UPDATE March 31, 2011: Sen. Akaka and Rep Hirono yesterday reintroduced the version of the Akaka Bill for 2011 which contains the exclusionary “Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituents” definitions described in this article. Here is the text of the new Akaka Bill: http://akaka.senate.gov/upload/S675.pdf “Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituents” are defined starting on pg 15.
UPDATE July 8, 2010: Yesterday's announcement of a compromise proposal making amendments to S1011 in order to win the support of the Lingle administration changes none of the language defining "Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituents" (QNHC) as outlined in this December 20, 2009 article. More than 73% of Native Hawaiians will still be excluded from membership in the Akaka Tribe because there is a Kau Inoa test for membership eligibility instead of a blood quantum.
UPDATE Feb 21, 2010: This December 20, 2009 article discusses S1011 (Akaka Bill). But the S1011 rules for becoming a "Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituent" are precisely the same as those proposed in the new "substitute amendment" to HR2314 (Akaka Bill) to be proposed by Rep Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) before the House Rules Committee on Monday, February 22. Therefore this analysis of the S1011 (Akaka Bill) approved by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee also describes the latest version of the House Bill HR2314.
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by Andrew Walden December 20, 2009
You may be Hawaiian--but chances are you are not "Qualified" to become a member of the allegedly "Hawaiian" Indian Tribe proposed under Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) and Sen. Dan Akaka's (D-HI) newly revised version of S1011/Akaka Bill.
If created under US law, the Akaka Tribe will negotiate to take control of land and other assets which are supposedly the property of all native Hawaiian people--but the majority of native Hawaiians will be excluded from participating in the organization of the Native Hawaiian Interim Governing Council. They could remain excluded from the Tribe that the Interim Governing Council organizes.
On one hand, Section 4(a)(4) of the Senate Akaka Bill states: "Native Hawaiians have an inherent right to autonomy in their internal affairs (and) and inherent right of self-determination and self-governance (and) the right to reorganize a Native Hawaiian governing entity...."
But Section 8(a) recognizes only: "The right of the qualified Native Hawaiian constituents to reorganize the single Native Hawaiian governing entity...."
Who are allowed to become "Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituents" will be determined by a "commission" of nine members. There are exactly nine OHA Trustees.
"Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituents" is a brand new classification which has not been used in any previous version of the Akaka Bill. The inclusion of this new category was noted by Governor Linda Lingle and Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett--who have supported previous versions of the Akaka Bill--in their December 15 statement expressing "strong opposition" to the new version of the Akaka Bill.
Only these so-called "Qualified Hawaiians" may participate in electing the Native Hawaiian Interim Governing Council. This Interim Council will propose rules for the Tribe as a whole, --including rules about who may or may not become members. Since a smaller Tribe means more money for each individual member and easier control by political cronies a bias will exist in favor of keeping as many Hawaiians as possible out of the tribe. Many mainland Indian tribes have cut down their tribal rolls by changing the rules of membership in order to grab a larger share of gaming revenues for each of the remaining members.
The Interim Council is itself considered an Indian Tribe according to Section 10(c) and so it operates under the same Federal Indian Laws which have allowed several California gaming tribes to expel hundreds of members in a grab for gambling profits.
(L-R): Abercrombie, Broken Trust, Sandwich Isles/OHA
Neil Abercrombie is a candidate for Governor of Hawaii. The Akaka Bill mandates three-way negotiations to establish the Tribe. If Abercrombie is elected, the three-way negotiations to establish the Tribe will be conducted between Governor Abercrombie, the Obama Department of Justice, and the Native Hawaiian Interim Governing Council--all three of which are committed to the small and divisive Akaka Tribe envisioned in the new version of the Akaka Bill passed December 17 by the US Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Although House Natural Resources Committee Democrats were forced by Republicans to pass the old version of HR2314/Akaka Bill, the differences between the US Senate and US House versions will be worked out in a Conference Committee stacked by Democrats who favored the new version. Senators Inouye and Akaka claim that they are open to amendments in order to regain the support of Governor Lingle and State Attorney General Bennett, but Akaka and Inouye lied in 1993 in order to get the Apology Resolution passed so it is logical to assume they will lie again to get its successor--the Akaka Bill--passed.
