Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 3, 1 Malaki 1989 — OHA Chairmen Meet D.C. Leaders, Talk On Federal/Hawaiian Issues [ARTICLE]

OHA Chairmen Meet D.C. Leaders, Talk On Federal/Hawaiian Issues

OHA Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas Kaulukukui, Sr. and Vice Chairman Rodney K. Burgess traveled to Washington, D.C. last month for a week-long series of meetings with Hawaii's congressional delegation and administration officials to discuss significant issues affecting Hawaiians on the national level. "Reparations from the federal government for the losses of land and sovereignty suffered as a result of Amenean involvement in the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom remains an overriding priority," Chairman Kaulukukui noted. "Late last year, Senator Inouye and the Senate Select Subcommittee on Indian Affairs conducted a hearing in Hawai'i regarding possible future approaches to address the reparations question." On behalf of the board, said Kaulukukui, he and Burgess met with the congressional delegation to: • request an update on likely Senate committee

recommendations regarding the formation of a congressional commission on Native Hawaiian reparations; • share OHA initiatives to continue work on a proposed draft of reparations legislation whieh is being developed by attorneys Melody McKenzie and Jon Van Dyke through a contract with OHA; and • to share OHA plans for sharing this draft with the Hawaiian community for their recommendations and support. Other areas of eoneem whieh were discussed included the status and funding of the Native Hawaiian Health and Education Acts recently signed into law, support for the Kamaka family's efforts to regain ancestral lands in Waikane Valley, and additional federal grant opportunities available through the Administration for Native Americans (ANA).