Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 7, 1 July 2000 — Selling out sovereignty [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Selling out sovereignty

USING THE Rice decision as a threat, the Democratic hierarchy is proposing federal recognition legislation. It will be introduced in Congress without the Hawaiian peoples' input. The measure will not provide for recognition of a nation, nor for land, natural resources or revenues for Hawaiians. The net impact will be to maintain and protect the pork barrel Dan Inouye has funneled to a few politically connected Hawaiians under Pinky Thompson or the Bishop Estate, including the Pacifīc-American Foundation whose funding is linked to Asian-American funding. The Hawai'i federal delegation has appointed a Native Hawaiian Community Working Group, heavily weighted with Hā Hawai'i/HSEC/'Aha Hawai'i 'Oiwi representatives. The Community Working Group has no funds to hold hearings or to sponsor educational workshops. There is a quiet and effective campaign to prevent Hawaiians and the puhhe from even seeing the bill. No copy has been published in loeal newspapers; the delegation has posted no mailout. OHA Chairman Clayton Hee arranged for board attomey Sherry Broder to write a legal opinion justifying why OHA funds could not be used for an educational effort on the bill. OHA

Tmstee Colette Machado, Inouye's Moloka'i campaign coordinator and a member of the Working Group, who is also in charge of the OHA Legislative and Governmental Affairs Committee, has flatly refused to hold hearings. According to Machado, Hawaiians don't need to have a hearing; they should rubber stamp the Inouye measure. Assisting the Democratic Party effort is ex-Govemor John Waihe'e, whose nonbid contract OHA recently extended by $60,000, although he has no background in this area. Waihe'e was the govemor who worked with Clayton Hee in 1993 to create and fund the state Democratic Party's sovereignty effort (HSEC/Hā Hawai'i) now known as 'Aha Hawai'i 'Oiwi, whieh has spent more than $2 million in federal, state and private tmst funds but received less that 6 percent in support from Hawaiian voters. Inouye and his group have successfully delayed the Interior reconciliation report (whieh was due in February) and have held up a presidential executive order on Hawaiian poliheal status. For years, Hawaiians have been treated as AsianPacific immigrants by the U.S. Census. This prevented Hawaiians ffom being treated as indigenous native peoples and it

benefitted Asians by allowing them to count 200,000 Hawaiians as Asians. When Hawaiians finally raised the issue and tried to force a change in our census category, Inouye had Haunani Apoliona put on the census committee to ensure Hawaiians would not be included in the category with other native peoples. Inouye worked with Thompson and several Asian mainland groups to obtain a presidential executive order directing the way Hawaiian and Asian funding and input would be handled at the federal agency level. Later, Inouye had Haunani Apohona appointed to the new Presidential Advisory Commission on Asian-Americans and

Pacific Islanders. Not surprisingly, the Asian-Ameri-cans are also moving to support the D_emocratic Party's 'Aha Hawai'i 'Oiwi initiative and to maintain their control of Hawaiian federal funding and pohcy making. With Dan Inouye's help, the Asian Paeihe Women's Leadership Institute (whieh includes Norma Wong and Haunani Apohona) is moving a national Asian effort to gain support on the continent for the 'Aha Hawai'i 'Oiwi initiative. The Institute, controhed by Japanese and Chinese women, has extensive contacts with the Japanese-American Community League (JACL) in Hawai'i. Not surprisingly, the federally appointed State of Hawai'i Working Group is dominated by board members of the JACL whieh has passed resolutions supporting the state's 'Aha Hawai'i 'Oiwi plan. Finally, there is Eric Yamamoto, a University of Hawai'i law professor whose reconcihation approach is being touted by Haunani Apohona as the way to go. He espouses Christian brotherly love for those who overthrew the government with token restitution paid to the puhhe! This approach has brought significant funding to Asians. Remember when Dan Inouye kihed the A.L.O.H.A. reparations biU, the Asians got $1 hillion in their Japanese Reparations BiU. ■

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