Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 6, 1 June 2003 — Senate Indian Affairs Committee passes amended Hawaiian Recognition Bill [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Senate Indian Affairs Committee passes amended Hawaiian Recognition Bill

Changes lay out recognition process, voter eligibility By Derek Ferrar On May 14, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs passed the latest version of the federal Native Hawaiian Recognition Act, following a several-month "mark-up period" during whieh committee members made amendments to the bill based on puhlie input as well as concerns raised by the Justice and Interior departments. "The amendments make the bill a better bill by providing additional clarity and guidance regarding the process that will be utilized to reorganize the Native Hawaiian governing entity for the purpose of a government-to-government relationship with the United States," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, sponsor of the bill. The measure now known as the "Akaka-Reid-Stevens Bill" (after the recent addition of influential senators Harry Reid and Ted Stevens as co-sponsors) now proceeds to the senate clerk for eventual consideration by the full body. As passed by the Committee, the bill — designated this year as S.344 — now includes a procedural framework for forming a Hawaiian governing entity empowered to represent the Hawaiian people in negotiations with the federal government, similar to the status enjoyed by Native American tribes and Native Alaskan groups. Under the process now laid out in the bill: • First, the U.S. Interior Department would create a United States Office for Native Hawaiian Relations, whieh would represent

the federal government in Hawaiian matters. • Under the supervision of this office, a list would be assembled of all eligible Hawaiian adults who wish to participate in the nationbuilding process. This list would then serve as the voter roll for referendum questions and the election of representatives to the eventual Hawaiian governing body. Based on the membership guidelines commonly used by the Interior Department in officially recogniz-

ing Native American tribes, Hawaiians who wanted to vote on such matters would have to meet one of two criteria, whieh, eombined, would essentially include all people of Hawaiian blood. To be eligible for the roll, applicants would need to establish that they

are either a lineal descendant of someone who was eligible to receive benefits under the Hawaiian Homes Act when it was first established in 1921, or could show that they are the direct descendant of an indigenous resident of the Kingdom of Hawai'i at the time of the overthrow in 1893. • Eligible voters on the roll would then elect a Native Hawaiian Interim Governing Council, whieh would conduct a referendum on the shape of the Hawaiian governing body and then draft its guiding documents. After further votes to ratify those documents and elect representatives to the final governing entity, that body would be officially certified and recognized by the Interior Dept. as the legitimate representative of the Hawaiian people. This process is similar to, but less restrictive than the process that was laid out in the original Akaka Bill and later removed after members of public testified against it. According to OHA Director of Nationhood and Native Rights Peter Yee, however, Committee members felt that a procedural roadmap had to be reinserted into the bill after Interior Secretary Gale Norton raised concerns about a laek of clear guidelines for her department to recognize a Hawaiian entity. "Basically," said Yee, "the eommittee members wanted to make the bill as 'bulletproof'as they could. They didn't want to see specific language or contextual issues become a lightning rod for criticism that could kill the measure." In late May, OHA's Board of Trustees voted to re-affirm their support for the intent of the bill, including the latest amendments. Along with the Board, said

Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona, "Everyone who has been working on this process — from our Congressional delegation to the governor — continues to support the enactment of federal legislation as the best way to help protect Hawaiian rights in the face of current legal challenges." Apoliona noted, however, that the amended bilFs inclusion of procedural steps for forming a Hawaiian government would likely mean that changes will have to be made in OHA'srecently announced plan to facilitate a nation-building process, Ho'oulu Lāhui Aloha (To Raise a Beloved Nation). OHA'sadministration is currently studying how the nationhood initiative will have to be adjusted in light of the Recognition BilFs new provisions, she said, but the initial focus will remain on organizing public discussion forums to encourage Hawaiians to get involved. "The bottom line in all this process is that we need to have a recognized Hawaiian governing entity to negotiate on behalf of all Hawaiians," Apoliona said. "And getting there means that all Hawaiians need to get politically involved." For a detaiJed look at amendments to the recognition bi\I, visit nativehawaiians. eom. ■

// The bottom line in all this process is that we need to have a recognized Hawaiian governing entity to negotiate on behalfof all Hawaiians. And getting there means that all Hawaiians need to get pol itica I ly in vo I ved. " — Haunani Apoliona OHAChairperson

jfi Recognition FOR N A T I V E H A W A I I A N S

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