Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 1, 1 January 2009 — YOUTH UPRISING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

YOUTH

UPRISING

By Lisa Asato Public information Specialist

JOCELYH POAHE vividly renenbers attending the 1993 rally at 'lolani Palaee marking the I00th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian government. She was 19 at the tine, "an age; she said, "where I actually had the conprehension skills to think about what was happening and the reason all these people were there and the reason all these people were angry." "For me, that was the beginning of where I am now, and nowhere near the end of my journey," said the 29-year-old Doane, who today finds herself at the center of a group of young Native Hawaiians leading a community fight to protect ceded lands. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case Feb. 25 after the state appealed a unanimous ruling by the Hawai'i Supreme Court that barred the state from selling or transferring ceded lands until Native

Hawaiian claims to those lands are resolved. For Doane and the other three core members of the Kupu'āina Coalition - Derek Kauanoe, Davis Price and Kaupea Wong - the leadership role in activism is new territory, but Doane and Kauanoe said the issue is so emeial they couldn't sit back and do nothing. All four are students or recent graduates of the University of Hawai'i William S. Richardson School of Law, where Kauanoe attributes their emergence to the number of Native Hawaiians entering the law school combined with the knowledge they glean there. "We leam things like constitutional law, state and loeal govermnent law and we have legal concems such as this that affect the conununity," said Kauanoe, who is 33. "We tend to talk about it - a lot of times it's just talking - trying to understand the issues and argmnents. But when we considered the case and Gov. (Linda) Lingle's past support of the Native Hawaiian connnunity, we thought trying to urge her to withdraw the case was a reasonable, simple thing. We thought that was the least that we could do." With some guidance from a previous generation of Native Hawaiian leaders who eame of age dming the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s and eonhnue their activism today, like Kaho'onei Panoke and Vicky Holt Takamine of 'īlio'ulaokalani Coalition, the group organized a rally at the state Capitol that - through a media campaign in radio and print, news coverage and a then-small but now growing online presence, attracted an estimated 400 to 500 people on a Monday moming to urge Lingle to withdraw her appeal of a ceded lands

case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Panoke said he sees the law school students emerging as "the new leaders of tomorrow," along with students of the university's Hawaiian Studies Department - a new generation of educated, well-informed talent who are "learning the true history of Hawai'i." Panoke's 'īlio'ulaokalani Coalition is organizing a march and rally on lan. 17 through Waikīkl to fmther "protest the Lingle administration's attempt to sell off Hawaiian lands," he said. "This rally and march is a good example of how we are bringing in Kupu'āina ... to work with us so they an learn how to do these things and lead the paek," said Panoke, who said his main advice to the young leaders is "Know your history, know yom conununity, and know your people." Bill Meheula, a lawyer for the four individual plaintiffs in the ceded lands case, to whieh OHA is also a plaintiff, said the young leaders with their legal backgrounds are developing the skills to assert legal claims and develop and administer a future recognized Hawaiian government. "So it's something that needed to be done and it is happening in a big way, and it's very encouraging," he said, citing a "big movement" in the 1970s, when loeal lawyers banded to help Native Hawaiian causes. "And it led to the 1978 Constitutional Convention," whieh created and provided funding for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, recognized gathering rights and, in his mind eventually led to the 1993 Apology Resolution, whieh, signed by then-President Bill Clinton, apologized for the United States' role in the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government.

It is that Apology Resolution upon whieh the Hawai'i Supreme Court based its unanimous January ruling. Lingle has said she continues to support Hawaiians but as governor has to provide for all the beneficiaries described in the Admission Act. The bettennent of Native Hawaiians is one of five pmposes named to receive funding from 1.2 million acres of ceded lands - fonner Hawaiian government lands - whieh the state holds in trust. William Ailā Jr., who ran for governor in 2006 and who has fought for more than three decades for issues ranging from the military's use of Mākua Valley to restoring watersheds on the Wai'anae Coast, said the new movement fills him with hope. "I'm enthusiastic for the future of Native Hawaiians when we have such articulate, intelligent, well-spoken youth that are eoming up," he said. Davianna McGregor, who was among those who successfully fought for the return of Kaho'olawe in the 1970s, said the group shows know-how of combining research with advocacy. "One of om mantras from George Hehn was 'Follow your na'au, but do your homework,' " she said, referring to the late leader of the effort to regain control of the island. In other words, she said, "It's yom responsibility to take a stand, but also you need to do the homework that makes it all so credihle. And a lot of times in many cases the advocacy part comes easier than the tedious research behind an issue, and I think in this case the individuals eomhine both." For more information on the Kupu'āina Coalition, visit stopsellingcededlands.com. ^

Ceded lands case spurs new generation of Hawaiian leaders

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'īlio 'ulaokalani Coalition, with the support of Kupu'āina Coalition, is organizing a march and rally to oppose the state's attempt to sell ceded lands. Organizers ask that participants & wear their red Kū I ka Pono T-shirts, whieh ean be ordered online at stopsellingcededlands. EnN eom. For more infonnation, eall Kaho'onei Saturday, Jan. 17 10 a.m. - March from Saratoga Road and RB Kalākaua Avenue to Kapi'olani Park 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. - Rally at the park, with food and educational booths, and entertainment and speeches all day long.

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In its opening brief filed Dec. 4, the state argued that Native Hawaiians have a moral elaim to ceded lands, but not a legal one. "This is a new argument," said Bill Meheula, attorney for the four individual plaintiffs in the case. In defense, "one of the new areas we're going to have to address is the Native Hawaiian elaim to the ceded lands," he said. "(We're going to) underscore that and discuss the historic and legal basis for it." The state maintains that its position has not changed. Briefs by the four plaintiffs and OHA are due Jan. 25. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case on Feb. 25 and issue a decision by July. To hear same-day audio of the oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in the ceded lands case, visit scotusblog.com/wp. The audio should be posted that afternoon. The site also posts all the briefs filed in the case. E

More thon 400 people rallied ot the stote Copitol to urge Gov. Lindo Lingle to withdraw the stote's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. One ofthe rally's orgunizers, Jocelyn Doune, appears ut the podium.

Kaho'onei Panoke has helped mentor the 33-year-old Derek Kauanoe and other members of Kupu'ōina Coalition. - Photos: Blaine Fergerstrom

Community leader William Ailō Jr., at right, says, "l'm enthusiastic for fhe future of Nafive Hawaiians when we have such arficulafe, infelligenf, well-spoken youfh fhaf are coming up."