by Andrew Walden
After years and years of lockstep political and media support for the fake Akaka Tribe, Hawaiians are finally being allowed to make their voices heard. At meeting after meeting as the US Department of Interior and Department of Justice tour the state over the last two weeks, hundreds have packed school cafeterias and community centers to deliver one simple message with a single voice: We don’t want the federal government’s ‘recognition’ process.
The remaining two meetings are set for Lahaina, Monday and Kahului, Tuesday.
For those who long complained that Hawaiians were divided, this should be an awakening. The one point on which nearly all Hawaiians agree is that they are not an Indian tribe and they do not want federal ‘recognition.’
Hawaiians are almost 100% united against what OHA Trustees, the Hawaii Congressional delegation, and most of Hawaii’s disgusting and what venal elected officials have been pushing since 1999.
When the people are nearly 100% against that for which the political class is nearly 100% in favor there is a lesson in political cowardice for all who wish to learn it.
Here are the details from the last two weeks of news coverage:
Monday, June 23, 2014
DoI Hearing: 'A lot of noes' on Akaka Tribe
One could tell this morning's hearings weren't going to go well for the Akaka Tribe when the first question from the audience was, "Under what authority do you have jurisdiction here?"...
read … 'A lot of noes'
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Waianae Hawaiians Say No No No No No to Federal Akaka Tribe Scheme
KITV: "The Department of Justice investigates crime right? A crime has been committed against my people," said Native Hawaiian De Mont R.D. Conner.
The crowd not only had comments over the wrongs they want made right, some had questions about the federal government being a part of the native Hawaiian government.
"Why do we need your federal recognition to know who we are and identify who we are?" asked Native Hawaiian Sam Kama.
"We are sovereign and independent. How does the Dept. of Interior come here and dictate federal recognition under Indian law?" asked Native Hawaiian Kilikina Kekumano.
The very vocal crowd was passionate about the plight of native Hawaiians and protective of Hawaiian self-governance.
"We have a government. Our government is established. We just need everyone of you to take responsibility and take care of each person in front, left, right and behind you. We also need to stand united," said Native Hawaiian Lillian Wakinekona.
On Tuesday night, Native Hawaiians stood together with tough talk for the federal government.
"Everybody make you guys scared yeah? You should be scared," joked Native Hawaiian Black Ho'ohuli.
But intimidating the federal government was no laughing matter. To make sure things did not get out of hand, police and security were stationed not only around the meeting room, but also outside the building and even around the Nanaikapono Elementary School grounds.
So far, there hasn't been much vocal support in favor of Hawaiian self-governing being under federal laws. On this night, some speakers wanted to make sure the federal government knew exactly how a number of Native Hawaiians felt about the proposals.
"My answer to every single question is no, no, no, no, no. This is a belligerent occupation. Go home, leave us alone and give us our assets back," stated Native Hawaiian B. Kamahana Kealoha.
Public meetings will continue Wednesday in Kaneohe.
SA: Suh told the Star-Advertiser that many of the comments have been nuanced and reflect "many different types of issues."
read ... NO NO NO NO NO
Ige Questions Akaka Tribe Rush
KHON: ...The State Department of Interior hearings on Hawaiian sovereignty also came up during the debate.
“Sovereignty is something that I think cannot be rushed,” Ige said. “It’s something that will impact each and every resident in our community.”
Abercrombie said that “from my political career, I’ve been supportive of it in every single instance where I’ve had the responsibility and the jurisdiction.”
read ... Abercrombie vs Ige
Wednesday June 25, 2014
Con-Con Needed to Abolish OHA?
CB: ...issues that were addressed during the 1978 convention continue to divide the state today.
One example is the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), which was created to ensure the betterment of the Hawaiian community. During this past legislative session, OHA proposed to develop its land in Kakaako for residential development as a way to increase revenue.
A great deal of written testimony was submitted by members of the Hawaiian community in support of OHA’s proposal, and testifiers waited outside packed rooms to support OHA. This seemed ironic in light of the results of the 1978 convention because OHA’s proposal to develop the land conflicts with the environmental protection rights that were advanced in 1978.
