Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 04, 1 April 2003 — Raising a beloved nation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Raising a beloved nation

Hawaiians explore eommon ground: unifying under 'umbrella' of self-governance By Naomi Sodetani Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees and staff presented information on the Hawaiian federal recognition bill at a March 15 gathering attended by members of Hawaiian civic clubs. The "Ho'oulu Lāhui Aloha" (raise a beloved nation) meeting followed up on OHA's proposed resolution, adopted at the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs (AOHCC) national convention last year to facilitate nation-building in the Hawaiian community throughout the civic club network. OHA also held meetings on the pending legislation in several Hawaiian stronghold communities on O'ahu and Moloka'i March 14-18. Since January, grassroots pro-sovereignty groups like the Living Nation and Maui-based Nā Hawaiian Aupuni are regularly convening leaders together on a weekly basis to methodically map out the logistics of running affairs of a reasserted Hawaiian government. Garnering no media fanfare, these meetings signify the serious behind-the-scenes labors of nation-build-ing among leaders who represent diverse sectors of the Hawaiian community. Their goal: to mobilize themselves whiie respecting and al!owing political diffeiences under the unifying umbrella of Hawaiian self-governance. The trustees hurriedly organized the public informational meetings when they learned that the Senate In iian Affairs Committee would accept public eomments on Senate Bill 344, also known as the Akaka Bill, currently before the United States Congress, through March 20. The meetings were held at community centers and school facilities in Kalama'ula, Wai'anae, Waimānalo, Kāne'ohe, and at the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. OHA Administrator Clyde Nāmu'o said that the meetings are part of OHA's broad-based outreach to connect with Native Hawaiians throughout the islands and through grassroots networks like the civic clubs, to facilitate the nation-building process. In coming months, Nāmu'o said, OHA plans more meetings and activities to bring together Hawaiians to discuss the bill and to lay out exactly what the Hawaiian recognition bill does and does not do. At the civic clubs' meeting held at Kamehameha Schools, Winona Rubin, chief of staff to OHA chair Haunani Apoliona, stressed to the crowd of 60 the importance of the legislation as part of a coordinated strategy to "shield" Hawaiian services and programs from legal challenges seeking to end them. "Talk is pau, now it's time to act," Rubin said. "There are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch and talk about what happens, and those who wonder, 'What happened?'

"We have only two years to safeguard what we have, before they're gone," Rubin said, urging Hawaiians to organize a self-governing entity before current litigation, notably the Arakaki v. Cayetano case, is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court on appeal in 2005. Federal recognition is the centerpiece of OHA's legal strategy to reverse or correct the effects of the Rice and other court decisions that may find Hawaiian programs unconstitutional. The bill was originally introduced to Congress by Senator Daniel Akaka and the Hawai'i Congressional delegation in 2000. In 2001 and 2002, the billl was reintroduced but was not voted on. It was again intro-

duced by Sen. Akaka in February. The current version (S. 344) is identitcal to last year's S. 746. Lela Hubbard, a civic club member and longtime activist, chastised OHA at the meeting for pushing federal recognition so hard. "What we want is true self-determination, and it is a long process. It can't be railroaded through or be top down." Attorney and sovereignty advocate Keoni Agard proposed that while organizing and seeking legislation, all the major Hawaiian groups and leaders should immediately hold a joint press conference — "OHA and everybody, to declare that we are reinstatSee NAĪION on page 6

Walmōnalo homesteader Deron Akiona (top) suggests ways to moblllze hls communtty to defend Hawallan lands at the OHA meetlng held at Blanche Pope Elementary School. OHA Trustee Oz Stender llstens on. (Betow. l-r) OHA Chalrperson Haunanl Apollona and a clvlc club member; soverelgnty odvocates Roy Dahlln, Keonl Agard (seated) and fel!ow partlclpant dlscuss setf-determlnation strategles at the clubs' natton-organlzlng gatherlng at Kamehameha Schoots.

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NAĪION from page 1 ing our government under Queen Lili'uokalani. From that point, under that umbrella, our nation is reinstated under the protection of our queen." OHA Hawaiian Governance Director Peter Yee said that the recognition bill does not establish a Hawaiian government in itself or waitve any claims against the United States. Nor does it prohibit international recognition or foreclose independence, Yee said. Yet if the results of a poll undertaken by the civic clubs over the past two months accurately reflects the views of the larger Hawaiian community, many Hawaiians are wary of total independence. The questionnaire asked 308 Hawaiians their opinions on issues specifīcally relating to establishing a Hawaiian nation. AOHCC President Charlie Rose noted that respondence live in 70 different zip codes, "meaning that the sampling was very diverse, they eame from all over." So, though the poll presented a statistically small "capsule view," Rose called the findings "very significant" in gauging the pulse of the Hawaiian community today. 71 percent of respondents identified the formation of a governing entity as "very urgent." "That's a significant indication, in my mind, that our people feel this issue is important," Rose said. At the Waimānalo meeting, homesteader Deron Akiona echoed that view: "The reality is if you life on homestead land today, you could lose what you have. If you don't care, so be it. But I care." ■

Walmōnato homesteader Pokl Kekuewa was among the resldents who attended the community at Btanche Pope Elementary School on March 15 to learn more about the Hawallan federal recognitlon blll. At rlght, OHA Trustee Llnda Dela Cruz hears resldents' concerns about the lmpact of post-Rlce ltligatlon on their homesteads and famllies.