Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 3, 1 March 2000 — Identity [ARTICLE]

Identity

There's so mueh emphasis on "Hawaiian, Native Hawaiian, aboriginal Hawaiian and kanaka maoli." Who are these writers trying to identify? The federaFstate/county governments decided some of us "descendants" of the original inhabitants of Hawai'i are 50 percent or more blood quantum and the rest less. The letter-writers of this generation seem conditioned to refer to ourselves in like manner. I hope some want to be identified correctly. Give us back our Hawaiian identity. No confusion. Hawaiians were Hawaiians before anybody else eame to Hawai'i. When the ali'i established a Hawaiian government, Hawaiians were still Hawaiians but everybody else became citizens. What would happen if all the descen- ■, dants of the original Hawaiians wanted to be identified as Hawaiians? I think the federaFstate/county govemments would need to identify anybody else as something else. The census would need to reflect the change. 'Ohana would be equally Hawaiian again. Funding and all trademark references would finally go to Hawaiian education, health, land, etc. There would be no more confusion who is and what is Hawaiian. How do we get the ball rolling before the reconciliation panel eonvenes again? Jojo Tanimoto Kawaihae