FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Robert Klein, left, Mark Bennett, Bruce Fein, Kaleikoa Kaeo and moderator Tina Shelton discussed the Akaka Bill yesterday at a forum that was later broadcast on KHON and KHET.

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OHA poll shows
strong community
support of Akaka Bill

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, bolstered by new business and labor support and an opinion poll released yesterday, is ramping up efforts to get the U.S. Senate to pass a native Hawaiian sovereignty bill.

Also yesterday, opponents and supporters of the Akaka Bill squared off in the first of two forums to debate the measure.

The push for the long-stalled bill continued yesterday with a morning rally at Iolani Palace of more than 100 supporters, including representatives of the University of Hawaii, the AFL-CIO, Chaminade University, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaii Metal Recycling, Maui Land & Pine, Royal Contracting and Stanford Carr Development Corp.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Sept. 6 on a motion that would stop opponents from delaying a vote on the bill, formally called the Native Hawaiian Recognition Act of 2005. The bill would start the process of recognizing and forming a native Hawaiian government entity to negotiate with state and federal governments. If Akaka gets 60 votes to halt the delays, the Senate could vote on the bill next month.

Haunani Apoliona, OHA chairwoman, announced the results of the poll that showed 68 percent of those surveyed support the bill, 17 percent do not support it and 15 percent refused to answer or had no opinion.

The statewide poll was taken Aug. 15-18 by Ward Research, a local public opinion firm. OHA paid for the poll of 401 randomly selected Hawaii residents, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

According to the poll, the strongest support comes from younger residents, with 76 percent of those age 18-34 supporting the Akaka Bill, while only 55 percent of those 55 and older supported the proposal.

"The Akaka Bill is the start of a long road to reconciliation," Apoliona said. "It also has a practical impact in this age of lawsuits, as a shield to protect programs that serve native Hawaiians and benefit the entire state."

The poll also asked if Hawaiians should be given federal recognition even if, as critics say, native Hawaiians are a race rather than an indigenous group. Only 9 percent agreed that native Hawaiians should not be given recognition because of race, while 80 percent said race should not be the basis for denying federal recognition, Apoliona said.

William Burgess, an attorney who has filed lawsuits attacking the constitutionality of both OHA and the state Hawaiian Home Lands Department, said he doubted the poll's validity.

"This is the same shibai they used in their 2003 poll," Burgess said, adding that a group opposing the bill took its own poll this summer showing residents opposing the measure.

"The Akaka Bill would allow anyone with an ancestor who was indigenous to form their own separate government. Do you think that is right?" he said.

Asked about the large number of businesses and community groups supporting the Akaka Bill, Burgess said, "It sounds like a lot of people who may have a vested interest in keeping Hawaiians in a state of dependency."

Another critic of the bill, Hawaiian activist Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele, said yesterday's rally did not change his mind, either.

"What we have to do is go back to square one. Basically, it means we have to educate the people as to what our options are," Kanahele said.

But Gov. Linda Lingle, who plans to go back to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the bill next month, said she is encouraged by the poll and support.

"We'll be sending a letter to all of the Republican members of the Senate, again, with some of the latest information from here at home, and I suppose this kind of a poll would be helpful," Lingle said.

At the forum taped yesterday in Manoa and later broadcast on KHON-TV and KHET, Bruce Fein, a constitutional attorney and bill opponent, repeated his call that the bill be put up for a vote in Hawaii before Congress acts on it. "Why would the Hawaiian people not want to be given the opportunity to choose?" Fein said.

State Attorney General Mark Bennett responded, saying Fein and other Akaka Bill opponents were calling for a vote to delay action in Congress.

Also participating in the forum was Kaleikoa Kaeo, spokesman for Hui Pu, a group formed to oppose the bill, and a sovereignty group called NOA (Not of America). Kaeo said federal recognition is not needed because Hawaiians are already recognized through treaties the kingdom had with the United States and with other countries.

"We are real people with a real history," Kaeo said.

A free forum will be held today at the Japanese Cultural Center, 2454 S. Beretania St., from 5 to 7 p.m. featuring Bennett, Fein, native Hawaiian journalist and filmmaker Anne Keala Kelly, and OHA attorney Robert Klein, who also participated in yesterday's forum.

Also, at 7 p.m. next Tuesday on KITV, OHA will broadcast a one-hour special on the bill.

Akaka, who spoke at yesterday's rally, said he thinks he has the votes needed to end the debate and win a floor vote on the bill. "I would prefer that we move on and take the vote immediately, but as you know, other things can happen," he said.