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Rep. Ocasio-Cortez seems to have let the cat get her tongue over her insult to Hawaii's patron saint and most beloved figure, Father Damien of Molokai. That's the 19th century Belgian priest who came the islands, learned the Hawaiian language, lived like a pauper, and spent his life caring for people with leprosy on the island of Molokai, before catching the disease and dying of it himself. The native Hawaiians loved him and honored him with a statue alongside King Kamehameha I as their state emblems inside the capitol. Not an issue for the congresswoman, who singled Father Damien out...

Some senators are trying to push through a bill that would re-authorize the discriminatory housing policies implemented in Hawaii by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which provides special benefits for “Native Hawaiians.” Native Hawaiians are defined as “any descendant of not less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778.” According to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ website, this means “you must have a blood quantum of at least 50 percent Hawaiian.” S.1352 has a seemingly innocuous provision, Section 503, which simply re-authorizes the Native Hawaiian Home-Ownership Act through 2018....

Waimanalo, Hawaii (AP) -- In Hawaii, where blood and ancestry matter as in no other state, a legal challenge is posing this question: Who is sufficiently Hawaiian? In Hawaii, ancestry is more than just a matter of ethnic pride. Under a program created by Congress in 1921, Native Hawaiians with strong bloodlines can get land for a home for $1 a year. Those with more mixed ancestry still receive many other benefits, including low-interest loans and admission for their children to the richly endowed and highly regarded Kamehameha Schools. The help is designed to make amends for the 1893 U.S....

A Native Hawaiian sovereignty group took two boats from Maui to Kaho'olawe yesterday, landed on shore, set up a rock altar and planted a flag laying claim to the island. The 18 members of the group calling itself the Reinstated Hawaiian Kingdom is challenging U.S. sovereignty over land taken during the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, said Henry Noa, who identified himself as the group's "prime minister" by cell phone from the undeveloped island.

America's motto is "E pluribus unum," Latin for "Out of many, one." Some U.S. senators seem to be reading it backward. This week the Senate will consider legislation that would create an independent, race-based government for Native Hawaiians. If the bill becomes law, it would create a racial spoils system that would hand special privileges to up to one-fifth of the state's population--including many with only a trace of Hawaiian blood. It could inspire mainland groups such as Hispanic separatists to seek similar spoils, should they ever gain enough political leverage.

The last time we wrote about the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, in July 2005, we called it secessionist, unconstitutional and un-American. And that was being kind. Our view of the bill -- which, like Freddy Krueger, refuses to die -- hasn't changed. But now that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has promised to bring it to a cloture vote in the coming days, it's worth reminding readers what this ugly drama from the beautiful state is all about. The Reorganization Act -- better known as the Akaka Bill, after its U.S. Senate sponsor, Democrat Daniel Akaka -- would create...

Native Hawaiians Seek Self-governing Body Sen. Akaka quote: Bill Could Mean Eventual Independence for Hawaiians By National Public Radio, 8/17/2005 8:22:38 AM Editor's Note: Here is the complete National Public Radio transcript from Aug. 16, 2005 with Anchor Steve Inskeep, Reporter Martin Kaste and various guests. This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep. Congress is considering legislation that would give native Hawaiians their own government. It would essentially grant them political status similar to that of Native American tribes. Here's NPR's Martin Kaste. (Soundbite of surf; birds) MARTIN KASTE reporting: You'll find no more potent symbol of...

Native Hawaiians Seek Self-governing Body NPR Transcript, Aug. 16, 2005 By National Public Radio, 8/17/2005 8:22:38 AM Editor's Note: Here is the complete National Public Radio transcript from Aug. 16, 2005 with Anchor Steve Inskeep, Reporter Martin Kaste and various guests. This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep. Congress is considering legislation that would give native Hawaiians their own government. It would essentially grant them political status similar to that of Native American tribes. Here's NPR's Martin Kaste. (Soundbite of surf; birds) MARTIN KASTE reporting: You'll find no more potent symbol of Hawaiian independence than 'Iolani Palace,...

Kahului, Hawaii -- When 13-year-old Joseph Dickson applied to the Kamehameha Schools, a prestigious network of private schools for children of Hawaiian ancestry, he was sure he would get in. He had good grades, he played football and wrestled, the interview went well. Then Dickson, who is half-native Hawaiian, got the news: Kalani Rosell, a boy with straight A's but no Hawaiian ancestry, got the slot. School trustees said they admitted the first non-Hawaiian student in 36 years because there were no other "qualified" native Hawaiian applicants. The decision startled Hawaiians and contributed to an already rancorous debate statewide about...