Akaka Bill Opposition

We, the undersigned Hawaiians and representatives of community organizations, call upon the President of the United States and Congressional Leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to immediately hold hearings in Hawaii on the Akaka Bill (H.B. 2314, S.B. 1011, May 7, 2009) in order that the Hawaiian peoples themselves be allowed to testify on these measures which, under the guise or bestowing “Federal Recognition” will divest Hawaiians and native Hawaiians of their rights to Self determination and self governance, deprive them of their lands, territories and resources, and perpetuate the violation of their human rights.

The Hawaiian peoples have never been allowed to present testimony on these measures that were drafted not by Hawaiians representing their communities, but by State, Federal and Indian appointees who were designated by federal & State authorities. In 2000 two days of hearings were held on Oahu Island, all other hearings were cancelled. The Bills were subsequently redrafted and amendments were added as concessions to the Bush administration and the State of Hawaii. No Hearings were ever held in Hawaii on the Bush/Akaka bill.

For 9 years Hawaiians have requested that the island wide hearings cancelled in 2000 be rescheduled so that the hundreds of Hawaiians who want to testify can be included and their concerns heard. These concerns include the following issues:

1. There is no Hawaiian entity or body designated and created by Hawaiians to oversee the creation of a Hawaiian process for Self-determination. Instead, the Bill contains a process created by non-Hawaiians to accommodate the State and Federal Government efforts divest the Hawaiian Peoples of their traditional lands and rights.

2. There is no budget or fiscal allocation in the Bill to provide for costs for the implementation of a process for Self-Governance, despite the fact that the State is currently holding in trust several hundred million dollars “for Hawaiians”. These funds have never been accounted for, and continue to be withheld from Hawaiian beneficiaries by State trustees elected by the public. The Akaka/Bush Bill allows State and Federal control of the process by requiring that funds be obtained from unidentified grant sources subject to state & federal limitations.

3. The Akaka Bill disenfranchises the real Hawaiian people by ensuring that persons residing on the U.S. continent, many of whom have no contact or relationship with Hawaiian culture, will control the electoral process. By including a huge American continental population, the drafters of the Akaka/Bush Bills have guaranteed that the Hawaiians of Molokai, Maui, Kauai, Hawaii Island and Lanai will be outvoted at their own Constitutional Convention. Most importantly, the Hawaii based native Hawaiians such as the Hawaiian Homesteaders who are the sole beneficiaries of the Ceded lands and Hawaiian Homelands trusts will be outvoted by a margin of 10 to 1.

4. The inclusion of U.S. Continental populations was proposed and supported by public ‘service agencies’ (like CNHA) who wanted to increase the numbers of Hawaiians in order to increase their share of the federal budget for ‘hawaiian programs” under their own administration. These agencies, do not represent Hawaiians, but are public corporations. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs as well is a State Agency elected by and accountable to the public.

5. The Akaka/Bush Bills provide no land, territory or resources for Hawaiians. Hawaiians have repeatedly called for an inventory of their lands & resources and for a segregation of their trust assets from those of the public, but the State & Federal Trustees of Hawaiian resources have refused since the time of the Overthrow (1898) to allocate land for Hawaiian people who are considered wards of the United States and the State of Hawaii. Since Statehood was imposed, the State of Hawaii and the US have refused to inventory and segregate the native Hawaiian land trusts. Consequently, there is no allocation of lands for native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the trust, and all trust assets are allocated for the public. The Bush/Akaka Bills provide a process to “negotiate” for lands, but the Bills do not require that the “negotiations” will have to provide lands, resources or benefits to Hawaiians.

6. The US Department of Defense is “exempted” from participation in federal processes involving the Hawaiian governing entity. The DOD controls a significant portion of Hawaiian trust lands & resources that are used for military purposes. In addition, there is a long history of DOD’s past under-compensated use of trust assets, as well as issues relating to negative environmental consequences of past DOD use of Hawaiian trust lands. The Bush/Akaka Bills exemptions for USDOD means that these uses and misuses of Hawaiian trust lands by the US will not be addressed.

7. The Akaka/Bush Bill provides that Hawaiians will forever be denied their right to seek judicial review and relief. This language was included in the measure by the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii and the U.S. Department of Justice in order to ensure that Hawaiians will never be compensated for significant Federal and State actions in breach of their trust obligations to Hawaiians. In short, under the Akaka/Bush bills Hawaiians will become the only people in the USA who cannot seek justice in court. OHA and Lingle supported this language because they are in breach of their trust obligations and want to escape accountability.

8. The effort being pursued in the US Congress violates the most fundamental principles of democracy and human rights. In the 9 years during which time the Akaka/Bush Bills have evolved, the Hawaii Federal Delegation made several concessions to the Bush/Lingle administrations, the goal of which is to maintain the political status of the Hawaiian peoples as wards of the United States and State of Hawaii, and to ensure that the vast land and fiscal resources of the Hawaiian people are utilized for Federal and State priorities.

9. The Bush Administration is no longer in office. The Administration of President Barrack Obama came to office promising open government dedicated to Truth and Justice for all Peoples. We call upon the Obama Administration, and the Democrats in the U.S. Congress to live with the integrity of their own words. We call for the Congressional Committee to hold hearings on the Bush/Akaka Bills in Hawaii to provide the Hawaiian peoples their right to participate in the process and to seek amendments to the Bills.

Therefore, we, the undersigned demand that Congressional hearings be scheduled in Hawaii, on all islands, and on the U.S. Continent, in all States where a significant population of Hawaiians reside, in order to provide the Hawaiian Peoples their right to Self Determination, and to empower them with the ability to determine the culturally appropriate mechanism for their own self governance.

Signed:

Authorized Signatory/ Organization
1. Mililani B. Trask, Na Koa Ikaika KaLahui Hawaii