Native Hawaiians could have a double presence in the Smithsonian Institution national museums, depending on how things work out.

There are Hawaiian elements in the National Museum of the American Indian. And now U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and others have proposed including them in a National Museum of Asian Pacific American Culture, which may or may not be part of the Smithsonian.

Hawaii’s indigenous people have been more allied with Native American issues in recent years, but they are a Pacific people, too.