Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 10, 1 October 2002 — Linda Lingle (R) [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Linda Lingle (R)

enHng as f/Ioloka'i's representative on the VIaui Council then ending up as the kw/ mayor of Vlaui gave me a very unique opportunity to articulate to a wider audience who may never have thought of these issues before. "I am the only mayor ever to create a county task force on Hawaiian homestead issues. I was the first to propose and to get passed an exemption from real property taxes for Hawaiian homestead lands. "The state has responsibility to its native people inrelationto rights and entitlements with regard to ceded lands and Hawaiian Home Lands. So far ceded lands ha\fe been presented as an issue for Native Hawaiians, but they are not. They are an issue for all the people of Hawai'i because all the people of Hawai'i have an interest in those ceded lands. We need an accurate inventory completed immediately. Then we need a fair settlement that achieves justice, rather than who won and who lost. "I will create jobs, improve schools, restore integrity in government, and fulfill the mandate and promise of the Hawaii Hom.es Commission Act to get Hawaiians on their land. I will also encourage the legislature to provide an appropriate amount to OH A for ceded lands and encourage the Bush Administrationto support federal recognition ofnative Hawaiians. "I am a strong advocate of federal recognition of the Native Hawaiian people and would approach it in a two~prong way: one would be on the legisla~ tive side, the other on the adminis trative side, on See LINGLE on page 16

LINGLE from page 1 the federal level. Everything depends on it. Without it, the Dept. of Hawaiian Home Lands is at risk. OHA is at risk. The tax exemption at Kamehameha is at risk. Now our current delegation in Washington, D.C., I'm sure they have tried their best. But their efforts have simply not been good enough. f/Iost of us are aware that it is Republican opposition that is holding federal recognition up at ihe nahonal level. The pemon best able to have an impact on those people who are voting this up, to explain to them why this is so important, to make ihe distinction between a political relationship versus race~based, ean eome from me better ihan anyone else in the state of Hawaici. f/Iy contacts at the nahonal level will be important to our state and ihe balance will be important going forvvard. The biggest challenge facing Native Hawaiians is enlisting ihe wider eommunity to achieve ihe kind of justice on these issues. Federal recognition is ihe right thing for America to do. We can't rewrite history. But we ean try to make it right today, ihe best we ean. But ihe

challenge is to eomhnee otheis that these things are just and fair and right. As governor, I will: ♦ Personally lobby ihe Bush Administration and the Republican leadership in Congress on behalf of Hawaiian rights. ♦ Support federal and state funding for recognized initiatives leading to ihe implementation of Native Hawaiian self~detarmination by popular vote of ihe Native Hawaiian people. ♦ Preserve and increase ihe use of ihe Hawaiian language, culture and music as central, unifying elements of our way of life. ♦ Support continued state and feder~ al funding for Native Hawaiian heallh care programs. ♦ Achiev e within five yeais both ihe state and federal government's legal obligation to distribute homestead lands to all individuals holding a legal right to such a homestead. ♦ Reinstate ihe Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Individual Claims Review Panel to resolve ihe claims that were filed by Native Hawaiians for the mis~ management of ihe Dept. of Hawaiian Home Lands. ■