Office of Hawaiian Affairs wraps up time at 2025 Native Hawaiian Convention knowing ‘our future is in good hands’

What transpired in Tulalip, Wash., during the past several days on the surface likely looked like a simple gathering of more than 1,000 people who share a common ethnicity.

However, for those who attended the 2025 Native Hawaiian Convention — hosted by the Hawaiian Council — it was so much more.

“This convention was more than a gathering — it was the beginning of a movement,” said Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees Chairman Kaialiʻi “Kai” Kahele in a release about the office on Oct. 9 wrapping up its participation in the 3-day convention.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees, executives and staff members led and participated in workshops and panel discussions during the course of the convention, conducted on Tulalip tribal lands north of Seattle.

Topics ranged from housing challenges to ceded lands and federal recognition.

“[Office of Hawaiian Affairs’] participation exceeded our expectations, and the feedback weʻve received has been outstanding,” Kahele said. “What we witnessed here is the strength, resilience and unity of our lāhui — a clear sign that our future is in good hands.”

Kahele delivered the convention’s keynote address on its second day.

The chairman in his remarks shared the story of Iosepa Kahoʻoluhi Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu and encouraged Native Hawaiians to live their inherent sovereignty.

“This is what we are called to do now,” Kahele said in his address. “Not as individuals seeking recognition, but as a lāhui exerting our collective agency in every sphere of life — through the ʻāina we heal, the institutions we build, the relationships we sustain across distance and the hope we pass forward.”

Trustees and staffers also helped lead the Aloha ʻĀina Advocacy session for ʻōpio.

More than two dozen Native Hawaiian middle and high school students from Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi Middle School and several Hawaiʻi charter schools discussed current topics, practiced their advocacy skills and created plans for issues affecting their community.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs Beneficiary Services staff assisted convention attendees with applying for and receiving their Hawaiian Registry Program identification cards.

A steady stream of participants kept the team busy, as new on-site printing machines allowed staff to issue cards instantly.

The agency processed a total of more than 70 new Hawaiian Registry Program cards and assisted more than 150 people with the registry process and other Office of Hawaiian Affairs programs.

Plans are to take the Hawaiian Registry Program on the road for future events, including the upcoming Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs Convention at the end of October in Keauhou on the Big Island.

“Mahalo to the Hawaiian Council and [Chief Executive Officer] Kūhiō Lewis for their unprecedented partnership, and to the inspiring collective of kānaka and allies from across the continent and Pacific who showed up with purpose and aloha,” said Office of Hawaiian Affairs Interim Administrator Summer Sylva in the agency’s release. “Our shared commitment to uplifting our lāhui — wherever we are — gives hope to our future generations.”