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By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin
U.S. recognition of native Hawaiians under the Akaka bill will not make Hawaiians into American Indians or Alaskan natives, says Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Mililani Trask.She said they are grouped together now because of the 150 federal programs that help Hawaiians.
Trask told a joint U.S. Senate-House committee today Hawaiian children do not have the same protection as Alaska natives and American Indians when it comes to the welfare of their children because Hawaiians lack federal recognition.
For example, there is a federal law that requires indigenous children who are removed from their families under child protective custody to be placed with host families of the same tribe. That way, there is less of a cultural impact to them, Trask said.
"Our children are removed daily from the families, but they are placed with non-Hawaiian families," she said.
Yesterday, Sue Masten, president of the National Congress of American Indians, the largest and oldest American Indian organization, representing 550 tribes, told the panel the organization passed two resolutions that support a government-to-government relationship between Hawaiians and the federal government.
The group, organized in 1944 to fight against the termination of tribal sovereignty and the assimilation policies of the federal government, will back whatever path Hawaiians choose to assure their self-determination, she said.
Masten said federal recognition has not affected the ability of her own tribe to control its destiny, although there were problems. For example, like Hawaiians today, they debated and argued over the potential control wielded by the U.S. Department of Interior, which houses the Bureau of Indian Affairs.But so far, things have not been that bad, Masten said. "Our ability to serve our people and to protect our resources does indeed far outweigh any problems with the federal bureaucracy," she said.
Members of U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka's staff said yesterday that endorsements of the Alaska natives and American Indian groups who paid to send officials to Hawaii to testify at the weeklong hearings carry weight in Congress because they have such large memberships.
For example, Akaka spokesman Paul Cardus said those in Congress who know little about federal recognition for native Hawaiians most likely will check first to see if American Indians and Alaska natives support the measure before they consider it.
Also coming to Hawaii on his own to testify yesterday was Mark Van Norman, former director of the Office of Tribal Justice, Department of Justice. Van Norman and Interior Department official John Berry conducted statewide hearings in Hawaii last December to gather feedback on a proposed reconciliation process for Hawaiians.
A draft report on their findings was released earlier this month with recommendations for reconciliation that are similar to the Akaka bill. Van Norman testified that the bill is formative legislation that affirms native Hawaiians are a political community and not a racial group. It allows kanaka maoli to maintain their culture and traditions for future generations, he said.
"I believe for the native Hawaiian people to make progress on these issues, it's important for them to be able to address the injuries they have suffered as a community," Van Norman said. "And to do so, they need a clear representative voice. Congress has the authority to enact such legislation," he said.
Proceedings at today's hearing were again disrupted after a witness refused to end his testimony. Yesterday's hearing ended about an hour earlier than planned after a similar disruption.
As a result, U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, who officiates the hearing, began enforcing the five-minute time limit for testimony. Inouye said the length of testimony ranged from 10 minutes to 32 minutes yesterday, with only one person sticking to the five-minute rule.
Two dozen plainclothes officers and sheriff's deputies remain stationed at the hearing, and Inouye warned protesters that further disruptions only waste time.
"You're not looking good on television, believe me," Inouye said.