Editorial for Sunday — January 04, 2004

• Native Hawaiian governance

Native Hawaiian governance

A decade has passed since the launch of a first effort at creating a contemporary Native Hawaiian government in Hawai‘i.

That effort, to be run by a state-mandated group named the Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commission, died a slow death. The concept was opposed by some Native Hawaiian organizations as being tied too closely to the state government.

Now the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is working to replace itself with a new Native Hawaiian government. In about two weeks people of Hawaiian ancestry will be able to sign up for an election for delegates to a special gathering aimed at designing a Hawaiian government.

The Hawaiian government spoken of here would be related to the U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka’s proposed bill that would give Native Hawaiians at federal status similar to that granted to American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Creation of such a government is opposed by some Hawaiian sovereignty groups that are calling for more control of Hawai‘i by Native Hawaiians. Some groups want to take over control of the Hawaiian Islands, creating a new Hawaiian Kingdom and wresting control of the Islands from the United States.

There is great interest among most Native Hawaiians for progress on some form of self-government.

Many Native Hawaiians are looking for one Native Hawaiian organization that would serve as a powerful voice for the majority of Native Hawaiians. Some Native Hawaiians feel existing organizations are working on too many issues.

Others say there are deep divisions in the Native Hawaiian community over what form of governance is needed. They say such divisions are keeping Native Hawaiians from achieving self-governance.

If OHA’s new plan receives widespread support from the Native Hawaiian community it should show what direction the majority of Native Hawaiians want to go in attaining self-governance – if this is how they want such a government to be formed.

This issue is sure to be a major one for all of Hawai‘i’s residents in 2004 for it will affect us all.