions discussed later below.
    Native Hawaiians developing and participating in Native Hawaiian 
language medium/immersion education, an area of particular concern of 
the hearing here in Hilo, have been harmed by such lack of attention 
from the USDE, not only in a failure to assure access to needed 
resources, but in actual incitement of the state to carry out 
repercussions against such Native Hawaiians through insisting on 
implementation of NALA ESEA provisions. The Hawai`i State Department of 
Education through its superintendent conveyed to families at such 
Hawaiian language medium/immersion schools as well as to me that it was 
implementing admittedly unjust provisions (contrary to NALA and NALA 
ESEA provisions) on pain of denial by the USDE of major federal funding 
to the state as a whole.
    In spite of such threats and public shaming through publication of 
low assessment scores on English medium academic assessments of 
children educated totally through Hawaiian rather than through English, 
Native Hawaiian parents remained resolute that the government should 
follow NALA and the NALA provisions of the ESEA. A considerable number 
of those parents have boycotted, and continue to boycott, state 
assessments as a means to draw attention of the failure of the federal 
government and state to carry out the NALA provisions of ESEA. This has 
been a long standing issue with boycotts continuing during both during 
the No Child Left Behind Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act.
    Furthermore, the situation of Native Hawaiians relative to access 
to Native American language medium/immersion education (through 
Hawaiian) has been much better than that of other Native Americans. 
Such better access has, in my opinion, been due to first grassroots 
Native Hawaiian action especially that led by the non-profit `Aha 
Punana Leo, second to the overall sympathy of the general population of 
Hawai`i to the Native Hawaiian population, and third to the combined 
political power of the significantly large Native Hawaiian population 
and their supporters in the general population at the state legislature 
and in state government offices. Of the 50 states, Hawai`i has the 
largest percentage of its population consisting of Native Americans 
whose ancestors are indigenous to the state.
    An example of the growth of Native Hawaiian language medium 
education is the growth of state funded public and charter school 
Hawaiian language medium/immersion enrollments that grew out of the 
non-profit private `Aha Punana Leo preschools and continue to build 
from a statewide base of such preschools. Note the following data on 
enrollments:

 ENROLLMENTS IN STATE FUNDED EDUCATION AS A WHOLE AND THAT PORTION OF IT
                CONDUCTED THROUGH THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    TOTAL PUBLIC AND                              TOTAL HAWAIIAN MEDIUM/
   CHARTER ENROLLMENT                              IMMERSION ENROLLMENT
(ENGLISH MEDIUM AS WELL        SCHOOL YEAR           IN BOTH STANDARD
  AS HAWAIIAN MEDIUM/                               PUBLIC AND CHARTER
  IMMERSION EDUCATION                                     SCHOOLS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
179,902                  Fall 2017 (non-Covid)    2,790
179,698 (-304)           Fall 2018 (non-Covid)    3,028 (+238)
179,331 (-367)           Fall 2019 (non-Covid)    3,312 (+284)
174,704 (-4,627)         Fall 2020 (Covid year)   3,348 (+36)
171,600 (-3,104)         Fall 2021 (Covid year)   3,363 (+15)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Data for total fall enrollment count from Hawai`i State Department of
  Education data provided to the public on the web. Data for Hawaiian
  medium/immersion enrollments from the Hale Kuamo`o Hawaiian Language
  Center of Ka Haka `Ula O Ke`elikolani College of Hawaiian Language,
  which provides classroom materials to all such schools.

    The above data is important for Congress to understand the needs of 
Native Hawaiian students for whom Congress has a trust responsibility. 
Furthermore, such data is required to be provided by the USDE to 
Congress by ESEA Section 3122(b). The vast majority of the students 
enrolled in Hawaiian medium/immersion programs are Native Hawaiians, 
whose very enrollment in such programs places them within the category 
of ``English Learners'', something that will be discussed later below. 
Not only do such students meet the category of ``English Learners'' by 
the NALA provision sof ESEA, they are a significant number of students. 
