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Hawaiian officials
want sovereignty
feedback
Convention delegates will ask
Hawaiians how they should go
about drafting two models
of sovereigntyHomesteader plans
By Pat Omandam
White House march
and Treena Shapiro
Star-BulletinNATIVE Hawaiian Convention delegates in the next few weeks will ask Hawaiians how they should draft two skeletal models of sovereignty: independence and nation within a nation.
They will use the feedback from these public forums to flesh out the proposals before the convention's next meeting on April 15-16, said delegate David Maika'i Hana'ike.
"We look forward to continue working with our communities to achieve a sovereignty proposal that we can truly feel ownership of," Hana'ike said.
In their first meeting since the Rice-vs.-Cayetano decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, the delegates this past weekend sought to add details on issues such as whether citizenship would be granted to only to Hawaiians or opened to others.
Delegates said the Rice decision has increased the urgency to have a ratified constitution as soon as possible.
"We're going to get consensus this year," said First Vice Chairman Keoni Agard.
Agard said even opposing Hawaiian groups will agree on a common constitution.
"We're meeting," Agard said. "That in itself is a very important step. They're going to be part of the consensus."
Preliminary plans are to put the two or more models for sovereignty on a ballot for Hawaiian voters this fall.
Sesnita Moepono, a member of the convention's Committee on Legal Matters, stressed the importance of unity among all Hawaiian groups.
"The doors and barriers have already started," she said.
"We have to come together and seek a compromise so we can achieve our goal before the house is dismantled."
Agard said delegates approved a plan over the weekend to use federal recognition as a "steppingstone" to independence.
He said the convention unanimously voted to lobby President Clinton for an executive order that states the federal government acknowledges native Hawaiians are not precluded from exercising all options of sovereignty.
Also, the convention will inform the federal government that Hawaiians are still in pursuit of self-determination and that they have chosen 77 delegates to the convention to help determine a government of their choosing.
"We will lobby the White House and the executive branch to obtain federal recognition under our terms," Agard said.
Finally, Agard said, they want the United States to follow through on the reconciliation process. The delegates were encouraged that the U.S. solicitor general filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Rice-vs.-Cayetano case that stated the United States has a trust relationship with native Hawaiians.
Delegate and media liaison Ikaika Hussey said two Native American guest speakers told the convention to create a constitution as independent as possible and not to limit themselves to the frameworks of the U.S. and Hawaii constitutions.
Holo I Mua
The Star-Bulletin gathered 10 Hawaiian
Hawaiian Roundtable
leaders for a timely dialogue about what's next for
Hawaiians in the wake of Rice vs. Cayetano.Representing various views within the Hawaiian
community, the participants were provocative and
candid during a 90-minute discussion on March 13, 2000.To read a full transcript of the discussion, Click Here
You can also hear the audio recording of the discussion as well as view a panoramic photo of the participants.
Homesteader plans
By Pat Omandam
White House march
Star-BulletinKauai homesteader John "Butch" Kekahu realized his 17-year-old dream when up to 200 people marched to the White House in August 1998 to raise national awareness about the plight of native Hawaiians.
The disabled 56-year-old, battling diabetes for the past six years, now wants to gather 20,000 people for another march this summer in Washington, D.C.
Asked why, Kekahu smiles and states: "It's a good fight."
With the ramifications of the Rice-vs.-Cayetano decision playing out in the local and national arena, Kekahu and others believe a strong showing of Hawaiian unity for the Aloha March 2000 is critical. They say the two-day protest is the best venue to send a message to the nation and the world about native Hawaiian self-determination.
Kekahu said Hawaiians cannot stand aside while their rights are stripped. It is time for all native people to put aside differences and speak with a strong clear voice, he said last week.
The march will take place Aug. 11-12 along Pennsylvania Avenue from the U.S. Capitol to the White House. Discussion about self-determination and the return of ceded lands to a sovereign Hawaiian nation will also take place.
As a prelude, organizers will hold a "Hawaiian Ti Party" on July 4 in Boston Harbor in a version of the Dec. 16, 1773, dumping of hundreds of boxes of untaxed imported tea into the harbor by American colonists. Instead of tea, Kekahu will toss ti leaf leis made by different Hawaii communities to symbolize unity.
Kekahu got the idea for the march 17 years ago with his late uncles, Charlie and Nathaniel Koani, out of frustration with the state and courts over native land rights, homestead issues and sovereignty. It was held two years ago on the 100th anniversary of the annexation of Hawaii by the United States.
Riley Ehu Cardwell, Aloha March media coordinator and a former Hawaii radio disc jockey, said the march has attracted interest from at least 30 Hawaiian civic clubs and hula groups nationwide. Some Native American tribes said they would attend, including one that has vowed to bring 800 people on motorcycles.
Kekahu's home on Kauai serves as the main headquarters for the march, while a network of people on the East Coast are arranging the permits, police, portable restrooms and first aid stations required.
To defray the costs of the march, the foundation has produced a fund-raising CD-ROM of Hawaiian music.
Also, seminars will be held this summer in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Boston to train march participants in protocol and chants that will be used. Fund-raising concerts will be held in those cities.
For more information, call Kekahu (808) 822-7643. You can send him an email at alohamarch2k@yahoo.com or visit the Aloha March 2000 Web site at: http://www.alohamarch2000.org