Under the conditions set forth in S1011, Section 3(12), for an Hawaiian to become a "Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituent" all five of the following conditions must be met:
- (A) Must be direct lineal descendant of indigenous people living in Hawaii on or before January 1, 1893 or of a person eligible in 1921 for Hawaiian Homelands.
- (B) Wishes to participate in the reorganization of the Native Hawaiian governing entity
- (C) is 18 years of age or older;
- (D) is a citizen of the United States; and
- (E) maintains a significant cultural, social, or civic connection to the Native Hawaiian community, as evidenced by satisfying 2 or more of 10 criteria
Of the five, Parts (B) and (E) are the most likely to exclude Hawaiians from becoming "Qualified" to participate in the Tribe. Part (B) most likely means excluding all persons who do not sign up for Kau Inoa. The December, 2009 Kau Inoa Newsblog proudly announces: "Those who register in Kau Inoa will help shape the Hawaiian nation to come....We are happy to share that at the end of November 2009, 108,118 people were registered in the Kau Inoa Native Hawaiian Registry...."
The 2000 US Census counted over 401,000 Hawaiians in the US. A 2004 estimate by the US Census Bureau counted 279,651 Hawaiians in Hawaii, down from 283,430 in 2000. The out-migration of Hawaiians is a direct result of the lack of economic opportunity created by OHA-funded shake-down artists and their environmentalist allies. The Kau Inoa number is less than 27% of all Native Hawaiians, but it gets worse.
Rule (E) excludes many of the roughly 122,000 Hawaiians living outside of Hawaii. Exceptions are made for for college students, military personnel, federal employees (such as Congressional staffers) and their dependents, Hawaiian Homelands beneficiaries, their children and grandchildren.
By making "Native Hawaiian Membership Organization" into the following two separate rules, an activist or other OHA operative who has been a member of two Native Hawaiian Membership Organizations thereby meets the "two of ten" qualification in Part (E):
- (viii) Has been a member since September 30, 2009, of at least 1 Native Hawaiian Membership Organization.
- (ix) Has been a member since September 30, 2009, of at least 2 Native Hawaiian Membership Organizations.
The bill does not contain a list of such organizations, leaving the door open to all sorts of games as some organizations are accepted and others are not.
The last rule could be utilized to "Qualify" people who have no Hawaiian ancestry if such person is also allowed to sign up on Kau Inoa and the "sworn affidavits" are considered evidence that the "Qualified" non-Hawaiian Hawaiian meets the requirement of Part (A).
- (x) Is regarded as a Native Hawaiian and whose mother or father is (or if deceased, was) regarded as a Native Hawaiian by the Native Hawaiian community, as evidenced by sworn affidavits from 2 or more qualified Native Hawaiian constituents certified by the Commission as possessing expertise in the social, cultural, and civic affairs of the Native Hawaiian community.
These rules are allegedly designed to avoid creation of a Tribe whose membership is designated simply by race--without regard for any affirmative affiliation to the tribe. If created, the rump Akaka Tribe will be dominated by the corrupt political operators who looted Kamehameha Schools and are responsible for so much of Hawaii's corrupt political and business dealings.
Whether these rules are enough to defeat lawsuits challenging creation of the Tribe will be up to the courts. The one unavoidable fact is that the so-called Sovereignty movement was manufactured from whole cloth by 1970s student protesters--including Neil Abercrombie--at UH Manoa. It has absolutely no continuity with the Hawaiian Kingdom whose resistance ended with the disintegration of the Home Rule Party after Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole agreed in 1902 to represent the Territory of Hawaii as a Republican in the US Congress.
More on UH Manoa in a future article.
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Related:
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New Akaka Bill S1011: COMPLETE TEXT OF SECTION 3(12)
(12) QUALIFIED NATIVE HAWAIIAN CONSTITUENT.
