Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 9, 1 September 2005 — Calls for unity follow Kamehameha ruling [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Calls for unity follow Kamehameha ruling

By Derek Ferrar and Sterling Kini Wong At a time when the debate over federal recognition has divided some elements of the Hawaiian community, calls for unity and a passionate show of force followed the Aug. 2 federal appeals courtruling against Kamehameha Schools' Hawaiianpreference admissions policy. On Aug. 6, nearly 20,000 Native Hawaiians and their supporters took to

the streets throughout the islands in a display of support for the school's admissions policy, whieh was struck down four days earlier by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals as a violation of federal civil rights law. Throngs of people marched on five islands, and rallies were also held at several locations on the U.S. continent, including a march on Aug. 20 at the 9th Circuit Court's headquarters in San Francisco. On O'ahu, an estimated 15,000 people attended a rally at 'Iolani Palaee, then marched nearly two miles to the

Mauna'ala Royal Mausoleum, where the school's founder, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, is buried along with other Hawaiian ali'i. Nainoa Thompson, the renowned Hōkūle 'a eanoe navigator and one of the school's trustees, captured the emotion of the crowd by calling for Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians to unite in this "time of crisis." "When we feel we are at risk, we must put aside our differences to hold on for what is best for the whole," he said. "We have got to eome together." Miehael Chun, president of the school's

Kapālama campus, said that according to the court's ruling, Kamehameha Schools' admissions policy "trammeled" the rights of others. "Yet onee again," he said, "it is us, Hawaiians, who are being trampled." Hawaiian Electric Co. Vice President for Communications Robbie Alm, who spoke as a non-Hawaiian in support of the school's policy, said it's disturbing that civil rights laws that were meant to lift AMean Americans out of slavery are being used as "a weapon against native See KAMEHAMEHA on page 9

Kamehameha

Continued from page 1 people." He added that he never wanted to attend Kamehameha Schools as a youngster growing up in Hawai'i because he knew that the school was a gift for Hawaiians from their princess. "As a child I learned from my parents that we all get gifts in our lives, but we don't all get the same gifts," he said. "We should treasure the gifts we get, not covet the gifts of others." Differences persist Even amid the calls for unity, disagreement persisted on the best way to protect Hawaiian programs and assets from further legal attacks, such as the Amkaki v. Lingle lawsuit, whieh seeks to abolish the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and other government programs designed specifically to benefit Hawaiians. That suit is currently awaiting a ruling from the same appeals court that ruled on the Kamehameha case. Supporters of the Akaka Bill legislation to extend federal polilieal recognition to Native Hawaiians emphasized their position that the bill is the best way to prevent legal attacks on Hawaiian programs. Meanwhile, opponents of the bill said the ruling only demonstrates that the American political and legal systems cannot be relied upon to offer justice to Hawaiians. Amid the anger and grief that followed the ruling, however, many expressed hope that perhaps it would serve as a catalyst to bring Hawaiians together. "To be perfectly honest, I think this will be the wakeup eall that Native Hawaiians need," said UH graduate student Trisha Kēhaulani Watson. "Unless we all make a statement onee and for all that we are a nation of people who stand together, the colonizers will eonlinue to steal from us until there is nothing left. So I don't see this as the day that we lost the 9th Circuit decision; I really hope that in five years we will look back and say that this is the day that Hawaiians said we've had enough." U