Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 4, 1 April 1997 — Excepts of Rep. Dennis Arakaki's floor speech [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Excepts of Rep. Dennis Arakaki's floor speech

...I need only to reference our state motto as a foundation for my opposition to this bill ... "Ua mau ke ea o ka 'āina i ka pono..." It reminds us that "the hfe of the land is preserved in pono," in righteousness. Hilina'i in 'ōlelo Hawai'i means "trust". Ho'ohanohanao in 'ōlelo Hawai'i is the word for honor. We are about to hemo (break) the trust and honor.... In the name of fiscal prudence and policy, we seek to redefine our trust obligations to the kānaka maoli. Mr. Speaker, I am not of kānaka koko (of Hawaiian blood). But it is not a matter of being Hawaiian, being pro-Hawaiian, or "anti-Hawaiian." It is a matter of doing what is pono, doing what our conscience tells us is right. ...Our word is our honor, and it is all that we bring with us and it is all that we take with us. Our \dsion of a sovereign entity of the kanaka maoli, or native Hawaiians, must be fostered through a commitment of resources, a consistent stream of revenue that will allow for independence. I have no doubts that the sovereign nation of Hawai'i shall someday rise like a phoenix from the ashes of a hundred-plus years of guilt and acrimony. This resurrection shall be made possible by the restoration of a land base, the rejuvenation of cultural

pride and the rebirth of 'ōlelo Hawai'i, the native Hawaiian tongue. ...If the Hawaiian nation is to be empowered to improve the shameful social and eeonomie conditions of her native people, they must be able to build the trust corpus to do so. Allowing the native people to care for theirs, this then frees large sums of general revenues for the rest of Hawai'i's people. ...There was certainly an expressed desire and intent by the Legislature, to better the conditions of the native Hawaiian, including, but not limited to, their housing, culture, health and wellbeing. ...Justice, not the state's fiscal crisis, must be the bottom line. I urge this Legislature, the Administration, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the beneficiaries of the trust, to submit to a process of ho'oponopono, to bring to the table an agreement that all parties ean accept. Mahalo nui loa, Mr. Speaker, is premature.

Rep. Arakaki