ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2018 – 10
URGING THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I AND THE HAWAI‘I STATE LEGISLATURE TO NAME THE HAWAIʻI STATE CAPITOL “THE DANIEL KAHIKINA AKAKA HAWAIʻI STATE CAPITOL”
WHEREAS, Hawai‘i became a state in 1959 following passage of an act by the United States Congress and enactment of the law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower; and
WHEREAS, Governor John A. Burns commissioned the new State Capitol to replace the former statehouse, ‘Iolani Palace, and construction on the new capitol began on November 10, 1965;
WHEREAS, on March 15, 1969, the Hawai‘i State Capitol was opened, and since then has become a showpiece of a distinctive style of design known as Hawaiian international architecture, an adaption of the modernistic Bauhaus-style that was popular in the early and mid- 20th century; and
WHEREAS, the design is symbolic of Hawaii’s beauty and geographic features: the reflecting pool that surrounds the Hawai‘i State Capitol symbolizes the Pacific Ocean, the two State legislature chambers (House of Representatives and Senate) on the southeast and northwest sides of the building are cone-shaped to represent volcanoes, the 24 columns surrounding the building resemble palm trees, and the eight columns along the front and back side of the building to represent each of the eight main Hawaiian Islands; and
WHEREAS, the open sky atrium is distinct (as most other capitols feature a dome-shaped covered rotunda) and is reminiscent of a volcano crater, and the artistic pattern on the floor at the center of the atrium is a representation of the colors you see in Hawaii’s coastal waters; and
WHEREAS, the Hawai‘i State Capitol grounds also features a statue of Queen Lili‘uokalani, Saint Damien, and two large bronze seals that proclaim the State’s motto: Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘āina i ka pono; and
WHEREAS, United States Senator Daniel K. Akaka recognized the State Capitol as the piko or the center and source of growth for Hawai‘i because the capitol is where the legislature is housed and makes decisions for the people; and
WHEREAS, Senator Akaka would always return to Hawai‘i and go back to the piko and provide State legislators the latest report on issues developing in Washington, D.C. that impact the people of Hawai‘i; and
WHEREAS, Senator Akaka’s career was dedicated to public and community service from his tenure in the United States Army during World War II, leadership kuleana at Kawaiaha‘o Church, role as a school teacher and principal at Benjamin Parker Elementary School in Kāne‘ohe, his appointment to the State of Hawai‘i Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Hawai‘i Office of Economic Opportunity, and his more than three decades serving in both chambers of the United States Congress; and
WHEREAS, one of Senator Akaka’s longstanding initiatives was the advocacy for Native Hawaiian self-determination as evidenced by the Apology Resolution signed by President Clinton in the same year Hawai‘i observed the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, and subsequent legislation that sought federal recognition of a political relationship with Native Hawaiians as an indigenous group; and
WHEREAS, in honor of the late Senator Akaka, the Native Hawaiian community acknowledges his service with aloha, emblematic of Hawaii’s people, seek to recognize his legacy with the naming of the Hawai‘i State Capitol, a symbol of Hawai‘i, the Daniel Kahikina Akaka Building; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 6E-34.5, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, the State Capitol Management Committee is vested with the oversight and management of the State Capitol and its grounds and facilities, and is the key stakeholder in determining the naming of the capitol; and
WHEREAS, the State Capitol Management Committee is composed of representatives from both the executive and legislative branches of the State government, specifically the Governor’s Chief of Staff, the State Comptroller, the Director of Public Safety, two members of the Hawai‘i State Senate, two members of the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives, and two legislative officers; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 59th Annual Convention in Kalapaki, Kauaʻi, in the malama of Welehu and the rising of ʻOlepau, this 17th day of November 2018, urging the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i and the Hawai‘i State Legislature to name the Hawai‘i State Capitol “The Daniel Kahikina Akaka Hawaiʻi State Capitol”; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that with the concurrence and support of the Akaka ‘ohana, the State Capitol Management Committee is urged to take steps necessary to permanently name the State Capitol in honor of Senator Akaka; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that certified copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Akaka ‘ohana, State of Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services, 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 Welehu and the rising of ‘Olepau on the 17th day of November 2018, at the 59th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Kalapaki, Kaua‘i.
Annelle C. Amaral, President
