Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 6, 1 June 2006 — Hawaiian nationals [ARTICLE]

Hawaiian nationals

Is there someone out there who ean help me understand why OHA is continuously pushing for Native Hawaiian federal recognition? Wouldn't it be easier for them to stop fighting the U.S. Constitution and to start pushing for the recognition of descendants of Hawaiian nationals? Trustee Mossman wrote that "immigrants settle in the land of our ancestors." Hawai'i is more than the "land of our ancestors." The blood of our "ancestors" was spilt and a nation was built. The citizens of the Hawaiian kingdom were predominantly Kanaka Maoli anyway. Everyone already knows that the United States conceded that the overthrow was illegal. Wouldn't this give us legal standing to fight for what is lawfully ours instead

of begging for "entitlements"? By doing this, wouldn't we create a less divisive means of attaining true political recognition? Does anyone have answers to these questions? OominieAeain Kekaha, Kaua'i