Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 18, Number 2, 1 February 2001 — Sovereignty, not racism [ARTICLE]

Sovereignty, not racism

I like Rod Ferreira's letter in the current issue, especially his eonelusion: "The Hawaiian sovereignty issue has never been about race. It

has always been about an independent nation's right under Intemational Law." It's true. There were many "nonkokos" in the Kingdom. At the time of the overthrow, Honolulu was ehoke with kanaka maoli who failed to defend their queen. The govemment of the Territory of Hawai'i included kanaka maoli. The whole racial argument for Hawaiian sovereignty is legal and culturally sieve. Do the Hawaiian people really want to be Ameiiean Indians? I don't see anybody trading their canoes and navigational skills for horses, peaee pipes and eagle feathers! I think what they really want, way deep down inside the pu'uwai, is the crown back on their own sovereign monarch. And, as Rod imphes, this is possible today. But not by a divided people. The road to unity is very clear, very simple and very straightforward: just throw out racism. E nānā kākou i ka mō'I wahine. Mike Keolomakapu'u Pettingill Kailua