The office’s proposal does seem consistent with current environmental laws but it undermines the greater intent of the Constitutional Convention to ensure that Hawaii’s natural beauty is protected for future generations.
Building condos along the ocean would be disappointing, considering the work by delegates at the Constitutional Convention to put in place laws to ensure this consensus.
If the laws of the constitution are supposed to correlate with the progress of society, then actions are needed to protect this progress.
The laws are being followed accordingly, but their intent is being forgotten today.
Perhaps, another Constitutional Convention or “Con Con” needs to convene to recognize a new consensus of values.
Background: OHA driving Hawaiians out of Hawaii
read ... Abolish OHA
Thursday June 26, 2014
Obama plan to tribalize native Hawaiians runs into trouble
Native Hawaiian activists demanded the federal government leave Hawaiians alone....
read more...
Makakilo Tells Feds: "Get up and get out"
SA: Thursday night's session was the last on Oahu. It began with heckling and jeering as Esther Kia'aina, senior adviser to the secretary of the Department of Interior, spoke about the history of the U.S. government's involvement with Hawaii.
And moderator Dawn Chang drew mumbles and jeers when she asked people who have already spoken multiple times at the previous hearings to let others go first at Makakilo Elementary.
"Auntie Lilly" then drew widespread applause when she responded, "I am gracious enough to give up my time to the people of Kapolei."
When the floor was finally thrown open after 40 minutes, the first speaker, Lopaka Asam, started Thursday's session by reflecting the sentiment of dozens of other speakers this week.
"The best thing you can do," Asam told the panel, "is get up and get out."
The session grew heated moments later when Napua Kahunahana of Ewa Beach refused to heed her allotted two minutes to speak.
When Kahunahana ran past her time, a state Department of Land and Natural Resources enforcement officer pulled the plug on the public address system.
Kahunahana continued to speak into a dead microphone before finally leaving -- to both jeers and applause.
read ... Get Out
Akaka Tribe: Bureau of Indian Affairs 'Involved from Very Beginning'
ICT: This is an Interior Department. It is not an initiative of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. … We have an office for Native Hawaiians in one of the other branches of the Department of the Interior and they’ve long worked with Native Hawaiians. But it is something that we’re interested in and we are the experts – to some degree – on Indigenous Peoples so we’ve been offering guidance and advice from the Indian Affairs’ hallway. We also know that Indian tribes are interested in the issue and we’ve also been following it from that angle and making sure that we represent Indian country’s voice in these issues so we have been involved from the very beginning....
The first question that popped up when I read the press release was how do you establish a government-to-government relationship with a community, which isn’t a government? (He dodged this question.)
Read ... Indian Country Today
Unable to Find any Supporters, OHA Blames Hawaiians
SA: OHA plans a campaign to generate comments in favor, said Stender, who is drafting his own comments to submit.
"A lot of people who call me and watch the television want to say things and I tell them, ‘You have to.' But they don't want to be shouted down and yelled at, so they don't want to come. But I'm hopeful they will send letters in."
By Wednesday, the Department of Interior had already posted more than 60 comments it has received, including some in support.
David Heaukulani of Hilo wrote, "The native Hawaiian community is at odds with itself regarding an approach towards forming its own government. Therefore, I hope the federal government can step in and help us come together in this matter of utmost importance."
George Tsuchida called the possibility of re-establishing a government-to-government relationship "long overdue to address years of injustice, since the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, and is a very positive first step towards Native Hawaiian self-determination."
OHA Chairwoman Colette Machado was one of the few Monday morning to testify publicly in support of the idea.
But Machado quickly got into a shouting match with people in the Capitol audience who booed her. She admonished them to "follow the process."
"Culturally," said Pono Shim, CEO of Enterprise Honolulu, the Oahu Economic Development Board, "this is not how you have a conversation. Most people of Hawaiian ancestry would not show up for a process like this. It's unfortunate that this is the only way that people have to be engaged to have a voice."
read ... OHA Blames the Hawaiians
Sunday June 29, 2014
Molokai, Lanai Say No to Akaka Tribe
SA: The Native Hawaiian community on Molokai added its voice to the growing chorus of those who are rejecting a federal proposal that could lead to a formal U.S. relationship with a potential Native Hawaiian government.
