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| At issue: self-determination for Native Hawaiians. |
“The real harm of this election is it fosters a kind of racial discrimination that damages our greatest product in Hawaii, the aloha spirit,” said Keli’i Akina, president of Grassroot Institute, which sought to stop the voting process.
UPDATE: Na‘i Aupuni, the Native Hawaiian organization with a mission to establish a path to Native Hawaiian self-determination, announced Monday (Dec. 1) it is extending the deadline to vote to midnight Monday, Dec. 21.
“The net effect of a race-based election to establish a race-based government will only serve to divide people from one another. Racial tensions are already on the rise in the nation and it's a terrible thing to also see this becoming the case in the Aloha state.”
The growing movement to somehow compensate the original inhabitants of Hawaii for the questionable way they lost their lands when Hawaii became a U.S. territory, could result in giving them the same status of native Americans in the very least, or, in the other extreme, the 50th state could secede from the United States.
“People come to Hawaii and think it's just a tourist destination,” Rowena Akana told a reporter. “They know nothing about how the natives here have suffered and still suffer today.
"This election is very important because it’s an opportunity to seek some reparation, said Akana, a trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and a candidate in the upcoming election. "This is our chance to make a comeback.”
Native Hawaiians are at the bottom of the economic ladder, have the poorest health outcomes and perform poorly in school on comparison to the Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Euro/Americans and other ethnic groups who have made Hawaii their home. Their traditional customs are constantly being eroded, they say.
For the past month native Hawaiians in Hawaii and on the mainland have been voting in what many see as the first step for self-determination. Under a definition in a 2011 law, only descendants of “the aboriginal peoples who, before 1778, occupied and exercised sovereignty in the Hawaiian islands” are eligible to vote.
The elected delegates would take part in a constitutional convention to come up with a form of self-government and to determine what relationship - if any - the islands would have with the United States.
In his temporary stay, Kennedy goes counter to the Department of the Interior and the State of Hawaii, which initiated the wheels moving towards the creation of a new sovereign nation, giving native Hawaiians the same status that Native American tribes have over their land.
Opponents, including some who would qualify to vote in this special election, say that the election is race-based thus runs counter to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
The election is being run by the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, a nonprofit also called Na’i Aupuni. In the Hawaiian language, na’i means “the one who conquered,” and aupuni means “created the kingdom.”
Election results were supposed to have been announced Dec. 1.
The movement for more self-determination for Hawaiians stems from the very start of its territorial status and has been gaining steam over the last few decades.
In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii, yielded power to a group of businessmen backed by U.S. Marines in order to avoid the bloodshed of her people. She did so believing that the U.S. government, when presented with the facts, would eventually restore the Hawaiian kingdom. Instead, the coup led to the dissolution of Hawaiian sovereignty and the islands' eventual statehood.
During the territorial stage of Hawaii's history when American businessmen held the power, much like the way Native Americans were treated on the mainland, the native-born Hawaiians had their traditional lands stolen, the hula was outlawed and their language banned in schools.
Unlike Native Americans on the mainland, Native Hawaiians didn't have a government structure to represent them in the halls of U.S. government. For over a century, native Hawaiians still don't have political representation or a say on their future.
“For the first time in over a hundred years, there will be a definitive voice on Native Hawaiian issues,” said Robin Danner, who was appointed to the NHRC by former Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie. “A definitive and recognized government to speak for our culture, our people, our issues, instead of county or state government attempting to have a subcommittee within their agencies or structures to mouthpiece the value of native viewpoints, which has not worked well at all.”
The commission, led by former Hawaii Gov. John Waihee, was formed in 2011 with a mission to bring together a group of qualified and interested Native Hawaiian voters. The controversial vote, which began on Nov. 1 and ends today (Nov. 30), was to help determine who would be taking part in that vigorous discussion.
“Being native in the United States is like living a cycle of grief,” Danner said. “Because being native in the United States is to have lost something powerful. First, you're depressed. Then you're angry. Then there is some acceptance and then you get to a point where you say, 'What am I going to do about it?' As a people I think we are at the stage where we are ready to do something about it.”
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| Queen Liliuokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch |
The movement for more self-determination for Hawaiians stems from the very start of its territorial status and has been gaining steam over the last few decades.
In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii, yielded power to a group of businessmen backed by U.S. Marines in order to avoid the bloodshed of her people. She did so believing that the U.S. government, when presented with the facts, would eventually restore the Hawaiian kingdom. Instead, the coup led to the dissolution of Hawaiian sovereignty and the islands' eventual statehood.
During the territorial stage of Hawaii's history when American businessmen held the power, much like the way Native Americans were treated on the mainland, the native-born Hawaiians had their traditional lands stolen, the hula was outlawed and their language banned in schools.
Unlike Native Americans on the mainland, Native Hawaiians didn't have a government structure to represent them in the halls of U.S. government. For over a century, native Hawaiians still don't have political representation or a say on their future.
“For the first time in over a hundred years, there will be a definitive voice on Native Hawaiian issues,” said Robin Danner, who was appointed to the NHRC by former Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie. “A definitive and recognized government to speak for our culture, our people, our issues, instead of county or state government attempting to have a subcommittee within their agencies or structures to mouthpiece the value of native viewpoints, which has not worked well at all.”
The commission, led by former Hawaii Gov. John Waihee, was formed in 2011 with a mission to bring together a group of qualified and interested Native Hawaiian voters. The controversial vote, which began on Nov. 1 and ends today (Nov. 30), was to help determine who would be taking part in that vigorous discussion.
“Being native in the United States is like living a cycle of grief,” Danner said. “Because being native in the United States is to have lost something powerful. First, you're depressed. Then you're angry. Then there is some acceptance and then you get to a point where you say, 'What am I going to do about it?' As a people I think we are at the stage where we are ready to do something about it.”
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