Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 8, 1 August 2004 — S.344 unacceptable [ARTICLE]

S.344 unacceptable

I am 15 years old and recently did a report on our beloved Queen Liliu 'okalani, and during my research I found that the Akaka Bill is totally unacceptable and a truly dishonorable way of representing Kānaka Maoli and our kūpuna that suffered through the past 100-plus years. I protest against this bill as a Kanaka Maoli. To think that all of the 20,000 signatures of Hawaiian people to protest the annexation was ignored. I have found my grandfather five generations back on the first page of that signature list that took me to tears. How is it that we ean have so mueh hardship and suffering that the American government brought on to Hawai'i, and the people accept just a bill of recognition? If not for my project, I wouldn't have known what my tūtū and all my

kūpuna endured. It's sad and heartaching, but not forgotten. I hope everyone speaks and in the same sense is heard, because I am fortunate to learn what I know at such a young age. I say, "I mua Kānaka Maoli." Beka Kahawai Kailua Kona, Hawai'i