Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 10, 1 October 1991 — Draft bill launches sovereignty discussion [ARTICLE]

Draft bill launches sovereignty discussion

by Deborah Ward Ka Wai Ola O OHA, Editor In an effort to take the first step toward resolving deep-seated problems of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and to initiate at the federal level a process to restore Native Hawaiian sovereignty, two draft "discussion"bills have been distributed to Hawaiian organizations by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. Inouye says the bills are based on ideas Hawaiians have expressed to him in hearings and meetings that have intensified in recent years. He hopes by this action to begin a process of consultation and involvement with Native Hawaiians that may lead to introduction of federal legislation at an appropriate time in the near future. The two drafts, presented by Inouye at an August 29 meeting in his Honolulu office, are not intended for introduction in Congress anytime this year, according to Inouye. Rather, they are "starting points" to begin discussion involving a broad spectrum of the Hawaiian community.

The two draft bills provide: • the right to sue both the State of Hawai'i and the federal government for claims resulting from breach of trust in their administration of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act; and • a procedure to reorganize a native Hawaiian government and re-establish a federal relationship with that government based on the unique status of the native Hawaiian people to the United States. Inouye invited the representatives of different Hawaiian organizations to take back the discussion drafts to their groups, "ehew on" them, bring back their mana'o and to tell their Congressional representatives if they want to see these bills or any bill introduced. Represented at the August meeting were groups whieh have been meeting with Inouye and his staff over several years on various Hawaiian issues: the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Alu Like, State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, Ka Lahui Hawai'i, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Pro-Hawaiian Sovereignty Working Group, Hou Hawaiians, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, Ka Pakaukau, and others.

The "right to sue" bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to resolve claims against the State of Hawai'i for its management of the Hawaiian home lands after statehood, Aug. 21, 1959. The U.S. Attorney General could initiate legal action on behalf of claims found to have merit. The bill also provides for suits against the United States for failure to properly exercise its responsibilities under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act from its enactment in 1920 to Aug. 20, 1959. The United States would waive its sovereign immunity with respect to civil actions (suits) filed under the bill if it should become law. Inouye said the second draft bill would establish a method for a Native Hawaiian government to be organized and recognized by the U.S. government. "If we're talking about sovereignty, this is fundamental," he said. The bill would set up a process, authorize appropriation of funds to form an organization, staff it, do research and file applications. It would help Hawaiians organize a government entity to represent Native Hawaiians continued page 15

Draft bill on sovereignty

in a unique relationship to the U.S. government, he said. However, he warned, "This is a concept that will frighten some people...Hawaiians and nonHawaiians...You will have an awesome responsibility to educate our people on what this is about...to discuss this with our neighbors. If thisis to become law we must have the support of nonHawaiians." "It may be one of the most profound challenges Native Hawaiians have faced since 1893," he said. lnouye noted the wording of the draft bill "To authorize the reorganization of a native Hawaiian government and re-establish a federal relationship based on the unique status of the native Hawaiian people to the United States," suggests sovereignty did not die, but was "in hibernation." This is an important point, he said since it is a different status from attempting to establish sovereignty where none existed before. Inouye noted in a letter inviting Hawaiian organizations to the Aug. 29 meeting, "When our founding fathers drafted the Constitution, they referred to the native peoples of this nation as they knew them at the time-as lndian tribes-and they recognized a special relationship with the native peoples. Obviously, at the time, they could not anticipate that there would be other states that would join the Union, and that the native peoples of those states might be known by a different name. "But for instance, when Alaska became a state,

the native peoples of Alaska were accorded a status similar to that of Amenean Indians for purposes of federal program eligibility. Why then, shouldn't Native Hawaiians be accorded an equal status?" He stressed that Native Hawaiians were, on annexation by the U.S. government, a native people with sovereign power. "We maintain the overthrow of Lili'uokalani in 1893 was unconstitutional...carried out by the government of the U.S." Despite certain claims by the U.S. today to the contrary, Inouye noted, a special relationship to native Hawaiians does exist to this day. "If the government of the U.S. believed otherwise, why did they create the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act? And why require the state to get federal okay on amendments to the homestead act?" "Now the time has eome to put that relationship in a different light..not just on paper but through a real sovereign government," he said. The draft bill would authorize Native Hawaiians to form an interim organization to receive federal funds, conduct educational meetings to inform Native Hawaiians about the purposes of establishing a native government and obtain their input. The interim organization would develop a proposed constitution and form of government and hold an eleehon. lt would also conduct negotiations with continued page 23