August 3, 2009
Committee on Indian Affairs
U.S. Senate
838 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
RE - OPPOSITION TO S.1011 - Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009
Dear Senators Dorgan, Barrasso and Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,
I thank you for allowing me to submit this testimony in OPPOSITION to S.1011, which seeks to express the policy of the United States regarding the United States relationship with Native Hawaiians and to provide a process of the recognition by the United States of the Native Hawaiian governing entity.
I OPPOSE S.1011: Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 because -
The entire process of developing this legislation has been done without consultation with the Native Hawaiians, who are most affected by this proposed legislation. From the first “Akaka bill” to present day, there has been a deplorable lack of hearings held in Hawai`i -- hearings that would allow average, ordinary, Hawaiian people from each island to present their testimony and concerns regarding the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act.
This bill has been drafted, modified and presented chiefly in Washington D.C., far from Hawai’i. Proponents of the bill only invite testimony from certain groups known to be supportive. These groups have the finances to send people all the way to Washington to participate in these hearings. Ordinary Hawaiians who have taken the intiative to travel all the way to Washington for the hearings, on their own nickel, have not been allowed to testify.
In 2000, only two (2) days of hearings were held on O`ahu Island. And when those hearings were held, a heavy majority of those attending were firmly against the bill. After that, subsequent hearings were cancelled, with the excuse given that Senator Akaka was getting a hip replacement. The hearings were never rescheduled.
For 9 years, Native Hawaiians have requested that the authors of this bill reschedule the promised island wide hearings, so that they and hundreds of other Native Hawaiians who want to testify can be included and their concerns heard.
The current and past bills addressing the United States relationship with Native Hawaiians to provide a process of the recognition by the United States of the Native Hawaiian governing entity were subsequently redrafted and amendments were added with no input or testimony from the Hawaiian people.
I wish to emphasize this fact: absolutely no hearings have ever been held in Hawai`i on the current legislation before the 2009 Congress.
Ordinary Native Hawaiian citizens seek the right to a fair and democratic process that includes hearings on S.1011 throughout all the islands that comprise the state of Hawai`i.
The effort being pursued in the US Congress violates the most fundamental principles of democracy and human rights.
I call for the Congressional Committee to hold hearings on the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act in Hawai`i to provide the Hawaiian peoples their right to participate in the process and to seek amendments to the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act.
Therefore, I strongly urge you to OPPOSE S.1011 until Congressional hearings are scheduled and held in Hawai`i on all islands, and in all States on the US continent where a significant population of Native Hawaiians reside, in order to provide the Native Hawaiian peoples their right to a democratic fair, free, and impartial process of self-determination and to empower them with the ability to determine the culturally appropriate mechanism for their own self-governance.
Mahalo nui loa,
Clarence Kukauakahi Ching, OHA Trustee 1986-1990
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Hearing on S.1011, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009
5 August 2009
The Honorable Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman and The Honorable John Barrasso, Vice Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs:
Dear Senators:
As a native Hawaiian who has not been represented by the Senators who are trying to pass the S.1011, my immediate family and I urge you to vote NO to that insidious bill. When the bill was first proposed, a hearing was held in Honolulu and the testimony was overwhelming against it for a variety of reasons. Because of that, hearings on the neighbor islands were cancelled. We want to ratify or reject that bill before it is taken to your committee.
Our voices have been purposely shunned by these snollygosters who prefer to dictate to us rather than represent us. These small interest elites are an abhorence to the democratic system and might be in it for personal pecuniary interests rather than defend the concerns of those most affected by it.
There are issues to be resolved even before considering the actions they are proposing. We vehemently reject this bill and conditions it wants to set up for us. Our concerns, circumstances, the situation that confronts it, need to be addressed first. There are legal international rammifications that must be settled and abided by; such as violations of the laws of occupation, neutrality, and the lack of a lawful treaty of annexation/cession which the U.S. is unable to present. The multiethnic Hawaii nationals overwhelmingly voted against cession to the U.S.A. in 1897 and we support their choice.
We love our country as much as the U.S. Americans love theirs. There is a political and moral thing to do and that is vote NO to S.1011.
Mahalo,
Tane
AKA: David Michael Kaipolaua'eokekuahiwi Inciong, II
Aloha kaua e Ku,
The Free Hawai'i website certainly made it easy to send those letters, didn't it? I hope the senators get hundreds.
Mahalo for all you do!
Amy
Replies
Hearing on S.1011, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009
5 August 2009
The Honorable Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman and The Honorable John Barrasso, Vice Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs:
Dear Senators:
As a native Hawaiian who has not been represented by the Senators who are trying to pass the S.1011, my immediate family and I urge you to vote NO to that insidious bill. When the bill was first proposed, a hearing was held in Honolulu and the testimony was overwhelming against it for a variety of reasons. Because of that, hearings on the neighbor islands were cancelled. We want to ratify or reject that bill before it is taken to your committee.
Our voices have been purposely shunned by these snollygosters who prefer to dictate to us rather than represent us. These small interest elites are an abhorence to the democratic system and might be in it for personal pecuniary interests rather than defend the concerns of those most affected by it.
There are issues to be resolved even before considering the actions they are proposing. We vehemently reject this bill and conditions it wants to set up for us. Our concerns, circumstances, the situation that confronts it, need to be addressed first. There are legal international rammifications that must be settled and abided by; such as violations of the laws of occupation, neutrality, and the lack of a lawful treaty of annexation/cession which the U.S. is unable to present. The multiethnic Hawaii nationals overwhelmingly voted against cession to the U.S.A. in 1897 and we support their choice.
We love our country as much as the U.S. Americans love theirs. There is a political and moral thing to do and that is vote NO to S.1011.
Mahalo,
Tane
AKA: David Michael Kaipolaua'eokekuahiwi Inciong, II
Pearl City, Hawai'i
The Free Hawai'i website certainly made it easy to send those letters, didn't it? I hope the senators get hundreds.
Mahalo for all you do!
Amy