On the eve of a potentially historic debate in the U.S. Senate on Hawaiian sovereignty, many Native Hawaiians hope the nation might finally see the Islands as they do, a place of uncommon beauty and diversity but still healing from the injustice of the past.

A federal recognition bill would give more than 400,000 Native Hawaiians living here and on the Mainland the right to form their own government, the first chance for self-rule since the Kingdom of Hawai'i was overthrown in 1893.

Native Hawaiians do not agree on either the shape or substance of a new government, or even on recognition itself, but many think they have a rare moment where they can tell people here and nationwide that their identity and culture are at risk.

Keola Nakanishi, the director of Halau Ku Mana, a Native Hawaiian charter school, likes to tell his students of makawalu. The literal meaning is "eight eyes," from a Hawaiian proverb and mythology, but he uses it to get them to view life from more than one angle or perspective.

"It's not black or white or right or wrong," Nakanishi said. "Just read. Observe. Ask questions. Be aware. Be involved. Instead of grumbling about our situation, do something about it."

President Clinton and Congress formally apologized to Native Hawaiians in 1993 — the 100-year anniversary of the overthrow — for U.S. complicity in the events that cost Queen Lili'uokalani her throne. The apology, and an acknowledgment that there needed to be reconciliation between the United States and Hawaiians, has set the stage for recognition.

The Akaka bill, known for its chief sponsor, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, would recognize Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people similar to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The bill would create a process for Native Hawaiians, if they choose, to establish a government that could negotiate with the state of Hawai'i and the United States on issues such as housing, land use and cultural preservation.

The bill is expected to reach the Senate floor tomorrow after being held up since 2000 by conservatives who argue it is unconstitutional because it could divide Hawai'i on the basis of race. Akaka and the state's congressional delegation introduced the bill shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in Rice v. Cayetano five years ago that it was unconstitutional to bar non-Hawaiians from voting in trustee elections for the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Many Hawaiians fear that a host of federal and state-financed Native Hawaiian social service programs may be at legal risk unless the bill passes, although the bill, if it became law, would also likely be challenged as unconstitutional. The court's decision in Rice involved the 15th Amendment, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting, while the Akaka bill could be attacked under the Fifth and 14th amendments, which require due process and equal protection under the law.

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement has warned that a pending lawsuit targeting the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands could cost the state $70 million in federal money if successful. The suit claims it is unconstitutional for the state agencies to offer benefits to Native Hawaiians only.

"If the Akaka bill doesn't pass and we lose on these lawsuits, you will see state and local county resources having to cover the need that the federal funds are currently meeting," said Jade Danner, the council's information and government affairs manager, "because the needs are not going away."

H. William Burgess, an attorney involved in the lawsuit and a leader of Aloha for All, which opposes the Akaka bill, said the federal money should go to anyone in need, not just Native Hawaiians. "If it's based on need, then the money's there," he said, adding he believes that U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, has the political clout to ensure the state would still get the money.

Burgess also worries that the state would hand over as much as 200,000 acres of land and Kaho'olawe to a new Hawaiian government, which would likely absorb the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. OHA oversees about $300 million in assets, while the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands controls about $200 million, with millions in land revenue still under negotiation.

"And it's very likely that it would include areas where Native Hawaiians have expressed a great feeling of possessiveness for, such areas as the mountaintops — Mauna Kea and Haleakala and probably the top of Koke'e on Kaua'i. And it's probably going to include a good chunk of the submerged lands and the surrounding reefs, and the Northwestern Islands," he said.

"These are parts of the state which the Hawaiian entitlement advocates have been demanding for many years. So I think it's fair to assume that they would still make demands for those areas."

Danner said opponents of the Akaka bill are playing to people's fears when they suggest a new government would drain state resources or cause territorial chaos. "The bill contemplates a transfer of assets that are currently dedicated to Native Hawaiian use," she said.

But more than money or infighting over land, a Hawaiian government, opponents say, would insidiously create two separate classes of citizens in a state where racial and ethnic lines have long been blurred. Some have even equated it to Jim Crow segregation laws or apartheid in South Africa.

Burgess does not believe that Hawaiians were ever wronged by the United States."I don't accept there was any injustice, and I dispute that there were any Hawaiians who suffered as a result of that except the queen," he said. "No land titles were affected by either the overthrow or annexation. So no Hawaiian lost one square inch of land."

Both sides have hired lobbyists or legal consultants to help them in Washington, while they try to influence opinion in the Islands through polls, surveys and letters to newspapers. Patton Boggs, one of the capital's most powerful firms, has been working for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and can also tap into the political muscle of Inouye and the other Democrats in the congressional delegation. Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican, has contacts in the White House, while state Attorney General Mark Bennett has been in talks with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Grassroot Institute of Hawai'i has hired Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and consultant, and is working through a network of conservatives who reject racial preferences. Fein, an associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan, in his argument against the bill, wrote: "There may be better ways of destroying the United States, but if there are, they do not readily come to mind."

Over the past few decades, as more Native Hawaiians embraced their identity and culture, the state has expanded programs that are open to anyone but are aimed at Hawaiians, such as Hawaiian-language immersion schools and Hawaiian-themed charter schools.

Several Native Hawaiian parents said they want their children to retain the culture and feel confident in their own identity, but not to forget they are Americans. A new Hawaiian government might function in much the same way — distinctly Hawaiian, yet still connected to the United States.

"It helps a lot of students understand who they are as people and where they are in society," said Charlie Nakaima Jr., an entrepreneur whose daughter goes to Halau Ku Mana. "We're proud to be American but at the same time we're proud of our lineage and proud to be Hawaiian."

Keoni Inciong, a state education specialist in language immersion, whose children have attended immersion schools, said some Hawaiians are skeptical given the history with the United States. "It's hard to be confident that they are going to do what is right for the Hawaiian people, because of the past," he said.

"But any time a group of people can rule over their own lives and have power in making decisions, it is good. I think some form of sovereignty for Hawai'i is important and valuable."