Principal honors Obama as ‘Child of Hawaii’ at library opening – AsAmNews

The honor of introducing former President Barack Obama at the grand opening of his new presidential library in Chicago Thursday went to Dr. Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Punihei Lipe of Hawaii.

Hawaii News Now reports that Lipe participated in the inaugural cohort of the Asia-Pacific Leaders Program in 2019 and is currently the principal at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.

“Where I come from, to introduce someone means we have pilina, a connection. If this man walked into my home, my children would call him uncle because we are both keiki o ka ʻāina, children of Hawaii,” she said in her remarks.

She told those in attendance that the former president and herself are both “children of Hawaii.” Obama lived on the island and attended Punahou School and lived in Hawaii for eight years until his graduation from high school.

Lipe said being children of Hawaii carries with it a “sacred responsibility to care for those who we may never meet.”

She made reference to the resilient Hawaiian shrub, the Like a’ali’i.

“The a’ali’i thrives by being deeply rooted, resilient through storm and drought, and fiercely responsive. That is what ‘yes, we can’ means to my indigenous heart. It demands that we remain unshakably rooted in truth, resilient through trial, and so responsive that just as this plant yields its leaves for medicine, its blooms for beauty, and its timber for protection, we become the healing, the vibrance, and the shelter needed by our communities and by grandmother earth.”