RIP: Native Hawaiian educator and activist Haunani-Kay Trask

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII

Haunani-Kay Trask, 1950-2021

By Anita Hofschneider

Reprinted from CIVIL BEAT

Haunani-Kay Trask, a staunch advocate for her Native Hawaiian community, died in Honolulu early Saturday, July 3 at age 71.

Trask was known for her powerful speaking and persistent advocacy on behalf of the Native Hawaiian community, her nationalism and her writings.

“We are not American!” she told a crowd in 1993 in front of Iolani Palace on the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. “We will die as Hawaiians, we will never be Americans!”

At the time of her passing, she was a professor emerita at the University of Hawaii Manoa, where she helped found the Center for Hawaiian Studies and taught for decades.

One of her former students, University of Hawaii political science professor Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, described Trask as “one of the most influential and prominent and internationally renowned Hawaiian scholars and activists of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.”Trask inspired Pacific Islander poets and advocated against the destructive impacts of the military and tourism industries in Hawaii as well as colonization and white supremacy globally, Goodyear-Kaʻōpua said.

“She has for decades fearlessly been thinking about the importance of the restoration of land to Native Hawaiians and the ways that land is central to politics,” she said.

Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong said Trask also inspired her and many of today’s grassroots Hawaiian leaders.

“I consider her to be one of the most staunch teachers and aloha aina advocates that Hawaii has ever seen,” Wong said. “Her work will remain one of the most honored in terms of how much inspiration and how much empowerment she gave us by all the things that she espoused and all the things that she taught.”

Her younger sister Mililani said Trask died peacefully around 2 a.m. in a Honolulu care home after years of battling Alzheimer’s.

Mililani Trask said her sister would have wanted to be remembered as a poet and teacher.

“When she was asked to introduce herself, she always started to say she was a poet, a Hawaiian woman poet,” Trask said. “She considered her greatest accomplishment was the work she did to found the Center for Hawaiian Studies.”

The two grew up together in Kaneohe, their father an attorney and their mother a public school teacher, just walking distance from Kaneohe Bay. As children, they’d walk to collect clams and bring them back in buckets.
Global Condolences

Haunani-Kay Trask attended the University of Wisconsin where she helped found a feminist campus organization, her sister said. After returning to Hawaii, Trask was first hired by the American Studies Department at the University of Hawaii and from there advocated to create a department dedicated to Native Hawaiians.
Jonathan Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio, dean of the Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, said that Trask “inspired people everywhere.”

“Professor Trask was a fearless advocate for the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) and was responsible for inspiring thousands of brilliant and talented Hawaiians to come to the University of Hawai‘i,” Osorio said in a statement. “But she also inspired our people everywhere to embrace their ancestry and identity as Hawaiians and to fight for the restoration of our nation. She gave everything she had as a person to our Lahui and her voice, her writing and her unrelenting passion for justice will, like our Queen, always represent our people. E ola mau loa e Haunani Kay Trask, ‘aumakua of the poet warrior.”

U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele, in a press release, said Trask “inspired and empowered generations of young scholars. Mahalo nui loa for your immeasurable contributions to the advancement of Native Hawaiians and indigenous people everywhere.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono tweeted: "Haunani-Kay Trask was an outspoken, thought-provoking educator and a fierce advocate who played an undeniable role in bringing to light the more painful parts of Hawaii's past, inspiring countless others to advocate for Native Hawaiians. My aloha to her family."

Mililani Trask said since the news broke about her sister’s passing, she has been fielding countless calls from Indigenous people in New Zealand, the Amazon, North America, Puerto Rico and elsewhere sharing their condolences and appreciation for her sister’s international influence on global Indigenous rights.

“My sister’s greatest legacy was her fearless advocacy, her strong loyalty to our people and culture and the rights attached to it,” Trask says. “Her understanding of our history was paralleled by her ability to understand modern issues impacting Indigenous peoples.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: Additional information from prepared statements from Sen. Mazie Hirono, Rep. Kai Kahele and Jonathan Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio.

