Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 10, 1 October 1999 — Native Convention [ARTICLE]

Native Convention

Is it disagreement with where the Hā or Native Hawaiian Convention originated? Is it the disclaimer by the state Legislature? It gets stranger as time goes on how the state has really eonfused the issues by interfering in the procedure of self-determination. As pre-planned, some groups picked up and began making other people aware of it, thereby becoming the enemy from within. Maybe it's time to turn the tables, don't you think? Use a procedure that the state has tainted and make it work for us. Well, Hawaiians of old stuck together. Maybe the ones we have to deal with today are too smart for their own good. They use thought but not understanding. To wit: Public Law 103-150 already says we are sovereigns, beholden to no one. No disclaimer prohibits us ffom any change. We are the only ones who ean do that. Wake up, Kanaka maoh. One mind, one voice, one people. This is food for thought but a lū'au for understanding. W. Brown Kāne'ohe

LETTERS From page 2