Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 12, 1 December 2007 — 'Misguided ramblings' [ARTICLE]

'Misguided ramblings'

Have you noticed that every time Burgess, Conklin, and TwiggSmith speak on their favorite subject - namely the dismantling of the Native Hawaiian rights and benefits in their "homeland" derived from their status as the "original indigenous sovereign people" of the islands called Hawai'i - they always make solicitous overtures to the non-Hawaiian people of Hawai'i with coimnentaries such as: Aloha should be shared with all the people of Hawai'i; or, having a school serving only Native Hawaiians is race-based and unconstitutional; or, land to build

homes for Native Hawaiians is also race-based and unconstitutional. Permit me to put their illdesigned machinations against the Native Hawaiians to rest by defining two words that go to the heart and core of the status of Native Hawaiians: indigenous and sovereign. Merriam-Webster defines it thusly: Indigenous - produced growing, or living naturally in a particular region. Sovereign - supreme in power and authority; having independent authority. All this means is that the Native Hawaiians are the "ORIGINAL" occupants of this land called Hawai'i. And like the Alaskan Natives of Alaska, the Native Indian Tribes of America; the Chinese of China; the Iapanese of lapan; and all the indigenous, sovereign, ethnic races of the world who have their origin in their respective "HOMELANDS," the rights and benefits accruing to them are unequivocal and undeniable where no Man may put asunder. And in the case of the Native Hawaiians, all of the foregoing treatise applies to them as a people in their "homeland called Hawai'i." So the next time you eome upon the ranting and ravings of the naysayers mentioned at the beginning of this writing remember what you read here is the truth totally rejecting the misguided ramblings of the trio under scrutiny. Hank McKeague Honolulu