Mililani B. Trask | |
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Member of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees | |
Assumed office February 24, 2022 | |
Succeeded by | Kai Kahele |
Constituency | Hawaiʻi Island |
Personal details | |
Born | Mililani Bernardette Trask 1951 (age 72–73) Honolulu, Hawaii, US |
Alma mater | San Jose State University (BA) Santa Clara University School of Law (JD) |
Occupation |
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Mililani Trask is a leader of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, political speaker, and attorney. One of Trask's contributions to the Hawaiian sovereignty movement was her founding of Na Koa Ikaika o Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, a native Hawaiian non-governmental organization[1] focusing on cultural, social, and economic development, education, health, housing, land entitlements, energy, and water issues.[2]
Outside of Hawaiʻi, Trask has worked with the United Nations to aid indigenous people from around the world seeking independence. She was a member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace, helped author the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and was elected vice chair of the General Assembly of Nations of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.[3] For seven years, she worked and studied under the guidance of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.[4] She is the younger sister of activist and writer, Professor Haunani-Kay Trask.[1] Mililani graduated Kamehameha Schools in 1969 and earned her JD from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1978.