President, Vice President meet with AAPI Congressional leaders

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AAPI Congressional leaders met Thursday with President Biden and Vice President Harris.

The leadership of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) met Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office to discuss critical priorities for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. 

“Our meeting today was warm and addressed a number of urgent priorities," said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Caucus, "like the importance of passing the American Jobs Plan, combatting anti-Asian hate crimes, addressing COVID-19 disparities, fixing our broken immigration system, increasing AAPI representation in senior government roles, prioritizing data disaggregation and language access, reauthorizing the White House Initiative on AAPIs, and reaffirming the federal government’s commitment to advancing Native Hawaiian rights."

Besides giving the AAPI Congressional delegation a face-to-face meeting with Biden and Harris, it gave the President the opportunity to smooth over any ruffled feathers caused by not having an AAPI Secretary in his Cabinet,  the first time since 2000 that Asian Americans were absent among the President's top advisors.

Biden highlighted his recent Statement of Administration Policy that condemns in the strongest possible terms the increasing acts of anti-Asian bias, harassment and violence, and conveyed his ongoing support of the legislation introduced by Senator Mazie Hirono and Congresswoman Grace Meng, which moved forward in the Senate Thursday with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The President and Vice President Harris, the first Asian American in that post, shared their vision in the American Jobs Plan to invest in shared CAPAC infrastructure priorities, including care economy infrastructure and digital infrastructure.

A day earlier, Biden named Erika Moritsugu as Deputy Assistant to the President and AAPI Senior Liaison, a position the White House promised after Senators Mazie Hirono, D-HI, and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, threatened to withhold their votes on Biden's other non-diversity nominees that would prevent their appointments.

"I know first-hand that @POTUS will benefit from Erika's counsel, policy expertise & strong relationship-building skills as he seeks to ensure AAPI leaders are present at the highest levels of government," tweeted Duckworth, who employed Mortsugu as the senator's general counsel.

The CAPAC delegation included Chu, First Vice Chair Rep. Grace Meng, Second Vice Chair Rep. Mark Takano, Freshman Representative Kaiali‘i Kahele, Senators Duckworth and Hirono, and Rep. Doris Matsui. 

Chu listed the other topics discussed: “I am also pleased that we were able to discuss the importance of ensuring that AAPI history is included in educational curricula. We also underscored the importance of creating a Smithsonian Asian Pacific American History Museum to ensure that all Americans understand the rich history and contributions of the AAPI community. And we discussed the need to prioritize AAPI data disaggregation and language access as a critical component of the President’s strong commitment to advancing racial equity throughout the federal government."

Four new AAPI members of Congress "representing" in the House of Representatives

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Rep. Marilyn Strickland wore a traditional Hanbok for her swearing-in ceremony.

Four new AAPI members of the 117th Congress were sworn in Sunday, joining the 15 re-elected House members and two sitting Senators of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage.

The four included the first three Korean American women elected to Congress: Kim Young and Michelle Steele from Southern California's Orange County and Marilyn Strickland from the state of Washington.

Kai Kahele won Hawaii's District 2 seat previously occupied by Tulsi Gabbard, who opted to concentrate on her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for President rather than campaign for re-election. Kahele's election marks the return of a Native Hawaiian to Congress since Sen. Daniel Akaka died while in office in 2018.

For her swearing-in, Strickland, whose father is African American, honored her Korean American mother by wearing the Hanbok, a traditional Korean garb worn during significant events.

“Today, I was honored to be sworn into one of the most historically diverse Congresses in history, joining a record number of women, and women of color, serving in our Democratic Majority. As a woman of both Korean American and African American descent, it was deeply personal to wear my Hanbok, which not only symbolizes my heritage and honors my mother, but also serves as a larger testament to the crucial importance of diversity in our nation, state, and the People’s House,"  Strickland stated in a press release.

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Hawaii's Rep. Kai Kahele brought a bit of the islands with him for his swearing-in ceremony.