For each of the above years, the Native Hawaiian students in such NALA 
protected programs are of such a magnitude that they consist one of the 
five highest language groups subject to ``English Learner'' status 
required to be reported to Congress. Indeed, the number of students 
enrolled in these programs in the fall of 3,363 may exceed the number 
of students classified by the state of Hawai`i as ``English Learners'' 
enrolled in a program for English learners and speaking the same 
language. Equally important are the large numbers of Native Hawaiians 
seeking to enroll in such programs. No data has been collected on such 
individuals, but there are reports of waiting lists exceeding 
enrollments in some Hawaiian language medium sites.
    Because Hawaiian language medium/immersion students are not 
reported to Congress and because of lack of other data collected by the 
USDE or BIE regarding such Native Hawaiian students and other Native 
American students the distinctive needs of such students remain unknown 
or less known to Congress responsible for those students through the 
trust responsibility. A further area of concern is the huge teacher 
shortage for such students. ESSA Section 3122(b) specifically requires 
that numbers of certified teachers and teacher shortages be reported to 
Congress for Title III programs. However, as will be explained later, 
although Hawaiian language medium education is covered by NALA 
provisions of Title III, the lack of USDE provisions for implementing 
such provisions, has resulted in Native Hawaiian students educated 
through Hawaiian being excluded from Title III services.
    The Hawai`i State Department of education reported that of 132 
teachers in standard public schools, only 98 were properly certified 
for Hawaiian language medium/immersion education (in spite of 
certification training for teachers being available in universities in 
the state). That is in the standard public schools, the schools best 
supported through funds, 25.8 percent of the teachers in standard 
public schools lacked appropriate certification, that is one out of 
five. This is a huge need, especially in light of the growth of 
Hawaiian language medium/immersion enrollments and waiting list that 
exist in many sites. According to an article in the National Education 
Association https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/
hawaii-educators-tackleteacher-shortage-ambitious-5-yearplan#:, the 
Hawai`i public school teacher shortage overall is 4.9 percent ``nearly 
twice that of the national average of 2.6 percent.'' Note, however, the 
above data has Native Hawaiian students accessing their federally 
recognized right to be educated through Hawaiian, are 9.9 times less 
likely to have a certified than are students on average across the 
United States.
    The matter is even worse than what is reported above, since the 
data reported from the Hawai`i State Department of Education (No ka 
Papahana Palapala A`o Ku 8ikawa--Teacher Need Data a powerpoint stored 
as Halawai PAK--05-19-2022) only relates to Hawaiian language medium/
immersion education as provided through the better financed and 
resourced standard public schools and not including the charter 
schools. The state had been providing financial awards to teachers with 
Hawaiian medium/immersion certification to teach in standard public 
schools, but not to such teachers in charter schools, providing an 
incentive for teachers to leave students in charter schools. For the 
school year 2021-2022, of 3,363 students enrolled in state government 
supported Hawaiian medium/immersion programs, 1,155 or 34.3 percent 
were enrolled in charters. The state Department of Education has 
collected no data on teacher shortages in those schools, although the 
State Board of Education to which it reports, is charged with 
responsibility for those schools as is the Office of Hawaiian Education 
located in the State Department of Education.
    Not only are charters educating over a third of students enrolled 
in Hawaiian medium/immersion programs, there are the only source of 
Hawaiian language medium education in many areas outside urban 
Honolulu. Many of these are communities with large percentages of 
Native Hawaiians. For example, the county and island of Kaua`i lacks 
any standard public Hawaiian language medium/immersion education. All 
K-12 Hawaiian language medium/immersion students on that island are 
enrolled in charters. Here in East Hawai`i, the Hilo area, all K-8 
Hawaiian medium/immersion students are enrolled in charters. A portion 
of 9-12 students are enrolled in a charter, the other larger group of 
high school students educated through a Hawaiian medium/immersion 
program are in an off-campus program of standard public school Hilo 
High School. However, that off-campus program is located on property 
rented by a charter school with space provided free of charge to the 
state Deparment of Education along with other benefits from that 
charter school. East Hawai`i has an especially large population of 
Native Hawaiians. One of the charters in East Hawai`i is also providing 
a satellite charter program in the Wai`anae area on O`ahu, another area 
of high Native Hawaiian concentration. That program provides the only 
access to middle school through Hawaiian in Wai`anae. On Moloka`i, an 
island with an especially high concentration of Native Hawaiians, the 
only access to Hawaiian language medium/immersion education at the 
elementary level is through a charter school. The teacher shortage in 
these charters remains unassessed by the State Department of Education.
