KAPAA, KAUAI » Defiant and emotional testimony dominated yet another Department of Interior meeting Tuesday night as federal officials continued to gather opinions about whether the United States should pursue a formal relationship with a potential Native Hawaiian government.
As it did the night before in Waimea, the meeting featured passionate testimony connected to the grievances that have festered in the Hawaiian community since the 1893 overthrow of the monarchy.
Most of the dozens of attendees who testified Tuesday night said they strongly opposed the Interior Department moving forward with the proposal. Some argued that the agency has no jurisdiction over such a government-to-government relationship because the Hawaiian kingdom remains the islands’ sovereign power.
"We can get our country back," declared Daniel Wong. "America — they just rebuild McDonald’s. We could be rebuilding fishponds."
Timothy Michael Reese said Hawaiians are tired of the way the United States is treating them.
"We have been lied to about our legal and political rights," Reese said.
As in Waimea, a few testifiers spoke in favor of federal recognition, saying it would help protect the Hawaiian culture, programs and lands.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees and other Native Hawaiian leaders have lobbied for a government-to-government relationship with the U.S. for years. They say such recognition — which would be similar to a Native American tribe — is important to protect more than 120 federal programs and an annual $80 million U.S. allocation from a growing number of legal challenges.
Hawaii’s congressional delegation tried to achieve recognition legislatively for at least a decade but failed. Now the Obama administration is trying to get the job done administratively — a process that could take up to two years.
But many of those who spoke Tuesday said no thanks.
"We need the power to rule our aina like we did before. Let’s start putting our nation together. We can," Puanani Rodgers said to applause.
Shane Cobb-Adams said Hawaiians who support federal recognition don’t know their history and are instead addicted to the programs and money of America.
"You guys are part of a (criminal) process that has been going on since (the overthrow in) 1893," Cobb-Adams told the panel. "I must warn you: You are committing war crimes."
Some audience members held signs, including ones that declared, "Deoccupy Hawai‘i Nei" and "No Treaty of Annexation = Illegal Occupation."
The Kapaa meeting was the ninth of 15 scheduled for the panel’s two-week Hawaii tour. The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Keaukaha Elementary School in Hilo. Written comments will be accepted through Aug. 19.
