Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 9, 1 September 2009 — America 's natives declare their unity [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

America 's natives declare their unity

/ want to thank our 'ohana from the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, the Alaska Federation ofNatives and Amenean Indian Tribal Leaders acmss the USA for the use of this "Declaration of Unity and Cooperation Among the Indigenous Peoples ofthe United States." For me, unity does not mean we all need to agree 011 every issue. Unity is "agreeing to disagree " with respect, aloha and love for eaeli othee Unity is being able to transcend ego and self-interest and doing what is rightfor our People, "to better conditions for our People (OHA Mission Statement ). OHA should indeed be a Pu'uhonua for our People, wheee all who eome tlirough our doorfeel welcomed, worthy, respected, safe andfree to speak their minds, hearts and spirits 011 any issue and topic. This declaration was signed by the Leaders of CNHA, the Alaskan Federation and the Indian Nations in August 2009 at CNHA's annual convention in Honolulu. Declaration of Unity and Cooperation Among the Indigenous Peoples of the United States We, the indigenous people of the United States, knowing that the Creator placed us here on Earth with certain inherent rights, and seeking to live in peaee, freedom and prosperity with all humanity in accordance with our own traditional ways, are united in our sacred relationship with the land, air, water and spirit of our ancestral homelands. We are bound by eommon history, aspiration and experience, and we are brothers and sisters, leaders and warriors, eaeh serving our Native peoples. Together, we make the following declaration: From time immemorial, the lands that are now known as the United States of America have been and eonhnue to be our homelands; While we eaeh have distinct identities.

cultures, languages and traditions, we have also been guided by many eommon purposes and behefs, whieh have been shaped by many eommon experiences; We have all retained the inherent right to self-determination and in shaping our own destinies we will remain faithful to the time honored traditions of our ancestors and will work to secure the greatest possible freedom, dignity and prosperity for our descendents; We have all shared the belief that we eaeh play an important and continuing role in promoting and protecting the rights of all Native peoples; We have all known that control over our lands, territories, and resources enahle us to maintain and strengthen our institutions, culture, and traditions; We have all known ourselves as people who live in hannony with our environment and cherish and protect our traditional homelands and waters; We have all shared a belief that individuals and peoples must address eaeh other in a spirit of respect, tolerance, and understanding; We have all experienced outside encroachment upon our traditional territories and we have striven to co-exist with other peoples and cultures in peaee; and While others' hands have drawn boundaries between us, these arbitrary lines have not severed, and never will, the ties of kinship and friendship among our peoples. We are hereby resolved to affirm and to strengthen those bonds of mutual respect, cooperation and affection. As friends and allies, we will go forward with greater strength and wisdom as we interact with eaeh other, with the United States and peoples around the world. Here in the sacred lands of the Hawaiian people, in the summer of 2009, representatives of Native nations and organizations gather in friendship, unity, and cooperation. We commit to inform, assist and support eaeh other in areas of eommon eoncern, including: Achieving the full recognition, protection and implementation of the legal and poliīieal rights of our people, including those founded in our own laws, the laws

of the United States, and in the laws of the wider international community; Continuing to develop cultural, politieal, and eeonomie cooperation among our people, in seeking to make a further eontribution to the general development and greater good of all; Ensuring that as laws and institutions further develop in various domestic and international forums, the voices of our people are included and respected; Promoting the practice and preservation of our spiritual and cultural expressions; Protecting and promoting our Native languages, traditional history and knowledge; Supporting the education of our people in our traditional life-ways and in the eommon knowledge of humankind; Raising our children in the loving traditions of our peoples and protecting their sacred connections with their families, communities and people; Advancing the eeonomie and social well being of our people, while preserving our traditions of sharing, and social justice; and Preserving our sacred land, air, and waters through the promotion of various enviromnental protections, traditional subsistence methods, agricultural practices, and the use of elean renewable energy. We are committed at this gathering to identify from time to time, specific matters on whieh to focus our collective efforts toward the advancement of this declaration, and that we shall convene again on many occasions and that the spirit of cooperation, understanding, and fellowship among our peoples shall grow ever stronger as we take our full and rightful plaee in the world community. Let it be resolved that we the undersigned, having gathered affirm the foregoing, in honor of our ancestors, elders, and youth and for the sake of mother earth and father sky, as a declaration of unity and cooperation among our Native peoples. Drafted by: Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Alaska Federation ofNatives and Amenean Indian Tribal Leaders ■

LEO 'ELELE ■ TRUSTEE M ESSAG ES KA WAI OLA | ĪHE LIVING WATER 0F OHA

Robert K. Lindsey, Jr. TrustEE, Hawai'i