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ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS

A RESOLUTION

No. 2018 – 8

HONORING AND REMEMBERING THE LATE UNITED STATES SENATOR DANIEL KAHIKINA AKAKA, SR.: THE BEACON OF ALOHA, HAWAI‘I’S FIRST NATIVE HAWAIIAN SENATOR, BELOVED KUPUNA, AND STATESMAN

WHEREAS, United States Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka, Sr. was the unwavering model of aloha, servant leadership and ‘ōpūali‘i who was born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawai‘i on September 11, 1924, to Annie Kahoa and Kahikina Akaka; and

WHEREAS, Senator Akaka graduated from the Kamehameha Schools for Boys in 1942 and served in the United States Army from 1945 to 1947, and he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 1952, and completed his professional certification in education in 1953; and

WHEREAS, when Hawai‘i was pulled into World War II, Daniel Akaka, as a cadet senior in high school, was assigned to guard a post above the Kamehameha Schools in order to defend the water table from parachuting enemy soldiers who might plan to contaminate it; and

WHEREAS, in 1943, after graduating from Kamehameha, Daniel Akaka joined 55 other Hawai‘i youth under 27 years of age to establish the Junior Hawaiian Civic Club; and

WHEREAS, in his prime, the Senator was not only a member of the noted Kawaiaha‘o Church, but was also its choir director; and

WHEREAS, Senator Akaka began his career as an educator in 1953 and furthered his education earning his Master’s degree in Education in 1966; and

WHEREAS, Senator Akaka’s work as a teacher, vice principal and principal ignited a strong passion within him for civic issues that would later propel him into the political arena;

WHEREAS, Senator Akaka married Mary Mildred Chong in 1948, and their marriage produced five children; and

WHEREAS, in the same year that Hōkūle‘a made its maiden voyage, 1976, our beloved Daniel Akaka was elected to the United States House of Representatives and served in the House for 13 years until he was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Spark Matsunaga; and

WHEREAS, Senator Akaka served in the United States Senate from 1990 to his retirement on December 12, 2012; and

WHEREAS, Senator Akaka’s strong passion for well managed resources and fiscal stability earned him the respect a leader of financial literacy on Capitol Hill; and

WHEREAS, in Senator Akaka’s service as a United States Senator, he led the efforts to reassess the wartime service records of the 442nd Regimental Combat Unit; and also championed legislation to redress the Native Hawaiian plight and remnant effect of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i through the “Apology Resolution” and through his efforts in authoring the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act; and

WHEREAS, in 2008 the Maunalua Hawaiian Civic Club bestowed Life membership on Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka; and

WHEREAS, in all walks of the Senator’s life, he unceasingly and unwaveringly promoted the spirts of empathy and aloha; and further, he embodied aloha in all acts and behaviors; and

 

WHEREAS, whenever a delegation of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs traveled to Washington, D.C., Senator Akaka, not only made time to meet with th, e delegation, but also endeavored to exemplify, the in his spirit and demeanor of kindness and hospitality, this aforementioned essence of “Aloha;” and

 

WHEREAS, the Hale O Nā Ali‘i O Hawai‘i Hawaiian royal society adopted a similar resolution at its 68th annual convention held in April 2018.

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, honoring and remembering the late United States Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka, Sr.; the beacon of “aloha” and Hawai‘i’s first Native Hawaiian Senator; beloved kupuna and statesman; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to Mrs. Mildred Akaka, the Kamehameha Schools Archives, the Maunalua Hawaiian Civic Club, the Kawaiaha‘o Church, members of Hawai‘i’s Congressional Delegation, the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, The ‘Ahahui Ka‘ahumanu, the Daughters and Sons of the Hawaiian Warriors – Māmakakaua, the Daughters of Hawai‘i, the ‘Aha Hīpu‘u, as well as the 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