Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 12, 1 December 1994 — OHA holds TV town meeting [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA holds TV town meeting

by Jeff Clark The Office of Hawaiian Affairs presented an "electronic town meeting" on television the evening of Oct. 14, and those who "attended" on KHNL Channel 13 got the lowdown on Hawaiian sovereignty. Viewers were able to phone in with questions for panelists Judge Walter Heen, chairman of the Native Hawaiian Bar Association's committee on sovereignty; Kīna'u Boyd Kamali'i, OHA Trustee and member of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council (HSEC); Bruss Keppeler, HSEC member and president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; and Māhealani Kamau'u, Hui Na'auao president and HSEC member.

"Our discussion tonight is not intended to be a debate and so the groups that are represented are here because of their broad commitment to sovereignty and to the selfdetermination of the Hawaiian people to make the decisions and the choices. But to do that you must be informed, whieh is why we have this program," said OHA Land and Natural Resources Officer Linda Delaney, who served as the moderator. The one-hour broadcast included a showing of "Sovereignty Hawai'i," an OHA-produced educational video outlining the three primary models of sovereignty. One of the first questions to eome in was from a viewer wanting to know what role, if any, non-Hawaiians will play in the sovereignty process. Keppeler said nonHawaiians will have an important part no matter what form of sovereignty is chosen by Hawaiians. "1 don't believe Congress is going to go along with the felt needs of the Hawaiian people without seeing general support from the non-Hawaiian populaee as well," he said.

In responding to the oft-heard question regarding what will happen to land currently in the hands of private property owners, Heen answered, "Presumably, nobody's going to rush in and take away the land that belongs to people who have lived here for - some of them - generations." Kamali'i agreed, saying that the public lands taken by the U.S. government at the time of the overthrow and annexation are what sovereignty advocates have their eyes on. "We are concerned about the 1 .2 million acres of ceded lands," she said. Keppeler, Kamali'i, and Kamau'u explained some of the details surrounding the sovereignty process, including schedules for voter registration, the plebiscite, election of delegates and the constitutional convention (for more

information, see pages 10 - 1 1 of this issue). "Inclusiveness" is the theme of the process worked out by the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council, Kamau'u said. "The Elections Council process is intended to be as fair, as deliberate, as accessible to as many Hawaiians as possible," she said. Kamali'i stressed that all one needs to participate is to be at least 18 years old and to have any amount of Hawaiian blood. "It's a broad criteria allowing all Hawaiians to participate if they wish," she said. In the program's final moments, Kamali'i implored voters to "get involved." Delaney said copies of the "Sovereignty Hawai'i" video included in the e!ectronic town meeting are being given to all libraries, public schools, and prisons.

HSEC member / Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. President Māhealani Kamau'u, right, and OHA Land and Natural Resources Officer Linda Delaney listen as HSEC member / Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs President H.K. Bruss Keppeler makes a point during the OHA electronic town meeting.