    While the state may be culpable for some of the challenges of 
Native Hawaiian students enrolled and wanting to enroll in Hawaiian 
language medium education, it is my opinion that the federal government 
is most culpable, with the USDE particularly at fault. The federal 
government has a trust responsibility for Native Hawaiians, including 
protecting the right of access to education through Hawaiian. The USDE 
is not following ESSA reporting requirements that it collect data from 
the state on education through the medium of Hawaiian and presenting 
that data to Congress so that Congress can address the needs of Native 
Hawaiians relative to Hawaiian language medium/immersion education.
    Past action by the USDE relative to Hawaiian language medium/
immersion education can be interpreted by those in the state government 
as discouraging any reporting on the needs of Native Hawaiians relative 
to Native Hawaiian language medium education. For instance, there have 
been boycotts of federally required state assessments through English 
among Native Hawaiian parents with children in Hawaiian language medium 
programs insisting on the state--and by implication the USDE follow 
NALA and related NALA provisions in the ESEA. The state made several 
failed attempts to get the USDE to accept Hawaiian language assessments 
tailored to the distinctive nature of Hawaiian language medium 
education and has received the most support from the USDE for 
assessment through Hawaiian using unusual provisions unrelated to NALA. 
Direct discussions with Secretary of Education Duncan from Native 
Hawaiians directly involved in Hawaiian medium education resulted in a 
promise to ``look into the matter'' followed by no action. Most 
recently Hawaiian language medium education program participants have 
shared information on NALA related features of the ESEA on May 18, 2022 
with Mr. Christopher Soto, Senior Advisor to Secretary of Education 
Miguel Cardona, with the hope that something would be done regarding 
following NALA and NALA provisions in the ESEA. Secretary Cardona may 
be more familiar with the challenges of Hawaiian language medium 
education, which parallel challenges of Spanish medium education in 
Puerto Rico, an area that Mr. Soto indicated to us was an area of 
special concern for Secretary Cardona.
    To understand the challenges faced by Hawaiian language medium 
education, one needs to understand what legal provision have been put 
into place by Congress relative to Hawaiian language medium/immersion 
education as a form of Native American language medium/immersion 
education. The first of these is the Native American Languages Act of 
1990 (NALA). NALA includes Section 103 with the definition of ``Native 
American and Native American language'' (including Native Hawaiians) 
used in other laws, including the ESEA.
    NALA also includes Section 104 that recognizes the rights and 
freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native 
American languages and the policy of the United States to preserve, 
protect and promote those rights and that freedom (Section 104 (1)). 
NALA Section 104 (2) recognizes the challenge of providing teachers for 
instruction in Native American languages and allows hiring of 
uncertified teachers.
    NALA 104 (3), highly relevant to Hawaiian language medium 
education. NALA104 ( 3) states that it is the policy of the United 
States to encourage and support the use of Native American languages as 
a medium of education. (I contend that neither the USDE or BIE have 
encouraged or supported the use of Native American languages as a 
medium of education, at least not Hawaiian language medium/immersion 
education.) NALA 104 (4) indicates that it is the policy of the United 
States to encourage States and local education programs to work with 
Native American parents, educators, Indian tribes and other Native 
American governing bodies in implementation of programs to put this 
policy in effect. (I have not seen evidence that the USDE or BIE has 
consistenly provided such encouragement.)
    NALA 104 (5) recognizes the right of Indian tribes and other Native 
American governing bodies to use Native American languages as a medium 
of instruction in all schools funded by the Secretary of the Interior. 
