Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 9, 1 September 1994 — All Hawaiians have a stake in sovereignty [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

All Hawaiians have a stake in sovereignty

by Rowena Akana Trustee-at-large SOVEREIGNTY. The word hangs in the air like an uncertain new friend to all who attempt to

understand its encircling arms. Why does the concept of sovereignty, whieh should unite our people, instead divide us? My goal has been to use the issue of sovereignty to bring together the many grassroots groups in the eommunity over the past several years. It's easy enough to get the many people I've worked

with to agree, in concept, to the need for the study, education and understanding of sovereignty. Yet, like a delicate spider's web, the unity is as fragile and unsure as the elements that affect it. Perhaps we need to start at the beginning again and again. ... as many times as it takes to grasp the elementary foundation of the very word. To define "sovereignty" is

to plaee the concept in a known variable category. Three key elements of nationhood are sovereignty, self-deter-mination and self-sufficiency:

Sovereignty — is the ability of a people who share a e o m m o n e u 1 1 u r e , religion, language, value system and land base.

to exercise control over their lands and lives, independent of other nations. In order to do this, they must be self-determining. Self-determination — is realized when the native people organize a mechanism for self-governance. Only when the native Hawaiian people create a government whieh provides for democratic representation of their members, and

begin to interrelate with the state and federal trustees who control their lands, will they be able to

gain control over their trust assets and their future. Self-sufficiency — is the goal of nationhood. Self-sufficiency means the people are able to be self-supporting, capable of feeding, clothing and sheltering themselves. To answer the question of "Why sovereignty?" we need to go back as far as the overthrow and beyond. Hawaiians had an independent, viable, thriving eul-

ture. At the time of the overthrow we were effectively stripped of our culture, told we could no

longer speak our language, dance, sing or follow the teachings of our kūpuna. Virtually five Caucasian leaders were responsible for trying to blow out the eandle of the Hawaiian culture. Since that time, it has not been 'in' to be Hawaiian unless it was at the limited wishes of the elite leadership that ruled the state. We were taught in growing that we needed to assimilate to the "white man's ways" if we were to survive and be successful in the

changed Hawai'i, the beloved land of our ancestors.

But that candle never went out. That is why now, decades later, we find a strong surge of the beauty of Hawaiians fighting to break out of the constraining forces that have held down the culture for mueh too long. To those of us who have a stake in sovereignty, it is imperative that we eome together to air our grievances and to discuss our triumphs, fears and hopes. An important eoneem is the issue of blood quantum (the amount of Hawaiian blood that one has). This issue, more than any other eoneem, seems to tear at the very fabric of sovereignty and it needs desperately to be addressed. To eome to some resolve on this issue and others would require that all of us dialogue together. You must become involved and informed on issues of eoneem to you if you are to make informed decisions. If you rely on someone else to represent your interests without your input, don't eomplain when they get it all wrong.

Only when your voice is heard ean you expect a response.

Only when the Native Hawaiian people create a government whieh provides for democratic representation of their members, and begin to interrelate with the state and federal trustees who control their lands, will they be able to gain control over their trust assets and their future.