US Supreme Court Ruling on Sale of Stolen ('Ceded') Lands: Statement from Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, UH Center for Hawaiian Studies 3/31/09 (From the Honolulu Advertiser 3/31/09)"Today we learn that the Supreme Court of Injustice of America, has ruled unanimously that the illegal State of Hawaii has the right to sell "ceded" lands. Why are we not surprised? If they had ruled otherwise every native nation whose lands have been taken by America would file suit for a return of their lands.We, the Hawaiian people, who are born from the union of Papahanaumoku and Wakea, earth mother and sky father, and who have lived in these islands for over 100 generations, will always have the moral right to the lands of Hawaii now and forever, no matter what any court says.The land of Hawaii is our ancestor. In order to survive culturally as the Hawaiian people we, must have land upon which to practice our culture. To deny us the right to our ancestral land, especially the so called "ceded" or stolen lands, is to perpetuate cultural genocide upon the Hawaiian people.Therefore, we Reject the March 31, 2009 Supreme Court decision. We call upon all non Hawaiians everywhere, who support the survival of the Hawaiian people, and who support survival of the Hawaiian culture, to also support the moral right of the Hawaiian people to have jurisdiction over the "ceded" lands, and to join us in the Rejection of this immoral decision by the supreme court.HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL RIGHTSUnder International Law, America has• Illegally invaded our internationally recognized Hawaiian Nation in 1893 and held our country since then by "right" of military force,• Illegally annexed the Hawaiian islands without an annexation treaty in 1900, (no other American territory has ever been taken by the legal fiction of joint resolution)• Accepted the so called "ceded lands" from a puppet American government only held in place by the force of the American military,• Illegally made Hawaii a U.S. state by faulty vote in 1959, as no option for independence was afforded on the ballot as is required by the United Nations,• Through its agent the State of Hawaii, has abused and mismanaged Hawaiian lands since 1959, still not even having an accurate inventory of the "ceded" lands,• Through its occupying military, has bombed, destroyed, and grossly polluted with toxic wastes the precious lands of Hawaii,• And now, through the decision of its Supreme Court, will try to alienate all "ceded" lands by sale to private foreign developers.Moreover, under International Law Indigenous Peoples have rights to their traditional lands. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, passed on September 13, 2007 by 144 nations of the world, enshrines Indigenous Rights to land in the following articles:ARTICLE 25:Indigenous Peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard.ARTICLE 26:1. Indigenous Peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.2. Indigenous Peoples have the right to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use, as well as those which they have otherwise acquired.3. States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the Indigenous Peoples concerned.ARTICLE 27:1. States shall establish and implement, in conjunction with Indigenous Peoples concerned, a fair, independent, impartial, open and transparent process, giving due recognition to Indigenous Peoples' laws, traditions, customs and land tenure systems, to recognize and adjudicate the rights of Indigenous Peoples pertaining to their lands, territories and resources, including those which were traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used. Indigenous Peoples shall have the right to participate in this process.2. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the Peoples concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands, territories and resources equal in quality, size and legal status or of monetary compensation or other appropriate redress.ARTICLE 29:1. Indigenous Peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources. States shall establish and implement assistance programs for Indigenous Peoples for such conservation and protection, without discrimination.2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of Indigenous Peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.CONCLUSIONTherefore, we, the Hawaiian people, who are born from the Hawaiian land, and who have resided here for over 100 generations, reject forever the decision of the Supreme Court of American injustice!That court only has the "right" to rule because its military is illegally occupying our country, it does not have the moral right!Remember that was the court that once found slavery legal, and that was the court that eventually had to find that slavery was illegal. They did so because of the moral outrage of the American people. No doubt one day that same court will find that they have erred yet again, and that we as Hawaiians have a moral and legal right to deny sale of the "ceded" lands, as that land is our land.Our sovereign rights to those lands were acknowledge and affirmed by the 1993 Apology Law, and were even acknowledged by the 1959 State of Hawaii constitution, that stated such lands were held in trust for two beneficiaries, the Native Hawaiians and the general public. When the State of Hawaii proposes to sell "ceded" lands, they are abusing that trust for both beneficiaries, as once land is sold (misprint in the newspaper; lines missing)Over the course of time, history has taught us that wrongs commited against humanity in the name of law are wrongs forever, and eventually wrongs are righted by the overturning of bad law. Just as slavery and genocide have been overturned by human rights, so too will today's decision of the American Supreme Court of Injustice be overturned. We Hawaiians will always have the moral right to our lands, now and for the next 100 generations.As for Linda Lingle, who has stabbed us in the heart with her abuse of our trust, she has now earned her place in history with other moo niho awa'awa such as John L. Stevens, Lorrin Thurston, and Sanford Dole. Too bad for her; she could have been remembered as our friend."As found on the Honolulu Advertiser 3/31/09http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090331/BREAKING/90331041/1352**********************Aloha e Kakou,I wanted to share this statement made by Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa earlier today for anyone who missed it. She has discussed the issues around this case, the history, and today's ruling very clearly and much more elequently then I ever could. Mahalo nui loa to her for all her mana'o!
This morning my opinion was different thinking the State of Hawaii was able to sell "seized lands." After attending a march and participating, my views changed. Don't allow the media to pursuade you otherwise. we thank those who attended and shared their mana'o. It may be a hard fight, but we have not given up yet!
One sad thing is the response to her comments were pretty vitriol. also It seems like she had prepared her piece in advance. So it would have been better if her point was a little more on. I agree with the body of the piece. It also brings up the issue of Americans of Hawaiian decent as opposed to Hawaiian Kingdom nationals. She was largely criticized for working for the university and taking their money and then complaining.
Shoots, hard for win here!
We face a hard fight to tell this story without being attacked. So I try to have my information as together as possible.
Mahalo Kai, I appreciate your mana'o. I agree, we need to be careful and unfortunately the media this morning was reporting that the ruling by the Supreme Court was indeed to sell off the Stolen Lands so there was a lot of mis-information/mis-understanding of the ruling in general. For me, I was mainly sharing Kame'eleihiwa's statement because I believe her Historical Overview Of International Rights and Conclusion sections contain a lot of good information. Like all issues, we need to gather information & study them carefully before ultimately reaching our own conclusions; This is only another information source/sharing.
E malama pono,
Kali
E kala Mai, the court did not decide the State had the right to sell off the "Ceded lands" and left open a opportunity for us to still assert ownership. We need to read these things carefully and act!
Comments
Shoots, hard for win here!
We face a hard fight to tell this story without being attacked. So I try to have my information as together as possible.
Malama Pono
Kai
E malama pono,
Kali
Aloha Kai