(In my association with a number of American Indian groups working to 
initiate and develop Native American language medium/immersion 
education programs I have not heard of any major effort of the 
Secretary of the Interior making any effort to pubicize, let alone 
promote that right.
    NALA 104(6) recognizes the right of tribes and states and other 
government bodies to declare Native American languages official and to 
carry out their own business through Native American languages. For 
Hawai`i, Hawaiian has been an official language coequal with English 
since 1978 and a language of official delivery of publically funded 
educations since 1986, further strengthened with additional legislation 
and policies in subsequent years. However the USDE has yet to clearly 
support with any sort of accomodations for Hawai`i having two official 
languages. I have heard that a number of tribes have declared their 
traditional languages official, but, I have not heard of any changes 
implemented by the USDE or BIE to procedures for meeting ESEA relative 
to such official tribal language status.
    As alluded to above in the discussion of NALA, the key law relative 
to either promoting or suppressing Native American language medium 
education including Native Hawaiian language medium education is the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the current version of 
which is the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) passed in 2015, preceded 
by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) passed in 2001. Note that NALA 
passed in 1990 was followed in 1993 by amendments to the ESEA that 
aligned with NALA. Those provisions in large part remain through NCLB 
and have continued in ESSA along with additional provisions related to 
NALA in ESSA.
    Although those earlier NALA provisions to the ESEA were largely 
ignored for two decades, I address here the current ESSA law. I note in 
particular that outside Title VI ``Indian, Native Hawaiian, Native 
Alaska Native Education'', there are four places in the ESSA where NALA 
provisions for the Native Hawaiian language spoken by Native Hawaiians 
is included. Sec. 3201(8) repeated as Sec. 8101 (34) is where the terms 
``Native American'' and ``Native American language'' are defined as in 
NALA. NALA includes Native Hawaiians and the Hawaiian language under 
that definition.
    The U.S. Department of Education has failed to include Native 
Hawaiians and the Hawaiian language in its reports to Congress on 
Native American students and Native American languages on the 
implementation of Title III ``Language Instruction for English Learners 
and Immigrant Students'' produced by its Office of English Language 
Instruction. Native Hawaiians learning through the Hawaiian language 
are the single largest national effort in implementing Sections 3124(3) 
``Rules of Construction'' and Sections 3127 ``Programs for Native 
Americans and Puerto Rico'' of Title III of ESEA. Those two provisions 
of Title III are the main federal provisions protecting the NALA rights 
of Native American students to be educated through the medium of Native 
American languages parallel to the right of students in Puerto Rico to 
be educated through the medium of Puerto Rico's official Spanish 
language. Those ESEA provisions give Native Americans and their 
governments the same rights to use their languages as official 
languages of education as provided Puerto Rico to use Spanish in 
education.
    The U.S. Department of Education in its reports to Congress on 
Title III through its Office of English Acquisition (OELA) does not 
explain NALA nor Sec. 3124(3) or 3127 relative to Native American 
languages or explain that Hawaiian is among the Native American 
languages as defined in Sec. 3201(8) of Title III (See the latest such 
mandated report ``The Biennial Report to Congress On the Implementation 
of the Title III State Formal Grant Program--School Years 2016-2018'' 
https://www.ncela.ed.gov/files/biannualreports/OELA-BiReport16-
18.508.pdf as required of the USDE by ESSA Section 3122(b).
    The above referenced OELA report does explain, however, the 
distinctive use of Spanish as the medium of education in Puerto Rico 
and that rather than measuring English proficiency, the focus in Puerto 
Rico is on Spanish proficiency and that therefore ``English Learner 
(EL)'' actually means ``Spanish Learner''. On page 7, that OELA report 
provides a footnote explaining that the distinctive application of 
Title III to Puerto Rico's use of Spanish as the medium of education is 
based in ESEA Title III Section 3127 ``Programs for Native Americans 
and Puerto Rico'', a provision that also applies to Hawaiian language 
medium education and also all other Native American language medium 
education in the United States. That footnote does not further explain 
how the US Department of Education has used Section 3127 (and its 
identical predecesor in NCLB, i.e., its Section 3128 ``Programs for 
Native Americans and Puerto Rico'') to overrule other sections of ESEA, 
including Title I, relative to public education in Puerto Rico. Such 
action provided protection of the use of Spanish as the medium of 
education in Puerto Rico regardless of the lack of distinctive wording 
in ESEA to protect the use of Spanish in Puerto Rico's schools for all 
cases where there was a conflict with the wording of the ESEA outside 
Section 3127.
