Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 10, 1 December 1984 — Alaskans Back Hawaiian Reparations [ARTICLE]

Alaskans Back Hawaiian Reparations

By Jalna Keala Government Affairs Offieer A formal resolution supporting Hawaiian reparations has onee more traveled across the oeean to be adopted b\ another organiz.ation whieh agrees that the dethronement of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 was illegal. The scenario this time was the Egan Convention C'enter in Anchorage. Alaska, in October. It was the annual convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives w it h an estimated 2.000 Aleuts, Eskimos and Alaska lndians representing the native population of 80,000. Office of Hawaiian Affairs T rustee Piilani C. Desha presented the OHA slide show to the AFN Board of Directors. She then asked the board for adoption of a resolution acknowledging the illegal and immoral U.S. actions and a commitment for restitution by the U.S. Congress. This resolution has already been adopted by the Japanese American Citizens l.eague, the National Congress of American Indians, the Honolulu branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. the HawaiiStateSenateand Houseof Representatives, the Hawaii State Association of Counties, both the Republican and Democratic Parties of Hawaii and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. At the Anchorage convention, the resolution moved from the board level to the resolutions committee where OH A staff pro\ ided resource information, then to the House of Delegates where it was unanimously adopted \vith words of support and encouragement for Hawaiian success.

Trustee Desha addressed the assembly to express gratitude and greetings from Hawaii. The warm and enthusiastic reception was in stark contrast to the sunny but cold weather outside with temperatures ranging from 12 to 27 degrees Fahrenheit. The AFN is an organization incorporated to represent Alaska natives before the U.S. Congress, the state legislature and various loeal governments. It is politically active in representing the entire native eommunity rather than village, regional or individual interests. It takes action through its board and through resolutions passed at convention on behalf of all Alaska natives. It serves as the political arm of regional profit and non-profit corporations established in 1971. These corporations manage over 44 million acres of land, roughly 12 percent of Alaska, and a!most one hillion dollars in compensation granted as restitution for loss of the remaining lands. "Unity: Key to Survival," a topic familiar to minority groups the world over. was the theme of the 1984 convention. Other convention speakers were the Alaska governor and congressional delegation; the Mayor of Anchorage; president of the lnuit Circumpolar Conference; and speakers on tribal, eeonomie, cultural and political unity. Other speakers representcd the Alaska Native Women's Organization; Aboriginal Senior Citizens; AFN Youth Council; United Tribes of Alaska and a special overview on 1991. Conventions of Native Youth and Elders were held a few days prior to the AFN meeting whieh enabled a mass concentration of natives within a one week period.