Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 11, 1 November 1989 — Questions answered from OHA Blueprint meetings [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Questions answered from OHA Blueprint meetings

Ka Wai Ola O OHA begins this month a series of articles prepared by the staff of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, that present answers to questions raised by the community in September during the first round of public information meetings conducted on the OHA Blueprint for Native Hawaiian Entitlements. A second series of meetings, originally schedu1ed as hearings, were conducted during October. Due to the early publication schedule of this newspaper, the October meetings will not be featured until the December issue.

This month s article features some of the more pressing concerns raised at the statewide meetings, compiled in over 200 pages of recorded eomments. Future articles will also respond to eoncerns raised on different topics. Q: Has OHA made a deal with Senator Inouye/Gov. Waihee? Why are OHA and the governor meeting in secret without giving the Hawaiian people an opportunity to be involved. ' A: No, OHA has not made a deal with the senator or governor. Prior to coming out with the Draft Blueprint, OHA had not discussed its contents with either Sen. Inouye or Gov. Waihee, but OHA hopes they will participate in and support this effort. OHA has been meeting with members of-the governor's staff to discuss the ceded lands revenues and back rents. This is a result of the lawsuits OHA filed against the state because OHA wasnot (and still is not) receiving the full 20 percent of revenues from the ceded lands. However, while there have been preliminary discussions, to date there have been no concrete proposals put forth. Q: Why did OHA start the Blueprint with getting lands and money first; shouldn't we get sovereignty first and then let the sovereign entity negotiate for lands and money? A: The Draft Blueprint does not say that lands and money should eome first, before self-gover-nanee. lt proposes returns of lands, money, etc. and self-governance. OHA believes we should push forward on all of our claims, however if there is strong feeling that the self-governing entity must be established first before any efforts are made on our other claims, the Blueprint ean be amended to reflect that view. Q: We do not want compensation: lands and/or money — we want to be recognizedas a sovereign entity. A: The Draft Blueprint proposes a process for determining a self-governing entity. The Native Hawaiian self-governing entity will need a land base and financial resources. Native Hawaiians are entitled to their lands and to be compensated for past use of their lands. Self-governance as well as the return of lands, money, and other resources are at the heart of the Draft Blueprint.

Q: Why doesn't the Draft Blueprint address claims against the state; why does it only deal with claims against the federal government? A: The Draft Blueprint does make elaim for ceded lands now held by the state and Hawaiian Home Lands. However, the Draft Blueprint was originally aimed at claims against the United States and thus those claims are stated most strongly. We weleome suggestions to change the Draft Blueprint to clearly and forcefully make our claims against the state of Hawai'i. Q: How are you going to distribute trust . funds or ceded lands to the people if you succeed in getting lands and monies from the federal and state governments? A: The Draft Blueprint suggests that all lands and monies be held by the Native Hawaiian selfgoverning entity. That entity will have to determine whether individual money awards should be given and will also have to determine how individual parcels of land should be distributed.

Q: Are.lands held by private owners in Hawai'i affected? A: No. Private lands are not affected by the B!ueprint. Q: If a Native Hawaiian self-governing entity is created, will Native Hawaiians still be U.S. citizens? A: Yes. Native Hawaiians will still be citizens of the U.S. and citizens of the state of Hawai'i. In addition, they will be citizens of the Native Hawaiian self-governing entity. Other native people on the mainland are members of their tribes and citizens of the state and U.S. Q: How long will this process take; when will we receive our lands, monies, and resources? A: This will be a long and slow process. We are only at the beginning stages. The first step is for Native Hawaiians to understand the issues and reach agreement on basic goals. The Draft Blueprint sets out what OHA thinks those goals are,

but ultimately the Native Hawaiian community must decide. The Draft Blueprint ean and will be changed; it is a working draft. Even after the Native Hawaiian community has reached a eonsensus, it will still take many years to pursue our cause in Congress. Cooperation and support from non-Hawaiians will also be required. We cannot put a timetable on the process, but we must keep moving forward. Q: Will OHA be the self-governing entity? Isn't this Draft Blueprint just a ploy to get support for OHA to be the self-governing entity? A: The process set up in the Draft Blueprint is designed to insure that the will of the Native Hawaiian people is carried out. OHA will assist in the process, but ultimately it will be the Native Hawaiian people who will design a governmental structure. The process allows another organization to be chosen as the self-governing entity, or OHA could evolve into a self-governing entity, or an entirely new entity could be created. It should be stressed, however, that it is up to the Native Hawaiian people to decide who should be the selfgoverning entity. Q: Can OHA be the self-governing entity? OHA is a state agency and cannot be a sov.ereign. What will happen if OHA is wiped out at the next Constitutional Convention? A: OHA was created by the Hawaiian people. In 1978, grass roots Hawaiians seized the opportunity to use the Constitutional Convention as a mechanism to develop a native governmental structure. Many Hawaiians then went into the community to convince other Hawaiians, as well as the general populaee, to support OHA and the OHA amendments to the Constitution. They were

successful. At its heart, OHA is the result of anative initiative for self-governance. OHA's mandate is affirmed by the 63,432 Hawaiian registered OHA voters and the more than 50,000 votes actually received eaeh election for the trustees. OHA is a unique entity. It is established in the state constitution and yet it is independent from the other branches of state government. It is not part of the state administrative, legislative, or judieial branches. It has a high degree of control over internal affairs, ean enter into leases and eontracts, and acquire and manage property. Most importantly, its independence is assured by the elective process by whieh the trustees are chosen. To the extent possible under the existing constitutional scheme, OHA was designed to give maximum control of resources to the native community.

If OHA is chosen as the self-governing entity, it will be an OHA whieh is entirely separate from the state. Legislation would have to be drafted to

separate OHA from the state and give it federal recognition. In that way, it would be protected from the vagarie of state politics and would be able to deal with the state and federal governments at arms length. Q: Why doesn't the Draft Blueprint recognize Ka Lahui? Why didn't OHA accept Ka Lahui's draft for sovereignty instead of putting out their own? A: The Draft Blueprint doesn't recognize any specific group advocating sovereignty. It suggests a process by whieh Native Hawaiians ean determine for themselves what form the self-governing entity will take. OHA would like to be considered in that process, but ultimately the Native Hawaiian people will decide. OHA believes this process should be open to any native initiative for selfgovernance and not merely to one group. Q: Why should OHA determine the districts for selecting representatives to the gathering to draft the governing document? Won't this give OHA an inside track? A: At the present time, the OHA trustees are . the elected representatives of the Native Hawaiian community. OHA has the ability and resources and is the logical organization to aid in the selfgovernance effort. OHA will draw the districts with the goal of insuring equal representation while trying to adhere to traditional geographical divisions. OHA will not conducteither the election for representatives or the gathering to draft the governing document. If the community believes that OHA is not the appropriate body to determine the districts, then that ean be changed in the Draft Blueprint. To be continued.

k - Since the OHA Blueprint for Native Hawaiian Entitlements was announced Sept. 2, many questions have been raised on its contents at public meetings held statewide and on the

mainland. lnformation meetings will continue weil into 1990 to inform Hawaiians and to provide opportunities for input and discussion.