Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 3, 1 April 1984 — Hawaiians Were Wronged, Speakers Tell Senate Committee at Hearings [ARTICLE]

Hawaiians Were Wronged, Speakers Tell Senate Committee at Hearings

Joseph Kealoha, chairman of the OH A Board of Trustees, urged a U. S. Senate committee to reject the recommendations and conclusions contained in Volume 1 of the Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report and adopt Volume II, the minority report submitted to Congress by the commission's three Hawaii members. This was the general message driven home by more than 65 witnesses who testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources at the State Capitol auditorium Apr. 16 in the first of four statewide hearings. The hearings moved on to Captain Cook, Kona, on the 17th; Wailuku, Maui, on the 18th; and wound up at Lihue, Kauai, on the 20th. The Honolulu hearing turned out to be a rare treat for the overflowing crowd of nearly 250 persons as Hawaii's four elected U. S. lawmakers were on stage at the same time for the morning session. Sen. Spark M. Matsunaga chaired the hearing with Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and Reps. Daniel K. Akaka and Cecil Heftel as honorary committee members. Akaka, who just got over a case of laryngitis, made all the hearings with Matsunaga, as did lnouye.

The Honolulu hearing started at 10:30 a. m. as did the neighbor island sessions but lasted way past its scheduled 5 p. m. closing. It ended at 7:45 p. m. because Matsunaga wanted to give everyone a ehanee at testifying. He exercised great patience as virtually

every witness went beyond the requested allotment of five minutes. Only onee was he forced to use his gavel in twice attempting to stop a young witness during the closing minutes of the hearing. The witness had rambled on for nearly 15 minutes before he finally stopped. By 6p. m., thecrowd had thinned down to about 50, a number of whom were not on the list of original witnesses but who were later added upon request. In his testimony, Kealoha reemphasized five major OHA recommendations for the committee's "favorable consideration." Thev are:

• That the Congress acknowledge the illegal and immoral actions of the U. S. in the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom and indicate its commitment to grant restitution for the losses and damages suffered by native Hawaiians as a result of those wrongful actions. • That the Congress establish a joint Federal-State Ceded Lands Commission to review the problems associated with federally controlled ceded lands. • That the Congress indicate, by joint resolution, its commitment to review the implementation of the recommendations of the Federal-State Task Force on the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act by the State of Hawaii and U. S. Department of the Interior, and take appropriate legal action for breach of trust if satisfactory eomplianee has not occurred within a reasonable period of time. • That the Congress take appropriate action to include native Hawaiians in the

definition of native American and extend to native Hawaiians eligibility in all programs affected by such definition without prejudice. • That the Congress establish a single definition of native Hawaiian without reference to a blood quantum, and provide appropriate protections to guarantee the rights and privileges of current Hawaiian Homes beneficiaries. Kealoha was preceded to the podium by a line of witnesses headed by Lt. Gov. John David Waihee III, Rep. Peter Apo, Council Chairman Patsy Mink, Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i, UH Historian PaulineN. King, David Getches, Melody McKenzie, Manon Kelly, Cecilia Chang, Jon Van Dyke, Daviana McGregor-Alegado, Adelaide (Frenchy) DeSoto, Council of Hawaiian Organizations and on and on. Apo and DeSoto are former OHA trustees while Kamali'i chaired the study commission and Getches is executive director of the State Department of Natural Resources in Denver, Colo. He was former director of the Native Amenean Rights Fund.

Nearly every witness urged the committee to reject Volume I whieh concluded that native Hawaiians are not entitled to lodge claims against the U. S. for the loss of sovereignty and property in the 1893 revolution supported by more than 100 U. S. troops. Various speakers described the majority report as hasty, biased, inaccurate, incomplete, misleading and immoral. Six mainland commissioners made up the

majority. The historical and legal contents of the report were done by Reagan administration staff whose findings, conclusions and recommendations were denounced by Kamali'i as being "so profoundly flawed and manipulated that the results ean only be called dishonest." Kamali'i said the six commissioners may have reached their conclusion "out of a sense of political expediency" and loyalty to (Reagan) whieh she added was "nothing less than immoral."

