LIHUE — A letter asking whether the Hawaiian Kingdom should continue to exist as a sovereign, independent state has sent the Office of Hawaiian Affairs into a frenzy. The May 5 letter was sent by OHA CEO Kamanaopono Crabbe to
LIHUE — A letter asking whether the Hawaiian Kingdom should continue to exist as a sovereign, independent state has sent the Office of Hawaiian Affairs into a frenzy.
The May 5 letter was sent by OHA CEO Kamanaopono Crabbe to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, but the OHA Board of Trustees said it didn’t support the CEO’s move.
Still, Crabbe said Monday he didn’t regret his decision, leaving a rocky, muddy wake between board and CEO.
After Crabbe sent his letter to former presidential candidate Kerry, all nine OHA trustees, including Kauai Representative Dan Ahuna, responded to Crabbe’s request for clarification about the Hawaiian Kingdom’s legal status by sending a letter of their own to Kerry on Friday.
“The contents of that letter do not reflect the position of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or the position of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs,” the trustees wrote. “That letter is hereby rescinded.”
During a press conference Monday in Honolulu, Crabbe defended his actions.
“I continue to believe my decision to send the letter was in the best interest of OHA and the beneficiaries we serve,” he said.
If the letter back and forth wasn’t enough, Ahuna sent a subsequent third letter to Kerry to say he had changed his position about the matter — and didn’t want to be a part of the board’s rescinded letter.
“Our office does confirm that Trustee Ahuna signed the rescind letter, but since asked to be removed, and now just wants to move on to continue the important work on behalf of Native Hawaiians,” Ahuna’s aide Claudine Calpito wrote in an email.
Ahuna’s office did not respond to questions Monday about why Ahuna changed his stance.
The U.S. State Department Press Office said it could not comment on the letters.
Speaking with nearly 100 supporters Monday at the agency’s headquarters, Crabbe said he thought he had the blessing of the board’s chairwoman, Colette Machado, before sharing the letter with the public. He said he believes answers to the questions in the letter are crucial for moving forward with pursuing a Native Hawaiian governing entity.
Crabbe said the board took a position, and it’s his role to implement that decision.
“We are currently moving forward,” he said.
Crabbe said he had several discussions with a majority of the board’s nine trustees and looked forward to meeting with them next week.
“They have not asked me to resign,” he said.
In his original letter, Crabbe wrote that he was concerned with an analysis by scholars alleging the federal and state governments were illegal regimes. The scholars said Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees and Native Hawaiian Roll Commission members may be criminally liable under international law.
Crabbe said he would ask trustees to put off pursuing a Native Hawaiian governing entity until they confirmed the kingdom doesn’t exist under international law. He said supporters of building a governing entity should continue their discussions.
“Remain vigilant and to be aware and to participate regarding their choice,” he said. “That’s what this is all about.”
Kekane Pa, the Speaker of the House of the Reinstated Hawaiian Government and the Island Organizer for Kauai, congratulated Crabbe for penning the letter to Kerry. He also said Ahuna was instrumental in responding to concerns that led to the clarification request.
The Native Hawaiian Roll Commission should have ended with the defeat of the Akaka bill, Pa said. Crabbe was right to request clarification for the roll to continue in its present form at the state level to help ensure trustees and staff of OHA would not incur criminal liability under international law.
The Hawaiian Kingdom is a sovereign independent state, and OHA erred in moving to establish a new nation. The sole-executive agreements still require the U.S. to assist Hawaiians in exercising their rights under the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom and not American law, he said.
“The Hawaiian Kingdom continues to exist,” Pa said.
For the U.S. to lawfully initiate Hawaii statehood, Pa said it needed to restore the Hawaiian government in all its branches to have an order for a plebiscite referendum for the people to pursue statehood.
The Lawful Hawaiian government never signed an annexation of lands to the people, rather it was handed over illegally by the new Republic after the takeover. Today, Pa said, the federal and state recognition efforts are a continuation of the same efforts to yield more rights.
“That is not self-determination,” Pa said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
