Feds yield to native Hawaiians

Proposed rules announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of the Interior emphasize that Native Hawaiians — not the federal government — would decide how to reorganize a Native Hawaiian government and determine any relationship it would have with the United States.

The proposal follows repeated failed attempts to pass the so-called Akaka Bill, which would have established a path to federal recognition for a Native Hawaiian government. While the news was widely embraced, some Native Hawaiians remained steadfast Tuesday in their opposition to federal government involvement in the process — interpreting the announcement as a disregard of the wishes of Native Hawaiians.

In outlining the formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell called Native Hawaiians “one of our nation’s largest indigenous communities,” who have long been denied a “government-to-government relationship.”

“It’s fantastic,” said Robin Danner, past president of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, who was just elected chairwoman of the Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Homelands Assembly.

“It’s the news of a lifetime,” she said. “The federal government is recognizing that this is our kuleana for the Native Hawaiian people to decide, not the federal government, not the state government. There’s a doorway open to us if we want to have that relationship.” (“Kuleana” means “responsibility.”)

But Tuesday’s announcement by the Obama administration also angered many who testified last year during a series of island-by-island hearings on what relationship, if any, the federal government should have with a future Native Hawaiian government.

Hundreds of critics across the state not only rejected the question, but also objected to the hearings and the process — spurning federal involvement of any kind in re-establishing a Native Hawaiian government because of the illegal 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom.

The hearings and subsequent proposed rules are “totally wrong,” said Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele, CEO of the Aloha First organization, which advocates for Hawaiian sovereignty. He argued against a relationship with the U.S. government in last year’s hearings.

“I don’t agree with any involvement of any kind, whether it’s the federal government or the state of Hawaii,” Kanahele said. “I cannot believe we’re being totally ignored. I gotta believe the powers that be in the state are trying every effort to suppress the national sovereignty of the Hawaiian people.”

Hawaii’s congressional delegation, Gov. David Ige and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs unanimously hailed Tuesday’s announcement.

Ige said, “This issue has been discussed for many years, and I support President Obama and the Department of the Interior’s efforts to move it forward. I urge the public, particularly Native Hawaiians, to comment on this possible pathway for the United States and Native Hawaiians to establish a government-to-government relationship. The public comment period for the proposed rule is an invitation for the public to participate in the rule-making process.”

In making Tuesday’s announcement the Interior Department opened a 90-day comment period.

“The Native Hawaiian community’s ongoing work toward self-determination takes a significant step forward today, and I applaud the Obama administration for its commitment to this effort,” U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said.

“Native Hawaiians have the right to reorganize a government that they determine is best for them,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz. “With today’s publication of proposed rules from the Department of the Interior, I urge Native Hawaiians and other interested individuals to stay engaged and to contribute their comments and concerns as the process moves forward.”

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said: “These rules incorporate over 5,000 public comments submitted to the Department of Interior, and should they be adopted, the Native Hawaiian community will have the option to re-establish a unified government and self-determine their future relationship with the federal government.

“I encourage all interested parties to submit their comments to DOI during the 90-day public review period to ensure a collaborative final ruling.”

U.S. Rep. Mark Takai thanked the Interior Department and Obama administration “for strengthening the U.S. government’s relationship with the Native Hawaiian people. I have always supported Native Hawaiians and will continue to make sure the community’s consensus is implemented in Washington at the federal level so that they may have more ownership of their own destiny at home.”

But the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, which opposes federal recognition and the Native Hawaiian constitutional convention, or aha, being planned for next year, questioned the Obama administration’s motives for the new proposed rules.

“This is yet another attempt by the Department of the Interior to do an end run around Congress by assuming powers it simply does not have,” Keli‘i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute, said in a statement. “The Congress has clearly indicated that they — and not the DOI — have the power to recognize a Native Hawaiian government. On multiple occasions, they considered and decided not to pass the Akaka Bill, demonstrating that the constitutional concerns in the creation of a race-based government were real and unavoidable.”

Akina is one of the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to stop this fall’s election of delegates to next year’s convention.

“The timing of this proposed rule is troubling, as it comes during a constitutional challenge to an already disputed election and can be seen as an attempt to lend legitimacy to that effort,” Akina said. “The DOI was told in no uncertain terms that a large number of Native Hawaiians did not want federal involvement in their affairs. This proposed rule only serves to further confuse and politicize the issue.”

But OHA CEO Kamana‘opono Crabbe said the Interior Department’s proposed rule represents “a momentous day for our Native Hawaiian community.”

“It is clear the Department of the Interior agrees it will be the Native Hawaiian community — and not the federal government — that would decide whether to organize a Native Hawaiian government, and whether that government would seek to pursue a relationship with the United States,” Crabbe said.