Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 5, 1 May 2004 — Setting the record straight [ARTICLE]

Setting the record straight

Answers to eommon misconceptions about the Akaka Bill

With the recent revision of the federal-recognition bill S. 344 (also known as the "Akaka Bill," after its primary sponsor, Sen. Daniel Akaka), OHA's Hawaiian Governance division has prepared this list of questions and answers to address eommon misperception about the measure, whieh seeks toformalize the fed.eral government's special relationship with Native Hawaiians. QWhat is the purpose of the Akaka Bill? The purpose of the Akaka Bill is to approve a process for Native Hawaiians to seek federal recognition from the U.S. government. The Akaka Bill does not give Hawaiians federal recognition in itself, it just outlines steps for Hawaiians to follow to form a nation ;/Hawaiians want to be federally recognized. QWhy is rec((gnition important? AFederal recognition is important because it will give Hawaiians a status similar to what American Indians and Native Alaskans now have with the U.S. government. This status will stop some of the attacks on Native Hawaiian rights and entitlements because it will formally define Hawaiians not as a race but as a political group to whom the U.S. owes special consideration. It will establish Hawaiians as an indigenous people of a onee sovereign nation to whom the U.S. has established a trust relationship. It will take the wind out of the argument that preferential treatment of Hawaiians is race-based and thus unconstitutional. QDoes federal recognition, through use of the Indian Commerce Clause, make Hawaiians into Indians? ANo, it does not. The Indian Commerce Clause has already been used to afford federal recognition to Alaska Natives, who are not Indian either. In using the Indian Commerce Clause, Congress is not looking at the literal meaning of the word "Indian," but at Indians being an indigenous, aboriginal group of people, a classification that also applies to Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. QWould federal recognition prohibit Native Hawaiians from seeking independence in the internaAlional arena? No, it would not. The Akaka Bill specifically states that it does not settle any elaim against the United States. Native Hawaiians ean still pursue claims against the U.S., both within the U.S. and in the international arena. QWill the Akaka Bill extinguish Ilawaiian claims to land and resources? No, it will not. The Akaka Bill specifically states that it does not settle any elaim against the United States.

QIs the Kau Inoa enrollment process really for the Akaka Bill? ANo, it is not. Kau Inoa is a separate and distinct track from the Akaka Bill. Kau Inoa enrollment is for the purpose of enrolling Native Hawaiians so they ean participate in the formation of a Native Hawaiian governing entity by voting and running for office, if they so desire. We need to form a Hawaiian nation regardless of whether the Akaka Bill passes, because right now there is no governing entity that speaks for the Hawaiian people. Hawaiians who participate in the formation of a Native Hawaiian governing entity may choose federal recognition or any other form of government. QHas OHA spent $7 million on lobbying for the Akaka Bill? ANo. OHA has spent something less than $1 million on lobbying for the Akaka Bill. The exact amount to date is being compiled for release. QIf the Akaka Bill passes, how will we ensure that the Department of Interior and Bureau of Iinlian Affairs (BIA) do not mismanage Hawaiian assets they way they mismanaged Iinlian assets? Aīhe way to make sure our assets are not mismanaged is to maka'ala (pay attention). Under the Akaka Bill, Hawaiians would not be part of the BIA, but would eome under the U.S. Office for Native Hawaiian Relations, whieh would be under the Department of Interior. We have the benefit of knowing how the Department of Interior has acted in the past, and we ean be vigilant in making sure that our land and resources are protected. QIf the Akaka Bill passes and we don't like some of its provisions, are we stuck with it? ANo, we are not. We ean seek to amend the Akaka Bill even after it passes. We ean seek to amend it every year until it meets our satisfaction. If it never meets our satisfaction, we ean just decline to form a nation according to the hill' s steps. We ean continue to seek self-determination in other forms and arenas, including the international arena. The reason OHA trustees support the Akaka Bill is to preserve federal recognition as an option should Hawaiians want fed.eral recognition as a form of government. Should Hawaiians decide they do not want federal recognition, the Akaka Bill and its provisions will be irrelevant and ean be ignored. ■