Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 8, 1 August 2011 — To build a nation -- Who are its citizens? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

To build a nation -- Who are its citizens?

Senate Bill 1520 does two things. First, it formally recognizes Hawaiians as being the indigenous people of these islands.

Second, it creates a fivemember Commission to begin an enrollment process. Presumably this enrollment is tantamount to a voter registration drive whereby citizens of the anticipated nation of Hawai'i will have a voice in its shaping. This is a significant step taken by the state to formally engage in supporting a process that is intended to lead toward creating the nation of Hawai'i within

the State of Hawai'i. It is probably the first in a series of actions triggering a state version of the Akaka bill. It is also intended as a message to Congress that the citizens of Hawai'i support the Akaka bill. It's good that we create forums to discuss the nation of Hawai'i. And as we talk story there is one question that we need to spend a lot more time considering. Who will be the citizens of this nation? This is fundamental to any nation building. So far, most of the dialogue about Hawaiian sovereignty and a Hawaiian nation finds most people presuming that the nation will be one composed of ethnic Hawaiians. But there are other voices out there, Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian, who are not as sold on the idea of a nation exclusive to Hawaiians. I believe this is an issue that is far from resolved and needs to be addressed. There are three compelling circumstances to consider. First, is Hawai'i residency required to be a citizen of the nation? If yes, it would disenfranchise thousands of Hawaiians living on the mainland who want to be included. Second is what is referred to as "continuum," a concept federal agencies consider when accepting applications for nation status from American Indians and Native Alaskans. The continuum concept requires that to be recognized as a nation, the tribe or native group had to exist in some form as a nation prior to becoming part of the United States. If applied to Hawai'i, at the

time of the overthrow the nation was not an ethnic Hawaiian nation. Its citizenry was multicultural. So should not the descendants of the nonHawaiian families who were

citizens of the nation in 1893 and under Kamehameha the Great have a legitimate elaim to citizenship? Third and very important is the resources to whieh the nation would be entitled. As of today, Hawaiian claims to resources held by the state, particularly land and revenue from ceded lands, ean reasonably be argued as qualifying for transfer to the new nation of Hawai'i. But consider this: Most Hawaiian

weahh is held by the Ali'i Trusts - particularly Kamehameha Schools, Queen Lili'uokalani Trust, and Queen Emma Land Co. Among the three of them (without OHA and Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) the basis of weahh is in the hundreds of thousands of acres of land owned in fee title and billions of dollars in cash assets. The sobering fact is that the bulk of Hawaiian weahh would not be available to the nation because these trusts are organized under U.S. federal law and would be subject to the nation of Hawai'i only if they reorganized under our law. So, while Hawaiians seem to be making some progress on the question of political sovereignty, we are absent any vision for creating the prosperity of the nation. Projecting what might be possible in developing eeonomie relationships between a nation of Hawai'i and the Ali'i Trusts is provocative and elusive. So continues the long road to self-determination. ■ What is your mana'o? Email PeterApoOHA@gmaiI.com, tweet @ PeterApo, friend me on Facebook or see my videos on YouTube.com/ peterapo.

PatEr Apa TrustEE, O'ahu