More than 125 people attended a hearing at Kaunakakai Elementary School and the vast majority of the more than 40 people who testified offered a resounding repudiation of federal recognition.
"It has become painfully obvious from these hearings that those Hawaiian leaders who have called you here in hopes of protecting our entitlements and federal funding have done so without consulting their people," declared veteran Molokai activist Walter Ritte. "The majority is in no mood to continue a subservient relationship with the United States."
The hearing featured raised voices, anger and tears but, for the most part, audience members and speakers were courteous in contrast to last week's Oahu hearings, which were punctuated by intimidating testimony, boos and jeers.
The same relatively cordial tone was seen at Friday's hearing on Lanai, where about 50 people attended and a handful testified primarily against federal recognition....
Not everyone spoke against federal recognition. Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli was one of the few who supported it, saying it would ensure federal funds are available to improve Native Hawaiian health.
"We need more resources," he said.
After the hearing, Colette Machado, Office of Hawaiian Affairs chairwoman and Molokai resident, said she was proud of the way her fellow Molokai islanders were respectful to the panel.
But Machado, who on Oahu described federal recognition as "essential" for securing funds for Native Hawaiian programs, conceded that there needs to be more education on the topic.
read ... Emotions run high but remain in check at Molokai hearing
Monday June 30, 2014
Akina for OHA: Stop Dividing Hawaii's People
CB: “OHA urgently needs to be reformed,” said Kelii Akina, president of the conservative Grassroot Institute. “I’m running so that OHA will stop dividing Hawaii’s people by pursuing a race-based nation.”
Akina, who lost a 2012 OHA race, continued: “Instead, OHA needs to be spending its financial resources on meeting the real needs of Hawaiians for housing, employment and education. And it needs to be uniting Hawaii’s people.”
read ... Akina for OHA
Tuesday July 1, 2014
Native Hawaiians on Kauai angrily reject federal recognition
KGI: Nearly 200 people filled the Waimea High School cafeteria after the meeting was relocated from the smaller Waimea Neighborhood Center to accommodate a larger crowd.
The U.S. Department of the Interior hearing featured deep emotions, anger, yelling, cheering and booing as speaker after speaker lashed out at the United States and reached into history to support the Native Hawaiian kingdom, which was overthrown in 1893.
Kekuni Pa blasted those who would propose such a concept, saying federal recognition is merely a deceptive way to deny Hawaiian rights and continue American "lies, deceptions, death and fraud."
"I tell you, if you give them federal recognition, they're going to take your land," Pa said angrily. "It's about your land and your money."
Kelanikumai Hanohano told the federal officials to take this message back to America: "Our nationality is Hawaiian. Hawaiians are not a race. We are not a tribe. We are not indigenous Americans. We are Hawaiian."
KGI: First of 2 Native Hawaiian meetings met with opposition
WHT: Native Hawaiian recognition: Hawaii Islanders get first chance to speak
read ... NoNoNoNoNo
Wednesday July 2, 2014
Kapaa: Hundreds More Hawaiians Say No to Akaka Tribe
SA: Defiant and emotional testimony dominated yet another Department of Interior meeting Tuesday night as federal officials continued to gather opinions about whether the United States should pursue a formal relationship with a potential Native Hawaiian government.
As it did the night before in Waimea, the meeting featured passionate testimony connected to the grievances that have festered in the Hawaiian community since the 1893 overthrow of the monarchy.
Most of the dozens of attendees who testified Tuesday night said they strongly opposed the Interior Department moving forward with the proposal.
"We have been lied to about our legal and political rights," Reese said.
As in Waimea, a few testifiers spoke in favor of federal recognition, saying it would help protect the Hawaiian culture, programs and lands.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees and other Native Hawaiian leaders have lobbied for a government-to-government relationship with the U.S. for years. They say such recognition — which would be similar to a Native American tribe — is important to protect more than 120 federal programs and an annual $80 million U.S. allocation from a growing number of legal challenges.
