Posted on: Sunday, February 16, 2003
Support sought for Hawaiian rule bill
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
As supporters of a Native Hawaiian recognition bill renew their push in Congress, community leaders in Hawai'i are working to frame the outlines of self-government and motivate more Hawaiians to get involved in the process.
There is a constitution to create, as well as a registry of people of Hawaiian ancestry. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is launching a nationhood campaign that will include grassroots meetings and video presentations to address questions from sovereignty critics as well as people on the fence.
"We really need to hook people in," said OHA administrator Clyde Namuo. "There are many of our brothers and fathers and families that still need an appeal to emotions. (The video) also would be instructional, which is crucial to allay fears among our detractors, who try to fan the flame by suggesting that sovereignty means they'll lose their Social Security and other things."
The activity coincides with the introduction in Congress Tuesday of the Hawaiian recognition bill, known as the Akaka bill after sponsor Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i.
The bill would recognize Hawaiians formally as an indigenous people with the right to establish a government that could have government-to-government relations with the United States and the state of Hawai'i. The same bill stalled in both houses last year.
OHA, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and others support the bill, and Gov. Linda Lingle leaves Wednesday on a trip to Washington, D.C., with plans to testify for the bill Feb. 25. Its backers believe that a law giving Hawaiians federal status as a self-governing political entity is the best hope, at least in the short term, for fending off legal challenges to Hawaiians-only government programs and entitlements, such as the Hawaiian Homes Act and OHA.
And the work of people in Hawai'i is viewed by some as critical to the chances of the Akaka bill. Bush officials have indicated they would not support federal recognition for Hawaiians without an idea of what kind of entity the United States would be recognizing.
For its part, OHA dispatched one of its veteran staffers to open a Washington bureau, in shared office space, that will help lobby for the federal bill. Martha Ross said she would be the full-time OHA representative in Washington but that trustees also will take turns making the rounds in the nation's capital.
"There are a lot of people who don't understand who the Hawaiians are and the history," Ross said. "They're aware of Native Americans, Native Alaskans, but not so much Hawaiians, and that education needs to be done.
"The idea of having an office there is to give a lot more access to information, so we can give a more immediate response to questions that might arise."
Others in the sovereignty movement don't put much stock in federal recognition — the Hawaiian nation still exists in international law, they say — and hope instead for support from the United Nations and the World Court.
The Maui-based Na Hawaiian Aupuni asserts that it represents the Hawaiian nation. Last week its leaders put the Bush administration on notice that the group intends to reinstate the government, sending faxes to Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as the president.
Its plans include petitioning for intervention by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands, although last week information officers for the court could not confirm any communications.
"What we are saying to the secretary of state is that we're taking action to initiate our right to secure the safety and security of the sovereign nation of Hawai'i," said Laakea Kamalo Kupihea, who claims the title of the Hawai'i ambassador.
One of the building blocks of nationhood is the creation of the constitution or other documents supporting the governmental body. This would have to happen whether or not a federal recognition bill passes, said Charles Rose, president of the Hawaiian civic association and one of the key players organizing meetings to start the process.
Raynard Soon, the former director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, said there has been a fire lit beneath Hawaiians to come into the fold, a fire fueled partly by fear of all the lawsuits but also partly by the progress Hawaiians have made in recent years.
"I cannot help but wonder why now, why are they coming at these programs now," Soon said. "As long as these Hawaiians 'remain in their place,' it's OK, I guess, but now we're breaking down barriers."
Disagreements will always remain among Hawaiians over the level of sovereignty that should be sought, said Jade Danner, an activist with Project Hawaiian Justice, which has been working toward federal recognition. She has taken a keen interest in the federal recognition campaign and its links to other Native American movements partly because of her personal history, growing up near Native American reservations and employment in social work for a Native Alaskan village. But the level of sovereignty is not what needs to be settled now, she said.
"That's like the destination, where we want to go," she said. "But forming the government — that's the canoe. Where we go depends on what options are available at the time."
Timing is everything, Soon said. Not only is there urgency now, he said, but there's momentum.
"There's always been movement on the fringes, but you gotta move the middle, too, the large numbers of Hawaiians," he said. "Now I see that movement taking place. The time is now. The time is right."
