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Returning land
is priority for
Hawaiians

A federal report suggests
native Hawaiians get control
over surplus land and a
new political status

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By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

The U.S. departments of Justice and the Interior say Congress should give priority to developing legislation for the transfer of federal surplus lands to native Hawaiians.

The suggestion is part of five recommendations made in a 56-page federal draft report released yesterday that focuses on reconciliation between the U.S. government and native Hawaiians.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees praised the report as a long-awaited step toward federal recognition of Hawaii's native people.

"Some of the recommendations they make, I think, are exactly what the Hawaiian people were asking for when the (reconciliation) hearings occurred out here last year," said Rowena Akana.

"The sensitivity that they showed regarding the Hawaiian people is heartwarming to me. As a native, it almost brings tears to my eyes, 110 years after the taking of our lands, that the United States is willing now to look at, seriously, self-determination for native people," she said.

OHA Chairman Clayton Hee agreed that any surplus land in Hawaii not used for military purposes should be returned to Hawaiians. He believes the state could first receive the surplus land, then give it to Hawaiians as partial payment for revenues owed for use of former crown lands.

"It's a win-win situation for everybody," Hee said.

The report recommends that Congress clarify the political status of native Hawaiians, as well as create a framework for a government-to-government relationship with a native government set up by Hawaiians.

OHA trustee Mililani Trask said this recommendation affirms that Hawaiians are on the right track to "corrective legislation" to recognize the right of native people to self-determination.

The draft report also recommends:

An office within the Interior Department to address native Hawaiian issues, which could help coordinate transfer of surplus land;
The assignment of the Office of Tribal Justice to maintain a continuous dialogue with Hawaiians on issues of mutual concern;
The creation of a Native Hawaiian Advisory Commission to advise the Interior Department on land and water issues affecting native Hawaiians.
More efforts to promote the welfare of Hawaiians.

But some disagree with the report's recommendations.

Keoni Kealoha Agard, a delegate to the Native Hawaiian Convention, said he and other delegates oppose congressional efforts to give Hawaiians federal recognition because, among other things, it infringes upon their right under international law to self-determination.

Attorney H. William Burgess said Hawaiians were never a tribe and shouldn't be afforded federal status as American Indians. His wife, Sandra, told federal officials last December she didn't see why she should get preferential treatment because she's Hawaiian.

There is a 30-day comment period on the draft report. For more information, visit the Interior Department's Web site at: http://www.doi.gov/nativehawaiians/.

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Holo I Mua: Sovereignty Roundtable