Forever Indebted

ʻUhane Hawaiʻi
Sep 5
3 min read

He Inoa No Pauahi

The news of yet another lawsuit against Kamehameha Schools stirs an ache deep within me. To some, it may look like just another legal battle over admissions. But to me, and to thousands of alumni and haumāna, it feels like a challenge to our very existence.

Because Kamehameha Schools was never simply a school. It was — and is — Pauahi’s living gift.

Pauahi’s Voice Still Speaks

In her will, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop wrote:

“I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate… to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools… to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools. I desire my trustees to provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women. I also direct that the teachers of said schools shall forever be persons of good moral character, and that preference shall be given to Hawaiians of pure or part aboriginal blood.”

Her words are not vague. They are not suggestions. They are commands, spoken with the foresight of a woman who understood what her people needed to survive.

Pauahi saw that Native Hawaiians had been stripped of land, language, and belonging. And so, she gave us back a future.

More Than Education

When I entered the gates of Kamehameha, I did not just gain an education. I found home.

Like many keiki of Hawaiʻi, I am ethnically diverse. But it was in this Hawaiian space, surrounded by kanaka, that I felt what true belonging was. It was there I became the first in my family for generations to revive our language — to chant in the tongue of my kūpuna, to sing the mele nearly lost, to breathe life into history that colonialism tried to erase.

Pauahi gave me not only a path to success, but a path to myself.

The Alma Mater Echoes

Kamehameha Song Contest 2024 - Sons of Hawaiʻi & Credits

Our alma mater, “Sons of Hawaiʻi,” rings truer now than ever:

"Be strong and ally ye, O sons of Hawaiʻi, And nobly stand together hand in hand. All dangers defy ye, O sons of Hawaiʻi, And bravely serve your own your father land"

These words are more than a song sung at graduation or Founders Day. They are a charge. A reminder that our education was never just for us, but for our lāhui. To stand. To fight. To serve Hawaiʻi nei.

For the Ones at Home and Away

This is not just for me. This is for every kanaka far from home, sitting in college lecture halls on the continent where your name is mispronounced, your history misunderstood, and your culture invisible.

Pauahi’s gift extends to you too. Because of her, we claim our seats at tables our kūpuna were once barred from. Because of her, we do not sit quietly. We arrive with the strength of our alma mater in our chest and the ʻike of our ancestors in our minds.

Why Kamehameha Must Endure

To question Kamehameha Schools’ admissions policy is to question Pauahi’s will itself.

Because she intended it. She named us — Native Hawaiians — in her final words.
Because the need remains. Our keiki still face educational disparities, still carry trauma from colonization, still fight for identity.
Because it works. Generations of alumni have become leaders, healers, and cultural warriors because Pauahi’s will was honored.

Kamehameha is not exclusion. Kamehameha is restoration.

Forever Indebted

I am forever indebted to Pauahi. For my language. For my belonging. For my identity.

When lawsuits rise, I remember the charge of our alma mater:

"Ray, ray, ray, ray, ray, rah, Ray, ray Kamehameha, Let hills and valleys loud our song prolong."

This is why Kamehameha must remain. Not just as a school, but as a lifeline. As a promise kept. As a place where our keiki can continue to heal, thrive, and lead.

Forever indebted — to Pauahi, to my alma mater, and to my lāhui.

With ʻUhane, From Me to You,

ʻUhane Hawaiʻi