Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 5, 1 May 1995 — Sovereignty is Hawaiian entitlement [ARTICLE]

Sovereignty is Hawaiian entitlement

It surprises me that there is very mueh more interest that needs to be aroused among the Hawaiian people in their thrust for sovereignty. Excuses are laek of this

and laek of that. Hawaiians are uninformed, uneducated, or have no interest. The Hawaiian community has to reach the other brothers and sisters in their community. There must be a total head count. There must be an "operation Hawaiian reachout" by unity rallies, fund raisers for the cause, entertainment functions at Aloha Stadium, Blaisdell Center, petitions, University of Hawai'i symposiums. There must be a total reach out to the community to inform, educate and enlighten everyone. Invade the corporate world to present and re-present the Hawaiian perspective. It is said that Tahiti, in its quest for sovereignty has 60 percent of its population that are Tahitian while Hawai'i has 20 percent of its voting population who are part-Hawaiian. This shows the importance of getting everyone to register to vote. Then there is the challenge of getting the full support of the non-Hawaiian population through forums, meetings, entertainment, fund-raisers, petitions etc. For the nay-

sayers against sovereignty they have to be educated to the H a w a i i a n point of view, the Hawaiian perspective. They have to put themselves in the heart, mind, and soul of the Hawaiian people. M i e h a e 1 Augusta Honolulu, HI