Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 10, 1 October 1994 — Proposals for sovereignty [ARTICLE]

Proposals for sovereignty

Considering the general problems confronting East Hawai'i I first thought to submit this as a tongue-in-cheek proposal. As I assembled it, it took on a life of its own, as to viability and value: — Give the Hawaiians sovereignty over selected enclaves of Hawaiian lands. — Lease, sell or return lands adjacent to the airport to the sovereign Hawaiian enclave for a gambling and sports complex. The airport could still function. Use experience of the Native American Indian tribes as a management and operations base. One Indian tribe south of Minneapolis/Saint Paul divides up earnings of $400,000 annually per member. Translate that to education grants, health facilities, homes, and business-building for Hawaiians of 50 percent or more native blood. The Winnebago/Omaha Reservation at Wahhill, Nebraska changed trashy shacks and weedy fields to well-kept brick-veneer homes and well-kept farms, a well-educated tribal membership,

and health and social services for the Tribal membership, all from revenues from bingo parlor games etc. at Walthill. The training, employment and social service for the native Hawaiians would be an added bonus. Daryl F. Kayl Hilo, Hawai'i