    The distinct use of Spanish as the medium of education is listed 
repeatedly in that OELA report as it is in earlier such reports. 
However, under the section devoted specifically to Puerto Rico (pages 
236-237), under the ``Top Five Languages Spoke by Spanish learners in 
State'' for school year 2017-2018 listed in order are: A. Haitian, 
Haitian Creole 20; B. Spanish, Castilian 12; C. Chinese 7; D. Arabic 4; 
E. Mandingo 4. Not only is inclusion of B. ``Spanish'' surprising and 
not explained as ESSA makes no provision for students other than Native 
Americans who speak a non-standard form of the medium of education to 
receive Title III support, but this data reported by the USDE for 
Puerto Rico fails to mention English-speaking ``Spanish Learners''. The 
Puerto Rico ESEA Plan https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/
stateplan17/prconsolidatedstateplanfinal.pdf approved by the U.S. 
Department of Education on May 16, 2019 https://www2.ed.gov/admins/
lead/account/stateplan17/map/pr.html. Puerto Rico's ESEA Plan reported 
to the USDE that in the fall of 2016 there were 1,141 English-speaking 
students served with Title III funds. Those English-speaking students 
were by far the largest ``Spanish Leaner'' group served with Title III 
funds at 95 percent of all Spanish Learners in the fall of 2016. Why 
did the USDE not include that group in its report to Congress`
    In contrast to the repeated references to Spanish being used 
officially to deliver education in Puerto Rico, the above OELA report 
to Congress fails to state that Hawaiian is an official medium of 
education in Hawai`i also protected under ESSA Title III Section 3127 
``Programs for Native Americans and Puerto Rico'' as are all Native 
American language medium programs. Furthermore, Hawaiian language 
medium education is accorded additional protections under Section 
3124(3) not accorded the Spanish medium education system of Puerto 
Rico. In addition, the definition that assigns students to the 
protection of Title III includes distinctive wording for Native 
American children (including Native Hawaiian children). That ``English 
Learner'' definition assigns such Native American children enrolled in 
Native American language medium education (including Hawaiian language 
medium education) to the protections of 3127 and 3124(3).
    The definition of ``English Learner'' (ESEA Section 8101(20) 
includes the wording: The term ``English Learner`, when used with 
respect to an individual, means an individual-. . . (C)(ii)I who is a 
Native American (Note: this includes Native Hawaiians and Alaska 
Native) or an Alaska Native (Note: although this is redundant but draws 
attention and therefore some protection). . . and (II) comes from an 
environment where a language other than English has a significant 
impact on the individual's English proficiency (as is the case for a 
student enrolled in a Native american language Medium School protected 
under Sections 3124(3) and 3127, i.e., a school taught entirely or 
predominantly through Hawaiian or another native American 
language)...and D whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or 
understanding the English language may be sufficient to deny the 
individual--(i) the ability to meet challenging State academic 
standards; (ii) the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where 
the language of instruction is English; or (iii) the opportunity to 
participate fully in society.
    Parallel to the U.S. Department of Education approved ESEA Plan for 
Puerto Rico, the Hawai`i's ESEA plan https://oese.ed.gov/files/2022/05/
HI-Consolidated-State-Plan.pdf Approved by the U.S. Department of 
Education https://oese.ed.gov/offices/office-of-formula-grants/school-
support-andaccountability/essa-consolidated-state-plans/ clearly states 
on page 14, 21 and 23 that Hawai`i has two official languages and that 
Hawaiian is a medium of K-12 education and state assessment. The 
parallels between Hawai`i and Puerto Rico have been ignored by the USDE 
as is the fact that Hawaiian medium and Spanish medium education in 
Puerto Rico are both covered by the same Section 3127 ``Programs for 
Native Americans and Puerto Rico''. Other Native American language 
medium programs elsewhere in the United States are also ignored.
