Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 5, 1 Mei 2011 — Uniting to support the Akaka legislation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Uniting to support the Akaka legislation

Senator Akaka is responsible for the landmark Apology Resolution and establishing the "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific lslander" category in the U.S. Census

/ /V no'ai kākou ... I am so very * / \ grateful that Senator Daniel ^^\ Akaka has ehosen /^^^ to chair the Senate / \lndian Affairs

Committee. The Senator's announcement of retirement when his term expires in 2012 eame as a shock to me. However, his reason for choosing to lead the Indian Affairs Committee for his hnal two years in the Senate is obvious. Senator Akaka's dedication to all the people of Hawaii has heen withont nnestion As a

Native Hawaiian, he knows how important it is for our people to achieve native sovereignty. This right, under the U.S. Constitution, exists for hundreds of Native American tribes and Alaska Natives. Hawaiian Natives remain the only group yet to be acknowledged and recognized by the U.S. Native Hawaiians must have the same rights under the law and Constitution that Alaska Natives and Native Americans have. To ensure our sovereign rights, the U.S. must recognize us as the only Native people of Hawaii. Our culture lives on in our language, history, dance, music and historical sites. The 2011 Akaka bill, S. 675, ean be downloaded through the Library of Congress web site at: http://thomas.loc. gov. The language within the bill is nearly identical to S. 1011 as it was passed out of the Indian Affairs Committee back in March 11, 2010. OnApril7, 2011, S. 675 was passed out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and awaits consideration by the full U.S. Senate. LORETTA TUELL NAMED CHIEF COUNCIL, INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE On March 24 the Trustees met with Loretta Tuell, who was appointed by Senator Akakato bethenext StaffDireetor/ Chief Couneil for the Indian Affairs Committee. Ms. Tuell has previously served on the conunittee as Counsel to fonner Chainnan Senator Daniel Inouye.

She grew up on the Nez Perce reservation and she is a fonner partner at Anderson Tuell LLP, an American Indian-owned law finn in Washington, D.C. I have known Loretta for 12

years now and 1 am confident that her weahh of know!edge and experience in lndian law and her familiarity with issues facing Native Hawaiians will give us the extra push we need to get the Akaka bill passed this time. Ms. Tuell comes with impeecable credentials, including:

• Graduated from Washington State University • Eamed a law degree from UCLA • Attended the Senior Executive Program at Harvard University • Has extensive experience with the Department of the Interior, the Office of American Indian Trust, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs • WasappointedtotheFederalTask Force for Native Hawaiians • Received the 2009 American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Award, a prestigious award for woman attomeys. STATE RECOGNITION UPDATE On April 5, both competing bills to recognize Native Hawaiians as the only indigenous, aboriginal, maoli people of Hawaii - Senate Bill 1 (Senator Solomon) and SB 1520 (Senator Hee) - were heard by the House Finance Conunittee. The committee decided to pass out SB 1520 and defer SB 1. As of the writing of this eolumn, SB 1520 had passed Third Reading in the House and crossed back over to the Senate. The House and Senate had until the end of April decking deadline to work out a final version of the bill. Aloha Ke Akua.H Interested in Hawaiian issues and OHA? Please visit my web site at www. rowenaakana.org for more information or email me at rowenaa@oha.org.

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