As directors of the Abigail K. K. Kawananakoa Foundation, we are deeply troubled by the latest attempt to re-write the charitable intent of the Abigail K. K. Kawananakoa Trust. The contentious legal battle being waged over Ms. Kawananakoa’s inheritance finds us reflecting upon the tragic history of our Hawaiian benefactors who have had their philanthropic intent for their people thwarted by outsiders for centuries.
Currently, the specter of greed and animus threatens to destroy the legacy Kawananakoa intended for the Hawaiian community. Attorneys are reaping the benefits of litigation that is likely to cost the trust millions of dollars that would be better spent improving the condition of our Hawaiian people and fulfilling the intent of Kawananakoa’s legacy.
As kupuna ourselves, we see the situation as nothing short of tragic. The wholesale re-write of Kawananakoa’s trust would, among other things, wipe out her decades-long plan to leave the majority of her wealth to the Kawananakoa Foundation for the Hawaiian community. That the fortune her family amassed from the acquisition of Hawaiian lands would be gifted back to the community from which that wealth originated, over a century ago, underscores the depth and sincerity of Kawananakoa’s commitment to her people, and the historic and cultural significance of her bequest.
Established in her name in 2001, the Kawananakoa Foundation was birthed from Kawananakoa’s desire to address the Hawaiian community’s most critical needs. If properly safeguarded, the Kawananakoa Foundation will one day not only preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian culture, but provide the most marginalized members of the Hawaiian community — our keiki and kupuna, as well as our poor, sick, disabled and incarcerated — opportunities to thrive.
The ongoing efforts to extinguish the Kawananakoa Foundation, whose exclusive purpose is to maintain, support, preserve and foster the traditional Hawaiian culture in existence prior to 1778, including its art, language, music, religious practices and social history, while at the same time enabling Hawaiian people to function more effectively in the contemporary global community, must be exposed for what they are: an indefensible waste of Kawananakoa‘s property and an unconscionable assault on Kawananakoa’s plan for her philanthropic legacy.
The Kawananakoa Foundation currently stands to receive an estimated $100 million to carry out its purpose upon Kawananakoa’s passing. We mourn the fact that trust funds that should be used to provide Kawananakoa with the highest level of care and protection during her lifetime are instead being hijacked and squandered; and that her personal and business affairs have yet to be managed free from conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety.
Only if Kawananakoa’s best and highest interests are served and safeguarded, will her legacy gift and longstanding vision for our keiki and our families be realized. As stewards of the Kawananakoa Foundation, we understand all too well what Hawaiians risk losing when state institutions fail to uphold our Hawaiian benefactors’ intent and fail to prevent greed, abuse and mismanagement from corrupting our charitable trusts.
It is in this spirit that we ask our lahui and all those who wish to protect Hawaiian trusts and charitable legacies to stand with us against greed, waste and self-dealing. If we stand together, Kawananakoa’s vision for her philanthropy and dream for the Hawaiian people will be realized for generations to come.
Oswald Stender is a former trustee of both the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate; Lilikala K. Kame‘eleihiwa is a professor at the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at UH-Manoa; Jan E. Dill is president at Partners in Development Foundation.
