Richard Kekuni Akana Blaisdell (March 11, 1925 – February 12, 2016), was an American Hawaiian professor emeritus of medicine at theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa inHonolulu, and a longtime organizer in theHawaiian Sovereignty Movement.
Blaisdell was the co-founder of an organization ofHawaiian health professionals called,E Ola Mau in 1984.[1] He was also the Founding Chair, of the Department of Medicine at the University of HawaiʻiJohn A. Burns School of Medicine in 1966.[2] He was the convener for the 1993 Kanaka Maoli People's Tribunal, which documented U.S. abuses throughout all major islands in great detail before an international panel of judges, and the primary organizer of Ka Pākaukau (literally, "the Table"), an ongoing forum for dialogue surrounding Kānaka Maoli sovereignty and Hawaiian independence.
Richard Kekuni Akana was born March 11, 1925, to Marguerite Nameleonalani Piltz and James Keli‘ikauahi Akana. His mother married William Kaha‘i Blaisdell in 1940.
A Graduate of theKamehameha School for Boys in 1942,[3] Blaisdell was awarded a BA cum laude from theUniversity of Redlands in 1945 where he was also a Class Officer and on the Football Team. He then earned aMD from theUniversity of Chicago School of Medicine in 1948. Through his educational career he was a classmate of former U.S. SenatorDaniel K. Akaka at Kamehameha Schools and while in college was a classmate withWarren Christopher, who served as Secretary of State for President Clinton.
After anOsler medical internship at theJohns Hopkins Hospital inBaltimore, Maryland, in 1949, he served as amedical resident on theTulane Medical Service ofCharity Hospital inNew Orleans, Louisiana. In 1950-1954, he was in theUS Army Medical Corps, as an investigator at theClimatic Research Laboratory inLawrence, Massachusetts. He served as abattalion surgeon in Korea and a medical officer (Internist, US Army 343 Army Hosp) inKoizumi, Japan and Taiwan.
In 1954-1955, he became an instructor inpathology atDuke University Hospital inDurham, North Carolina. He then returned to theUniversity of Chicago in 1955 to complete a fellowship inhematology (research on iron enzymes and preleukemia), and he was appointed to the faculty as instructor in 1957 and assistant professor of medicine in 1958.
In 1959, he was appointed Chief of Hematology and Research Associate at theAtomic Bomb Casualty Commission inHiroshima andNagasaki, Japan, where he did research onanemia,leukopenia,myelodysplasia in atomic bomb survivors, and adopted Mitsunori, a Japanese orphan.
He returned to the University of Chicago in 1961-1966 as an assistant professor of medicine. His research was on experimentalsplenic hemolytic anemia andmyelodysplasia.
In 1962, Blaisdell married Irene Hiroko Saito, RN, in Chicago, IL. with adopted Mitsunori as ring boy. The couple's only daughter, Helen Kaleleonalani Blaisdell, was born in Chicago. Eventually, the family moved back to Hawaiʻi and settled inNuʻuanu,Oʻahu.
In 1965, while inChicago, Blaisdell received the nationalLederle Medical Faculty Teaching Award, and thus became known toDean Windsor Cutting, formerStanford Medical School dean and newly appointed first dean of theUniversity of Hawaii School of Medicine.
In 1966, Blaisdell became the first Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the newly establishedUniversity of Hawaiʻi School of Medicine.1,2 He and his wife joined others in lobbying for a four-year medical school.
He continuedplateletatherosclerosis research. Duringsabbatical years, Blaisdell was a visiting professor of medicine atRutgers Medical School in 1969 andHarvard Medical School in 1979. He served as anEast-West Center medical consultant in the Trust Territory of the Pacific, 1968–1970, and as aUniversity of Hawaiʻi teaching consultant onOkinawa, 1967-1974.
Blaidell died at the age of 90 from respiratory failure inQueen's Medical Center on February 12, 2016.[4][5][6]
Kānaka Maoli. In the 1980s, Dr. Blaisdell discovered the term Kanaka Maoli, in Historical Text. He was the first to ask the questions: if one compares original historic descriptions of Hawaiians (robust health) with current statistics (ill health), what is it about western contact other than the obvious that explains near extinction of a race? More importantly, what can be done?
