WAIMEA, KAUAI » Supporters of an independent Native Hawaiian nation were out in force Monday night to reject the possibility of federal recognition of a native government in the first of two meetings on the Garden Isle.
Nearly 200 people filled the Waimea High School cafeteria after the meeting was relocated from the smaller Waimea Neighborhood Center to accommodate a larger crowd.
The U.S. Department of the Interior hearing featured deep emotions, anger, yelling, cheering and booing as speaker after speaker lashed out at the United States and reached into history to support the Native Hawaiian kingdom, which was overthrown in 1893.
Kekuni Pa blasted those who would propose such a concept, saying federal recognition is merely a deceptive way to deny Hawaiian rights and continue American "lies, deceptions, death and fraud."
"I tell you, if you give them federal recognition, they’re going to take your land," Pa said angrily. "It’s about your land and your money."
Kelanikumai Hanohano told the federal officials to take this message back to America: "Our nationality is Hawaiian. Hawaiians are not a race. We are not a tribe. We are not indigenous Americans. We are Hawaiian."
Gerald Markel of Kilauea said, "We don’t need the help of the secretary of the United States. He should be helping out Americans and don’t worry about us. We can take care of ourselves."
The federal government has not negotiated in good faith with the citizens of the Hawaiian kingdom, Randy Wichman said.
"It’s not about being Native American. It’s not about race. It’s about the obliteration of (Native Hawaiian) citizenship," Wichman said.
Rozlyn Reiner of Kekaha, a 36-year Hawaii resident who said she is not a Native Hawaiian, said she is nevertheless an ardent supporter of Hawaiian independence. She said the existence of the Hawaiian kingdom is undisputed.
"The attempt to establish a government-to-government relationship with the Native Hawaiian community is interfering with the internal and domestic affairs of the Hawaiian kingdom and violates international laws, the laws of occupation, U.S. constitutional laws and the laws of the Hawaiian kingdom," she declared.
The Department of the Interior panel has reached the halfway point of its two-week Hawaii tour in which it is asking whether the department should launch a rule-making process that could set the framework for re-establishing a government-to-government relationship with Native Hawaiians.
Tomorrow night the panel will convene at Kapaa Elementary School on the other side of the island, the ninth of 15 hearings scheduled in Hawaii. Additional meetings will be held in Native American communities on the mainland, and the department will take written comments through Aug. 19.
