Sovereign Status for Native Hawaiians Urged

Acknowledging “less than honorable” actions by the United States against Native Hawaiians more than a century ago, the federal government recommended Wednesday that indigenous islanders be given the same sovereign status as most Native Americans.

The plan, similar to legislation proposed by Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), aims to give Native Hawaiians greater control over their lands and cultural resources and to protect more than 180 U.S. government-funded programs--including housing and health care--primarily benefiting them.

Many Hawaiian leaders say those programs were threatened by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in February that some believe cast doubt on the notion that Native Hawaiians are entitled to special privileges by reason of their ethnicity.

In that ruling, the nation’s highest court threw out a Hawaii law barring non-Hawaiians from voting for trustees of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The report is a product of hearings held throughout the state in December by Interior and Justice department officials. Those talks were called for in a 1993 congressional resolution, signed by President Clinton, apologizing for America’s role in the 1893 overthrow of Queen Lili’uokalani. Five years after the overthrow, the United States annexed Hawaii.

The 100th anniversaries of those events added momentum to the fragmented Hawaiian sovereignty movement, whose goals range from restoring the monarchy and declaring independence from the United States to creating a state-within-a-state government for Hawaii’s 200,000 indigenous residents.

“The past history of United States-Native Hawaiian relations affirms instances in which U.S. actions were less than honorable,” said Jacqueline Agtuca, acting director of the Justice Department’s Office of Tribal Justice. “For justice to be served, the federal government should honor the unique relationship that exists with Native Hawaiians and respond to their desire for more local control.”

Assistant Interior Secretary John Berry said the draft report seeks to give Hawaiians limited sovereignty.

The report recommends that Congress approve legislation clarifying Native Hawaiians’ political status and create a framework for recognizing a “government-to-government” relationship with a representative Native Hawaiian governing body.

Clarification of Hawaiians’ political status is needed to preserve state and federal funding of programs that benefit Native Hawaiians, who have some of the highest rates of poverty, illness and lack of access to education in the state, Akaka and others have said.

“The fact that this represents the position of the United States of America is significant beyond words,” OHA board Chairman Clayton Hee said. “We’re really on the cutting edge of a new form of gaining federal recognition for native peoples.”

The report suggests using surplus military land as a base for Native Hawaiians and Hee believes military golf courses should be included.

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the House Resources Committee are scheduled to hold statewide hearings on Akaka’s bill next week.

The Interior and Justice departments will receive public comment on the report in the next 30 days.