Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 10, 1 October 2010 — MICHAEL ODEGAARD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MICHAEL ODEGAARD

1. If indeed language comprises the "sinews" of culture, then the right of the Native Hawaiian resident to receive public services in the Hawaiian language is a fundamental principle of Hawaiian dignity, and its neghgence a root cause of the Native Hawaiian diaspora. If

OHA intends to be a unifying agency for Native Hawaiians, then we ean no longer ignore this principle: all OHA services shall be made available to speakers of Hawaiian, not just to those who have chosen to support the cultural genocidal status quo by speaking only English. OHA shall increase its protection of the thousands of lives invested in the last 30 years' heroic efforts to revitalize Hawaiian language use by providing all of its services in Hawaiian as well as by expanding revitalization efforts through increased investment in Hawaiian language broadcast media and state political advocacy to implement guarantees of equal status of Hawaiian in both work and leisure enviromnents. OHA must lobby the State Legislature to provide poMeal and eeonomie incentives for the regulated professions to employ Hawaiian-speaking residents so that growth of the Hawaiian language economy may be linked to the state's future eeonomie growth. For justification of the Hawai'i Official Languages Act, please visit: http://scr.bi/aoJCNB 2. As a self-governing corporate body independent from all other branches of State government, OHA was established to receive and manage assets on behalf of Native Hawaiians as well as "to provide Hawaiians the right to determine the priorities [that would] effectuate the bettennent of their condition and welfare and promote the protection and preservation of the Hawaiian race." Evidently the other branches of State government didn't want to have to deal with Native Hawaiians' business, so they abstracted Hawaiian affairs (along with only 20 percent of Public Land Trust proprietary revenues) from their own business so that they could focus on other issues pertaining to the State's d e v e l o p - ment, in the SEE ODEGAARD 0N PAGE 6

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same manner that a city eouneil may delegate its administratively "messy" zoning mission to a planning conunission for the purpose of expediency. OHA's executive capacity could be incorporated into a future Native Hawaiian governing entity, however its legislative structure would likely be replaced by a larger body of loeal constituent representatives. More importantly, OHA's chartered intent "to unite Hawaiians as a people" is presently eompromised by its current monolingual ethic. As OHA reappraises its mission from the point of view of Native Hawaiian pohtical sovereignty, it must transcend its original eall to preserve "race" through the incorporation of Hawaiian national values into its mission, the chief of whieh is Hawaiian language preservation. While aeknowledging its good intentions in its present draft, the monolingual NHGRA cannot sufficiently reflect the mana'o of all concerned stakeholders, thereby compromising Native Hawaiian rights in the process of its fonnation. 3. Past due revenues may be converted through land transfers. As the ratio of Native Hawaiians increases in Hawai'i, at minimmn the pro rata share of Public Land Trust proprietary revenues should logically increase proportionately. As OHA begins to lead the State in its bilingual governmental operations, then a case may be made for allocation of sovereign revenues. In addition to its ongoing vigorous legal pursuit of uncollected revenues due from other public agencies and private entities, OHA shall pursue reconciliatory measures to repatriate occupied lands no longer used for their originally prescribed purposes. Native Hawaiians have valid claims to the so-called "Ceded" Lands; restrictions perpetuating alienation from these lands should be removed without delay. OHA shallpursue reconciliatory measures supporting repatriation of lands as well as Hawaiian language work opportunities that include, as well as reach beyond, those established through "traditional and customary" rights.