After this, he began to pioneer serious study of Kanaka Maoli Health Research as a medical field.
Na 'Oiwi O Hawaii. In 1984, Blaisdell helped to found Na 'Oiwi O Hawai'i with the goal of promoting Kanaka Maoli Independence. Na 'Oiwi O Hawai'i sponsored the first Native Hawaiian Sovereignty Conference at The Kamehameha Schools. As a major speaker, Blaisdell emphasized that the health of Kanaka Maoli is connected to the 'āina, and to preservation of cultural traditions and knowledge of one's own history and way of life. (This later became the basis for an M. Oneha dissertation, which Blaisdell nurtured and supported.)3,5
Nā Pu'uwai. In 1986, Blaisdell joined the board of Na Pu'uwai, a Native Hawaiian Health Care organization of the island of Moloka'i, with Emmett Aluli and Helen O'Connor. Na Pu'uwai became the Moloka'i-Lana'i Native Health Care System and conducted a study that demonstrated that the traditional Kanaka Maoli diet lowered blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, thereby reducing risk for heart disease. (This later became the basis for the Waianae diet, popularized by T Shintani.) This study intensified interest in growing and eating traditional foods throughout the islands and invigorated the organization of health fairs in Kanaka Maoli communities to revitalize preparation and propagation of foods and other traditional medicines and healing practices. It was also one of the first studies on Kanaka Maoli health conducted largely by Kanaka Maoli themselves.3
Director, Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Blaisdell served as Interim Director from 1987-1988. Blaisdell served on the Dissertation committees for nearly a dozen Native Hawaiian PhD candidates, including Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa and Kamana'opono Crabbe. He has helped numerous candidates write PhD papers, including Malcolm Chun.1,2,5
E Ola Mau and Papa Ola Lokahi. Blaisdell was a pioneer in advocating for accessible and culturally appropriate healthcare for Native Hawaiians. He provided dramatic documentation of worsening Kanaka Maoli health conditions.
After authoring the critical health report for the United States Congress Native Hawaiians Study Commission in 1983, he researched and wrote a compelling report identifying the health needs of Native Hawaiians entitled "E Ola Mau." The report was funded by the US Public Health Services and presented at the East-West Center in December 1985.
The following year, E Ola Mau became an organization of Native Hawaiian Health professionals formed to implement the recommendations of the report. Blaisdell was among members of E Ola Mau who testified for the Native Hawaiian Health Bill before the US Congress in 1986, 1987 and 1988. The bill was passed in October 1988 with final language provided by members of EOM to establish five Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems on five islands. The bill specified that traditional practices be integrated with services offering western health practices. The organization Papa Ola Lokahi (POL) was formed to provide coordination and oversight.
Sovereignty Movement. Blaisdell credits Puhipau Ahmad and Soli Niheu for inviting him to help start the Sovereignty Movement in the 1960s. Ahmad (Na Maka O Ka Aina) became the "eyes" of the movement, documenting evictions of Native Hawaiians from their homes at Sand Island and elsewhere. Niheu was the "heart" of the movement, participating in demonstrations, and Blaisdell became the "brains," researching and writing. It was Blaisdell who, with his own computer, copying machine, and checkbook, created the Native Hawaiian Tribunal, in which Blaisdell gathered an international panel of judges, flew the judges from island to island and asked Native Hawaiians on each island to testify as to how they had been affected by the overthrow of the monarchy, by annexation, and by statehood. Disposition of the tribunal documents are now under dispute. Blaisdell has specified to his attorney specifically where he would like them to reside.
1Hawaiian Historical Society, October 20, 2006; 2Kamehameha Schools Alumni Association; 3Biography Richard Kekuni Blaisdell, Peace Journal November 1996;
4Message from the Interim Chair (K Brady), Kekuni Blaisdell Endowment Dinner, August 7, 2010; 5Private documents /Dissertation documents;6 Public Communication @ Moananui Conference, Calvary by the Sea Church 11.09.11
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