Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 1, 1 January 2013 — Restoring a nation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Restoring a nation

Ha w a i ' i ' s status as a full-fledged nation was unwillingly plunged into a state of political chaos by the group of American businessmen known as the Committee of Safety in 1893. Supported by a contingent of United States marines, standing at the ready should armed intervention be necessarv. thev rinned

the reins of sovereignty from the hands of Queen Lili'uokalani and set Hawai'i on a slippery slope of an abiding tension and uneasy coexistence for over a century now. The road back has been long, contentious, bitter and confusing as the flame of national rebirth continues to burn brightly in the hearts of thousands of Kānaka Maoli. As an OHA trustee, I find myself having to generate reference points along the path to nationhood that keep me focused in a logical progression of steps that ean be benchmarked as forward progress in the rebuilding of a foundation for nationhood. So, I've constructed in my own mind a four-legged stool as my model of nationhood. The seat of the stool represents the nation supported by four legs. Eaeh leg represents what I believe is a required condition. For a nation to exist requires all four conditions to exist simultaneously. The hrst leg requires that the nahon have a citizenry. A nation cannot exist without citizens. The second leg requires a nalional cuhure. Every nation shares some semblance of a eommon culture expressed through values that shapes nalional behavior. This does not preclude subcultures to exist within the larger context of a nahonal culture. The third leg requires an eeonomie base. That is, some semblance of a nahonal economy or at least a measureable

eeonomie capacity fed by eeonomie institutions that exist to serve the nation's citizens. The fourth leg requires that the nation achieves polilieal recognition. That is, the nation is recognized as having political standing by other governments. Its sovereignty and right to self-governance are respected by other governing bodies that surround it. This is the framework from whieh I

try and think through my responsibilities as an OHA trustee and support policy development that will strengthen the four legs of the stool. The good news is that two of the legs are already standing strong. We have eome a long ways in retrieving Hawaiian culture, whieh is experiencing explosive growth with no sign of slowing down. We have also experienced dramatic growth in our eeonomie capacity. In a previous eolumn I cited the combined wealth of the Hawaiian "Big 5" - Kamehameha Schools, OHA, Queen Lili'uokalani Trust, Queen's Hospital and Queen Emma Land Co., and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands - institutions that have billions in liquid assets and hundreds of thousands of acres of land in fee title. Two legs beg a lot more attention. First we need to identify who qualihes to become a citizen of the nation. Today, we look to the Roll Commission (Kana'iolowalu) as an important step in this process. Second, there is the ever elusive struggle for political recognition through initiatives such as the Akaka bill. So, Citizenry, Eeonomie Capacity, Nalional Culture and Political Recognition - Imua. ■ You ean contact Trustee Apo at PeteraOHA@ gmail.com, visit his weh site at www.PeterApo.com, anā find him on Facehook.

PetEr Apo VicE Chair, TrustEE, O'ahu