{"id":65940,"date":"2015-11-02T12:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T12:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=65940"},"modified":"2015-11-02T11:58:58","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T11:58:58","slug":"usa-historic-election-could-return-sovereignty-to-native-hawaiians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/11\/usa-historic-election-could-return-sovereignty-to-native-hawaiians\/","title":{"rendered":"USA: Historic Election Could Return Sovereignty to Native Hawaiians"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than a century after overthrow, a 30-day vote begins November 1 for delegates to a constitutional convention.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Native<\/a>

Native Hawaiians starting voting on Nov. 1 to elect delegates to a constitutional convention on the issue of sovereignty. Holly Johnson \/ Tribune-Herald \/ AP<\/p><\/div>\n

30 Oct 2015<\/em> \u2014 In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii, yielded power to a group of businessmen backed by Marines in order to avoid the bloodshed of her people. She did so believing that the U.S. government, when presented with the facts, would eventually restore the Hawaiian kingdom. Instead, the coup led to the dissolution of Hawaiian sovereignty and the tropical archipelago’s eventual admission to statehood.<\/p>\n

\"Queen<\/a>

Queen Lili’uokalani<\/p><\/div>\n

Now, more than a century after the overthrow, a historic election seeks to return sovereignty to Native Hawaiians, a people still stinging from the bitter ruin of colonization, when Hawaiians had their lands stolen, their hula outlawed and their language purged from schools.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 1, a 30-day voting period will open to more than 100,000 Hawaiians certified by the state-sanctioned Native Hawaiian Roll Commission<\/a> to elect delegates who will represent them in Honolulu this winter at an eight-week constitutional convention for self-governance. More than 200 Hawaiians on the mainland and across the islands are campaigning for 40 seats at the planned assembly, where the paramount task will be to draft a document that guides the creation of a new government by and for Native Hawaiians.<\/p>\n

Native Hawaiians are the only indigenous group in the U.S. without their own political structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come to Hawaii and think it’s just a tourist destination,\u201d said Rowena Akana, a trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and a candidate in the upcoming election. \u201cThey know nothing about how the natives here have suffered and still suffer today. This election is very important because it\u2019s an opportunity to seek some reparation. This is our chance to make a comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nation building process is being organized by Na\u2019i Aupuni<\/a>, a private nonprofit. In Hawaiian language, na\u2019i means \u201cthe one who conquered\u201d and aupuni means \u201ccreated the kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Election results will be announced Dec. 1.<\/p>\n

A cycle of grief<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 122-year absence of a government focused on the issues and needs of the Native Hawaiian community has bred chaos, said Robin Danner, who was appointed to the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission by former Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie. The commission, led by former Hawaii Gov. John Waihee, was formed in 2011 with amission to assemble a list of qualified and interested Native Hawaiian voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time in over a hundred years, there will be a definitive voice on Native Hawaiian issues,\u201d Danner said. \u201cA definitive and recognized government to speak for our culture, our people, our issues, instead of county or state government attempting to have a sub-committee within their agencies or structures to mouthpiece the value of native viewpoints, which has not worked well at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The 30-day voting period for the election will select delegates for an eight-week constitutional convention on self-governance to be held this winter. Caleb Jones \/ AP<\/p><\/div>\n

A prime example of the philosophical divide over land and resource management \u00a0nherent in the relationship between the state and the Native Hawaiian community is the battle<\/a> over plans to build the world\u2019s most powerful telescope atop Mauna Kea, a 32,000-foot volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii where ancient Hawaiians believed the gods lived. Protesters have halted the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope<\/a> (TMT) for six months and counting, claiming that the mountain\u2019s cultural significance is being sacrificed for science.<\/p>\n

Gov. David Ige\u00a0has ordered several of the dozen telescopes already located on the mountain to be decommissioned. But he has refused to stop the TMT construction. With protesters still on the mountain, the case is being heard by Hawaii\u2019s Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Off the mountain, and in everyday life, the Native Hawaiian community is plagued by poverty, homelessness and the erosion of native traditions. Hawaiian students rank among the lowest groups<\/a> nationally in reading. Hawaiian high school graduation and college acceptance rates fall below the national average. The high cost of living in the island chain, widely viewed by outsiders as a carefree palm tree paradise, has many native families focused on just trying to survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing native in the United States is like living a cycle of grief,\u201d Danner said. \u201cBecause being native in the United States is to have lost something powerful. First, you’re depressed. Then you’re angry. Then there is some acceptance and then you get to a point where you say, ‘What am I going to do about it?’ As a people I think we are at the stage where we are ready to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebuilding a culture<\/strong><\/p>\n

Momentum has been building for decades. Since the Native Hawaiian renaissance in the 1970s, Hawaiians have been working to rebuild their culture. Along with these successes are hard-fought efforts to return a measure of self-determination to the Hawaiian people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really don\u2019t have a place where our people can vote in leaders who can come together to debate and come to a consensus on issues that are important to us,\u201d said Bill Meheula, an attorney for Na\u2019i Aupuni, the non-profit organizing the election. \u201cInstead what you have is a number of different groups advocating things with no way of collectively moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kelii<\/a>

