Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 1, 1 January 1996 — Hui Kālāiʻaina -- a Hawaiian initiative [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hui Kālāiʻaina -- a Hawaiian initiative

Hawaiian Political Sociētē reconvenes »

In troubled times of the Hawaiian Kingdom, forces joined to protect the rights of Hawaiians. Thus, hānau 'ia 'o Hui Kālāi'aina. They stood behind Queen Lili'uokalani. Their objective - to assure that Hawaiians remained the dominant ELEMENT IN THE GOVERNMENT of hawal'l. ThEIR MEANS - THE POLITICAL PROCESS. now Hui kālāl'AINA IS RECONVENED.

Hui Kālāi'aina Hawaiian Political Sociētē

Presented here is the vision and platform of hui kālāi'aina. please read it carefully, then please share your mana'o with the individuals who have affixed their signatures to this declaration.

Kahua Hana - The Hui Kalai'aina Platform Hui Kālāi'aina is assembled again to advocate that Hawaiians exercise their inalienable right of self-governance within the archipelago of these Hawailan Islands. Hui Kālāi'aina declares its purpose to rechart the course and destiny of Hawaiians through a Hawaiian political process. The illegal overthrow of the inoependent and sovereign Hawaiian Kingdom was designed to destroy the political, economic AND CULTURAL FOUNDATION OF HAWAIIAN SOCIETY. FOR FIVE GENERATIONS, THIS ILLEGAL ACT HAS PERPETUATED A CALCULATED AND DELIBERATE DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF HAWAIIANS AS EOUAL AND INFLUENTIAL PARTNERS IN THE AFFAIRS OF THESE ISLANDS. Hui Kālāi'aina seeks to revitalize the political status and influence of Hawah ians with the intent of restoring self-governance and self-determination over institutions and resources vested in the Hāwaiian people. dlrection and control over these institutions and resources are vital to the restoration of a sovereign Hawaiian government.

Hui Kālāi'aina advocates the right and responsibility of Hawaiians to claim their place in elective politics and governance of their affairs. Hui KāLĀI'AINA WILL strive to keep Hawaiian instttutions and rrs leaders accountable to the Hawaiian electorate. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) Board of Trustees currently is the only elective body of hawaiian representatives. Hul KAlAi'AINA supports the elect10n of OHA candidates who advocate Kahua hana keia (platform). Hui Kālāi'aina's vision focuses on the needs of our 'aina, our communities and institutions. Hawaiian lands and resources must be fully utiuzed to ensure that the ASPIRAnONS, GROWTH AND SUSTENANCE OF HAWAIIANS CAN be ACHIEVED; FURTHER THAT THE 'aina also must be protected and nurtured in perpetuity; and that the H awaiian people, INSTITUnONS AND CULTURAL VALUES ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PROCESS, RESOLVE, FOUNDAnON AND RESTORATION OF a SOVEREIGN HaWAIIAN GOVERNMENT. Hui Kālāi'aina believes that it is the responsibility of the Hawaiian people to serve as caretakers of the land and the life and spirit of these Hawaiian |slands. As caretakers, Hui KāLĀi'aINA WILL STRIVE TO PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT, TO GUARANTEE THE exercise of Hawaiian cultural and spiritual practices and to protect and sustain the unioue character of Hawaiian lands in perpetuity. Hui Kālāi'aina seeks to make pono the wrongful and illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom through the restoration of a sovereign Hawaiian government. We acknowledge and are ever mindful of our 'ohana, friends, neighbors, fellow workers, ASSOCIATES AND SUPPORTERS WHO DO NOT HAVE THE KOKO. LlKE THOSE WHO IMMIGRATED AND BECAME CITIZENS OF THE HAWAIIAN KlNGDOM THEY ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE FABRIC AND FUTURE OF THESE ISLANDS.

