Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 4, 1 April 1996 — Page 20 Advertisements Column 2 [ADVERTISEMENT]

Is it a Plebisdte or Native Hawaiian Vote? Recently, the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council (HSEC) has announced that the formerly known Plebiscite is now being called a Native Hawaiian Vote. The Council cited many reasons for this change, but most important was the general confusion about the Plebiscite in the Hawaiian community. However, what the HSEC has not mentioned is the fact that the change from Plebiscite to Native Hawaiian Vote has not yet been approved by the Legislature. House Bill No. 3283, whieh changes the Plebiscite to Native Hawaiian Vote, has only passed the House and is awaiting Senate approval. Therefore, holding press conferences and announcing ■ the big change serves to deceive and confuse you. More importantly, the need for | Legislative approval of the change | from Plebiscite to Native Hawai- | ian Vote is evidence that the State is controlling this process. If the HSEC had true authority over the process, they would be able to make changes without State approval. However, the State is not a neutral party, it has interests that udermine Hawaiian rights, land and our trust assets. According to Jose Luis Morin (International Human Rights Attorney), "This name change still jeopardizes the rights of the Kanaka Maoli people. No one should be deceived. It is still a vote that the U.S. government ean use to block Hawaiian rights. Any process whieh ean be construed as a vote ean be used by the U.S. to block Hawaiian self-determina-tion." In this time of fiscal crisis, does the state actually have six million dollars to waste on this so called benefit to the Hawaiian people? Be aware that this ploy ean and has been used to deny the rights