"I believe that they sacrificed historical accuracy, analytical judgment, and personal integrity to the end of rejecting any basis for native Hawaiian claims or standing before the Congress and government of the United States," Kamali'i declared. Waihee said he and Gov. George R. Ariyoshi believe that the majority eonelusion "must be refuted." He assailed the majority report as "fatally flawed in fact and spirit"and said its "formal rejection is imperative." "It is a matter of national honor," Waihee declared and added that "eompensation is not the issue — "honor is." Waihee continued: "Restitution is only important because it makes an apology meaningful. Without it, the apology would be empty — a fraud." Apo suggested that the claims of the native Hawaiians should not be treated within the body of law that has evolved to See Hawaiians, pg. 2

• Hawaiians, from pg. 1 deal with native American lndians and native Alaskans. "Native Hawaiians deserveseparateattention from Congress and, eventually, from the federal judiciary whieh recognizes that the claims of native Hawaiians should be evaluated within the unique historical and legal background of native Hawaiians," Apo said.

Hawaiian Homes Director Georgiana Padeken, who spoke out against lowering the 50 percent blood requirement for Hawaiian homesteaders, said any plans to reorganize her department should be approached with caution. "Progress has been made," she explained, in reaching the original goals of the Hawaiian Homes Act. DeSoto wants the Hawaiian Homes Act amended so elders would be free to pass on their homestead lands to their heirs without restrictions on Hawaiian blood as in the current law. The majority report, she said, had done "irreparable harm"to Hawaiians and"no amount of money" could rectify the damage. King said there was no question the overthrow of the monarchy was wrong and this was misinterpreted in the majority report. Getches declared that Hawaiians are the only native group who have not been "justly compensated" for wrongs done to them. "The issue here is one of human rights," explained McKenzie who is director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. Van Dyke: "What really is at issue is the law. The Government is liable for the actions of its agents."

Puanani Kealoha of Honolulu injected some unintentional humour as the crowd broke into momentary laughter and later cheered when she said: "I'm sick and tired of being studied. I feel like a specimen in a laboratory. All our conditions and wants are a matter of record. Its way past time to take action. It has been a waste of time and money in having more studies." Her impassioned plea for congressional action brought this response from Matsunaga: "Unfortunately, many of the studies are adverse and it is for that reason why

we're here today — to prove that Volume II speaks the truth and not Volume 1. Let me tell you that this has also been a real education for me. We've got to prove to the majority in Congress that native Hawaiians deserve justice under the law. We're not going to give up on the Hawaiian Natives' Claims Act." Matsunaga is the only member of the 20-member committee to attend and chair the hearing. The others reti)rned to their respective home districts during the congressional Easter recess. Other OHA Trustees testifying at neighbor island hearings included Rodney Burgess, Piilani Desha and Moses Keale. On the Big Island, Burgess testified in favor of eliminating the requirement that Hawaiians must have at least 50 percent Hawaiian blood in order to benefit from the Hawaiian Homes and Ceded Land Trusts. Burgess said it "has divided and separated the Hawaiian people. It has caused dissension within the Hawaiian community and real hardship among Hawaiian families."

Trustee Desha, also testifying in Kona, said Hawaiians should be included in programs available to other native Americans. She called the present condition of Hawaiian "disheartening" and a "direct result of the illegal taking of property by agents of the U. S. military forces and government in 1893." At the hearing on Kauai, Trustee Keale, a "native Hawaiian" homesteader, testified in favor of eliminating the blood quantum requirement. Commenting on the hardship caused by this restriction, Keale said "I've seen widows kicked out of their homes one week after they buried their husbands." Trustee Rodney Burgess testified again on Kauai. Burgess asked for legislation establishing special programs for Hawaiians at the federal level. Burgess said: "Although native Hawaiians and lndians have both suffered badly at the hands of the United States government, we are separate peoples with separate problems whieh in many cases require individual solutions."