Hawaii's congressional delegation tried to achieve recognition legislatively for at least a decade but failed. Now the Obama administration is trying to get the job done administratively — a process that could take up to two years.
But many of those who spoke Tuesday said no thanks....
Shane Cobb-Adams said Hawaiians who support federal recognition don't know their history and are instead addicted to the programs and money of America....
The Kapaa meeting was the ninth of 15 scheduled for the panel's two-week Hawaii tour. The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Keaukaha Elementary School in Hilo. Written comments will be accepted through Aug. 19.
KGI: Second day of Native Hawaiian meetings brings more opposition
read ... No no no no no
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Hilo: Hundreds More Say 'No' to Akaka Tribe
WHT: More than 130 people signed up to testify Wednesday evening to a panel of Department of the Interior, Office of the U.S. Attorney General and other Obama administration officials. Hundreds more crowded into the Keaukaha Elementary School gymnasium to listen.
It was the 10th public hearing in Hawaii for the federal panel, which is gauging community reaction to a proposed re-establishment of a government-to-government relationship with the Native Hawaiian community. Meetings continue today from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Waimea Community Center and 6 to 9 p.m. at Kealakehe High School....
Patrick Kahawaiolaa, president of the Keaukaha Community Association, believes federal recognition already exists for Native Hawaiians through the 1920 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. At statehood in 1959 the compact made between the parties was “… the State and its people will uphold the Hawaiian race …” and “… as a proviso of becoming a State the State needed to accept the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920,” Kahawaiolaa said.
“I will be asking the DOI/DOJ to do their job and enforce the federal law called the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 against the State, the DHHL and anyone else who has over the 90-year period of its existence abused, used, leased the lands having the status of Hawaiian Home Lands and any acts of State legislation enacted “without the consent” of the US.,” Kahawaiolaa said before the meeting.
read ... No no no no no
Friday, July 4, 2014
Testifiers Say No to Fake Indian Tribe at Waimea, Kona meetings
WHT: Hundreds of people attended public meetings in Waimea and Kailua-Kona to listen and provide testimony to the federal panel, tasked with gauging the reaction to the proposed re-establishment of a government-to-government relationship with the Native Hawaiian community. A standing room only crowd spilled into the hallway at the Waimea Community Center, a venue deemed too small and not pono by attendees. At Kealakehe High, there was more than enough room for the estimated 160 people in attendance.
Rhea Suh, an assistant secretary with the Department of the Interior, said the federal agency is asking “dense” questions that the Native Hawaiian community needs to define the answers to. The department wants to know whether the Obama administration should facilitate the re-establishment of a government-to-government relationship with the community and help Native Hawaiians reorganize their government.
In two words: No thanks.
That was the response of many who spoke up at the meetings, saying the validity of the Hawaiian nation has never been in question.
“We never lost our sovereignty,” said Micah De Aguiar, speaking at Kealakehe High. “We lost our government. We never lost our identity as a country.”
Testifiers said they were not American Indians and didn’t want to be treated as such.
“The United States has broken nearly every treaty they have ever signed, including ours, but they also left the Indian people in poverty, in war with one another,” said Kaimana Freitas. “They continue to steal their lands and destroy their natural resources, and that is exactly what they intend to do with us.”
SA: "Let Native Hawaiians determine their own fate."
read ... No no no no no
Olelo Video: Meetings on Native Hawaiian Recognition
Email Reveals Plan to Take Control of Hawaiian Homelands as Indian Tribe
Tribe? Secret DoI Meetings in Hawaii
Full Text: Feds Release 'Proposed Rule' for Creation of Hawaiian Indian Tribe
Feds Coming to Hawaii to Discuss Indian Tribe Plan--15 Public Meetings Set
Report Exposes Scheme to Funnel Interior Department Money to Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
Hawaiian Sovereignty by Fiat? Feds 'advance notice' not a serious proposal