Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 2001 — Discussion Forum www.OHA.org [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Discussion Forum www.OHA.org

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs' discussion forum is at www.OHA.org. The purpose of the forum is to share different points of view on issues important to the Hawaiian community. In the few months since its ineephon, lively exchanges have begun on federal recognition, sovereignty and Forbes Cave. Divergent opinions have been posted by participants anonymously, using their real names or taking such online identities as Takspayr and Commoner. The forum is open to all. Participants ean access existing messages, post their own message or set up a new topic to be discussed. To enter the discussion, go to www.OHA.org.

DHHL Sundae96792, 11/27 In last years legislation there was a bill brought before the legislature regarding the DHHL Commissioner being elected by the lessee on DHHL and not appointed by the governor. This position has been used as a poliheal arena that just confounds the lessee. There have been so many changes made by DHHL without talking to the communities any no one is accountable. This office needs to be accountable. When will there be some action. Not only talk. DHHL Tane, 12/09 Aloha Sundae96792: Your observations are pololei. The state is the one to be held accountable, yet no one has stood up and spoken out. They have lumped it in with the ceded land trust 5(f) of whieh the l/5th is for the betterment of the Hawaiian. Since OHA has been estabhshed by the state to gamer the portion for the Hawaiians, then it makes sense that OHA piek up the banner and address those issues re: DHHL. If I were you, I would band together with all lessees of DHHL and qualified Hawaiians on the waitlist to unite and form a group to insure all your rights are honored. You should be able to dictate what you want from them. Act now! Non-Hawaiian candidates Gwen, 12/01 If Linda Dela Cruz has filed a litigation against Cayetano for allowing nonHawaiians to participate, vote and run for trustee positions, why was she so upset when Kau'i Amsterdam filed a complaint in the Supreme Court for the same reasons she was compelled to do herself fifteen minutes before the newly elected were to be swom in? Her exact

words were, "they only like screw us up." After all, Amsterdam is Hawaiian, and Ota isn't. Does that mean that she herself is a little screwed up? Or does it mean she's a little more than doublestandard? Or does it mean that she might be a little confused? Maybe she should stick to her music where she could be better at entertaining people, and put the dishes in the sink, and eontinue to celebrate. Non-Hawaiian candidates? Will, 11/2 Should non-Hawaiians be allowed to serve on the OHA Board? Hawaiian trustees! Tane, 12/09 I believe only Hawaiians should serve on the board since it is for the betterment of the Hawaiian. Who knows better what those issues are than a Hawaiian. The monies set aside for the Hawaiian interest and the DHHL is to be used for the Hawaiian. We have very eapahle Hawaiians that ean handle the interest of the beneficiaries. The state is the tmstee but very negligent in its capacity. Rice vs. Cayetano Gwen, 12/10 Tane: Again you are right as always. The Rice vs. Cayetano decision was doomed from the start because it was based on the U.S. Constitution, and Cayetano knew this from the beginning. His intent was to probably cause his own overthrow of what's left that is ours. And he proved this by appointing a non-Hawaiian to serve as an interim tmstee whieh is a direct slap in face where our people are concemed. Then he has the audacity to say that he is "Hawaiian at Heart," saying that his ancestors help build Hawai'i and made

it what it is today. If he knew that the first immigrants that first eame to Hawai'i were treated no less than the Africans who were brought over on slave ships to work the white man's plantations, he would have second thoughts about it. Many Japanese remember the hard times, and are grateful for the Hawaiians who took them in and hid them from their slave masters here in Hawai'i, and many became Hawaiian nationals. Including Inouye's ancestors. I too beheve that only Hawaiians should be ahowed to mn their own business, but with Hee. a good crony of Cayetano still on board, God help us all. And with Mih gone, who's to keep them in eheek. I hate to say it, but the future of OHA doesn't look all that bright, and again I may be wrong. 0HA's integrity jeopardized Tane, 12/11 Aloha Gwen: I have no ih-will towards Charles Ota, he appears to be a decent person. His heart is in the right plaee; but I feel he is a pawn in Cayetano's scheme of things. It's a shame. The integrity of OHA is stih in jeopardy. The courts, state and federal, have not done their homework by going further to the origin of the laws set to protect Hawaiians. They are looking at modem day laws and use it in guidelines as weU as how they handle Ameiiean Indians. If the islanders and mainlanders educate themselves of the history and laws, maybe they will begin to understand the issue rather than cloud it. Racism is an "Ameiiean" and Westem concept; it is not Hawaiian. They need to know that we Hawaiians are tenants in eommon in the ceded lands with aUodial rights. This was drafted by Kamehameha III in the Māhele to protect the islands ffom foreign powers who would steal the land. The "governments" are tiying to change this with their laws to suit their needs. They

ASSUMED the laws were like theirs, ones that ean be manipulated and addressed in like manner. We are the stewards of the land, it's part of us and by being the landowners of this land, who should know better about it. Double standard Kawika, 12/13 Aloha. It all boUs down to this, stop stealing, live up to Americas moral role. Return that whieh was stolen. Stop lying and stop aU the misinformation. Hawai'i was an independent nation that was overthrown, by men of evU character. Who have Uved off of our peoples suffering for the last 107 years. In the name of so caUed racial harmony,and the twisted word of aloha dollars. Stop the Ues and retum that whieh is not yours and leave us alone. Kawika Anahola Hawaiian homelands, Kaua'i. Federal recognition Anonymous, 12/13 Defeat of S2899, the so called "fed-eral-recognition" bill in the US Senate today 12/12/00, is good news for the native Hawauans as defined in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920. S2899 sought to treat the native Hawaiians different from all the other Amenean Indian tribes throughout the United States. Under the IRA of 1934, Ameiiean Indians of "one-half or more" are allowed to reorganize into federally recognized tribes, and to set criteria for enroUment into their tribes, themselves. In contrast, S2899 invited anybody with one drop of Hawaiian blood, including those with one ancestor out of 500, to set the criteria for us. This is a denial of equal protection. Under the mles, Akaka has to start from scratch, and hold another series of hearings all over again. Maybe this time he wUl listen. Good for OHA! I hope they feel this. ■