Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 9, 1 September 1991 — OHA: A Cclebration Of Ten Years [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA: A Cclebration Of Ten Years

I Luna A'e: OHA at the end of the decade

by Curt Sanburn The closing years o/ the Office of Hawaiian Affair's first decade were marked by bold initiatives, by a new willingness on the part of the State of Hawai'i under Gov. John Waihee to answer Hawaiian concerns and demands, and by a sharp challenge from within the Hawaiian community to hasten the uoyage toward nationhood. The title of thisfifth and last chapter in the history of OHA's first decade, I Luna A'e refers to the broad goal of "moving upward" to create that nation. Sovereignty 2b: freedom from external control: AUTONOMY Autonomy 1: the quality or state of being selfgoverning; the right of self-government — Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary I Luna A'e: Step by Step In the spring of 1989, the OHA trustees' newlyformed entit!ements committee, headed by Rod Burgess, held a two-day workshop at the Sheraton Makaha Hotel in Wai'anae. It was just one of dozens of OHA workshops, but the mood was different. OHA was approaching its 10th birthday — what had been accomplished? The 100th anniversary of the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani was a few years away — what kind of commemoration would there be? Would Lili'uokalani recognize her people, would she be proud of their efforts to rebuild the nation? For two days, the men and women at the workshop grappled with their restlessness, trying to clear their heads of years of petty battles and frustration, casting about for some way to define OHA's daunting task: "The betterment of all •

Hawaiians." . . . How do a few people in an office do that? They brainstorm the future: What should it look like? Far away, they saw the answer: a prosperous and independent Hawaiian people living on their ancient lands, deciding their own future. They agreed onee and for all that self determination was the issue. How do we get there? they asked. Step by step. The workshop participants concluded that for the heahh and well-being of the community, selforganization and self-determination were

indivisible: one led to the other. They eame up with seven initiatives to get OHA on the road. The initiatives added up to a strategic master plan for the Hawaiian people called I Luna A'e, a set of positive actions toward a definite goal: A formal approach to the United States for the redress of wrongs against the Hawaiian people. With these initiatives, the workshop decided to move onward and upward, I Luna A'e. • Operation Malama Mau, a plan to strengthen the Hawaiian historical perspective and preservation efforts. • Operation 'Alohi, to educate Hawaiians and

the general public īn Hawan about Hawanan issues. • Operation Hui 'Imi, to coordinate and increase services to Hawaiians among the several existing service agencies. • Operation Ka Po'e, the task of carrying out the blood-quantum plebiscite, thereby giving Hawaiians themselves the final word on selfdefinition. • Operation 'Ohana, a project to count and enroll all persons of Hawaiian ancestry in Hawai'i and elsewhere. • Operation Ho'okuleana, the task of completing negotiations with the State of Hawai'i regarding Hawaiian entitlements. • Operation Ea, with the penultimate objective of initiating U.S. Congressional action to restore the Hawaiian people's sovereignty, lands and resources illegally taken in 1893. This is also known as the Blueprint for Native Hawaiian Entitlements. "We were looking at a comprehensive strategy for the return of lands at both the federal and state level," says Burgess, the chief architect of I Luna A'e who lost his at-large trusteeship in 1990. "To do that, we Hawaiians had to do our homework. Everyone had to get educated about our goals (Operation 'Alohi). Everyone had to get together and prove we could take care of our own continued page 12 - - — ~ —

"Wouid Lili'u recognize her people, would she be proud of their efforts to rebuild the nation?"

In June 1990 the OHA ceded lands entitlement bill was signed by Governor Waihee, clearing the way for OHA to receive its due portion of ceded lands revenues to benefit native Hawaiians. — W* ■ — .1!.. ■ -.f —

from page 11 (Operation Hui 'lmi). The politics of it require us to take on the huge task of getting ourseIves counted so we'd have clout in numbers (Operation 'Ohana). OHA's responsibility is to all Hawaiians regardless of blood quantum, so we had to get that settled in the plebiscite (Operation Ka Po'e), and we had to settle as mueh state claims as we could (Operation Ho'okuleana). So what all this is, finally, is a crescendo, a huge effort so that we'd be ready for the gunfight with the federal government in 1993." The Blueprint OHA laid out the "gunfight" when it published the Blueprint for Native Hawaiian Entitlements on Sept. 2, 1989. The document challenges historic U.S. government title to 1.75 million acres of former public, crown and government lands, a challenge based on the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i in 1893 and annexation in 1898. The document also calls the U.S. government to return the lands it still holds, to recognize native claims to the 1.35 million acres of lands it transferred to the state at statehood, and to support return of all or part of these lands, as well as restitution for their 100-year free use, to a federally recognized and self-governing Hawaiian entity. The bold Blueprint was distributed to OHA housholds and was the subject of 19 public hearings held throughout the state during October 1989. "OHA seeks more power for natives. The