—For the purposes of establishing the roll authorized under section 8, and prior to the recognition by the United States of the Native Hawaiian governing entity, the term ‘‘qualified Native Hawaiian constituent’’ means an individual who the Commission determines has satisfied the following criteria and who makes a written statement certifying that he or she—
(A) is—
(i) an individual who is 1 of the indigenous, native people of Hawaii and who is a direct lineal descendant of the aboriginal, indigenous, native people who—
- (I) resided in the islands that now comprise the State of Hawaii on or before January 1, 1893; and
- (II) occupied and exercised sovereignty in the Hawaiian archipelago, including the area that now constitutes the State of Hawaii; or
(ii) an individual who is 1 of the indigenous, native people of Hawaii and who was eligible in 1921 for the programs authorized by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42), or a direct lineal descendant of that individual;
(B) wishes to participate in the reorganization of the Native Hawaiian governing entity;
(C) is 18 years of age or older;
(D) is a citizen of the United States; and
(E) maintains a significant cultural, social, or civic connection to the Native Hawaiian community, as evidenced by satisfying 2 or more of the following 10 criteria:
(i) Resides in the State of Hawaii.
(ii) Resides outside the State of Hawaii and—
- (I) (aa) currently serves or served as (or has a parent or spouse who currently serves or served as) a member of the Armed Forces or as an employee of the Federal Government; and
(bb) resided in the State of Hawaii prior to the time he or she (or such parent or spouse) left the State of Hawaii to serve as a member of the Armed Forces or as an employee of the Federal Government; or
- (II) (aa) currently is or was enrolled (or has a parent or spouse who currently is or was enrolled) in an accredited institution of higher education outside the State of Hawaii; and
(bb) resided in the State of Hawaii prior to the time he or she (or such parent or spouse) left the State of Hawaii to attend such institution.
(iii)
- (I) Is or was eligible to be a beneficiary of the programs authorized by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42), and resides or resided on land set aside as ‘‘Hawaiian home lands’’, as defined in such Act; or
- (II) Is a child or grandchild of an individual who is or was eligible to be a beneficiary of the programs authorized by such Act and who resides or resided on land set aside as ‘‘Hawaiian home lands’’, as defined in such Act.
(iv) Is or was eligible to be a beneficiary of the programs authorized by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42).
(v) Is a child or grandchild of an individual who is or was eligible to be a beneficiary of the programs authorized by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42).
(vi) Resides on or has an ownership interest in, or has a parent or grandparent who resides on or has an ownership interest in, ‘‘kuleana land’’ that is owned in whole or in part by a person who, according to a genealogy verification by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or by court order, is a lineal descendant of the person or persons who received the original title to such ‘‘kuleana land’’, defined as lands granted to native tenants pursuant to Haw. L. 1850, p. 202, entitled ‘‘An Act Confirming Certain Resolutions of the King and Privy Council Passed on the 21st day of December, A.D. 1849, Granting to the Common People Allodial Titles for Their Own Lands and House Lots, and Certain Other Privileges’’, as amended by Haw. L. 1851, p.98, entitled ‘‘An Act to Amend An Act Granting to the Common People Allodial Titles for Their Own Lands and House Lots, and Certain Other Privileges’’ and as further amended by any subsequent legislation.
(vii) Is, or is the child or grandchild of, an individual who has been or was a student for at least 1 school year at a school or program taught through the medium of the Hawaiian language under section 302H–6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, or at a school founded and operated primarily or exclusively for the benefit of Native Hawaiians.
(viii) Has been a member since September 30, 2009, of at least 1 Native Hawaiian Membership Organization.
(ix) Has been a member since September 30, 2009, of at least 2 Native Hawaiian Membership Organizations.
(x) Is regarded as a Native Hawaiian and whose mother or father is (or if deceased, was) regarded as a Native Hawaiian by the Native Hawaiian community, as evidenced by sworn affidavits from 2 or more qualified Native Hawaiian constituents certified by the Commission as possessing expertise in the social, cultural, and civic affairs of the Native Hawaiian community.