Hawaiian vote courted by gubernatorial candidates
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
All four leading candidates for governor yesterday pledged to push for federal recognition of Native Hawaiians as a nation, placing it atop a short list of initiatives they say will help safeguard indigenous rights under attack in the courts.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Republican Linda Lingle and Democrats D.G. "Andy" Anderson, Ed Case and Mazie Hirono were called into the banquet hall one at a time to address about 400 people attending the Native Hawaiian Conference at the Sheraton-Waikiki Beach Resort.
At the first Native Hawaiian Conference sponsored by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, gubernatorial front-runners were invited to present their views on Hawaiian issues at the Sheraton-Waikiki hotel.
The four-day conference, which convened yesterday, is the first in what the sponsoring organization, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, envisions as an annual series of workshops covering Native Hawaiian health, housing, culture, economic development and education.
Attention turned to political rather than social concerns at the forum because the gubernatorial candidates seized on the so-called Akaka bill for federal recognition, long stalled in Congress, as the most powerful tool for the empowerment and defense of Native Hawaiians.
"I see these lawsuits as the biggest challenge," said Lt. Gov. Hirono, referring to litigation targeting Native Hawaiian programs, including a federal suit that seeks to bar using state money for Hawaiian-only programs.
"They're just going to continue until there's federal recognition ... there needs to be a government-to-government relationship," added Hirono, the first to speak.
HIRONO "There needs to be a government-to-government relationship."
ANDERSON "Hawaiians must show unity, support public demonstrations with their power at polls."
CASE "Time is running against the Native Hawaiian community on these issues."
LINGLE "Republican in best position to persuade reluctant GOP to back federal recognition."
Addressing the conference in a sequence set by lottery, businessman and former state legislator Anderson, former Maui mayor Lingle and state Rep. Case agreed.
Nobody saw the bill introduced by Hawai'i Sen. Daniel Akaka as the only possible vehicle for federal recognition; U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye has, in fact, predicted it will be dead by the time Congress adjourns later this fall.
That didn't stop Case from urging Lingle to "jump on a plane tonight" and lobby for it in Washington; key opponents are Republican, he said.
Lingle characterized her party affiliation as a plus. A Republican governor would be in the best position to persuade a reluctant GOP to support federal recognition for Native Hawaiians, she said.
On other points:
• Anderson made a plea for unity and urged the Hawaiian community to vote as a bloc. Too often Hawaiians express their views in public demonstrations, he said, such as the recent march against forced conversion of leasehold condominiums — and then fail to register their opinions at the polls. The City Council's controversial Bill 53 again drew agreement among the candidates, who expressed reservations about the measure.
• The ceded lands dispute also resonated. Lingle pledged to support an accurate inventory of the lands and to negotiate a "fair settlement" of money the state owes the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for use of the lands. Hirono said she would push for an interim settlement while the state negotiates the formula by which Native Hawaiians would be compensated for the land; the previous, 20 percent rate was struck down by the state's high court a year ago.
• Case said proponents must move quickly to secure native rights, as the state's influx of newcomers means fewer people with longstanding sympathies for Hawaiian causes. "Time is running against the Native Hawaiian community on these issues," Case said.
• On a related point, Lingle said the new governor will need to enlist "wider community support" if Native Hawaiian initiatives are to succeed. "I think most people will be won over to your side," she said.
The conference organizers chose front-runners in the polls to speak, said Alapaki Nahale-a, a council staffer who arranged the gubernatorial forum.
He said each candidate faced the audience alone because conference leaders wanted them to deliver a message without reacting to opponents.
"In a tight primary, the tendency is for them to talk to each other," Nahale-a said. "That's not what we're interested in."
Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
