Eia Hawaiʻi, he moku, he kānaka

ʻO Hawaiʻi kūkahi

E ʻauamo kākou

ʻImi i ka nāʻau

Here is Hawaiʻi, the land, the people

We are a people, unique to these islands

Let us bear this ancestral legacy proudly on our shoulders

Look deep within ourselves for the foundation

I would like us to reflect upon the above theme for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) in 2012, which was provided to us as a challenge by the renowned kumu hula and Hawaiian scholar Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele. Act 195, which set up the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, had passed the year before and the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission had just been appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

In 2012, we were taking the first step toward re-establishing a sovereign Native Hawaiian governing entity by supporting the development of a certified base roll of qualified Native Hawaiians to elect delegates for an ʻaha that would draft a governance document for approval by those participating Native Hawaiians.

The challenge, then and now, is for each of us, as Native Hawaiians, to look deep within the cultural legacy of our kupuna and work together to be sure that the contemporary Native Hawaiian governing entity is rooted in our ancestral wisdom.

As I listened to the voices of concern raised throughout our islands in reaction to the initiative of the Department of the Interior to begin a rulemaking process that will open a pathway to re-establish a government-to-government relationship between Native Hawaiians and the U.S. government, I sensed a deep feeling of mistrust and fear that the process will result in another betrayal of our self-determination as Native Hawaiians.

My heartfelt manaʻo is that we can only overcome this mistrust by making a commitment to each other as Native Hawaiians that we will stay true to our ancestral traditions.

In the past few decades our community has looked to such core cultural concepts and practices as aloha aina and malama aina, revived by George Helm and the Protect Kahoolawe ʻOhana; traditional wayfinding revived by master navigator Mau Pialug and the Polynesian Voyaging Society; educating, writing and publishing in our olelo makuahine, our mother language; the composition and performance of oli and hula kahiko perpetuated by our many halau of hula; laau lapaau traditional herbal and spiritual healing; organizing as hui, ohana, lahui and aha and living as kuaaina to protect our lands and resources throughout our islands, especially our kipuka.

As Kanaka Oiwi, we have a deeply rooted and resilient cultural, spiritual and aina-based foundation. If we keep connected with our ancestral foundation, we will build a strong sovereign governing entity which will be embraced by all of our people. Such an entity will set the terms for the re-establishment of the government-to-government relationship with the U.S. government.

Since the Rice v. Cayetano decision in 2000, the system of law out of which OHA was created has been challenged in numerous lawsuits aimed at preventing OHA, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and our alii trusts from providing services to our Native Hawaiian people. Such lawsuits have attempted to dismantle our Hawaiian-serving institutions.

While we have successfully defeated these lawsuits, OHA strongly believes that in the long term, the most viable way to protect and expand existing Native Hawaiian programs, trusts and rights is to reestablish a government-to-government relationship between a contemporary Native Hawaiian government and the United States.

OHA’s primary strategy to protect all of these Native Hawaiian organizations and the services that we provide had been the passage of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act or the Akaka Bill. OHA spent 12 years pursuing the passage of the Akaka Bill and dealt with multiple obstacles along every step of that path.

Now, we welcome the initiative taken by the administration of our keiki o ka aina, President Barack Obama, to move Native Hawaiian governance forward by starting federal rulemaking that could provide a process to reestablish a government-to-government relationship with Native Hawaiians, through the Department of the Interior.

The issue of further reconciliation through international redress is an important but separate question. The federal rule should open a path for reestablishing a domestic government-to-government relationship that will not, as a legal matter, affect paths for international redress.

Now is the time for all of us to lay down our spears, embrace with aloha and move forward together by re-establishing a government-to-government relationship with the United States. Let us be guided by the wisdom of our kupuna who taught us:

E kaupē aku no i ka hoe a kō mai.

Put forward the paddle and draw it back.

Go on with the task that is started and finish it.

If you feel, as I do, that it is time for us to take charge of our own destiny as a native people, please submit supportive written comments directly to the Department of the Interior at www.bit.ly/HAWAII-ANPRM or via mail to: Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior, Room 7329, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, D.C., 20240.

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Colette Machado is chairwoman of the Office of Hawaii Affairs’ board of trustees.