Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 10, 1 October 2010 — JACKIE KAHOOKELE BURKE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

JACKIE KAHOOKELE BURKE

1. The single issue facing Native Hawaiians is managing our natural resources to provide for a sustainable lifestyle and community. These issues are: depletion of our fishing resources, availability of water resources for agriculture, restoration of streams and other waterways and the continued development over cultural sites going hand in hand with increased limited access for traditional gathering, fishing and cultural practices. Restoring the ahimua'a svstem of resource mana2ement

should be our guiding source and Hawaiians need to be on that policy table. It is crucial that we participate in the control process establishing and enforcing rules and regulations regarding the depletion, the restricted access, the destruction and the misuse of our most valuable assets, the natural resources of our 'āina. 2. The Akaka bill (NHGRA) should not be enacted into law. It is not a bill "FOR THE PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE." This is the MOST IMPORTANT BILL 0F OUR LIFETIME, where were all the community meetings that should have occurred over the past five years? Who is representing the descendants of the "KŪ'Ē PETITION"? It comes down to a bill "BY THE STATE, FOR THE STATE to insure the CONTROL BY THE STATE." Instead of spending millions on lobbying, why not spend to organize the community into ongoing active units of Hawaiians, integrating and collaborating with Hawaiian Civic Clubs, sovereignty groups and other groups. In 2009 the state passed the 'AHA KIOLE act that recognizes the ahupua'a system, organized into Mokus councils. OHA should have the vision of empowering their people, one person at a time and realize the value of engaging community through a traditional and powerful system using the Moku governance model of the 'Aha Kiole eouneil. OHA needs to educate the Hawaiian people on the models of nationhood. The Sovereignty Education Buses project that I proposed would visit neighborhoods and communities to provide sovereignty infonnation. With this knowledge, Hawaiians ean make an infonned ehoiee and have the confidence to support that ehoiee onee made. OHA has led us in the dark, they pretend there is light, but that is artificial light, it is unsustained light that ean go out at any time. OHA continues to position the TOP of the power paradigm; it should be building the paradigm base, the "ROOT SYSTEM"! The maka'āinana is the power base for "spiritual and political" rebuilding of our beloved Nation of Hawai'i. The Ali'i showed us their pure Aloha by bequeathing their lands to support future generations, to educate, to provide heahh care, to care for orphans, elders, women and children. OHA has the power to create comparable and similar lasting legacies like our SEE BURKE ON PAGE 9

BURKE Continued from page 7 Ali'i, who did not intend to build powerful institutions, but to build institutions that would enrpower their people that they loved so deeply. 3. We should get 100 percent of ceded lands revenue. They took 100 percent of our nation; they used 100 percent of ceded land to make thenr nroney. Why do we always have to negotiate for what is truly ours, if not for the Hawaiian Kingdonr land base, the State would have no revenue streanr. Pay for what they are using, I don't see thenr cutting Hawaiians any slack in giving us free nredical care, etc. If the State wants to give us ceded land, then give us the airport or the harbors, where there is a revenue streanr. If they give us Maunakea then we should be able to charge prenriunr rent for the privilege of looking so deep into the universe, and insure we share in any patents or royalties attributed to recent discoveries using the ceded land base.