For his swearing in ceremony, festooned in a bevy of Hawaiian leis, Kahale used the same Bible that was used by the late Akaka, the first Native Hawaiian elected to Congress.  

He thanked his supporters and fellow Hawaii Representative EdCase, and said, “For those of you whom I don’t know yet, I hope to gain your trust and confidence. As your representative, I will work across the aisle when possible, and I will fight for our kupuna and our keiki to ensure a better Hawaii for all.”

“It was incredibly emotional and was just beaming with pride and I’m sure Senator Akaka, with my dad, so many others that have come before us, were just looking down and smiling,” Kahele said.

“In Washington, I will practice the important values we hold dear, including integrity, honor, cooperation and aloha in all I do,” Kahele said.

Symbolically, in a powerful moment, Kahele's first official words spoken in the House chambers were spoken in Hawaiian. He said, “Lunamaka’āinana ʻo Nancy Pelosi.” (Congratulations to the People's Leader, Nancy Pelosi.)

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The first three Korean American women, from left, Young KIm, Michelle Steel and
Marilyn Strickland,  elected to Congress met during orientation last year.

California's Kim drew criticism from some in the Republican Party when she criticized Donald Trump's use of racial slurs in referring to the coronavirus pandemic and some of his positions on immigration. “I do hope that my voice can be heard,” she said, “and that I can represent not only my district but also represent the underserved and underheard communities like the Asian American voice.”

Steel, whose husband is a high-ranking official in California's Republican Party, drew support from a lot of Orange County's conservatives when she criticized mandating the wearing of masks in public and the health restrictions placed on businesses.

“This is my American dream and I am honored and humbled to serve my community as one of the first Korean American women ever elected to Congress," said Steel in a press release. "Taking the oath of office to represent the nation that has blessed me with so many opportunities is a moment I will never forget. This is a responsibility that I will never take for granted, especially as so many families and businesses continue to fight back against the COVID-19 pandemic."

The four brings the total number of AAPI Congress members to 21, the most to serve at one time.

House Hunting: Update on AAPI Congressional candidates

Edited for clarification, Nov. 5, 10 a.m.

All of the AAPI incumbents serving in Congress who were up for re-election, won their races ... except for TJ Cox, who is still waiting for all the ballots to be counted.

Two new AAPI members of Congress will be representing Washington and Hawaii; and two more if they win their races in California. That's the good news.

The rest of the news was not so good for AAPI candidates or for the nation. TJ Cox, the first Filipino American Congressman elected in California is fighting for his life; and two strong Congressional candidates in Texas, Gina Ortiz Jones and Sri Preston Kulkarni, came up short; and 99% White Maine went with flailing Susan Collins, a Republican, over Sara Gideon, who looked strong before election day, 

Following are the results of the contested Congressional races, but not including the incumbents who won reelection easily.

The winners

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT 10

With 90% of the vote counted, former Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, a Korean American Democrat, won her race for Congress against State legislator Beth Doglio, another Democrat, with 50.2% of the vote vs. 35.9% She made history by becoming the first Korean American woman in Congress.

HAWAII, DISTRICT 2

Kai Kahele was declared a winner for the seat vacated by Tulsi Gabbard, easily beating his closest opponent, Republican Joe Akana, by a 2-to-1 margin. A colonel in the Hawaiian National Guard, Kahele was also serving in Hawaii's Senate before making the leap to Congress. Kahele will be only the third Native Hawaiian to serve in Congress since Hawaii became a state.

Too close to call

ARIZONA, DISTRICT 5

It is too close to call in the District 5 race. Dr. Hiral Tiperneni, a Indian American ER physician, was winning in the early going but lost that lead as more votes came in for Republican incumbent David Schweikert. With87% of the votes in, Schweikert was leading the race with 60.9% of the vote vs. Tiperneni's 49.1% -- separated by about 6,500 votes.

