Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 6, 1 June 1996 — Cayetano joins ranks to aūaek Hawaiians [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Cayetano joins ranks to aūaek Hawaiians

by Rowena Akana Trustee-at-large The legislative session is over and the immediate ihreat to our entitlements by the legislature is temporarily gone. But Govemor Ben Cayetano continues his anaek. Legislators didn't have enough support to amend the law. so the governor has arrogantly taken the law into his own hands by withholding mueh needed airport

revenue due OHA. Cayetano knows full j well that a court battle will take years to resolve. Meanwhile, he will be using Hawaiian money to subsidize the state again. There are additional signs emerging that point to a subtle, omi-

nous move by other power brokers of Hawai'i to, onee again, take control of Hawaiian lands and revenue. On the federal level, congressional legislation has recently surfaced whieh would give native Hawaiians the opportunity to apply for federal recognition as an Indian tribe in order to qualifv for certain federal programs. The rationale behind this federal legis!ation (H.R. 2591 and S. 479) and its benefits to Hawaiians are not clear. In order to qualify as an Indian tribe, native Hawaiians would have to prove to the United States federal govemment. that they are the indigenous people of Hawai'i. Who is the federal govemment to determine who are the native people and who are not? Shouldn't this be a function for natives to determine for themselves? If Hawaiians are recognized as an "Indian tribe" under ihe proposed federal legislation, it would put native Hawaiians under the thumb of the Secretary of the Interior, mueh like the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. It took us 75 years to get where we are today. The last thing Hawaiians need is to be placed, onee again. under the jurisdiction, influence, and ultimately the control of the federal govemment. On the state level, Senator Mike McCartney introduced a senate resolution calling for the formation of

a task force to"clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs." This task force would have been comprised of appointees from the Senate. House of Representatives, Bishop Estate. and a number of loeal foundations, associations, and Hawaiian sovereignty groups. It would have been attached to the state Attomey General's office, whose recent political strategy included cutting OHA's funding by 80 percent. This failed resolution would have dealt a severe blow to OHA's ability to administer its own affairs, transferring the power to the task force. The true intent of this resolution, like the federal legislation, remains unknown. This is just another attempt at usurping OHA's authority over the trust it was created to protcct. Then. there is Fred Rice. He's the non-Hawaiian landowner on the Big Island who is suing for the right to vote in OHA's elections and serve as an elected Tmstee. Rice has publicly boasted that his ancestors served in King David Kalakaua's legislature, the same lawmakers who forced Kalakaua to sign the Bayonet Constitution (whieh allowed non-

Hawaiians to serve in the legislature). The Bayonet Constitution also excluded Hawaiians firom the legislature if they didn't own land. This is not a racial issue, as Rice wouid have you believe. This is about the native people of our land goveming and controlling their own affairs. This is not about the U.S. Constitution or being an American. even though the Constitution already allows indigenous people (Native American Indians, Alaskan Indians, etc.) to form their own nations. We cannot allow our efforts for sovereignty to be distracted by people like Fred Rice, who take away our focus and purpose by making us respond to unfounded racist accusations. Are these converging events purely coincidental or do they represent a well-orchestrated movement to wrestle control away from Hawaii's indigenous people? Our trust funds, assets, and our political influenee are growing eaeh year. That alone could be enough to represent a real threat to our federal and state lawmakers and people with a hidden agenda like Fred Rice. We must remain vigilant and monitor how these events unfold. We must never allow their fears to become our realities.