Posted on 06/23/2006 6:49:20 PM PDT by kaehurowing
OHA advances plan for Hawaiian self-rule
by Nancy Cook Lauer Stephens Media Group nclauer@stephensmedia.com Friday, June 23, 2006 9:08 AM HST
HONOLULU -- Just two weeks after the U.S. Senate refused to consider self-rule for Native Hawaiians, the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on Thursday unanimously advanced a plan to create a new Hawaiian government by the end of 2007.
Most of the details of the ambitious plan were discussed during a closed-door session with OHA attorneys. The trustees then opened the meeting for a formal vote.
But a draft copy of "Hooulu Lahui Aloha, to Raise a Beloved Nation," obtained by Stephens Media Group details plans to hold a constitutional convention next summer, followed by the election of officers and transfer of Hawaiian assets by the end of the year.
"I don't see this government here as being a stand-by government," said OHA Administrator Clyde Namuo, responding to a trustee's comment. "We need to assert ourselves as a sovereign people. And I think, as we have laid this out, it is with that goal in mind. Let's not, please, consider this to be simply a placeholder."
OHA itself would be dismantled, with its powers transferred to the Native Hawaiian Governing Entity. The new government would then negotiate with the governor, the state Legislature and Congress for full autonomy.
Namuo said the ambitious timetable is due in part to having a "friendly administration" to help pressure the state Legislature to amend statutes and the state constitution to accommodate the new government. Gov. Linda Lingle, who is considered very likely to win re-election this year, is an advocate of Native Hawaiian rights.
OHA's action follows the failure earlier this month of an attempt by U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, to get the Senate to consider a bill paving the way for Native Hawaiian sovereignty.
The Akaka bill seeks to put in place a process for the estimated 400,000 Native Hawaiians -- about half of whom live in Hawaii --- to form a government entity and win formal recognition from the U.S. government.
It also would establish an office in the Department of Interior for Hawaiian issues and create an interagency group to monitor programs and policies that affect Native Hawaiians.
On the day the Akaka bill failed, Lingle held a news conference where she said she would be meeting with OHA to see how to "create a mechanism, a structure so the Hawaiian people can have the authority and responsibility for their own resources and assets." She had declined to be more specific.
Neither Lingle nor Akaka could be reached for further comment Thursday.
OHA's work builds on the efforts of a coalition of community leaders who, in 2003, started collecting names of those with Hawaiian blood as the first step in creating a Native Hawaiian governing entity. With help from OHA, the registration drive, known as "Kau Inoa," has collected more than 50,000 names.
Some OHA trustees worried that the coalition and other groups that have been pushing for Native Hawaiian rights might be taken aback by the aggressive involvement of OHA, which is a semiautonomous self-governing body created by state government to protect Native Hawaiian interests and assets. It is governed by a nine-member elected board.
"While these groups have history, and certainly brought the issue forward, kicked it around in the community, sometimes peacefully, sometimes more aggressively, I think it's all part of the maturation of the community," said Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona. "This framework is supposed to catalyze, invigorate and cause vibration in the community, but I think it's clear and I think our trustees know that this ultimate long-term process will not go forward without the support of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs."
Now we have it confirmed that was the plan all along, to set up a separatist, racially pure government.
How many racially pure Hawaiians exist anymore?
WTH??
What's up with this...start withholding any and all Federal Funds that go to HI
Almost none. However racially pure in this case means that if you have a drop of Hawaiian blood, you are part of this new sovereign government which will not be subject to state or federal law. They base their claim on the supposed "illegal overthrow" of the Hawaiian government in 1893. Unfortunately, our Congress foolishly approved a resolution in 1993 "apologizing" for taking Hawaii over, and Clinton signed it, giving it the force of law.
At the time, Sens. Inouye and Akaka claimed it was just "a simple apology," and had no further consequences. We've found out they were not truthful about that, a point that was emphasized several times by the senators who were smart enough to see the real agenda behind the Akaka Bill.
Not the wisest basis to set up your government on, however I wish them well in their future endeavors if they do succeed in secession.
Yeah, I was tired of the old 50-star flag anyway.
No biggie about leaving them some roadways, where the greenies permit... but they will have to maintain them at their own expense.
Prediction: Hawaii will become yet another 3rd-world hellhole that nobody but a PC liberal will want to visit -- and acquire skin cancer.
Great, more reservations full of professional victims. Does this mean more casinos and cheap smokes?
Good. Let them go.
What makes you think they intend too, or have any obligation to return anything?
No kidding.
If Hawaii "secedes," then wouldn't that mean the Democrats would lose two Senators?
If I had any Hawaiian ancestry, I would not want to be subject to this new government.
What makes you think they should be obligated to return anything? Were Hawaii's citizens not taxed for a period of time while their state was a voluntary member of the union?
History should tell you: Liberals are thieves, they return nothing.
7 rows of seven. Just make sure we have a Gitmo-style lease on Pearl.
And they can voluntarily ceede from the union also. Doesn't say, you can ceede after you give the feds back everything we gave you. I can actually see a trend starting if this goes through.
The native Hawaiians never retained their cultural hierarchical structures. What would be established would not be a native Hawaiian government. It would be a government for native Hawaiians. These are two very different things.
I am Samoan, and the Samoan people retain a cultural government separate from that of our territorial government in American Samoa. Everywhere a significant number of Samoans live, a branch of the cultural hierarchy develops for the purpose of mediating between families/clans, collecting funds, and supporting church projects.
Admittedly, the process has been corrupted by prideful grand standing, and unaccountable disbursement of a lot of the funds - but the fact remains that the Samoans retain their cultural government structures outside the law, and defers to U.S. law when necessary. The native Hawaiian movement can't even organize their and reconstitute their clan system because many of them don't know what their traditional clans are, and everybody wants to be a chief.
Very few. This is all about being able to have casinos in hawaii and a continous welfare money & land grab. The akaka bill was to grant this status to someone with even .5% hawaii blood! Its all about money.
Being back there recently, it always amazes me the amount of corruption in that state from top to bottom. You want to do business in that state, you better have a slush fund of bribe money on the side to grease all the palms that spring up anytime anyone needs to get something done.
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