An Editorial by President Pu‘uhonua Dennis Bumpy Kanahele

A Vision for Hawai‘i’s Future

There comes a time in the life of a people when a simple truth becomes impossible to ignore. For Native Hawaiians, that truth is this: being poor in our own homeland is no longer acceptable.

Our awakening did not come from anger. It was born from Aloha, from dignity, and from a dream powerful enough to breathe life back into a Nation that has carried the weight of injustice for 130 years.

The dream was clear:

What if the strongest economic engine in Hawai‘i was not controlled by outside interests…

but owned, governed, and directed by Native Hawaiians?

What if an industry that generates trillions worldwide — the gaming and resort industry — could become:

  • the financial foundation of Hawaiian economic independence,
  • the source of jobs and opportunity,
  • the catalyst to restore our lands, strengthen our schools, uplift our families, revive our culture,
  • and the pathway for our people to stand once again as a sovereign Nation?

That is where the Dream began.

I. Political Transformation: A Nation Stands Again

In this vision, Hawaiians finally use U.S. Public Law 103-150 — the Apology Law — not as a symbol of the past, but as a legal foundation for our future.

A Hawaiian-controlled gaming and resort industry becomes:

  • an exercise of inherent self-determination,
  • a structure of lawful economic reconciliation,
  • and the first major industry in these islands built upon the values of ALOHA, not extraction.

The revenue changes everything.

We establish:

  • Native Hawaiian schools of governance and law,
  • academies that shape our next generation of leaders,
  • and professional programs that prepare our people to manage our own national institutions.

Within a decade, Hawaiians are no longer being “included” in decisions about Hawai‘i.

They are the ones making the decisions.

Shareholders become policymakers. Beneficiaries become regulators. The people become a living government once more.

II. Economic Transformation: Hawaiians Become Owners

Before this shift, too many Hawaiians lived at the bottom of the economy — priced out, overworked, dependent on tourism jobs with no ownership.

But in this dream, we change the equation.

The economy no longer uses Hawaiians. Hawaiians own the economy.

Because when the industry is Hawaiian-owned:

  • profits stay in Hawai‘i,
  • revenue flows into trust funds for Native Hawaiian beneficiaries,
  • affordable housing is built,
  • kūpuna healthcare expands,
  • land-back becomes real,
  • and communities finally have the resources they were always denied.

Billions of dollars that once left our shores now circulate within Hawaiian hands and Hawaiian institutions.

From one resort grows:

  • master-planned cultural destinations,
  • entertainment districts,
  • green energy systems,
  • Hawaiian-owned agriculture, media, shipping, and even airlines.

For the first time in 130 years, Hawai‘i regains the capacity to pay its own way.

III. Social Transformation: Our Families Come Home

And then something miraculous happens.

Our diaspora returns.

The children and grandchildren who moved to Las Vegas, Oregon, Colorado, California, and beyond — they come home.

Why?

Because now we offer:

  • high-paying jobs,
  • affordable housing,
  • purposeful careers,
  • and a future that does not require leaving Hawai‘i to survive.

Homelessness among Hawaiians plummets.

Transitional housing is built.

Mental health and addiction programs expand.

Job training becomes guaranteed.

No Hawaiian is left to sleep on the streets of their own homeland ever again.

Communities once forgotten come back to life.

IV. Cultural Transformation: A Renaissance Funded by Our Own Economy

With economic stability comes the rebirth of what money could never buy:

Culture. Identity. Confidence. Healing.

For the first time, cultural programs are not dependent on grants or political favor.

They are funded by our own industry, by our own success, by our own Nation.

  • Hula academies flourish.
  • ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i schools multiply.
  • Fishponds, lo‘i, and ahupua‘a systems are restored.
  • Indigenous agriculture thrives.

Every resort becomes:

  • a living Hawaiian village,
  • a classroom of values,
  • a model of sustainable design,
  • a place where visitors come not only to relax — but to learn, to respect, and to engage with a living, sovereign culture.
  • Globally, people begin to understand:

ALOHA is not a slogan — it is a law of life.

V. The Most Beautiful Transformation: Our People Heal

Generations of trauma — overthrow, displacement, poverty, humiliation — begin to lift.

For the first time in modern history, Hawaiians stand proudly:

  • self-governing,
  • self-funded,
  • self-determining.
  • And the world applauds.

Because Hawaiians show humanity a powerful truth:

You do not need war to rise.

You do not need hate to restore.

You do not need to tear others down to rebuild your Nation.

You simply build something so rooted in justice and so filled with Aloha that the world cannot deny its beauty.

VI. The World Takes Notice

Nations, Indigenous peoples, investors, and leaders ask:

“How did Hawaiians do it?”

And the answer is simple:

  • We aligned the world’s most powerful industry with the Pacific’s oldest values.
  • We chose sovereignty through economics, not conflict.
  • We embraced partnership instead of dependency.
  • We led with Aloha — and succeeded with Aloha.

VII. What Hawai‘i Becomes

A model for the world:

  • reconciliation over resentment,
  • prosperity over poverty,
  • sovereignty expressed through capability and courage.

For the first time since 1893, our children are taught not only the story of loss…

but the story of restoration.

THE DREAM CAN BE REAL

This is not fantasy.

Every part is possible.

Right now. In our lifetime.

  • The legal foundation exists.
  • The industry exists.
  • The partners exist.
  • The need exists.
  • And the Hawaiian people exist — waiting, ready, deserving.

All that remains is:

  • the courage to dream boldly,
  • the unity to move as one,
  • and the willingness to transform our pain into power.

When we do…

Hawai‘i will stand as the world’s shining example of what happens when an Indigenous people take control of their destiny — with dignity, intelligence, and ALOHA.