Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 1, 1 January 2008 — George Will's eolumn misstates the past and the present [ARTICLE]

George Will's eolumn misstates the past and the present

By U.S. Sen. ūaniel Akaka and U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrambie The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, or Akaka Bill, has been wildly mischaracterized and misinterpreted since its passage by the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 24, nowhere more so, than in George Will's recent eolumn, entitled "Social Engineers In Paradise." Mr. Will began by drawing an astonishing and rather grotesque parallel between the definition of a Native Hawaiian and Nazi Germany's selection of people to load on boxcars bound for gas chambers. On a slightly more rational yet equally absurd note, he claimed that, under the hill, "Native Hawaiians would be members of a new 'tribe' conjured into existence by Congress."

As the House and Senate sponsors of the legislation, we ean assure you that our hill conjures into existence no new "tribes." Rather, it acknowledges the historic fact that Native Hawaiians were on their land centuries before anyone from the United States ever eame ashore. It acknowledges the fact that the Kingdom of Hawai'i was recognized as a sovereign nation by the United States more than 175 years ago and accorded full diplomatic relations in treaties and conventions in 1826, 1842, 1849, 1875 and 1887, all ratified by Congress. And, it allows the federal govermnent to recognize Native Hawaiians as an indigenous people of the United States, very mueh like Native Americans or Alaska Natives. In 1893, American business interests — backed by U.S.

troops from an American naval ship — illegally overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy, in what President Grover Cleveland later called "an act of war." Twentyeight years later, Congress passed the Hawaiian Homes Coimnission Act, setting aside more than 200,000 acres for homesteads and fanns for Native Hawaiian families. In addition, 1.8 million acres were ceded from the former Hawaiian royal family. It was no accident, but by deliberate action that the United States and people of Hawai'i expressly recognized and preserved the rights of its indigenous people in the 1959 Hawai'i Admissions Act. By law, a portion of the revenues from the lands, administered by the State of Hawai'i, is intended for the bettennent of the Native Hawaiian people.

The Akaka Bill enables the Native Hawaiian people to decide on the organization of an entity to represent them in government-to-government relations with the U.S. And, the State of Hawai'i will be able to transfer responsibility for the administration of cultural resources to a Native Hawaiian government recognized by the United States. If, as Mr. Will states, this somehow conveys special privileges or iimnunities to its citizens, they are certainly not apparent. The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act does not create a program or entitlement. It doesn't require an appropriation. It isn't based on racial groups or set-asides or preferences. It doesn't turn over assets of the U.S. government, nor give anyone title to anything they don't already

own. It is unfortunate that some who oppose the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act misstate its meaning and effect. The Akaka Bill doesn't divide Americans. Today's Native Hawaiians are proud citizens of the United States. They work hard. They raise families. They pay taxes. And, they have been front and center in the ranks of our military for decades. The Akaka Bill has been supported repeatedly by Hawai'i's state Legislature, and has been endorsed by our Republican Gov. Linda Lingle. It passed in the House by a 108-vote margin, 39 of them Republican. Until recently, the measure was never partisan in the House of Representatives. We hope it will not be partisan in the U.S. Senate. It has never been partisan in Hawai'i. □

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