Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 4, 1 April 2011 — Navigating the road to recognition [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Navigating the road to recognition

Aloha kākou, With the conclusion of the last Congressional two-year session and the

demise of the latest version of the Akaka bill, many are wondering what exactly is the game plan now. Sen. Akaka recently introduced at the Indian Affairs Committee an identical version

of his bill that was last pending before Congress. The 2010 plan called for the bill to be amended on the floor to acconunodate concerns whieh unless

aaaressea wouia kiii tne bill. The bill never made it to the floor. Though introducing the same bill this year might be expeditious, hopefully there will be ample opportunity to adjust the bill as has been previously done to address the poliheal and practical realities of getting anything passed in Congress. OHA stands ready and available at any time to assist and will work together with our Hawaiians and non-Hawai-ian coimnunity. The fact that we have the support of President Obama and a majority of the U.S. Senate bodes well for the bill; however, as in the past, the senate filibuster rule requiring 60 votes to get to the floor is our challenge. Also, now that the House majority has changed, we face another major obstacle. And so, the next two years in Congress will eonhnue to be a complicated journey of poliīieal maneuvering and choices before any recognition is given to Native Hawaiians, as indigenous, sovereign and deserving of the same status as the other two indigenous groups in the U.S.: Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. Onee achieved, however, lawsuits against OHA, DHHL and the State claiming racial discrimination by Hawaiians will be reduced if not eliminated and Hawaiians ean be assured of their continued existence as a sovereign people. This year the state Legislature is considering "state" recognition of a

Native Hawaiian governing entity. This provides Hawaiians with a second prong toward "federal" recognition; not only will Hawaiians be able to press

forward in addressing the many issues facing them today in Hawai'i, but Congress will have a specific organization representing Native Hawaiians to recognize as opposed to

an ambiguous eolleehon of individuals and eommunity groups separate from the state organizations, OHA and DHHL. This prong is basically

tne same one tnat uha has been working toward beginning with Kau Inoa as establishing a base of voters and on to the creation of a goveming entity. OHA does have concems in the legislation being proposed but legislative support is a positive step forward. And so with a dual effort on the federal and state levels the road toward federal recognition is still navigable despite the roadblocks. OHA has other ideas and plans that could also lead to federal recognition but they are pending and not yet solidified. Whatever we ean do as the duly elected representatives of all of the people of Hawai'i to provide for the betterment of Hawaiians we will do within the law and reason. Our mission includes the recognihon of our ancestors as well as the perpetuation of our culture for our posterity and all mankind. We believe that the best way to provide for our people would be to give them legal as well as poliīieal protection and power needed to survive in a calamity-prone world. Just as physical disaster ean wipe out a civilization, so is our continued existence as a people threatened today by legal and poliheal disasters absent recognihon. For us to survive we must prepare now, work now, and succeed now by gaining state and ultimately federal recognition of a Hawaiian goveming entity for the bettennent of Hawaiians and all Hawai'i. ■

□□yd V. Mūssman VicE Chair, TrustEE, Maui