    The definition of ``Native American'' and ``Native American 
language'' in the ESSA is also ignored in the legally required USDE 
OELA report to Congress. This is a matter of import as the meaning of 
those two terms determines a distinctive pathway to protections of 
Title III. Section 3124(3) protecting use of Native American languages 
in federally funded education as required under NALA section 105. This 
included dominant use of Native American languages in place of dominant 
use of English.
    Section 3127 allows Native American language medium education 
distinctively designed evaluation and assessments, which allows full 
revitalization of Native American languages. Assessment of Native 
American language medium education through state English medium 
assessments and the English-derived standards used for those English 
medium assessments are a major issue in Hawai`i, where Hawaiian is used 
as a total, or dominant, medium of education from kindergarten through 
grade 12 a number of schools schools. For example at P-12 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u laboratory school here in Hilo, all classroom 
instruction is through Hawaiian. English is introduced as a course in 
grade 5 and continues as a course through to grade 12. English is 
taught through Hawaiian at Nawahiokalani`opu`u and produces the 
required increase of English proficiency called for in Section 3127. 
Puerto Rico also meets Section 3127 by teaching English as a course. 
Often using Spanish as the medium to teach English parallel to the use 
of Hawaiian to teach English at Nawahi. However, Puerto Rico actually 
devotes five more years to teaching English than does 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u, as the teaching of English begins in kindergarten 
and continues through to grade 12 in Puerto Rico. Nawahiokalani`opu`u 
seniors as reported in the testimony on one of the panels, Ms. Namaka 
Rawlins, have a considerably higher high school graduation rate and 
higher rate of matriculation into English medium tertiary education 
than do seniors in the English medium state public school system for 
all races, and even more so than for Native Hawaiians.
    The lack of USDA attention to the fact that Sections 3124(3) and 
3127 allow a Native American language to be a full medium of education 
equal to English for Native American students is unconscionable if not 
contrary to ESSA. Similarly, the relegation of Puerto Rico's use of 
Spanish rather than English as the full medium of education to 
footnotes and otherwise forcing it into charts that use the heading 
``English'', is highly detrimental to obtaining accurate data relative 
to implementation of ESSA. The USDE OELA report to Congress makes no 
mention that Hawai`i uses Hawaiian medium education (contrary to the 
USDE approved Hawai`i state ESSA plan). Indeed the only state for which 
Hawaiian speakers are served with Title III funds is Washington State 
(page 135). In an earlier report, the USDE reported Hawaiian-speakers 
as one of the top five languages served with Title III funds--again 
failing to report English speakers there.
    Hawaiian medium education is hidden under the term total English 
medium education in the latest USDE OELA report Title III 
implementation in Hawai`i and has been since NCLB. This USDE reporting 
on Hawai`i is inspite of the fact that the number of students educated 
through the medium of Hawaiian has grow to the point that it exceeds 
the largest non-English language accorded Title III support in the 
English medium schools, i.e., Ilokano (or Iloko) 2,692 in the 2017-2018 
school year (OELA report page 40). For the 2017-2018 school year there 
were 2,790 students enrolled in government supported K-12 Hawaiian 
language medium/immersion education as reported earlier above. 
Furthermore data collected by the US Census Bureau now shows that 
Hawaiian is the largest non-English language reported as spoken in 
Hawai`i homes by children aged 5-17 (page 5 of Non-English Speaking 
Population of Hawai`i) https://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/economic/
data_reports/Non_English_Speaking_Population --
in_Hawaii_April_2016.pdf. If I am not mistaken, data collected by the 
US Census Bureau is the basis by which the USDE determines the amount 
of funding for Title III accorded to states. In such a circumstance, it 
is noteworthy that unlike Puerto Rico which is accorded funding for 
Title III purposes for schools taught through its non-English official 
language Hawai`i is not, except for a small charter school that uses 
Ni`ihauan as its medium of education. Some in Hawai`i contend that 
Ni`ihau is a language of its own and not Hawaiian, which is the terms 
used for the official state language. Others contend that Ni`ihau is 
the most distinctive of the Hawaiian dialects. The Hawai`i Department 
of Education only provides Title III support to Hawaiian speakers in 
the case of that charter school taught through Ni`ihauan and in the 
cases of where a student transfers out of a Hawaiian language medium 
program into an English medium school.
