Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 2, 1 February 2005 — Why I support the federal recognition effort [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Why I support the federal recognition effort

Editor's note: Māhealani Kamau'u is the executive director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. However, she wrote this article as a private citizen, since the NHLC has not taken a formal position on this issue. Isupport federal recognition for Hawaiian for four main reasons: 1) We need a real government. 2) We need to engage the U.S. 3) We need to protect Hawaiian programs. 4) We need participation. We need a real government By this I mean a government that is in existence and "for real," as opposed to a government that is in abstraction or merely dreamed about. Having a polilieal status indistinguishable from other American citizens, we are now completely at the mercy of those who have little understanding or empathy for Hawaiian people and the challenges they face. To deny the truth of that reality is delusional. Many of us feel we live in a state of siege. Developers are smothering our reefs, polluting our oeean, cutting us off from traditional sources of food. They are bulldozing our family's bones, obliterating sacred places, claiming our lands, diverting our waters. They are criminalizing our sick, rousting our homeless, exiling our incarcerated, expropriating our culture. And the increased militarization of Hawai'i is regarded by the powerful as a desirable foregone conclusion. Hawaiians need increased political power to hang on to Hawai'i. The longer Hawaiians wait, the more we lose. What will we leave for future generations? Therefore, I support that part of the Akaka Bill whieh encourages us to form a government. A Hawaiian govemment, imperfect though it may be within the existing political framework, still affords a greater degree of polilieal autonomy than we have today. It positions us to press for return of lands and natural resources, compensation for past and ongoing oeeupalion of our lands and use of our resources, and compensation for America's use of military force to deprive us of our inherent right to exercise polilieal sovereignty over our nation. We need to engage the U.S. The United States has declared that it seeks reconciliation with Hawaiians. Sooner or later, the U.S. and Hawaiians must eome to the table and work things out if we are to move beyond our current malaise.

The Akaka Bill may be viewed as a framework for that engagement, the best one presented at this time in our history. As an official declaration of U.S. policy, it contains explicit language that makes it clear that our claims against the U.S. are not extinguished. That is half of the equation. Then, if Hawaiians form a government, it is for them to decide whether or not they agree with terms of the legislation, and whether they will take the affirmative steps required to consummate that engagement. The Hawaiian government would be free to accept or reject the bill's terms. Hawaiians need to protect their trust assets Many Hawaiians are cynical about federal recognition as a means of protecting Hawaiian trust assets. Even as they learn about lawsuits whieh seek to extinguish Hawaiian programs on the basis of race discrimination, they don't believe the lawsuits will ever succeed; or they believe the programs unnecessary, benefiting a few self-serving Hawaiians; or they weleome an end to such programs because they believe Hawaiians must be weaned from such dependency. That these programs have been of great value to the Hawaiian community is undisputed. Hawaiian Homes, Kamehameha Schools, Queen Lili'uokalani Trust, Pūnana Leo, Alu Like, OHA, community-based health centers - all of these and many more have contributed immeasurably to the well-being of our community. That the lawsuits have potential to dismantle these programs is a fact. That federal recognition ean help protect against these lawsuits is also a fact, for U.S. case law has upheld legislation if "tied rationally to the fulfillment of Congress' unique obligation" to native peoples. We leave a legacy of shame if we ignore this and allow our trusts to be destroyed. We need participation My greatest fear is that yet another effort at organizing

ourselves will fail because we refuse to participate. Nearly every effort at enrollment to form a government has been met with ambivalence and cynicism by one or another segment of our community. But all of us need to participate in order for our government to be legitimate. Many of the arguments against federal recognition focus on America-the-bad, not-to-be-trusted; the fear that we will compromise future options for independence; and the indignity of being relegated to a status less than that whieh our ancestors demanded. Lor me, however, the greater indignity is to continue the status quo, with no realistic hope of relief in the foreseeable future. I do not believe our participation in such a process compromises our ability to pursue other options: onee our govemment is formed, we ean decide not to accept federal recognition if America's terms are unacceptable, or we ean delay participation until federal legislation reflects our wishes. As my involvement with the Hawaiian political movement exceeds 30 years, I don't believe myself to be unduly impatient. I, like many others, would like to see a tangible step toward political unity, toward addressing historic injustices, and for the collective will of Hawaiians to exert a more potent force for better living conditions, during my lifetime. I am doing my very best, as a Hawaiian living in today's time, to make decisions that will honor my ancestors and be a blessing to my children and grandchildren. ■

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"Hawaiians need increased political power to hang on to Hawai'i. The longer Hawaiians waitf the more we lose. What will we leave for future generations? "

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