Kelii Akina is the president of public policy think thank Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and a plaintiff in a lawsuit that challenged the Native Hawaii election in federal court in October.Audrey McAvoy \/ AP<\/p><\/div>\n

This election, he said, could change that.<\/p>\n

An attempt to halt the election on the grounds that it\u2019s discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional was shot down by a federal judge nine days before the start of the voting period. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Seabright said Na\u2019i Aupuni is a private election, and private elections are permitted to limit voter eligibility by race.<\/p>\n

The injunction motion is part of a lawsuit brought forth by the conservative interest group Judicial Watch and the public policy think tank Grassroot Institute, which is based in Honolulu. The plaintiffs include two non-Hawaiians who aren\u2019t eligible to participate in the election and four Hawaiians who argue that it\u2019s discriminatory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real harm of this election is it fosters a kind of racial discrimination that damages our greatest product in Hawaii, the aloha spirit,\u201d said Keli\u2019i Akina, president of Grassroot Institute. \u201cThe net effect of a race-based election to establish a race-based government will only serve to divide people from one another. Racial tensions are already on the rise in the nation and it’s a terrible thing to also see this becoming the case in the Aloha state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs are expected to appeal the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

The stakes are raised<\/strong><\/p>\n

The stakes were raised in September when the U.S. Department of Interior published a draft administrative rule outlining the process by which a Native Hawaiian government, once formed, could seek a formal government-to-government relationship with the United States. Native Hawaiian advocates have sought a rule that would open the door to federal recognition of a Native Hawaiian government for decades. All told, there are 566 American Indian and Alaska Native tribes with a federally recognized form of self-governance.<\/p>\n

Citizens of a federally recognized Native Hawaiian government would be eligible for a special kind of dual citizenship. They would be able to become citizens of whatever form of native governance the Hawaiian community decides to create while also retaining all the benefits of American citizenship. These are the rights former U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka spent more than a decade trying to secure for Hawaiians through the passage of what\u2019s popularly known as the Akaka bill.<\/p>\n

Not all Hawaiians, however, support federal recognition. Some want nothing to do with the U.S. government that overthrew Queen Liliuokalani.<\/p>\n

Congress formally apologized for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1993 in a joint resolution that acknowledges that the overthrow was \u201cillegal\u201d and expresses its \u201cdeep regret to the Native Hawaiian people\u201d as well as its support for reconciliation. The resolution has fueled the desires of some Hawaiians who are seeking to reinstate the Hawaiian kingdom, dissolve the State of Hawaii and do away with the U.S. government entirely.<\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/a>

Bill Meheula is the attorney for Na’i Aupuni, a private nonprofit that is organizing the nation-building project for Native Hawaiians.Audrey McAvoy \/ AP<\/p><\/div>\n

Not all Hawaiians, however, support federal recognition. Some want nothing to do with the U.S. government that overthrew Queen Liliuokalani.<\/p>\n

Congress formally apologized for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1993 in a joint resolution that acknowledges that the overthrow was \u201cillegal\u201d and expresses its \u201cdeep regret to the Native Hawaiian people\u201d as well as its support for reconciliation. The resolution has fueled the desires of some Hawaiians who are seeking to reinstate the Hawaiian kingdom, dissolve the State of Hawaii and do away with the U.S. government entirely.<\/p>\n

Whether a new Native Hawaiian government should seek a government-to-government relationship with the U.S. or total independence is expected to be one of the primary issues that the elected delegates will debate at the planned constitutional convention. It\u2019s a debate that no doubt will be heated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn any ethnicity you\u2019re not going to have total buy-in on any important issue,\u201d said Meheula, the Na\u2019i Aupuni attorney. \u201cWe\u2019re no different on that than anyone else. The fact that we don\u2019t have a government, I think, exacerbates the tendency for us to not agree with each other. A government is how people reach agreement. It\u2019s that total process of electing leaders to debate the issues with transparency that lends itself to reaching general consensus in any community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melody MacKenzie, director of the University of Hawaii\u2019s Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, said she believes Hawaiians on both sides of the debate can work together to create a political structure that will help ensure that Native Hawaiian culture not only survives, but thrives.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, it\u2019s ironic that we\u2019ve been colonized and we\u2019ve been taught by the American system to each have our own voice and opinion, yet now the fact that we each have our own opinion makes us seem divisive,\u201d MacKenzie said. \u201cUltimately, what we all want is what\u2019s best for our people. This election is an opportunity for a large group of us to come together with some realistic expectation that we\u2019re going to come to a resolution and finally figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 aljazeera.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30 Oct 2015 \u2014 In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii, yielded power to a group of businessmen backed by Marines in order to avoid the bloodshed of her people. She did so believing that the U.S. government, when presented with the facts, would eventually restore the Hawaiian kingdom. Instead, the coup led to the dissolution of Hawaiian sovereignty and the tropical archipelago’s eventual admission to statehood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65940\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}