Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 1 January 1984 — OHA LAUNCHES MAJOR HAWAIIAN INITIATIVE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA LAUNCHES MAJOR HAWAIIAN INITIATIVE

Will Work for Congressional Acceptance of NHSC "Minority Report"

The Office ol Hawaiian Affairs has called on Congress to accept and implement the recommendations and findings ol the three Native Hawaiian Study Commission members from Hawaii. OHA Vice-Chairman Rod Burgess. head of the Planning and Development Committee. said "Now that the Commission is disbanded. OHA intends to launeh a major effort to insure congressional acceptance ol the minority report whieh represents the \ iews and concerns ol Hawaii's people." Thc first step in this effort was adoption bv the Board ol Trustees in \ovember ol a wide ranging package ol resolutions w hieh relate to recommendations bv the Commission mcmbcrs from Hawaii. The lne resolutions eall on Congress to:

1. Review the implementation ol recommendations adopted by the Federal-State Task Force on Hawaiian Home Lands and "I nitiate breach ol' trust or other appropriate legal action for non-eompli-anee by the State ol Hawaii or the U.S. Department ol lnterior." The report contains 134 specilic recommendations. They include revoking illegal executive orders whieh transferred Ō.H.H.L. lands to other agencies for non-Hawaiian purposes and finding ways to accelerate the distribution of homestead lands to native Havvaiians. Burgess. who served as a Task Force member. called the Governor's replv to the report "Unresponsive to the Task Force's recommendations and concerns in many areas." Burgess said "The Gov(Continued on page 2)

OHA LAUNCHES MAJOR HAWAIIAN INITIATIVE Continued from page one ernor has ignored our mandate for an immediate blanket revocation of the illegal transfer of over 30,000 acres of Hawaiian Homes Lands. In addition, he shows no inclination to implement the constitutional requirement that funding for D.H.H.L. should eome from State general funds as with other State departments". 2. Acknowledge the illegal and immoral actions of the United States in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 and indicate its commitment to grant restitution for the Iosses and damages suffered by native Hawaiians as a result of those wrongful actions. 3. lnclude native Hawaiians in the definition of "native American" and extend to native Hawaiians eligibility in all programs affected by that definition. Of the 97 federal programs available to native Americans, Hawaiians are eligible to participate in only 2 of those programs. The programs involve hundreds of millions of federal dollars to whieh Hawaiians are denied access. 4. Establish a joint Federal-State Ceded Lands Commission to review the present use and possible release of federally controlled ceded lands in Hawaii. The Commission would have the authority to declare those lands surplus and available to the State. In the 24 years since statehood, fewer than 600 acres of federally controlled ceded lands have been returned out of a total of nearly 404,000 acres. These lands were intended by Congress to be a part of the public land trust of Hawaii. 5. Adopt a single definition of the words "native Hawaiian" in order to eliminate the blood quantum requirement. Presently, only Hawaiians with 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood are eligible to receive certain benefits from the Department of Hawaiian Homes Land and OHA.

The resolution contains guarantees that the rights and privileges of native Hawaiians holding or waiting for a Hawaiian Homes award will be protected. Pnnee Kuhio, "father of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act", fought against the establishment of a blood quantum requirement in the Act. He feared it would divide the Hawaiian people, weaken their political and eeonomie power and serve to increase government land holdings controlled by non-Hawaiian interests. Kuhio correctly predicted that Hawaiians with less than 50 percent native blood eventually would greatly outnumber those with

more than 50 percent Hawaiian blood. Today there are an estimated 43,466 "50 percent Hawaiians", compared to 129,322 Hawaiians with less than 50 percent Hawaiian blood. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has made a commitment to monitor the progress of the package of resolutions as it moves through Congress and do everything possible to create a climate favorable to its acceptance. The OHA resolutions, in substantially the same language, were adopted by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at their annual convention held last year on the Big Island.