    In my opinion, Native American language medium schools outside 
Hawai`i have a more difficult situation than Hawaiian as their states 
have not recognized their Native American languages as an official 
medium of education, although ESSA does not require that for the 
provisions of ESSA Sections 3124(3) and 3127 to be implemented by a 
state or the BIE. My understanding is that outside Hawai`i, all 
government funded Native American language medium programs, whether 
operated by the states (including charters) or by the BIE are required 
to be assessed through English (contrary to both 3127 and 3124(3)).
    USDE OELA reports to Congress do not indicate what programs serving 
Native American English Learner students are Native American language 
medium programs as defined in such legislation as Public Law No. 116-
101. Instead programs that include any attention to Native American 
language speakers or learners are listed as LIEP (Language Instruction 
Education Programs) with the assumption that such programs have their 
base and assessments in English. (Puerto Rico's Spanish medium programs 
are also listed in this way masking the use of Spanish there as the 
medium of instruction and assessments, except through footnotes.)
    To my knowledge not a single Native American language medium 
program, that is, a program where a Native American language is 
dominant in accordance with Public Law No. 116-101, other than those of 
Hawai`i is officially assessed for accountability purposes through the 
Native American language of instruction as provided for in Sections 
3127 and 3124(3). Even Hawaiian medium programs, which are assessed 
through Hawaiian for certain subjects and grade levels (but not all), 
are not so assessed under the provisions of Sections 3127 and 3124(3), 
but under an archane ``double testing'' waiver and reference to ESSA 
200.6j (See Hawai`i ESEA plan page 15)
    The latest USDE OELA report to Congress on Title III has a few 
pages that focus on American Indian and Alaska Native English learners 
(pages 48 and 49). Those pages do not explain the unique definition of 
``English Learner'' relative to Native Americans (again that includes 
Native Hawaiians). Nor do those pages explain that Native American 
English Learners are explicitly adressed in Sections 3124(3) and 3127. 
The focus of pages 48 and 49 is primarily that American Indian and 
Alaska Native English Learners represent a relatively small number of 
students found mostly in a few Western states including Alaska, 
Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah. No mention is made of 
Hawaiian and Native Hawaiians.
    American Indian and Alaska Native language are also listed under 
varioius forms of Language Instruction Education Programs (LIEP) 
focused on English acquisition that also include a non-English 
language. There is no indication as to whether the inclusion of such 
Native American languages is at any particular level of use compared to 
English--a detail associated with a distinct legal status for under 
Public Law No. 116-101. The inclusion under Public Law No. 116-101 of a 
required high level of use of a Native American language in a school 
program funded by it indicates an understanding of Congress relative to 
the amount of attention to a Native American language required to 
revitalize and/or maintain it in school. The USDE OELA report lists 
programs using American Indian and Alaska Native languages as parallel 
to foreign and immigrant languages which have no special protection for 
survival in the United States parallel to legal protections accorded 
Native American languages . Nor do the languages with which those 
Native American languages are listed have any law referencing them to 
being required to be ``dominant'' in school to qualify for funding as 
under Public Law No. 116- 101 for Native American languages.
    Especially confusing from a Hawai`i perspective is to see that the 
largest number of American Indian and Alaska Native languages used with 
Title III funding are included under a category called ``heritage 
languages'' (pages 112-121). At Nawahiokalani`opu`u School the term 
``heritage language'' is used to refer to languages of immigrant 
neighbors and ancestors who came to Hawai`i and which 
Nawahiokalani`opu`u students study to honor those ancestors and 
neighbors while maintaining some sort of connection to those languages 
of history. The understanding, however, at Nawahiokalani`opu`u in 
studying ``heritage languages'' is that such ``heritage languages'' 
have countries outside the United States that are their homelands, and 
that the people who remain in those homelands have the responsibility 
to maintain those heritage languages as strong and vibrant in their own 
homelands. The American Indian, Alaska Native and Hawaiian languages 
are not seen as ``heritage languages'' by Nawahiokalani`opu`u students, 
but as Native American languages whose survival in their homelands 
within the United States is seen as the responsibility of the federal 
government working together with Native Americans, as stated in NALA.
