Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 6, 1 June 1997 — Restructured OHA moves towards 1998 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Restructured OHA moves towards 1998

Aaahhh.... I sigh with relief, the legislative session finally over. On halanee, we Hawaiians should be grateful. That our Supreme Court killed the Constitutional Convention. That Vickie Holt-Takamine so scared our senators with her demonstration of hula power that they tore up Senate Bill 8. That OHA and the Senate managed to reach a compromise on House Bill 2207; although the new law reduces our ceded lands revenues to mueh less than we deserve, the reduction could be temporary, we mivht even get an inventorv of our

land base from the DLNR and our case will proceed through the courts. But, as everyone knows, the state's finances aren't going to improve any time soon, so we Hawaiians must eonhnue to distrust the poliheal process, and to monitor it. The ConstituHonal Convention question could be put to the voters again in 1999 and the same legislators who mounted this year's attack on Hawaiians are returning in 1998. One of them, Terrence Tom, the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee and notorious for disregarding public testimony, has siened onto a resolution

calling for DBET to facilitate "discussions between all affected parties and seek consensus on appropriate state regulation of rights reaffirmed under Article XII, Section 7 of the Hawai'i State Constitution." Tom's resoluHon refers to the rights protected by P.A.S.H., and he wants the legislature to take "aehon during the Regular Session of 1998." Tlie committee report out of Tom's office is suspiciously brief but it

says enough to comfort the developers and realtors who eame on like gangbusters in favor of old Senate Bill 8. We don't need a crystal ball to figure out that other issues could also surface making 1998 "deja vu all over again." This is why OHA's April 24 organizational meeting was so crucial. We re-organized into four standing committees: Budget and Finance, chaired by Trustee Abraham Aiona; Legislative Review headed by Trustee Frenchy DeSoto; Programs, led bv Trustee Moses Keale; and Land

and Sovereignty whieh I was appointed to chair. Additionally, OHA will have two ad hoe eommittees, formed to address specific issues and having the same shelf life. One of these, Policy and Planning, is under the direction and guidance of Trustee Billie Beamer, a born "policy wonk." The other, our Entitlements Committee — consisting of Board Chair Clayton Hee, quarterbacked by Trustees Aiona and Beamer — will tackle the return of ceded lands. Obviously, the Land and Sovereignty Committee Hes rieht into these neeoHa-

tions. True sovereignty ean only be achieved through eeonomie self-sufficiency derived from our land; if Hawaiians were economically self-sufficient, we wouldn't have to go through the annual legislative fandango. So I expect to be very busy and I am very glad to have Trustee Hannah Springer as my Co-Chair. She is very knowledgeable and knowledge is power.

Crucial to our committee is reliable informaHon, and the most recent data on lands the state considers ceded are ten years old and very sparse. Recently, OHA was able to categorize this incomplete list-

ing by usage — vital information, but we need to know more. As for sovereignty, I want to explore models of nationhood with you. To this end I will be holding community meetings state-wide, some in the evening. We might want to consider, for example, the pattern of Florida's Seminoles, who won recognition as a naHon only in the past decade. Since then, they have enjoyed dual citizenship, eeonomie prosperity, mainly from agriculture and livestock, and far better social services that the federal government ean offer. We might also look to the Warm Springs Tribe of Oregon and to other Paeilie peoples. I am looking forward to sharing such informaHon and receiving input from you, the beneficiaries of the Hawaiian trust. All this means more work for us, but a better process. It also might make for a tighter defense as we position ourselves for the 1998 legislature and for a more intelligent strategy as we eonHnue negofiaHons with the State of Hawai'i on the return of ceded lands. 1

We Mmaiiah* C9Htlhue to 4ift*i4*t tAe folit'iCAt poeen, ahA to Ht0Hit00 it.

Ak* HA Trustee, At-Large