CALIFORNIA, DISTRICT 21

In 2018, Congressman TJ Cox was the last House race in the country to be finalized with the Filipino American narrowly beating incumbent Republican David Valadao by 862 votes Once again, this might be the tightest House race in the nation and it could be days before all the mail-in ballots are counted. With only 71% of the votes counted, Valadao has 51.4% of the vote compared to Cox's 48.6%, a difference of about 3,000 votes.

CALIFORNIA, DISTRICT 34

For a first-time candidate, teacher David Kim ran a good race with a well-thought-out platform, but he was unable to unseat fellow Democrat, incumbent Rep. Jimmy Gomez. Gomez was leading with 52.3% of the votes cast. Kim garnered 47.7% of the ballots in the southern California district.

CALIFORNIA DISTRICT 39

Incumbent Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros, in his first term, and Republican challenger Young Kim, a former state legislator, Wednesday were still in a tight race for the 39th Congressional District seat late Wednesday. Kim is part of Republican efforts to recapture the once all Republican seats of conservative Orange County. With 89.7% of precincts reporting, Kim was leading by less than a percentage point, 50.27% to 49.73%. Her lead was just over 1,500 Wednesday evening.

CALIFORNIA, DISTRICT 48

In conservative Orange County's 48th Congressional District, the race between incumbent Democrat Rep. Harley Rouda and Republican Michelle Steel, the chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, remains too close to call. With 93.98% of precincts reporting Wednesday evening, Vietnamese American Steele held onto a razor-thin lead over Rouda — 50.42% to 49.58%. The candidates are separated by about 2,800 votes. It was unclear how many of the mail-in ballots remain to be counted.

So close, but ...

Gina Ortiz Jones conceded early Wednesday to Republican Tony Gonzalez, a Navy veteran and college professor. "I want to thank each and every grassroots supporter, volunteer, and member of my staff who poured their heart into our campaign," said Jones, a Filipino American. "I am so proud of the race we ran, and it is our shared commitment to fighting for working families in South and West Texas that continues to give me hope." District 23 runs an 800-mile stretch from San Antonio to El Paso, and along the U.S.-Mexico border. Rep. Will Hurd decided not to run for reelection, making this seat up for grabs but the GOP poured money in the race to keep the seat Republican.

TEXAS, DISTRICT 22

Sri Preston Kulkarni, whose campaign really drummed up excitement in the Asian American community, especially the immigrants from South Asia who were beginning to flex their political muscle in the suburban district. But with 88% of the vote counted, he fell short to Republican candidate and Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehl for Texas' vacant 22nd district seat. The seat was up for grabs after Republican Rep. Pete Olson announced his retirement in 2019. With all the excitement Kulkarni generated his loss was perhaps the most disappointing for AAPI activists but perhaps changed local politics forever. His concession statement: "Over the past three years, we built the most diverse and inclusive grassroots campaign for Congress Texas has ever seen, with more faiths, more ethnic and linguistic communities represented in our coalition than anything we have ever seen before.

"Our work doesn’t end today. This campaign is about all of us, not any one person running for office, and about the potential we have to restore reason, compassion and decency in our society. We must all continue to hold people in power accountable and stand up against extremism, cruelty, and hate mongering ... I promise you that we’re not done fighting for our future.”

VIRGINIA, DISTRICT 1

Democrat Qasim Rashid, seeking to become the first Pakistani American in Congress, failed to beat incumbent Rob Whittman. The Republican won easily with 58.4% of the vote and Rashid won 41.5%

MAINE, U.S. SENATE

Sara Gideon, an Indian American, presented a serious challenge to incumbent Susan Collins, who drew the ire of the nation's women and the Democratic Party for voting for Brett Kavanaugh for the US Supreme Court. Collins is Lucy with the football and the Democrats is Charlie Brown. She tries to present an independent image but disappoints Dems by voting with the GOP most of the time. Gideon, according to the polls, was leading in Maine but when Maine's voters went to the polls, they decided to go with the familiar face. Gideon trailed the moment Maine began counting the ballots. In the end, she was able to win only 42.3% of the vote as Collins won convincingly with 51.1%.