His Holiness & Hawaiian elders find common challenge

Friday, 27 April 2007, 3:07 p.m.

Wailuku, Hawaii: Sensing a growing anger and discontent among Native Hawaiians, a group of their elders gathered with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Wednesday, asking his advice on how to live with compassion while their land and culture are under threat.

The group welcomed His Holiness the Dalai Lama by presenting him with a lei while chanting a Hawaiian song at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

Knowing His Holiness was forced to leave his country after the Chinese armed repression and has since met with indigenous groups ranging from Incas to Laplanders, the Hawaiian elders said they wanted to hear from him during a crucial time in their history.

More than 10,000 people packed the War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku, Maui, to hear His Holiness the Dalai Lama speak on peace, compassion and preserving the culture of indigenous peoples

“This has been building for a long time,” said Raylene Kawaiaea, 56, a teacher at North Kohala Elementary on the Big Island. “We’re looking for a solution and one with compassion.”

Educators and business and cultural leaders from the community said Wednesday they feel Hawaiians have been welcoming to others, but have been taken advantage of as their language is spoken less and their land has been “stolen”.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama told the elders not to confuse compassion for others with tolerance, meaning they don’t have to give in to injustice. He said that there is a certain amount of anger that comes from the frustration of trying to show compassion, but they need first to understand the people who are angering them and their background.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama told Hawaiians not to isolate themselves and instead to open their culture to others while keeping their identities and seeking an education.
“Isolation can be suicide,” His Holiness said.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama told the Hawaiians to try to form a unified message, but he said they must find compassion, respect and love inside themselves first.

“The work must start with yourself, by education or training,” he said. “To help yourself is most important. You must be able to raise yourself to a level of equal standards.”

Then, he said, they can mobilize more people.

While most Hawaiians won’t leave the islands, they said at times they feel like they’ve become refugees in their own land.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama said he’d like to see all indigenous populations come together to show the treasures each has within its culture.

The group said they hope to continue to meet to come up with ideas and solutions for Native Hawaiians and then figure out how to communicate them, said Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, who focuses on Hawaiian land issues.

“I don’t think it’s a dream,” she said. “It’s something we have to work on and make happen.”

The 30-minute meeting, which included three questions the group came up with, offered hope the Hawaiians can learn to handle their current struggles, according to some of the participants.

“He gave us a little more energy today,” said Clifford Naeole, who serves as a cultural adviser for island hotels.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was on his first trip to Maui but his third visit to the islands and his first since 1994.

—By Brian Charlton, Associated Press Writer