Protection of T rust Lands Hui Kālāi'aina supports all efforts to protect trust lands from further government incursions and theft. ThE HAWAl'l LaND RēFORM AcT IS DIVISIVE AND INTRUSIVE AND THREATENS THE LONG TERM INTEREST OF HAWAIIANS BY LEGITIMIZING THE CONTINUED THEFT of Hawaiian lands. It has polarized the interests of Hawaiians and the non-Hawaiian COMMUNITY. As FEDERAL IMMIGRATION POLICIES EXPAND NON-HaWAIIAN RESIDENTS PUSH THE POPULATION TO HIGHER LEVELS. THIS WILL RESULT IN NEW AND GREATER PRESSURES TO BROADEN THE APPLICATION OF THE ACT TO INCLUDE OTHER TRUST LANDS, AS WELL AS OTHER HAWAIIAN LANDS. Hui Kālāi'aina WILL maintain ITS VIGIL TO keep the Act in check. Hui Kālāi'aina will encourage and support Hawaiian institutions to develop their lands for settlement by Hawaiians (as broadly Dēfined), utilizing the bonding and regulatory authorities of OHA and DHHL in joint venture with other Hawaiian institutions to develop planneū Hawaiian communities where trust lands are available and Hawaiian populations are desirable. This would consolidate Hawaiian support for the protection of trust lands and sharpen the political voice of Hawaiians within nā moku o HāWAI'I. Hui Kālāi'aina supports the return of sacred trust lands under the control of the National Park Service and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, including Hawaii Volcanoes nanonal Park, Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau Naīional Historic Park and Mauna 'Ala, the Royal Mausoleum.

Hawaiian Culture The resurgence, preservation and practice of Hawaiian unguage and euLTURE IS CRUCIAL TO THE IDENTITY of HaWAIIANS AS THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE of HAWAl'l AND IS ViTAL TO THE RESTORAnON of HAWAIIAN SOVEREIGNTY. HaWAIIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE NEARLY WERE EXnNGUISHED IN THE AFTERMATKi OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE HaWAIIAN Kingdom, when the illegal government set out to eradicate the Hawaiian language and the oral traditions exemplified in hula and other forms of indigenous expression. In the years that followed the overthrow, the only cultural practices that visibly survived were those that were needed to support a visitorBASED INDUSTRY. HAWAIIAN CULTURE IS IMPORTANT TO THE TOURIST INDUSTRY, BUT ITS VITALITY IS NOT FOUND IN THE LOBBY OF a RESORT HOTEL. ThE LIFE FORCE OF HAWAIIAN CULTURE HAS ITS ROOTS IN THE OLI OF ORAL TRADITIONS, SAFELY STORED IN THE MEMORIES OF OUR KŪPUNA AND NATIVE PRACTITIONERS; CARRIERS OF CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE, VALUES AND RESPONSIBILinES.

Hui Kālāi'aina finds that as our culture has grown and become revitalized, many have identified and assumed the responsibilities and obligations to our kūpuna that were previously neglected. Hui Kālāi'aina recognizes the need to draw, from our traditions, those eoNcepts or practices that can be adapted to meet the challenges of today. WĒ recognize the need to reestablish an infrastructure through which hawaiians can begin to make pono their obligations to past and future generations. t herefore, the estabushment of special places of cultural refuge and renewal is one of the highest priority. |n this regard, hui Kālāi'aina believes that a network of pu'uohonua must be reestablished - special places where hawaiian is spoken, knowledge is shared, artifacts protected, nā iwi kūpuna cared for, deceased honored, ho'ohanau celebrated and where hawai1ans may kūkākūkā. Wē believe pū'uhonua will serve as a dynamic and perpetual life source of hawaiian culture, pono, ha'aha'a, laulima, lokomaka'l and aloha. TRADinONAL Hawaiian values have continued to survive in spite of the unreLENTING PRESSURES RESULTING FROM HO'OHAOLE 'lA OF OUR LANDS. ThESE VALUES HAVE BEEN HANDED OVER THROUGH THE GENERATIONS; FROM KŪPUNA AND MĀKUA TO KAMALl'i; FROM KAHIKO TO THE MODERN. Hui Kālāi'aina will respect and give all consideration to the Hawaiian eul" TURAL VALUES THAT HAVE BEEN SHARED BY OUR KŪPUNA. ALL OTHERS ARE ASKED TO DO LIKEWISE.

