Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 12, 1 December 2016 — A Year in Review of Hawaiian Governance [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A Year in Review of Hawaiian Governance

By Derek H. Kauanoe n 2016, two Hawaiian governance developments took plaee. In February, more than 100 Hawaiian participants drafted and "passed" a constitution to propose to Hawaiians. This was accomplished through a month-long Hawaiian convention with diverse participants from throughout Hawai'i and the Continent. Second, at the end of September, the Department of the Interior published an administrative rule for recognizing a Hawaiian government. These are two completely distinct developments that ean and should be conceptualized in different ways.

Hawaiian history provides us with an example for conceptualizing these developments. Internal v. External Affairs Kamehameha I understood the difference between his government's internal affairs and its external affairs. With this understanding, Kamehameha had an agreement with King George III. Years later, King George IV articulated this agreement to Kamehameha II's entourage when he said, "I will attend to the evils from without. The evils within your Kingdom, it is not for me to regard." One Hawaiian scholar explains this arrangement,

"Kamehameha retained control over the internal affairs of his kingdom, while Britain maintained the external affairs." With this historical context, we ean view the drafting of a constitution (and its future ratification) by Hawaiians for Hawaiians as an intemal affair. The Department of Interior's rule is relevant to a future Hawaiian govemment's extemal affairs because it is specific to the extemal relationship the Hawaiian government could have with the United States. The government-to-government relationship between indigenous governments and the United States is similar to Kamehameha I's historical relationship to the British Crown. In the U.S., federally recognized indigenous governments on their land bases are generally protected by the U.S. government from external entities (such as state or county governments). Kamehameha I's agreement required the British Crown to protect the Hawaiian government from other external entities. Native Hawaiian Constitution Hawaiians ratifying a Hawaiian Nation constitution is an important part of developing our own internal affairs. The proposed constitution from

the February 2016 Hawaiian convention has several important components to discuss. The constitution states, "The primary purpose of Government is to meet the needs and priorities of its citizens, protect their rights, and care for the 'āina." Citizenship in the Nation is by ehoiee and does not affect American citizenship. Hawaiian is the nahonal language and English is one of two official languages. The constitution recognizes rights of individual Hawaiians and collective rights of Hawaiians as a group. It also emphasizes the importance of Hawaiian culture and Hawaiian management of cultural and natural resources. If at any time citizens want to change the constitution, there are three ways to do so. A government-to-government relationship means that a Hawaiian government is protected by the federal government to pursue the goals and mandates of its constitution while operating on its land base. D0I Rule How we determine our own individual relationships (business, friendships, romantic) is a useful analogy for conceptualizing the DOI rule. Although we might not write it down on paper, we

have our own preferences and criteria for our own relationships. In looking for a business partner, we may want a partner with certain skill sets. In choosing our own friends, we may want someone who has some values or perspectives similar to our own. For life-long partners, we may want someone we ean rely on and actually live with for the rest of our lives. Criteria and preferences are natural parts of a committed relationship. The DOI rule is basically the preferences and criteria the United States wants in a partner for a government-to-government relationship. Although the rule is mueh more comprehensive than ean be explained in this short eolumn, there

are some generally important preferences and criteria that should be mentioned. The DOI wants to make sure that the Hawaiian government it gets into a relationship with has general support from a lot of Hawaiians. It also wants to make sure that the Hawaiian government does not make people citizens who do not want to be Hawaiian Nahon citizens. The DOI requires that the Hawaiian government "protect and preserve Native Hawaiians' rights, protections, and benefits" as well as "the liberties, rights, and privileges of all persons." It also wants to make sure that the Hawaiian government's

leaders are democratically elected by Hawaiian Nation citizens. Such preferences and criteria are reasonable. Hawaiians now have another tool available for protecting our lands and culture, perpetuating our language, and improving Hawaiian well-being. That tool is made available to a Hawaiian government if it wants. Building a Hawaiian govemment (an internal issue) is separate from the relationships a Hawaiian government might pursue later with entities outside of itself (an external issue). Although distinct, these internal and external affairs are related. A Hawaiian government that forms under the proposed constitution will decide whether to pursue a government-to-govemment relationship under the DOI rule. A Hawaiian government may choose not to pursue that relationship or it may choose to do so at a time that is most appropriate orpreferable. Hawaiian interests and well-being are both advanced by having this ehoiee. ■ Derek H. Kauanoe is Govemance Manager at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. She ean he reached at derekk@oha.org.

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For information visit www.doi.gov/hawaiian about the U.S. Department of lnterior rule. - Photos: KWO Pile

Before finalizing the rule, D0I representatives visited Hawai'i to solicit input.