Former Office of Hawaiian Affairs Chair Colette Machado of Molokai was remembered Tuesday as a passionate warrior driven to public service and dedicated to the betterment of the Native Hawaiian community.
Colette Yvette Pi‘ipi‘i Machado, 71, died Monday afternoon at The Queen’s Medical Center following a long illness.
“There’s a huge void on Molokai,” activist Walter Ritte said.
Former fellow OHA trustee Haunani Apoliona said Machado was committed to making a difference — and she did.
“She knew her passion, and it was to improve the lives of Native Hawaiians,” Apoliona said.
An OHA trustee for 24 years, Machado represented Molokai and Lanai for six terms from 1996 to 2020 and served as board chairwoman from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2017 to 2020.
Machado also served on the Hawaiian Homes Commission (1979-1981), state Land Use Commission (1975-1979) and Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission (1994-2005, 2009-2013).
She was a member of such diverse boards as the Molokai Island Multi-Service Board of Alu Like, the Molokai Health Foundation board of directors, the Molokai Chamber of Commerce, the Molokai Island Burial Council, Imi Hale — Papa Ola Lokahi Native Hawaiian Health Care Board, the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture Advisory Board and the Molokai Enterprise Community Governance Board.
In addition, she held leadership roles with scores of nonprofits, including the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana, Hoolehua Hawaiian Civic Club of Molokai and Molokai Land Trust.
Over the years, Machado held a number of jobs, including being the Molokai representative for U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Ritte said he and Machado were longtime “partners in crime” and community organizers dedicated to keeping Molokai Molokai.
“We had the same vision. We didn’t want to be like Oahu and Maui,” he said.
Ritte said Machado knew how to talk softly and sweetly to get things accomplished when the occasion called for it. But she also knew how to get tough when it became necessary.
“When it came to push and shove, no one could out-push her,” he said.
He remembered the day when she and Ritte met in the office of former House Speaker Joe Souki in an effort to block large cruise ships from visiting Molokai.
“The discussion heated up, and there was a swearing match between Joe Souki and Colette Machado — and she won,” he said.
Ritte also recalled how Machado persuaded Inouye and then-Gov. John Waihee to help modify historic preservation regulations that had prevented the restoration of Hawaii’s fishponds. “If it wasn’t for the senator, we would not be able to get the fishponds going again,” he said.
Apoliona knew Machado going back to the late 1970s when they were both staffers with Alu Like, the employment and training program.
Two decades later she persuaded Machado to run for OHA as part of a slate of candidates with shared values and who were committed to improving the lot of Native Hawaiians.
“She operated with gusto and energy, with the guiding sense of doing what’s right for her people,” Apoliona said.
Current OHA Chair Carmen Hulu Lindsey said the OHA community was shocked and saddened by news of Machado’s death.
“She was a true mana wahine who spent her life in service to the Native Hawaiian community and she will be dearly missed,” Lindsey said in a statement. “Although this is a sad day at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, we will continue the work that Colette so passionately undertook as a role model in serving Native Hawaiians.”
U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele said Machado will be missed. In a statement he said, “The word ‘grassroots’ is synonymous with public service and community engagement. It is also a word closely associated with Colette Machado, who during her decades-long career in the public sector, had the ability to effect positive change for the constituents she served.” Kahele represents Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the neighbor islands and rural Oahu.
State Senate Majority Floor Leader Lynn DeCoite (D, Molokai-Lanai-East Maui) said she was sending her thoughts, prayers and aloha in Machado’s memory.
“I am thankful for her years of service, her dedication to the people of Moloka‘i along with her commit- ment to and her advocacy for Native Hawaiians across Hawai‘i,” DeCoite said in a statement. “My heartfelt condolences to her ‘ohana. She will be greatly missed.”
Maui Mayor Michael Victorino issued a statement Tuesday saying, “Colette Machado devoted her life to her community, including more than two decades of volunteer service on state and county boards and commissions. Mostly she will be remembered for her servant leadership as a passionate advocate for all Native Hawaiians as the former Chair of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. She will be greatly missed on Molokai, throughout Maui County and the state of Hawaii.”
Machado is survived by her husband, Myron Akutagawa. No services have been announced.
