Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 1991 — Hawaiian concerns under statehood [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian concerns under statehood

by Abraham Aiona Trustee, Maui

The following speech | u;as given by OHA § Trustee Abraham I Aiona on Admissions I Day before the American Legion Post #8 in Wailuku, Maui. g Aloha Maui and I Aloha Kakahiaka. I've been asked to ■

speak at this 32nd.anniversary of statehood, and to give you my mana'o, or gut feeling, about statehood and what it has done for the Hawaiian people and our state. It might be well for me to give you a chronology of some important dates leading to statehood. 1. Dec. 20, 1849 A treaty governing the relations between Hawai'i and the U.S. was signed. 2. Jan. 17, 1893 The Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. On Jan. 19, 1893, just two days later, the newly constituted government, headed by Fresident Sanford B. Dole sent a committee of five to Washington, D.C. to negotiate a treaty for annexation. President Grover Cleveland, who succeeded President Benjamin Harrison, withdrew the bid for Hawaii's annexation from the Senate on the grounds that the U.S. had unduly aided in the overthrow of the monarchy. 3. In 1898 annexation was achieved by a joint resolution in both houses of Congress. A formal transfer of sovereignty occurred on Aug. 12, with a ceremonial raising of the U.S. flag over Iolani Palaee. 4. The drive for statehood started in 1903, however, all efforts fell through. In 1950, Hawai'i wrote and ratified a state constitution. 5. In the period of 1950-59 the fight for statehood continued, and on Aug. 21, 1959, Hawai'i became the 50th state in the union. Prior to statehood and as a territory, we were a "stepchild" of the United States. We had a governor appointed by the president. We had no input. We had no vote and no status. We elected a deiegate to Congress who had no vote and very little voice. Therefore, when statehood eame we gained representation with two U.S. senators and two representatives. Statehood opened up our state with an influx of new people, new capital, unparalleled growth and eeonomie development. We have become the "melting pot of the world," "building bridges of understanding" in the Pacific Basin. Sadly, we have failed to keep up with the needs of Native Hawaiians in the areas of health, social

well-being, education, mental health, housing and eeonomie self-sufficiency. The United States has the grave responsibility of addressing those needs and to right a wrong whieh was done in 1893. The state has done a service by creating the Office of Hawaiian Affairs whose primary mission is to better the plight of the Hawaiians. At long last, Hawaiians have a body of elected trustees to represent them before all levels of government and work for the "Betterment of Hawaiians." In the last 10 years we have witnessed and participated in a renaissance of Hawaiian culture. Hawaiian music, language, dances and art, onee thought to be dying, are alive and flourishing today. Native Hawaiians serve in public office at every level of our government from the U.S. Congress and the governor's office, down to state and county elective offices. These benefits that we gained from statehood reflect the strength of the American system of government, a government that gives us the right to elect our own leaders, petition for redress of grievances and effect change. The federal government owes the Hawaiian people reparations for the great wrong that was committed against the Hawaiian people when the " United States overthrew the Kingdom of Hawai'i in 1893. I don't believe that the Hawaiians at that time wanted this to happen or even realized what they had lost. Although we cannot restore the monarchy, we expect the United States to restore what rightfully belongs to the Hawaiian people — the 'Aina, the land. In closing, I must pay tribute to a great man, the late Gov. John Burns, who as a delegate to Congress persisted and worked, and lobbied and got us statehood. His love for his adopted people is manifested in our history books. My special thanks to the Rev. Clarence Kamai and his committee for the honor of sharing my thoughts today. Statehood has been good for us. However, we must provide a means to maintain our Hawaiian culture while we use technology to improve the quality of life for our Hawaiian people. Mahalo and Aloha