Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 6, 1 June 1991 — The "Decade of Decision" [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The "Decade of Decision"

by Thomas K. Kauiukukui, Sr. T rustee-at-large

Most of you know that I spent the major part of my career as a football player and eoaeh. From those experiences, I learned early that both individual and team achievement is directly affected by the degree of support

or opposition from those watching the game. The "Home Field" advantage is not a myth, it is the critical factor in winning or losing a close game. Native Hawaiians will need that support and understanding from the entire community in the coming ten years. The office of Hawaiian Affairs has declared the 1990s "The Decade of Decision" in recognition of the overwhelming significance of events and choices whieh will face us. As we all know, special dates and the emotional responses whieh they arouse have an inspirational power, and often forge a renewed commitment for deeper understandings and action. For Hawai'i and especially Hawaiians, the centennial of crucial events will occur in this decade. This year markes the 100th anniversary of the death of King Kalakaua and the succession of his sister Queen Lili'uokalani to the throne. 1993 will mark a "century of shame" associated with the overthrow of the monarchy and the destruction of the Native Hawaiian nation. 1995 will commemorate the frustrated counter-revolution attempted by Hawaiian loyalists and the imprisonment and trial of the Queen for treason. 1998 will be the century post of the annexation of the Hawaiian islands as an Amehean territory. These events ean either continue to trigger increased anger and sadness among Hawaiians, or they ean become important rallying points for a new vision and achievement of justice in Hawai'i. This vision must be understood, shared and supported by all of the people of Hawai'i. At its heart, the dreams of the decade of decision are not to turn back the eloek or somehow undo history. Instead, they are modern dreams drawn from the Hawaiian past but standing firmly on American constitutional principles and law.

Like Amehean Indians and Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians enjoy a unique and special legal status. The entitlements of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or of the Hawaiian Homestead program would be unconstitutional if those benefits were based on race. It is Article III of the United States Constitution whieh sets forth the extraordinary legal relationship between the federal government and Native Amenean Peoples — the Congress is expressly empowered to make treaties or plenary laws for Indians. Through a series of rulingsby the U.S. Supreme Court, the term "Indians" hasbeen consistently held to be a generic term for native peoples who meet the following description: 1. They are a people who inhabited and exercised sovereignty since time immemonal over territory whieh is now within the United States. Native Hawaiians lived and governed in Hawai'i for 2,000 years before becoming Americans 92 years ago. Native Hawaiians and the Kingdom of Hawai'i were a fully recognized nation among nations prior to annexation. There were formal treaties of friendship with more than 40 other nations including the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany — and in exchange of ambassadors. The Kingdom ran a postal system and printed stamps honored internationally. There was a national mint and a currency whose value was acknowledged and exchanged in global

markets. 2. Unlike the majority immigrant experience, Native American peop!es did not freely choose to become Americans, and were deprived of both Iand and f ull selfgovernment as a consequence of being incorporated into the American nation. Although the political implications are still being debated, no historian will deny or doubt that the United States stole Hawai'i without the consent of, or compensation to, the Hawaiian people. The overthrow could simply not have succeeded without the armed military presence of the U.S. Navy and Marines, and the active support of the American departments of war and state. At the time of annexation, more than 1.7 million acres of land — the former public, crown, and government lands of the Hawaiian Nation were ceded to the United States. No vote of the people — as happened at statehood — was ever taken, and not one dollar was paid. 3. The native peop!es of the United States also enjoy a special political and legal status, because the Congress acknowledges that unlike other ethnic groups, native people have no "mother culture" elsewhere. Native Hawaiian traditions, spiritual beliefs, and language exist nowhere else in the world. Hawai'i is our homeland. Meeting these Amehean constitutional requirements lays the legal foundation for seeking justice. In broad outline, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs will pursue a redress of historical wrongs by reaffirming and asserting Native Hav#aiian rights whieh are recognized and protected by the U.S. Constitution. In 1933, we hope to reverse the harm of the overthrow by pursuing congressional passage of claims legislation. Nearly 400 Native American tribes and peoples have received lands and compensation from the federal government for the illegal and forced taking of ancestral lands. The passage of time does not diminish or extinguish these claims. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, for example, occured in 1972, nearly 110 years after the American acquistion of Alaska.

Also īn iyoo, we plan to begin tne tormai rebuilding of the Hawaiian Nation. Many — Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike — are frightened by the concepts of sovereignty and selfdetermination. There is the mistaken idea that selfdetermination means re-establishing the monarchy, renouncing our American citizenship, confiscating all property not owned by Hawaiians, and exiling all non-Hawaiians. No. Hawaiians are Americans now. Proud of the heritage and traditions of the United States. Native American governments do not exercise the equivalent of federal powers. They function in cooperation and concert with other jurisdictions. The general powers of a native government extend to those matters whieh are specific and special to the native people. A basic power, for example, is the ability to define the membership of the group. Today, solely under the jurisdiction of federal and state laws, Native Hawaiians are divided by a blood quantum definition whieh was not determined by Hawaiians. OHA has conducted two plebescites on the question of definition. Twice, Hawaiians have voted by an 80 percent affirmative vote, that if definition were selfdetermined, we would be a unified people. I don't think anyone disagrees that this ehoiee should be a Hawaiian decision. Another general power is the control and management of group assets and properties. Today, the Hawaiian Home Lands trust and the OHA less-than-50 percent Hawaiians entitlements

are managed and spent at the direction of the state Legislature and Governor. Simply put, we believe that we ean manage those resources at least as well as the state has, and with a level of mutual accountability whieh is essential to success. Now, we are locked in a cycle of blaming others for fhe failures of the Hawaiian Homes program or the inability of OHA to address all of the needs of the Hawaiian people. With an adequate and appropriate base of lands and monies, and the responsibility for their management — we ean only blame ourselves if we fail to achieve our own dreams. To develop a document of governance — a constitution or charter — we are planning to have the framework of a Native Hawaiian convention of elected delegates statutorially in plaee and functioning in 1993. Both the claims legislation and the work of the Hawaiian Con-Con will require time to implement and set in plaee. By 1998, however, we should achieve both the recognition and initial settlement of claims for the lands taken, and have in plaee a self-determined mechanism for managing those resources and the entitlements already in existence. We live in exciting and difficult times. We will need the understanding and support of all of you. The decisions of this decade are for eaeh of us to help make. But fundamental choices — like who we are as Hawaiians — must be reserved for us to make alone. We're playing Michigan State football. On a lot of these plays, we can't hold the ball off to anyone else. We have to carry it. But if you're not there to support us, we could lose. The United States and the people of Hawai'i have the strength and the ability to rededicate themselves to principles sometimescompromised in the past. This strength is derived from the American conscience and constitution. The impulse of the people and the vitality of the American system is to correct wrong. That same thought is a proud strand of the Hawaiian tradition and law — and is still affirmed in the motto of our state: Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono. This decade will bring a new breath of life to our land. Mahalo nui loa.

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(This eolumn is open to all OHA T rustees as a uehiele (or them to express their mana'o. Opinions expressed are those of the individual Trustees and do not necessarily represent the official position of the OHA Board of Trustees.)