Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 9, 1 Kepakemapa 2004 — Occupation powers are the real 'squatters' [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Occupation powers are the real 'squatters'

By Marie Beltran / Kaleo 'Ohana Editor's note: Marie Beltran anā her 'ohana have been waging a long-running battle wiīh the state, county anā military over the family's oeeupaīion ofland in Mokulē'ia. The views expressed in this community discussion eolumn are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views ofthe Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Alaw has been adopted recently by the State of Hawai'i whieh criminalizes 'houseless squatting,' as they eall it. The law, Act 50 SLH 2000, says that living on statecontrolled land is trespass in the second degree, with fines as high as $1,000, or one month in prison. This act is being used to punish my family for its twelve years of living on and caring for the land of Mokulē'ia, and for being steadfast in our rejection of attempts to remove us from this land. We are not homeless. Hawai'i is our perpetual home, for thousands of generations. The land on whieh we are living as stewards belongs to the independent government of Hawai'i, whieh was illegally deposed by the United States in 1893, and whieh remains under illegal military oeeupa-

tion to this day. The State of Hawai'i does not have ownership, nor jurisdiction to this 'āina; the state constitution itself says that the lands should be used for the benefit of Kānaka Maoli, as well as for educational and health needs. State court cases have also affirmed "hoa'āina" rights of Kānaka Maoli to our native land. We are Kānaka Maoli, and we are citizens under duress of the independent country of Hawai'i, exercising our rights to live on and care for our land. These facts have been affirmed in

numerous ways: through the Blount Report; by former U.S. President Grover Cleveland; by Puhlie Law 103-150, signed by President Clinton

in 1993; by a panel of international legal experts in the 1993 Kanaka Maoli Tribunal Komike; and by the continuing native resistance against imperialism, from the Hui Aloha 'Āina and Hui Kālai'āina in the 19th century to the modern movement and organizations for self-determina-tion. The State of Hawai'i has no just and righteous control of this homeland. The state, rather, is a houseless squatter, occupying our country's lands and disturbing our national peaee and tranquility. The illegality of this occupation has created a situation in whieh numerous people are 'squatting' on Hawaiian land: tourists whieh illegally trespass and squat on sovereign territory; American citizens who, lacking clear title to property following the illegal overthrow of 1893, are presently squatting on native land; and the U.S. military, whieh has maintained a century-long occupation of our homeland, and whieh seeks to expand its toxic and endangering eolonial occupation. We eall for these homeless squatters to immediately remove themselves from our native land. The U.S. must end its illegal occupation of our land, including the incarceration of our kūpuna, mākua, and 'ōpio in foreign jails, and the abuse of our lands through ignorance and arrogance. We are a free and sovereign people, and U.S. foreign intervention in our affairs and self-determination is unweleome and an abrogation of international law. Our 'ohana, through the perseverance of an indomitable spirit and the strength of Akua, shall maintain its peaceful and lawful stewardship on this 'āina. ■

Marie Beltran in a garden she grew in Mokulē'ia. The garden was recently bulldozed by the state. Photo: Courtesy ot Marie Beltran