Pac Rim 2008 Info
Noted Speaker Series: Pōkā Laenui
Kathleen Tavenner Mitchell | Kay Nagata | Deanna L. Gregorio | Daniel Hubbell | Paul Glassman | Elizabeth DePoy | Stephen Gilson | Pōkā Laenui | Hewitt B. Clark
Tuesday April 15th, 2008: 10:15 am - 11:15 am in the Niihau Room on the topic of Hidden Disabilities
“Indigenizing the Western paradigms in mental health treatment”
A discussion of one community’s rebellion against standardized health treatment services using the tools of the indigenous peoples of the land. Mr. Laenui will share his views, experiences, and thoughts from an international as well as community basis for operating a mental health center in Waianae. He will discuss mental health within the context of the wellbeing, and the spiritual development of humanity.
Biography
Pōkā Laenui comes from the Wai‘anae community of Hawai‘i, and has been in the forefront of advocacy for Hawaiian and indigenous rights locally and internationally for the past quarter century.
Mr. Laenui is a 1976 graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai‘i. Immediately following graduation, he returned to his Wai‘anae community where he opened a general law practice among a diverse low-income population, a majority of whom are native Hawaiians.
Internationally, Mr. Laenui has represented the World Council of Indigenous Peoples as its elected Vice-President and political spokesperson before various bodies of the United Nations and other multinational organizations. He has spoken extensively throughout the world on issues of indigenous peoples, human rights and decolonization. He has been accepted as an expert on the issues of indigenous affairs by both the U.N. and the International Labor Organization. He was recognized as one of five pioneers in the development of indigenous rights at the U.N. General Assembly in 1993. His is biographed in Who’s Who in the World and other related publications for his work in public international law.
Since 1997, Mr. Laenui has undertaken the position of Executive Director of Hale Na‘au Pono, a community based behavioral health center in his Wai‘anae community.
Vitae [Doc Format | PDF Format]
