Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 11, 1 November 2003 — What does Hawaiian nationhood mean to you? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

What does Hawaiian nationhood mean to you?

Hopefully we ean get independence one day. Whatever the Hawaiian people decide, l'll be satisfied. As long as it is Hawaiians making our own decisions for ourselves, not someone else telling us who we gotta be. — Kalani Lee-Kwai, Kuli'ou'ou

I am definitely a sovereignty supporter. I'm not Hawaiian, so it's not up to me to piek the model. But I believe that there are many Hawaiian voices that ean be put together. The movement has been coming along for so long, and the answer is there. The time is very ripe. I feel it in the air. — Mary Osorio, Pālolo

l've been out of touch because I was in the service for a long time. But I think it is within the people, as a nation-within-a-nation, to get our heritage back. I think we need to stand up so people will notice us as a nation, not just those people in grass shacks over there on another island. — Paul Kekuewa, Kunia

What Hawaiian nationhood means to me is that those who have the blood, they have that sense of independence, they have that sense of sovereignty. All of those injustices that were imposed on us as Hawaiians should now be rectified. And I think we have the opportunity to do that, with all the talents and skills that we have as a people and a nation. — Dirk Soma, Honolulu

Hf Aha Kop Mana'o?

Photos: Derek Ferrar