University of Hawaii law student Janna Wehilani Ahu may have roots in Milolii, a small coastal village on Hawaii island, but she’s heading to a big sea of opportunity on Capitol Hill this summer.
Ahu, 25, has been named the 2014 Patsy T. Mink Legislative Fellow. The first-year law student at the William S. Richardson School of Law will receive a $5,000 stipend from the school to work in the office of U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono for 10 weeks. She leaves Wednesday and starts Monday.
"I’m so very excited," said Ahu, known as "Wehi" to family and friends. "I want to see where the hub of all the most important decisions are made. I want to be part of it, to learn the legislative process: how to write a bill, what to look for and how to research it. I figured this would be the best option, and it happened, so I’m super grateful."
Milolii, in South Kona, is considered the last traditional fishing village in Hawaii, with a population of about 500. The Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i Campus graduate said she was inspired to study law to help the village, which lacks schools (the nearest one is about 60 miles away), stores or a means of livelihood other than fishing and hunting.
Villagers live off the electrical grid, supplying their own power and storing water in catchment tanks.
Ahu said her main interest is in environmental and Native Hawaiian law as applied to natural resource management, particularly fisheries and water, both precious resources for Hawaii. She’s also interested in educational reform and has studied developmental psychology at UH and worked as a part-time teacher at Kalani High School.
Part of what sparked her interest in law was witnessing the deteriorating health of the fishery and crowded boat ramp in Milolii.
"It’s overwhelming, the amount of commercial and recreational fishing boats that go out of this small boat ramp in the middle of nowhere," she said, "and it’s impossible for the villagers, who still subsist off fish caught in the surrounding area, to compete. There’s no way to regulate it. There’s no enforcement in the area, really."
Fishermen in the village have maintained the practice of feeding three different opelu koa (sacred fish houses), including one in front of her family’s property, to keep them thriving for generations, she said.
While Ahu’s family goes back at least four generations in Milolii, her mother moved to Hilo for better access to schools when Ahu was born. Other relatives did the same, fanning out to other parts of the Big Island.
Still, as a child she frequently visited extended-family members in the village, and Milolii has become a regular gathering place for her family.
"Going back there is the perfect time for us to be together and be with our grandparents and listen to stories about all the little areas, about fishing," she said.
When the sun goes down, the flashlights and kerosene lamps come out, and the family spends that time playing music, singing and dancing in a shack built from re-purposed wood.
Ahu has danced hula since she was about 3 years old, and first learned to speak Hawaiian from her grandmother Lucy Siu, now 89, with whom she shares a close relationship. Camping, paddling and fishing are part of the family’s lifestyle.
She credits her mother, Melva Ahu, as the family rock, caring for everyone while working part time as a medical office manager and encouraging Ahu and her siblings to pursue their dreams.
After law school Ahu hopes to apply all that she’s learned to make a positive impact on her Big Island home.
The Mink fellowship, launched by UH law students in 2002, honors the U.S. congresswoman, whose crowning achievement was passage of Title IX, which mandates equal funding for women’s athletics and academics at institutions that receive federal money. The law was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act after her death in 2002.
Reflecting on her background, Ahu said coming from a small town or village should not be a barrier to accomplishments in life — a comment that surely would have been appreciated by Mink, who was born in the small plantation town of Paia, Maui.
"There’s no limitation, as long as you have the support of family and friends that never wavers," she said. "That’s what helps you get where you want to go."
