Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 9, 1 September 1993 — Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commissioners meet [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commissioners meet

by Deborah L. Ward Nineteen individuals have been appointed to the newly-created Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commission and have begun their work that will ultimately devise a process for bringing about Hawaiian sovereignty. Specifically, the commission will advise the Legislature with proposals for conducting three eleetions: • a referendum on whether to convene a Hawaiian convention to draft an organic document for a Hawaiian sovereign govemment; • election of delegates to the eonvention if the answer to the referendum is yes; and • ratification of the organic document by the Hawaiian people. The commissioners will also advise the Legislature on apportioning voting districts, establishing eligibility of convention delegates, conducting educational activities. including a voter registration drive, for Hawaiian voters, establishing the size and comp>osition of the convention delegation, and establishing the dates for the special elections. The advisory commission must report its findings and recommendations to the state Legislature 20 days before the 1994 session eonvenes. The commission received

$420,000 in state general, and OHA special, funds for its work. Commissioners serve without compensation but are reimbursed for travel and subsistence expenses connected with official duties. The commission began holding meetings last month in Honolulu. The public is weleome to attend meetings of the commission. The meeting agenda is posted with the Lt. Governor's office and individuals may request a copy by ealling the Office of State Planning at 587-2844. A commission chair and vicechair were to be elected at an Aug. 28 meeting, after Ka Wai Ola went to press. The commission will initially hire two staff: a planning and policy analyst and a program assistant. The members were appointed last month by Governor John Waihe'e from a list of over 130 names. The legislation establishing the commission called for at least 12 members to be nominated by Hawaiian organizations. That dozen was to include nominees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and Ka Lāhui Hawai'i. Ka Lāhui Hawai'i Kia'āina Mililani Trask has said

her organization does not plan to participate in the commission. The commission also has at least one member eaeh to represent the islands of O'ahu, Hawai'i, Maui, Kaua'i, Ni'ihau,

and Moloka'i and Lāna'i. Appointed were: Kaua'i • La France Kapaka-Arboleda —

Kaua'i county emergency permitting office; board chairwoman, Ho'ōla Lāhui Hawai'i Native continued on page 19

To begin planning '94 referendum on sovereignty

Members of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commission at their first meeting. Left to right: William Meheula III, Kīna'u Boyd Kamali'i, Aimoku McClellan, Bob Lindsey, "Bumpy" Kanahele, Allen Hoe, Sol Kaho'ohalahala, Tasha Kama, Pōkā Laenui, Bruss Keppeler, Barbara Kalipi. Ann Nathaniel, Denise Chun (representing A'o Pohaku Rodenhurst), Mahealani Kamau'u and La France Kapaka-Arboleda. Missing from photo, but present at the meeting: Louis Agard, Jr., Davianna McGregor, Kamaki Kanahele, III, and Jean Keale.

Sovereignty commission

from page 1 Hawaiian heahh system, member, Hawaiian Farmers of Hanalei (formerly Waipā Project); vicepresident, the Allianee for Community-Based Eeonomie Development; member, State Burials Council Ni'ihau • Jean Kelley Keale, a retired DOE teacher on Ni'ihau, who now lives on Kaua'i. She was appointed by the commission to fill the vacant seat left by Ka Lāhui Hawai'i. O'ahu •Louis K. Agard, Jr. — eofounder, Council of Hawaiian Organizations • Pōkā Laenui (aka Hayden Burgess) — director, Institute for the Advancement of Hawaiian Affairs, president, Pacific-Asia Council of Indigenous People; former OHA trustee • Allen Hoe — an attorney in private practice • Mahealani Kamau'u — executive director, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation • Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele — po'o, 'Ohana Council • Davianna McGregor — professor of Ethnic Studies, University of Hawai'i-Mānoa; spokesperson, Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana; member, Pele Defense Fund • T. Aimoku MeOellan — businessman/owner of a trading Fum aod a marketing/sales Firm • W'illiam K. Meheula, III — attomey in commercial litigation, McCorriston, Miho & Miller; represented homesteaders in recent suit against DHHL, Ka'ai'ai et al v. Drake et al. • A'o Pohaku Rodenhurst — businesswoman; po'o of Kū Ho'one'enu'u Pono, a service outreach organization assisting Hawaiians, and concerned with issues affecting Hawaiian educalion, economics, shelter and legal assistance.

Lāna'i • Solomon Kaho'ohalahala, Jr. — director of cultural resources, The Lodge at Ko'ele and Mānele Bay Hotel Maui • Natalie "Tasha" Kama — homesteader; president Nā Po'e Kōkua self-help housing project Hawai'i • Robert Lindsey — Hawai'i island region manager, asset management group, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate • Ann K. Nathaniel — Hawaiian Homes Commissioner representing East Hawai'i, member, Prince David Kawananakoa Hawaiian Civic Club Moloka'i • Barbara Hanchett Kalipi — social worker/unit director, Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center Organizational representatives • Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i — trustee, Office of Hawaiian Affairs; chair, Committee on Land and Sovereignty; former chairperson Native Hawaiians Study Commission • Kamaki A. Kanahele, III — president, State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations; OHA trustee-at-large, chair, Education and Culture Committee • H.K. Bruss Keppeler — attorney in private practice; president, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs Mainland U.S. In appointing an ex-officio member, Victor K. Jarrett of Las Vegas, Nevada, Governor Waihe'e said, "Tfte issue of representation of native Hawaiians who reside outside of the Hawaiian Islands needs to be discussed." Jarrett was nominated by the mainland eouneil of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

In passing the legislation whieh established this body, the legislative conference committee noted that, "The state cannot and should not abridge the inherent right of native Hawaiians to freely determine a government of their own choosing. It is for the Hawaiian people to work out their own destiny, but this work will continue to require support and understanding. ... Your eom-

mittee believes that facilitating the process by whieh the Hawaiian people may achieve self-determination is within the scope of its jurisdiction and eonsistent with the principles of civil and human rights. ... Your eommittee recognizes and affirms the inherent right of the indigenous Hawaiian people to sovereignty and self-determination and supports their efforts to establish a

sovereign government with powers, duties, and land, oeean, water, and Financial resources as they determine. This bill will aid in redressing the wrongs and inequities resulting from the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and usurpation of the government, lands, and treasury of the indigenous Hawaiian people."