Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 8, 1 August 2006 — The Hawaiian's phantom menace [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Hawaiian's phantom menace

£ A no'ai ke aloha iā kākou. In /_\ early June, trustees traveled to Ā. A.Washington, D.C., to witness the long awaited vote on the Akaka Bill in the U.S. Senate. What should have been a historie event quickly turned into a frustrating experience. Listening to senators from the South speak against the bill, calhng it "racist legislation," made me want to jump out of the gallery and scream, "HYPOCRITES !" Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) shockingly said that granting federal recognition for Native Hawaiians could lead to Mormons, the Amish and Hasidic Jews seeking their own federal recognition! It was clear that his goal was to lump Hawaiians together with other minorities so he could argue that we all need to be treated equally. It is an undisputed fact that Hawaiians are indigenous people, similar to Native Americans and Native Alaskans, both of whom are already recognized. Sen. Alexander is clearly discriminating against Hawaiians. Who's the real racist? When the vote was taken, we were four votes shy. Two Democrats were out sick, and thanks to arm-twisting by Senate Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), at least three Repubhcans switched their vote at the last minute. Sen. Frist told them that their leadership positions would be in jeopardy if they supported the Akaka Bill, and they choose to protect their poliheal careers rather than keep their promises to Sens. Akaka and Inouye. At the end of that sad day, two things were clear. First, racism and ignorance is ahve and wellin the U.S. Senate. Second, partisan pohtics have ruined Congress. The trustees later learned that the Repubhcans were bitter with the Democrats for voting against their estate tax bill the day before. Kilhng the Akaka Bill was just payback. I left Washington with a feeling of disgust and disdain for our socalled leaders of America. With so many important issues that need to be dealt, these career politicians proved they are preoccupied with keeping the status quo and furthering their pohheal careers. They use inflammatory issues hke gay rights, flag burning and immigration to detract us from the real issues of importance, hke New Orleans,

North Korea, Iran and Iraq. Is it any wonder why Americans are losing respect for their leaders and can't beheve a word they say? As bad as the southern senators were, it was sickening to see former OHA Trustee Clarence Ching sitting with Wilham Burgess, the lawyer who has consistently sued OHA, the state and the Department of Hawahan Home Lands. Burgess has lobbied Congress to kill the Akaka Bill and has called Hawaiians who favor federal recognition "racists." And let's not forget about State Senator Sam Slom, the only member of the state Legislature in 2005 to vote "no" on the state resolution (HCR 56, SD1) supporting the Akaka Bill. He was also there with Burgess. It is just bizarre that a Repubhcan state senator would so vigorously oppose a bill that the Repubhcan governor so strongly supports. Not to menhon the fact that all of Hawai'i's other elected officials including the mayors from all counties and the state Legislature also supported federal recognition in a non-partisan effort. It is egregious that one elected official felt his opinion was more important than all of the state's other elected officials. Since when does a single opinion become more important than the will of the people? Where and when did this opposition to Hawahan sovereignty begin? Some mmors have been circulating that it was started years ago by a prominent kama'āina who called a meeting of other hke-minded people to his home to discuss how they could band together and prevent the Bishop Estate, DHHL and OHA from becoming too powerful. After all, with control over vast tracts of land and revenues from ceded lands, Hawaiians could one day dominate the state, and this is a frightening thought for some. While I have no evidence that this long-standing rumor is true, I have been tlhnking very seriously about it lately. After the fall of the former Bishop Estate trustees, all of their cases were later thrown out of court, but it was too late to save most of their reputations. Now we find ourselves embroiled in more lawsuits to take out OHA and Hawaiian Homes. So, could the rumor be true? I think the question to ask is who is paying for all of the lawsuits that Mr. Burgess has filed? Perhaps then we may have the clues to who is behind the movement to ensure Hawahans never regain sovereignty and that all Hawaiian entitlements are erased. I mua e Hawai'i nei... For more information on important Hawahan issues, eheek out my website at www.rowenaakana.org. ^

Rūwena Akana TrustEE, At-lsrgE