OHA trustees decide
to fund sovereignty
educational campaign

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has approved funding for an educational campaign on self-determination, even though a recent OHA survey ranked sovereignty only the 10th most important issue among Hawaiians.

The OHA board of trustees Friday by a 5-3 vote approved $243,550 for a yearlong education campaign, a key component of a planned puwalu, or native gathering. The puwalu is tentatively scheduled for next spring and is planned by the OHA advisory group Paepae Hanahano.

The volunteer group has met for the past four months to gather information, discuss issues and create alternatives toward sovereignty that are a "win-win" for all members. Originally, the group sought $1,021,296 in trust funds from OHA over the next two years to fund their plans, but trustees decided to start first with the educational component.

The action, however, comes after OHA last month revealed results of a survey that showed only 11 percent of Hawaiians and 15 percent of non-Hawaiians ranked sovereignty as the most pressing issue for Hawaiians.

Land rights, Hawaiian unity and education topped the list.

Nevertheless, OHA Chairwoman Rowena Akana considered the funding approval a victory because it starts a process she believes the agency was meant to do. That is, help bring all Hawaiians together on the issue of independence.

Akana said yesterday the mass education effort will help educate Hawaiians as well as others about sovereignty alternatives so that there's no fear or hysteria about what it is that OHA wants to do. And just because sovereignty wasn't high on the survey doesn't mean it is not important, she said.

"That shouldn't stop us," Akana said. "The fact that it was 10th with our people but first with other people in this state tells you that it is an important issue because other people in this state want to know how sovereignty is going to affect them."

OHA originally had planned to hold the huge puwalu next month but pushed it back until next spring because of the pending appeal of the Rice vs. Cayetano case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

OHA and the state have assembled separate Washington, D.C., legal teams to argue against Big Island rancher Harold "Freddy" Rice's claim of racial discrimination after he was not allowed to vote in the Hawaiians-only OHA elections.

The state and OHA have said the OHA elections are based on the special political status of Hawaiians, and not on their race.

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