The Economv Thē ABSENCE 0F HAWAIIANS FROM MEANINGFUL ROLES IN HAWAl'l'S EeONOMie ARENA TODAY IS THE RESULT OF THE LOSS OF POLITICAL STATUS THAT ACCURRED AFTER THE OVERTHROW OF THE SOVEREIGN HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT. T HIS IS UNDERSTANDABLE IN THAT THE CURRENT SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE LIMITS HAWAIIAN'S CONTROL OVER THEIR ECONOMIC DEStiny. Hawai'i's economy now is driven by tourism and U.S. military objectives. It is structured to benefit others. U.S. federal military appropriations serve as a CONTINUING SYMBOL OF U.S. OWNERSHIP OF HAWAIIAN LANDS, WHILE TOURISM PROFITS FLOW TO U.S. AND FOREIGN CORPORATIONS, LEAVING HAWAl'l'S ECONOMY VULNERABLE AND dependent upon uws and policies set in Washington, D.C. and other foreign states. current opportunities for economic advancement of Hawaiians are remote, at best. Hui Kālāi'aina believes that the EeoNOMie future of Hawaiians is linkeo to the restoration of the sovereign Hawaiian government. Clearly, Hawai'i must CONTINUE TO BE PART OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY, BUT IT MUST PARTICIPATE UNDER CONDITIONS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE TO OUR HERITAGE AND ISLAND ENVIRONMENT. THE STANDARDS AND VALUES OF THE U.S. CONTINENT ARE CLEARLY DETRIMENTAL TO THE LIFE OF OUR 'AINA. Hui KālAi'aina supports the widespread development of all trust lands for settlement, subsistence economies, agriculture, forestry, industrial, commercial and visitor related ventures. our trust lands and the respect we have for our heritage will provide the basis upon which the economy of a sovereign hawaiian government is to be founded. Hui KālAi'aina will provide leadership to Hawaiian institutions, local and international corporations, banks, academicians and legal experts to estabush a blueprint for the economic foundation of a sovereign hawaiian government.

E Ola Mau Ka Ea Hawai'i E Ola Mau Loa O Hawai'i Nei

Hui Kalai'aina reconvenes - continued Education of Hawaiian children As OUR ALl'l RECOGNlZED WHEN FIRST EXPOSED TO THE POWER OF THE WRITTEN WORD, WE ALSO RECOGNIZE EDUCATION AS THE HIGHEST PRIORITY AND THE GREATEST LEGACY WE GIVE OUR kamali'i. The educational legacy of Ke Ali'i Bernice Pauahi Bishop shines brighter each year as «amehameha school graduates acquire an education steeped in cultural pride and academic excellence. Hui Kālāi'aina believes this educational legacy is the standard to which we aspire for all Hawaiian children. It is the standard by which the public school system and the education it provides for the majority of hawaiian children must be measured. Hui Kālāi'aina declares that Hawaiian children are entitled to the best the educational system can provide. Hui Kālāi'aina rnds that, after one hundred years of failure in the public school system, Hawaiian children in case after case have been relegated to the status of under-achievers. The public school system has deliberately and systematically extinguished Hawaiian language and culture, leaving Hawaiian students under-educated, uninspired and unfulfilled. Hawaiians demand a new vision that aspires to serve all Hawaiian children according to the standards set by Ke Ali'i Pauahi's legacy. Hui Kālāi'aina supports a program of ownership, management and operation of pubuc schools within Hawaiian Homestead communities by DHHL, OHA and KSBE. The State of Hawai'i shall fund the schools on a per capita basis with OHA as the principal state administrative agency. DHHL would function as the landlord and KSBE woulo be contracted to manage and operate the schools. Under this program, the schools would become a primary focal point of each Homestead community, where Hawaiian language and culture would assume its rightful place in the classroom, where love of learning based on Hawaiian values would blossom, where school work would be a topic of conversation at home and where Hawaiian children would experience the pride of Ke Ali'i Pauahi's legacy.

Self-Governance As we pursue the restoration of our hawaiian government, we must also look to assuming responsibility and control over our lands, resources and programs that are designated for Hawaiians. Hui Kālāi'aina supports the principle of self-gover-nance and will seek the promulgation of laws and poucies that enable self-gover-nance of Hawaiian resources. The responsibiuty of self-governance is inevitable and MUST BE AN INSTrTUTIONAL OBJECTIVE. Hui Kālāi'aina supports the restructuring of the Department of Hawaiian Home lands (DHHL), to enable an administrative and operational philosophy that is predicated upon self-governance, self-regulat!on and self-help. WĒ support the notion of a pilot project that involves a consortium of hawaiian institutions committed to exploring new approaches to homesteading and settlement of hawaiian lands. This pilot project must explore new relationships and expectations of Lēssees and DHHL. The paternalism of 1 920 is archaic and must give way to new notions of self-regula-"hon and governance involving a network of homestead projects. Hui Kālāi'aina supports the establishment of Hawaiian Homestead Corporations. Thēse not-for-profit munieipal corporations will function as political subdivisions of DHHL with the responsibility of governance, planninō, maintenance, security and assessment of services for homestead projects and programs.