agency announces plan to grab more control for the Hawaiian people," announced a Star-Bulletin headline on the day the Blueprint was unveiled. The release of the Blueprint was designed to show where OHA uxjs headed and to generate public support for the other I Luna A'e initiatives it would take to get there. The key steps along the way are Operation 'Ohana, Operation Ka Po'e and Operation Hui 'Imi. Of them, Hui 'Imi was the most immediate success. A task force of 15 representatives from Hawaiian service agencies, the Hawaiian trusts and government agencies cooperated to measure and improve social and health services for Hawaiians. Coordination among providers would make delivery of services •nwe efficient and accessible, and the Hawaiian community began to prove it has the will and resources to take care of its own. Blood Quantum: Dividing a Nation Ka Po'e, the attempt to address the federally imposed blood-quantum that divides OHA's beneficiaries into two classes (those with 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood and those with less), was answered by OHA voters in two separate referenda in 1988 and 1990. Both votes showed more than 80 percent support for a single definition. (The second referendum was called for after the first was compromised by foul-ups in the delivery of ballots to households). But the seemingly straightforward idea of putting the question to OHA voters so they could define themselves was attacked from all sides, including from inside OHA.

There was fear that the 50 percenters would see their benefits reduced as the benefit "pie" was divided into more — and smaller — pieces; others thought the change would open up Hawaiian Homestead lands to those with less than 50 percent Hawaiian blood. OHA trustees anticipated these fears and reassured all who would listen that the 1920 Hawaiian Homestead Act whieh established a separate trust could not be amended or affected by an OHA referendum. They also promised those 50 percenters fearful of losing benefits that they would always be at the head of the line for services. After the second referendum, the matter was set to be taken up by the state legislature. If twothirds of both houses approved the new single definition, the matter would go on the 1990 November general eleehon ballot for ratification by Hawai'i voters as a state constitutional amendment. But it was not to be. Simultaneous with the second referendum, OHA was in the midst of promising negotiations with the Waihee administration to settle OHA's outstanding elaim

for its full 20 percent share of the ceded land revenues, monies that were mandated by law to benefit 50 percent blood-quantum Hawaiians. If the single definition went into effect, the legislature might very well decide that the negotiated settlement, worth about $8 million per year plus $100 million in past due payments, was final and would apply to all Hawaiians. Such a move would have cut the per-capita revenue stream by two-thirds. The trustees wisely decided to delay adoption of the single definition until the initial ceded lands settlement and a second, matching entitlement package designed to benefit the larger class of non-native Hawaiians were both achieved. Such were the horribly complicated realities of OHA's agonizing effort to balance the needs of its legally divided constituency at the same time that it was forced to bargain with fickle state legislators for access to lands and/or revenues that rightfully belong to the Hawaiian people. Counting a Nation "Clout," Frenchy DeSoto says firmly. "I'm talking about poliheal clout. The I Luna A'e initiatives were about putting together the tools we would need to begin to develop the poliheal clout necessary to convince whomever needs to be conviced that the Hawaiians are serious." "Clout" is the easiest way to explain why the OHA trustees decided to go out and register every

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Elected in November 1990 to lead the Hawaiian (left to right) trustees Clayton Hee, Abraham A DeSoto, Moses Keale, Thomas Kaulukukui, Kai picture).

Hawaiian in the world onto a computerized list. "Folitics is numbers," DeSoto says, "and Operation 'Ohana is about numbers. All these operations were defined by where they would get us in relation to the bigone, the Blueprint. We looked at the Blueprint and tried to figure out how we'd begin the process for lodging our claims against the federal government. It made sense that we register our people. Numbers impress those guys." OHA launched Operation 'Ohana in July 1989. To demonstrate the global reach of the effort, OHA representatives began the count in California. Estimates put the number of Hawaiians living outside Hawai'i at over 70,000. Back in Hawai'i, with well over 200,000 Hawaiians, the first to sign a Hawaiian Ancestry Enrollment form was Gov. John Waihee. "I figure it's our basic foundation," says OHA Administrator Richard Paglinawan. "Without it, we're in the dark about who we are, who the nation is. Operation 'Ohana is the key to OHA. We need that data base." To get the data, Paglinawan relied on OHA funding from lapsed programs and a small army of

volunteers. He also relied on extended family networks. "You know, if you sit down with a family matriarch, you get the most reliable and comprehensive coverage of the Hawaiian community. It works, but it takes a lot of person-to-person effort. It's like a private census. It might be easier to broadcast, but when you broadcast you're not too sure what you're getting." Computer software designed to manage the mountain of information on the enrollment forms was installed in OHA's computer system in 1990; to date 10,000 have signed up. In its 1990 budget submitted to the state legislature, OHA wanted additional funding to complete the huge and essential undertaking but the request was turned down, and OHA continues to rely on its dedicated volunteers to complete the job. Not only uniting the Hawaiian community in numbers, Operation 'Ohana also provides their first true demographic picture of themselves, a body of data based on the wants and needs identified by Hawaiians for Hawaiian use. As Auntie Frenchy said, "To count ourselves is to help ourselves." OHA wins one In January 1987, Hawaii's first elected governor of Hawaiian ancestry gave his first State of the State address. In it, he held out his hand to OHA. "I have no illusions that easing OHA's difficulties

