Posted on 07/11/2014 8:44:48 AM PDT by nikos1121
The federal government posed a series of questions to Native Hawaiians, with whom it's seeking to reestablish nation-to-nation status. The answer it received, to all, was a resounding "no."
This week, the Department of the Interior wrapped up two weeks of public meetings in Hawaii soliciting input from the Native Hawaiian community on setting up a similar structure to the one it has with Native American tribes.
Kale Gumapac was one of the 130 people who signed up to speak in Hilo on the island of Hawaii.
“[On] the questions that you raised for everyone to answer. It’s a trap," said Gumapac. "But I’m going to answer it anyway. ‘A‘ole [No]. No to everything that you guys are wanting and everything you are wanting to do. Because we can do it ourselves. We have our own government. We have the Queen, Liliuokalani, and the constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii continues to exist. You need to learn that constitution so that you can know when to ask permission to come into the Kingdom of Hawaii.”
Gumapac and hundreds more showed up to testify at the fifteen public hearings held on the islands of Oahu, Lanai, Molokai, Kauai, Hawaii, and Maui.
Residents delivered passionate accounts of Hawaiian history, U.S. militarism, cultural and environmental degradation, land disputes, and a steady stream of "no's" to the five questions asked by the Department of Interior.
“The Kingdom of Hawaii was never a tribe,” Francis Moku Malani, Jr. testified at the Hilo hearing last week, “We are a sovereign nation.”
The 1993 Apology Resolution publicly acknowledged and apologized for the United States’ involvement in the illegal overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani and the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, admitting that the United States violated Native Hawaiians’ right to self-determination and international law.
In 2000, the Departments of the Interior and Justice jointly issued a recommendation for self-determination for Native Hawaiians. From 2000 to 2010, Senator Daniel Akaka tried unsuccessfully to push what has become known as “The Akaka Bill” for federal recognition through Congress.
"No to everything that you guys are wanting and everything you are wanting to do. Because we can do it ourselves."
These public meetings come now as the Secretary of the Interior considers a federal administrative rule to reestablish a government-to-government relationship with the Native Hawaiian community. More than 560 tribes currently hold similar status, with federal considerations on issues ranging from land management to social services.
Mililani Trask, attorney and United Nations expert on indigenous people, said while most Hawaiians wanted federal recognition, the way the government was proceeding was unacceptable.
“I think every Hawaiian would like to see a nation-to-nation relationship, but it can only happen when both nations are given a seat at the table," Trask said at the Hilo meeting.
"What you propose here is that the nation that overthrew our peoples and apologized for it without making reparations, that that nation would sit at the table and somehow fashion a procedure, hoping that in the future another true nation would somehow emerge. That will never happen.”
Five more public meetings will be held on the mainland U.S. through the beginning of August, and public comment from the Native Hawaiian community and federally recognized Native American tribes will be accepted until August 19.
That goes back to Hawaii Five O classic episode back in early 1970s
There was episode of Hawaiann Nationalist go terror plant on nuke plant remember
The Senate loses two liberal senators and the taxpayers lose a whole state full of gibsmedats.
So much win!
Excellent.
The problem with leaving Hawai’i is that the Hawai’ians are no longer the only people living in Hawai’i. I can see an accomadation being reached where the US Government could buy an island like Lanai from Larry Ellison and then provide it to the Hawai’ians for their exclusive use. But the thought of letting a Hawai’ian minority secede from the US and then rule over the majority is a recipe for failure and bloodshed. It cannot be allowed to happen.
Let's see how fast the Hawaiians can recruit, equip and train an army to defend themselves... without US fed aid.
Give the Hawaiians what they want and see it deteriorate to the same third world level as other islands in Micronesia.
You bet! And if it were made retroactive, our current president wouldn’t be qualified as a citizen.
I don’t see why Hawaii couldn’t revert to an unincorporated status (similar to Puerto Rico). Allow the monarch status to be introduced back, with some democratic reforms, and allow the US to have basing rights. Other than that....revoke the state status and let them be what they desire. Anyone within the US government who wants to compare them to the US Indians....is sadly mistaken.
A kingdom, if you can keep it.
I am all for it. Drops two liberal Senators, sets a prescient for other states. Win-win there. I think that could send a huge message to the Feds on the importance of States' Rights.
Book em Dano, separation 1
Actually, sounds like a good idea, we can even arrange for the king to return so we can all say: Mahalo Obama.
What happens to the other 94%, do they become second class citizens? Or will your social status depend upon when your ancestors arrived? If so, the 25% of Hawaii residents who are caucasians will be in the number two spot, followed by Japanese, Chinese, Filippino, etc.
This is a stupid exercise made possible only because of the racial identity lunacy gripping the country these past few decades.
He’s not anyway
I think the episode I look it up on IMB
It was Clock strike twelve
They probably Hawaii fed building
Can we throw in California, too?
This is just great...the “native” Hawaiians will then demand (and get) welfare payments from US citizens so they can sit around, eat spam, dance and stare at the sunsets. That’s all the world needs is yet another self-entitled class of hangers-ons.
You can’t whinge your way to independence. Try war, Hawaii. That often works.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.