Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 2002 — OHA spearheads campaign to defend rights, entitlements [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA spearheads campaign to defend rights, entitlements

By Naomi Sodetani Acoalition of Native Hawaiian organizations has alerted lawmakem that they will be lobbying forcefully to get their concerns, particularly ceded land revenues, addressed during the next legislative session On Sept. 9, leaders representing 1 0 organizations and community groups joined with OHA trustees to announee a multi-pronged grassroots community-organizing eampaign to uphold Native Hawaiian rights and entitlements on state and federal levels. The "Hawaiian Rights and Entitlements Education Campaign" includes a Nov. 1 gubernatorial live

and televised debate between the leading candidates Vlazie Hirono and Linda Lingle, and a student essay and art competition on Hawaiian issues. Other activities include a survey of state candidates on Hawaiian issues, political briefings withnew governor, cabinet and legislators, and presentations in Hawaiian communities statewide. A Jan. 1 5 rally at the State Capitol on opening day of the legislature will demand that legislators eome up with just solutions to longstanding problems. OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona explained that the eampaign "seeks to educate the legislature and the community about the state's constitutionally mandated obligationto Native Hawaiians and

the reinstatement of the payment of ceded lands revenue to the Hawaiian tmst "to correct the injustices that have been committed against Hawaiians." The state stopped paying money to OHA since July 1, 2001 , because of a Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling that struck down a 1990 law that set the formula for ceded land payments. A bill this year sought to restore the 20 percent payments but died in conference committee. Legislators "have chosen to ignore their fiduciaiy and trust obligations" to OHA and turned their back on the needs of the Hawaiian people, Apoliona said. The restoration of ceded land revenue funding will be the coalition's top priority. Present at the Sept. 9 press conference were representatives of the Bishop Vluseum,'īlio'ulaokalani Coalition, Royal Order of Kamehameha, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Assn., Alu Like, ine., Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., Dept. of Hawaiian Home Lands, Kūpa'a Vla Hope O Lili'uokalani. "We are few, but we represent many," Apoliona said. Hawaiians, as the largest minority population in the state, "have an opportunity to defme the political landscape for the next two to four years. That's veiy important for us to understand. And it's very important to hold the candidates who are running accountable to how they will handle Hawaiian issues." Ceded lands has been a longstanding issue of dispute between the Native Hawaiian people and the state. Vlore than 1 .8 million acres of

land taken from the Hawaiian people during the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom were "ceded" with annexation to the federal government and then transfened to the State of Hawai'i by the Admission Act, to manage and hold in trust for five purposes, one of whieh is the betterment of conditions of native Hawaiians. The Hawai'i Legislature passed Act 304 inApril 1990, establishing the pro rata share due to OHA at 20 percent of revenue derived from ceded lands. In 1993, the state paid OHA a $130 million partial settlement, whieh formed the corpus for OHA's cunent $325 million tmst. Since 1 991, OHA received fluctuating annual revenue payments from the state, ranging from $10.8 million in 1991 to $25 million in 1 995 to $8.2 million in 2001 . TheHawai'i Supreme Court decisionon Sept. 12,2001 declaredAct 304 moot, citing a technical conflict between the state law, whieh directed the state to pay 20 percent of ceded land re\fenues, and a federal law. Apoliona said the state's refusal to resolve the ceded land issue damages OHA's capacity to ser\'e beneficiaries. "Resources go out, and you need new resources coming in to balance or grow the assets. In the long run, it's undermining the wholeness of the trust and future of assets management supporting selfgovernance for Hawaiians." Since its creation in 1978, "OHA was only intended to be an intarim vehicle in the full spectrum of the steps toward full self-governance," Apoliona said. ■

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NT"i Hott

A press conference Sept. 9 with OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona at the helm drew supporters from 10 Hawaiian organizations who support OHA's Hawaiian Rights and Entitlements Education Campaign. Photo: Naomi Sodetani