Hawaiian Institutions Hui Kālāi'aina believes that the future and the survival of our Hawaiian institutions are linked to the restoration of a sovereign Hawaiian government. This belief is based on two salient points: flrst, the Fēderal and state governments both have acknowledged the wrongful participation of the U.S. government in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and have declared that Hawaiians possess inalienable rights to self-governance with a legal basis to restore their sovereign nation; SēCOND, the alternative of remaining under our current system of governance will certainly lead TO THE FURTHER EROSION OF THOSE TRUSTS ESTABLISHED by OUR ALl'l. Hui Kālāi'aina believes that Hawaiian institutions must assume a role in the quest TO RESTORE A SOVEREIGN HAWAIIAN NATION. Thē TRUSTS ESTABLISHED BY OUR ALl'l ARE ROOTED IN TRADITIONAL FORMS OF GOVERNANCE. nā ALl'l WERE IMBUED WITH THE MANA ALONG WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY TO MANAGE THE 'AINA FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. TH|S PRINCIPLE OF GOVERNANCE AND ITS LAND TENURE SYSTEM SURVIVED INTERNAL CONFLICTS, CHANGES IN LINEAL LEADERSHIP, THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY, DESTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL ORDER, THE ADOPTION OF A HAWAIIAN CONSTITUTION AND THE OVERTHROW OF OUR SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENT. |N SPITE OF THESE ODDS, THIS PRINCIPLE HAS CONTINUED TO SURVIVE INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. OUR HAWAIIAN INSTITUTIONS HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO DETERMINE THEIR ROLE IN THIS NEW ORDER.

Hui Kālāi'aina supports a strict adherence to the charge and mission of each TRUST, AND WILL ENCOURAGE A DIALOGUE AMONG HAWAIIAN INSTITUTIONS TO IDENTIFY PROSPECTIVE SCENARIOS THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED. DHHL AND OHA ARE HAWAIIAN INSTITUTIONS CREATED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF U.S. GoVERNMENT EFFORTS TO LEGITIMIZE ITS DIRECT ROLE IN THE OVERTHROW OF THE LAWFUL HAWAIIAN KlNGDOM AND THE SUBJUGATION OF THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE. Hui Kālāi'aina believes that DHHL and OHA must play a major role in the restoration of the hawaiian Nation by utilizing their existing government powers and authorities to prepare the hawaiian people for the restoration of a sovereign Hawaiian government; a government that will promote universal democratic principles and be accountable to Hawaiians. Hawaiian sovereigntv to make pono the illegal acts against our sovereign hawaiian government, hui Kālāi'aina supports the restoration and reconvening of our Hawaiian government. To be pono, we must restore the government that has been in recess since 1 893. this OBJECTIVE REQUIRES THE CONSENSUS of HaWAIIANS, THE SUPPORT of THE STATE of HAWAl'l and the United States government. There are no short cuts. To succeed, it begins with the 'ohana, our communities and our institutions. these are the foundation blocks that must BE IN place as we seek the support of others. Hui Kālāi'aina will seek meaningful dialogue within our communities and amongst our institutions with the aim 0f achieving a common strategy, including roles, expectations and objectives. Hui Kālāi'aina supports the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council's proposed plebiscite AND ELECTION OF DELEGATES TO PROPOSE A NATIVE HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT. WĒ WILL SUPPORT ALL FORUMS AND MEASURES THAT SEEK POLITICAL AND LEGAL STRATEGIES TO RESTORE OUR HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT.

Loeal. state and national politics Hui Kālāi'aina is mindful of the impact that political decisions have on our ability to rechartthe course and future of Hawai'i. WĒ understand ānd appreciate the need to gain the support of political leaders in all political parties, whose decisions have a direct bearing on Hawaiian institutions and issues that relate to the restoration of a sovereign hawaiian government. As A NONPARTISAN INITIATIVE, Hui KāLĀIĀINA WILL BE VIGILANT OF ACTIONS TAKEN AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, AND WILL SEEK TO SUPPORT THOSE POLITICAL LEADERS WHO ARE SENSITIVE TO THE ASPIRATIONS AND OBJECTIVES EXPRESSED HEREIN.