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Hawaiians will
benefit, OHA
trustee says

But validation of non-Hawaiian
candidates disappoints others in
OHA and the attorney general

Amended Akaka bill advances

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By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

Members of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs interim board gave mixed responses to a U.S. District Court ruling that allows non-Hawaiians to serve as OHA trustees.

While some trustees were disappointed at yesterday's ruling by District Judge Helen Gillmor, others said all of Hawaii will benefit.

"That's good news," said trustee Charles Ota. "I feel, as I've been saying in the past couple of days, I think I can do a good job for the Hawaiian people."

Ota was appointed to the board last week by the governor. He is the first non-Hawaiian to serve as trustee, and among a handful of non-Hawaiians who are candidates for OHA.

Trustee Jean Ilei Keale Beniamina said she's not disappointed, noting it was bound to happen given the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Rice vs. Cayetano case.

"I had hoped that Hawaiians would have a say in that, but perhaps we've taken a little bit too long to wait for answers, to search for answers among our people," she said.

Gillmor's ruling yesterday followed her temporary injunction, issued Aug. 15, that allowed non-Hawaiians to run and, if elected, serve on the OHA board.

She ruled yesterday in favor of non-Hawaiians who want to vote for non-Hawaiians as OHA candidates. The judge said the scheme used by the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the Rice appeal is similar in this case.

Gillmor ruled the state does not have the same unique relationship with Hawaiians and native Hawaiians as the federal government has with Indian tribes.

"This court is not finding that Hawaiians may not share the same status as tribal Indians," Gillmor said.

"This court only holds that OHA elections are the affairs of the state and not of a quasi-sovereign, and that Congress has not expressly authorized the prohibition against non-Hawaiian trustees."

Plaintiffs' attorney Patrick Hanafin said yesterday his clients are happy the judge affirmed their 14th and 15th Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.

"The (U.S.) Supreme Court opened up the voting (in OHA), and now Judge Gillmor has opened up the right to run to everyone so that all the voters have an equal opportunity now to decide who among a large variety of candidates are the best candidates," Hanafin said.

Gov. Ben Cayetano was not surprised by the ruling, said spokeswoman Kim Murakawa.

State Attorney General Earl Anzai said he was disappointed by the decision.

"I think we'll sit down and read the decision, and probably sit down with OHA and decide what to do," Anzai said.

Although the Rice decision has now been used to open the OHA board to non-Hawaiians, the challenges to Hawaiian programs may not stop there, Anzai said.

Other OHA trustees agree. Hannah Springer said Gillmor's decision was "a foreseeable consequence" of the Rice decision. Nalani Olds said it makes her feel as if OHA and Hawaiians are losing control of their future.

"It's like our destiny now lies in everybody else's hands," Olds said.

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House panel amends
and OKs Akaka bill

The U.S. House Committee on Resources unanimously approved a bill today that clarifies the political relationship between the U.S. and native Hawaiians.

The committee took about 10 minutes to amend H.R. 4094, the Akaka bill, to reflect minor changes to the legislation made last week by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who co-chaired a joint House-Senate hearing on the bill in Hawaii last month, urged his colleagues to approve the bill.

Abercrombie said that most of the testimony received at the Honolulu hearings supported the measure, and that American Indians, Alaska Natives and the U.S. departments of Interior and Justice all back the proposal.

Also, already having 160 federal laws designed to address the conditions of native Hawaiians, the reorganization of a native Hawaiian government would not require a host of new federal programs to serve them, Abercrombie said.

House leadership is discussing the next move for the Akaka bill. The options include having the measure stand alone before the full House for approval or attaching it to another bill being "fast-tracked" through Congress.

OHA Special

Rice vs. Cayetano arguments

Rice vs. Cayetano decision

Holo I Mua: Sovereignty Roundtable