    At Nawahiokalani`opu`u Hawaiian language medium school all students 
are required to study several years of one or more such heritage 
languages, usually to include Japanese. Those heritage languages are 
studied through Hawaiian. Hawaiian itself, however, is seen as the 
official language of the state used at the school, and a language with 
a distinct Native American language status under federal and state law. 
At the very least one would expect the USDE and OELA to recognize a 
distinct category of Native American languages and separately list them 
in its various charts rather than included them under the term 
``heritage language''.
    After discussing American Indian and Alaska Native languages 
somewhat on the preceeding two pages of the USED OELA Title III report, 
then on page 50, for the first time in such a report, there is a 
references NALA. There the report describes federal efforts to 
revitalize Native American languages which it says have occurred ``in 
recent years''. Native American language revitalization has actually 
been occurring with federal support for almost three decades since 
passage of NALA in 1990. Even with this first ever reference to Native 
American language revitalization in a Title III report to Congress, 
much is missing in the single page 50 regarding Native American 
language revitalization.
    It is especially surprising to see in that full page description of 
Native American languge revitalization and NALA 1990 no referrence to 
inclusion of the Hawaiian language. Native Hawaiians played a major 
role in the drafting of NALA and the national effort to get support 
from other Native American communities to Senator Daniel Inouye of 
Hawai`i, who was chairing the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and 
championed the bill in Congress. Furthermore, Native Hawaiians have 
provided major support to other Native Americans in developing their 
own Native American language medium programs, often modeled on Native 
Hawaiian medium programs that have exited since the early 1980s. 
Numerous other Native American peoples have been hosted in Hawai`i by 
Native Hawaiians to observe Hawaiian language medium education and 
learn about how it has been implemented in the islands. Native American 
language medium education is an area where Native Hawaiians have been 
leading the nation.
    Related to overlooking Native Hawaiians relative to Native American 
language revitalization and the support that Native Hawaiians have 
provided the larger Native American language revitalization movement, 
is the recent rumor that the funding for the Congressionally passed 
National Native American Languages Resource Center was assigned to the 
Office of Indian Education under the USDE thus excluding Native 
Hawaiian participation. Such an action would b contrary to the intent 
of the National Native American Languages Resource Center bill and 
needs to be corrected if true.
    One area, where the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs could make a 
major impact on assuring federal shoulder of its trust responsibilities 
to Native Hawaiians would be to actively pressure the executive branch 
and its department appointees, such as the Secretary of Education, to 
implement the provisions in NALA and the NALA provisions of ESSA as 
well as other Congressionally passed Native American language 
legislation to assure inclusion of Native Hawaiians as Congress 
intended. In taking such action the Committee and the overall federal 
government will be serving the broader classification of ``Native 
Americans'' as defined by NALA. Native Hawaiians are paving the road 
for successful language revitalization for Native Americans as a whole. 
Native American languages are severly endangered and continue to be 
surpressed under federal and state educational procedures and policies 
in spite of the fact that such procedures and policies often run 
counter to NALA and NALA related ESSA provisions. Those procedures and 
policies need to be changed in the immediate future. Funding is also 
sorely needed to support the growth of Native American language medium 
education.
    I again thank the Committee for holding a hearing here in Hilo. I 
strongly urge that the Committee take action to assure that laws 
relating to Native American languages not only include Native Hawaiians 
in their wording, but also include Native Hawaiians as actual 
beneficiaries. Implementation of those laws must be at the highest 
level of interpretation in support of Native peoples controlling their 
own lives and children's lives.
    Mahalo nui!

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