ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2017 – 42
AFFIRMING THE NEED TO CONTINUE FOSTERING A NATIVE HAWAIIAN SENSE OF PLACE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA JOHN A. BURNS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION OF A 21ST CENTURY HĀLAU WITH CULTURAL RE-LANDSCAPING TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF NATIVE HAWAIIAN GRADUATES AND DOCTORS COMPETENT IN NATIVE HAWAIIAN CULTURE
WHEREAS, the need for medical doctors in Hawaiʻi is great, having a shortage of 500 out of the needed 3,400 physicians and a projected shortage of 600 physicians by 2020 (University of Hawaiʻi System Annual Report: Report to the 2017 Legislature – Annual Report from the Hawaiʻi Medical Education Council 2016); and
WHEREAS, the need for Native Hawaiian doctors as well as for doctors that are culturally competent in Native Hawaiian culture (culturally competent doctors) is large; and
WHEREAS, Native Hawaiians are more likely to respond to disease treatment and prevention as well as health promotion from Native Hawaiian and culturally competent doctors; and
WHEREAS, the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) is Hawaiʻi’s only medical school; and
WHEREAS, JABSOM is uniquely positioned to address the lack of Native Hawaiian and culturally competent doctors; and
WHEREAS, JABSOM has only been able to matriculate ninety (90) Native Hawaiians out of 2,308 graduates since its founding in 1978 (Employee & Student Diversity Pipelines and Partnerships JABSOM Annual Report 2015-2016); and
WHEREAS, a well-developed Native Hawaiian Sense of Place at a school is conducive to the retention, success, and ultimate matriculation of Native Hawaiian students and the education of culturally competent doctors; and
WHEREAS, the UH System (University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents Policy 4.201, 4.202; University of Hawaiʻi Strategic Directions, 2015-2021, p. 8), UH Mānoa (Achieving Our Destiny: The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2011-2015 Strategic Plan, p. 6; Ke Au Hou: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Native Hawaiian Advancement Task Force Report, p. 7); JABSOM (Mission Statement 2017; JABSOM Strategic Plan July 31, 2015, Goal 4), and Department of Native Hawaiian Health (Mission Statement 2017) all have policies or positions acknowledging the importance of supporting Native Hawaiians in higher education generally, and a Native Hawaiian Sense of Place specifically, or both; and
WHEREAS, JABSOM started to develop a Native Hawaiian Sense of Place on the school grounds through the creation of the Māla Lāʻau Lapaʻau (Māla) in 2005, through the efforts of Kekuni Blaisdell, MD, Nanette Judd, PhD, Ben Young, MD, Martina Kamaka, MD, Isabella Abbott, PhD, Richard Likeke Paglinawanand, and others (Guide to Selected Plants of the Māla Lāʻau Lapaʻau: Department of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; JABSOM: A Sense of History, A Sense of Place, Lecture by Martina Kamaka, MD, August 6, 2014); and
WHEREAS, the JABSOM administration is supportive of the expansion of the Māla (JABSOM Māla Lāʻau Lapaʻau Expansion April 20, 2016); and
WHEREAS, a group of Native Hawaiian JABSOM faculty, staff, and students created Hui Ke Ao ʻŌiwi (Hui) in Spring 2016 to better implement the above policies and positions in general and specifically through the exploration of the creation of a 21st Century Hālau with Cultural Re-landscaping (Hālau); and
WHEREAS, the Hālau would be able to appropriately host JABSOM medical students, faculty, staff, community members, and guests using the Māla for educational purposes related to Native Hawaiian health and healing knowledge; and
WHEREAS, the Hālau would be able to appropriately host Native Hawaiian ceremonies and celebrations including the Kīhei ceremony for graduating medical students; and
WHEREAS, the Hālau with the Māla would be an enhanced puʻuhonua (place of refuge) feature within JABSOM; and
WHEREAS, the Hālau would be able to serve as a community gathering resource for Native Hawaiian healers; and
WHEREAS, the Hālau would be able to expand the inventory and supply of medicinal plants used in Native Hawaiian healing practices like lāʻau lapaʻau; and
WHEREAS, the Hui received fiscal support from the Department of Native Hawaiian Health to pursue their efforts in advancing the Hālau (Hoʻoulu: Advancing & Innovating Grants 2016 and 2017); and
WHEREAS, the Hui surveyed 197 JABSOM faculty, staff, students, and the school’s extended community including select visitors, interns, guests, and community partners (Perceptions of the John A. Burns School of Medicine as a Native Hawaiian Sense of Place Survey 2017); and
WHEREAS, the Hui conducted select consultations with Native Hawaiian experts including Kaiwipunihei Lipe, PhD (UH policies, programs, and research as it relates to creating, maintaining and perpetuating a Hawaiian place of learning for Native Hawaiian students, staff and faculty); Lilikala Kameʻeleihiwa, PhD (Native Hawaiian history and developing Native Hawaiian capacity and infrastructure within the UH system); Ku Kahakalau, PhD (Native Hawaiian and indigenous education); Francis Palani Sinenci (traditional hale building); Rick Barboza (Native Hawaiian plant landscaping); and Kalei Nuʻuhiwa, PhD candidate (Native Hawaiian structure placement, orientation, and planning as it relates to astrological and atmospheric phenomena); and
WHEREAS, the Hui obtained a preliminary design review of architectural renderings for the Hālau (Hale Māla Lāʻau Lapaʻau at John A. Burns School of Medicine June 3, 2016, Jeremy Mendoza D.Arch); and
WHEREAS, it is the Association’s belief that the Hālau would contribute to the Hawaiian Sense of Place at JABSOM and directly affect the retention, success, and ultimate matriculation of Native Hawaiian medical students and improve cultural competency in the Native Hawaiian culture for all graduates of JABSOM.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 58th Annual Convention in Seattle, Washington, in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani, this 4th day of November 2017, that it affirms the need to continue fostering a Native Hawaiian Sense of Place at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine through the construction of a 21st Century Hālau with Cultural Re-landscaping to increase the number of Native Hawaiian graduates and doctors competent in Native Hawaiian Culture; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaiʻi, President of the University of Hawaiʻi, Vice President for Administration of the University of Hawaiʻi, Chancellor of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Dean of JABSOM, Chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health as well as the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and all County Mayors.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani on the 4th day of November 2017, at the 58th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Seattle, Washington.
Annelle C. Amaral, President
