Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 5, 1 May 1997 — What inheritance for Hawaiians? [ARTICLE]

What inheritance for Hawaiians?

What inheritance do you intend to leave for your children and grandchildren and those who eome after them? I am not speaking of an inheritance of money, but an inheritance of a culture, a lifestyle and the benefits whieh the Hawaiian people, as a whole, have been denied for a very long time. To answer the question, however, we must first explore what, or who, is a Hawaiian? Recently I read a letter in Ka Wai Ola o OHA that anyone of 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood should be considered "Hawaiian" and any percentage less would put one in a classification of "Part Hawaiian". Well, isn't that inter-

esting that the white man's divisive measure that was added to the Hawaiian Homes Act (the 50 percent blood quantiun), has now thoroughly indoctrinated and divided "Hawaiians" and "Part Hawaiians"? Other studies indicate that only "pure Hawaiians" qualify as "Hawaiians" and that anything other than 100 percent puts one in a classification of "Native Hawaiian" or "Part Hawaiian." Confusing, right? Of course! That was the intent of the Big Five influence on the Hawaiian Homes Act that forced the inclusion of the 50 percent blood quantum into the bill. It certainly acted as a measure to divide and conquer the Hawaiian people. Prince Jonah Kalaniana'ole Kuhiō did not intend to have a 50 percent blood quantum included in |this bill for an act. His original intent was to go as far down as 1 /32 Hawaiian blood to qualify for the benefits of the Hawaiian Homes Act. But we know that the Big Five were shuddering to think of how many "Hawaiians" could then qualify to apply for lands that they

could otherwise put to their own use. Now, several generations later, some of "Hawaiians" have bought into that lie, that ho'opunipuni, that was intended to divide us as a people. If this is your way of thinking, then you are on the path to disinheriting your own

mo'opuna, your very own descendants! Think about it! If your mo'opuna are not 50 percent Hawaiian, they will not qualify for a whole lot of benefits that presently require a 50 percent blood quantum, not the least of whieh is scholarship assistance, business loans, and yes, Hawaiian Homes land. Who, in recent times, has eome up with the equation that those of us who are 50 percent Hawaiian are more in need of assistance than those of us who are not? Whose bright and insightful idea was that? Or were they just buying into that old lie that has been drummed into our heads for over 80 years? That Hawaiians must be 50 percent Hawaiian to qualify for anything is pure 'opala, rubbish, anel it must greatly satisfy the spirits of those departed plotters of the 50 percent scheme to see that their handiwork is bearing its evil fruit to this very day! Auwē! Hawaiians of all blood quanta need to wake up and realize that the longer this continues, the faster their own mo'opuna will not have

the same benefits that they presently enjoy. Is that what Kuhiō tried to provide for? Of course not! He knew well the Hawaiian propensity for marrying outside of the Hawaiian race and realized that in a few short generations, pure and half Hawaiians would be a disappearing lot, and he was right. His vision included all those of the blood of the kanaka maoli, ka po'e Hawai'i. Think of this; in another 50 years how many of your descendants will be 50 percent Hawaiian? Can you force your mo'opuna to marry only pure or half Hawaiians? Get real and wake up! Now is the time to provide for the benefits that all Hawaiians were intended to have, regardless of the blood quantum. If you think that your descendants deserve these benefits, then now is the time to change the lie. E ala! Imua me ka lōkahi! E ho'ohuli i ka ho'opunipuni! P. F. Kwiatkowski Pu'u Hue, Kōhala

m Ka Wai Ola o OHA (May) '97