will be easy or always pleasant," he said, cautioning his listeners, "but we do no one any justice by avoiding the tough issues." Onee a lawyer and legislator who had championed the creation of OHA and had helped chart its goals, Gov. John Waihee used his State of the State address to signal to the Hawaiian community that he was now in a position to settle what had been the embattled agency's most intractable fight: the demand against the state for native Hawaiians' legal share of the ceded land trust revenues. lt was a money fight. Legislation creating OHA in 1980 had set aside 20 percent of state revenues from the ceded lands to OHA for benefit of Hawaiians with 50 percent or. more Hawaiian blood. Three years later, it was clear the state was not adhering to the letter of that law and OHA sued. At stake was at least $7 million annually, the difference between the paltry $1.2 million in funds OHA received from the state annually and the actual 20 percent share of ceded land revenues received by the state. But the suit went nowhere and was thrown out by the State Supreme Court in 1987, when it ruled that the dispute was a poliheal matter whieh must be settled by further clarifying legislation. What became clear is that it was also a fight over definitions. The original legislation had been unclear, even if the intent had been plain. In mid-1987, Waihee met with OHA trustees and together they laid out a course of action to settle the dispute. Waihee made it clear he didn't want a bunch of lawyers trading pieces of paper. The governor's negotiating team, led by a young

part-Hawaiian woman, Norma Wong, a. former legislator, would meet with OHA's negotiating team, led by Trustees Frenchy DeSoto and Rod Burgess. They would hammer out a deal and then the governor would present it to the legislature. As it turned out, it was an all-Hawaiian negotiation — except for the lawyers on both sides. They held over 60 meetings over 40 months, usually late in the day extending into the evening. Wong remembers making big pots of stew and rice and daikon and hauling it over to the OHA offices. The next week OHA would make stew and rice and haul it over to the State Capitol. The negotiations were incredibly complex. Before the negotiators could begin to determine the actual amounts of money they were talking about, they had to define terms. The state had never kept records based on the underlying land status; in fact, the ceded lands had never been adequately catalogued. Distinctions had to be drawn between "sovereign" ineome, that is, the revenues received by the state in taxes, fines and federal grants; and "proprietary" ineome, the moneygenerated tothe state for use of public lands — rents, leases and airport landing fees. Ceded land maps posed their own problems. The Honolulu International Airport map showed the runways on ceded land, but the airport buildings were not. How do you determine that proprietary ineome? The University of Hawai'i at Manoa bookstore was half on ceded land and half not. How do negotiators add up the past-due continued page 14

people into a new "decade of declsion" were iona, Rowena Akana, Louis Hao, A. Frenchy naki Kanahele and Moanikeala Akaka (not in

I Luna A'e

from page 13 amounts for the past eight-year period when the state had underpaid OHA? What would the interest rate be on those debts? Could those pastdue payments be split between monies and lands? These were the nit-picking specifics of the negotiation. On the other hand, the negotiations represented OHA's key window-of-opportunity to plaee a second package of negotiations on the table to create a second "dedicated revenue stream" from the public land revenues for the benefit of non-native Hawaiians. This would end OHA's services to non-native Hawaiians. The big picture was further complicated when Governor Waihee floated the idea of merging the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands into OHA. A few days after the second blood-quantum referendum, on Feb. 8, 1990, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the governor announced a joint agreement whieh established a formula for calculating the past due and future ineome that OHA is entitled to for native Hawaiians as its 20 percent pro-rata share from state ceded lands revenue. The OHA entitlement bill, HB 2896, was approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Waihee in June. Practically speaking, the new law would increase OHA's annual revenue stream from

about $1.3 million annually to $8.4 million annually. The payment of the past-due amount, estimated at about $100 million today, would be paid in a combination of land and monies still to be negotiated. The torch is passed OHA ended the decade with a bang. It had won its long and hard-fought struggle with the state and had increased its funding by 700 percent. With I Luna A'e, the agency had established a framework for the Hawaiian journey toward selfdetermination. Rod Burgess' "crescendo" had begun. 1993 would mark the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian nation. Would it also mark the reemergence of the Hawaiian nation? In November 1990, Hawaiian voters went to the polls to elect five trustees to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. One trustee, Kevin "Chubby" Mahoe chose not to run for re-election. Three sitting trustees seeking re-election, including Rod Burgess, Clarence Ching and Manu Kahaialii, were defeated. Frenchy DeSoto was re-elected along with new trustees Abe Aiona, Rowena Akana, Clayton Hee and Kamaki Kanahele. They joined incumbents Tommy Kaulukukui, Moanikeala Akaka, Louis Ha'o and Moses Keale. A new decade had begun — the decade of decision. Curt Sanburn, educated at 'Iolani School and Yale, writes on Hawai'i affairs.