In Memoriam: Pi‘olani Motta
Piolani Motta testifies before the Board of Land and Natural Resources on February 25, 2018 in support of the Final Environmental Assessment submitted by Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa for The Kalaupapa Memorial. The Land Board unanimously approved a Finding of
No Significant Impact for the EA, enabling the 'Ohana to move one step closer to establishing the Memorial. Photo: Kehaulani Lum
Pi‘iolani Motta, left, and Ka‘iulani Hess scroll through the large Kalaupapa Admissions Register on file at the
Hawai‘i State Archives. Photo courtesy of Patrick Downes,
Hawai‘i Catholic Herald.
Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa wants to pay tribute to Pi‘olani Motta, a founding member of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa and one of the most dedicated supporters of The Kalaupapa Memorial, who died in 2020. She was 90 years old.
Pi‘olani was the hanai daughter of the legendary musician Lena Machado, but remained close to her birth family. Later in life, when researching her roots, she learned that her mother had been born in Kalaupapa and that her grandparents had died there.
That began a new mission in Pi‘o's life. She was never able to find the gravesites of her grandparents, but she was determined that they -- along with all the nearly 8,000 others who were sent to Kalaupapa -- would always be remembered with their names engraved on
The Kalaupapa Memorial.
Pi`o was already involved with the Kalaupapa community as part of a choir that would visit the settlement for a week every summer. When Pi`o learned of the residents' desire for a Memorial, she quickly offered to help. In the early 2000s, she wrote letters to Congressional leaders and, in 2003, Pi`o and Kalaupapa leader Kuulei Bell put together a petition in support of a Memorial that was signed by many of the Kalaupapa residents (patients) and staff.
Two months later, Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa organized -- Pi`olani was one of the founding members. At that inaugural workshop, the community asked that Ka 'Ohana take on the Memorial. A Memorial Committee was appointed, including both Kuulei Bell and Pi`olani.
Until her illness in 2019 slowed her down, Pi`o testified religiously and passionately for the Kalaupapa Memorial, pounding out letters on her typewriter from her Kaka`ako apartment.
We continue to miss Pi‘o, her elegant presence and her willingness to take a stand for her beliefs, but we know she will continue to guide us -- and will be with us when
The Kalaupapa Memorial is dedicated.
Aloha 'Oe, Pi‘olani Motta. You will always be part of the backbone of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa.