Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 9, 1 September 2003 — Arakaki hearing sparks march [ARTICLE]

Arakaki hearing sparks march

By Sterling Kini Wong On Monday Sept. 8, District Judge Susan Oki Mollway will hear pretrial motions in the Arakaki v. Lingle suit, whieh threatens to dissolve OHA and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands as being unconstitutionally "race-based." To express support for Hawaiian rights and trusts in the face of such legal threats, a coalition of Hawaiian organizations has scheduled a Waikīkī march and rally for the day before the hearing. The march is scheduled to begin Sun., Sept. 7, at 8:30 a.m. at Kalākaua Ave. and Saratoga, ending at Kapi'olani Park to coincide with OHA's "Ho'oulu Lāhui Aloha no nā Keiki" family day. Kumu Hula Victoria Holt-Takamine, president of the march's primary sponsor, the 'īlio'ulaokalani Coalition, said it will be "a gathering to express our commitment to the protection of Hawaiian rights, the preservation of the ali'i trusts, and of all of the services, agencies and programs that contribute to the well-being of Native Hawaiians." She said the march kicks off a wide range of activities slated to continue around ongoing cases to be heard in federal court on issues of significant impact to the Hawaiian community, including the Kamehameha Schools' admissions policy. At the hearing the next day, Mollway will hear separate pretrial motions from OHA and the State Council for Hawaiian Homesteaders Association (SCHHA) that ask the judge to dismiss outright or partially rule on the Arakaki suit. OHA's motion asks the court for partial summary judgment, asserting that Congress and the state continuously recognize the claims of Native Hawaiians, as exemplified through numerous federal programs enacted by Congress that benefit Native Hawaiians, as well as in the state's annual appropriations from general funds to OHA. The motion argues that "these claims form part of the ongoing reconciliation and settlement process" between Congress, the state and Native Hawaiians. Meanwhile, SCHHA contends in its separate motion to dismiss the case that the plaintiffs' challenge to DHHL is a "nonjusticiable political question," whieh only Congress has the authority to decide. SCHHA's motion cites the 1921 Hawaiian Home Lands Act that set aside 200,000 acres for Native Hawaiians and the 1959 Admissions Act that directed the state to use a portion of its revenue from puhlie lands for the betterment of Hawaiians. The hearing on these motions was originally set for June 16, but was rescheduled by Mollway after the sudden death of plaintiffs' attorney Patrick Hanifin on June 14. ■