Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 2, 1 March 1984 — OHA Radio Show Gets Good Vibes [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Radio Show Gets Good Vibes

The first of what may be a regular roundtable discussion series on issues facing Hawaiians today was held Sunday, Feb. 19, with four of the state's most knowledgeable leaders on the subject gathered in the studios of radio station KCCN. The 90-minute broadcast was conceived by OHA Trustee Walter Ritte as part of his community information and organization program. It was eosponsored by Bank of Hawaii. The prestigious panel was made up of Lt. Gov. John Waihee; Georgiana Padeken, Director of the Department of Hawaiian Homes Lands; A. "Frenchy"

DeSoto, former OHA Chairperson, and Ritte. The discussion covered three broad areas: OHA's constitutionality and the state's legal challenge to OH A's existence; Hawaii's ceded lands in relation to OH A's entitlements; and whether the legal definition of "native Hawaiian" should be changed to include anyone with even a drop of Hawaiian blood . . . the blood quantum issue. Questions from the listening audience were entertained during the final half hour of the live broadcast. The management of KCCN felt the See Radio, Pg. 7

program was of such great general interest that it rebroadcast the entire show 10 days after its original presentation. In addition, several neighbor island radio stations have requested copies of the tape for possible rebroadcast throughout the state. Although it is impossible to report here everything that was said during the 90minute free-wheeling discussion, Ka Wai Ola O OH A has selected some representative quotes on the three main topics. CEDED L A N D S AND OHA'S ENTITLEMENT RITTE: "When you hear the word ceded, the word that comes into my mind is stolen. These are lands that were stolen from the Hawaiians in 1893 . . . Ever since 1959, the native Hawaiians were to be receiving revenues from these lands . . . We still are not receiving our fair share . . . OH A is the agency that will be fighting to get those entitlements . . . We're very serious about it." WAIHEE: "The purposes for whieh revenues from these (ceded) lands are to be used are in fact a contract with the federal government . . . and therefore ought to be carried out . . . If(airport and harbor facilities) are on ceded lands, and I think there are substantial portions that are, then OH A is entitled to the revenues . . Having said all that, the realquestion is how we halanee out these rights(OHA's and the state's) and in my mind I think that is a question whieh ought to be negotiated out and finalized to everybody's mutual satisfaction." PADEKEN: ". . .The real issue here (is) how are we to bring back a balance so that the understanding ean be broadened not so mueh in terms of what Hawaiians want and the opposing forces(indicating) what you shall not get. But Iet's take a look at the ceded land trust in its entirety. It eonstitutes the major portion of what makes up Hawaii today." DESOTO: "The problems that occur are basically the fault of the (state) Department of Land and Natural Resources with their reluctance to provide an accurate inventory (of ceded lands)." C0NSTITITI0NALITY WAIHEE: "There is no question in my mind that OHA is constitutional. There never was any question. In fact when we founded OHA in the Constitutional Convention . . . we researched theconstitutionality of OHA then and it was

researched at the time of passage of the entitlement statute . . . That whole question affects more than just OHA. It ultimately affects the Bishop Estate, it affects Hawaiian Homes, it affects Liliuokalani Trust and anything else (whieh is a Hawaiian only institution) . . . They would be strongly suspect (if OHA were declared unconstitutional)." PADEKEN: "lf it is that OH A'sconstitutional challenge is based on the native Hawaiian interest (violating the equaJ protection clause of the U.S. Constitution) l'm not concerned about that. I think there is enough precedent to establish the fact that the United States ean impose these things as a condition of any state's entry into the union of states." RITTE: "The constitutional challenge reflects a bulldozer mentality that the state has in dealing with Hawaiians . . . Whenever 1 see the state dealing with Hawaiians I see bulldozers at Makua, I see houses burning at Sand Island and 1 see a lot of Hawaiians in grief. Now in dealing with the Office of Hawaiians Affairs . . . this business of constitutionality is like trying to run over a baby with a bulldozer . . . How many more times is this threat going to be placed over our heads? It happens every time we talk about what our entitlements or rights are as Hawaiians." BLOOD QUANTUM RITTE: "It is some ridiculous thing that I think has been placed upon us in 1 920 and we've been duped into keeping that blood quantum on our people whieh separates our people. That's the most critical thing. It has separated our people." PADEKEN: "To take a position that there be no blood quantum definition of native Hawaiian under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act is to mea breach of trust." DESOTO: "For myself personally, I think the blood quantum has divided us politically as people and it continues to divide us on issues. And unless we address it as a people it will always be there hanging like a two-edged sword over our head." The roundtable discussion broadcast was so well received, Ritte says he intends to do it on a regular basis. The next broadcast is tentatively planned for midApril. Ritte said an announcement will be made when Einal arrangements are completed.

Relaxing during a commercial break on the OHA roundtable discussion at radio station KCCN are Ed Miehelman, moderator and OHA Puhlie Information Officer; A. (Frenchy) DeSoto, manager, Waianae Satellite City Hall; Georgiana Padeken, director, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Lt. Gov. John Waihee; and OHA Trustee Walter Ritte.