Native Hawaiians Turn Attention to U.S. Effort

Native Hawaiian leaders are ratcheting up efforts to gain federal recognition as a sovereign people following the Supreme Court ruling that invalidated their special voting rights.

Last week, the justices struck down as unconstitutional the state’s practice of allowing only those people with native Hawaiian blood to vote for the trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The board oversees a $300-million fund to benefit native Hawaiians. It provides scholarships and loans, and funds health and social programs--in part to compensate Hawaiians for the loss of their kingdom.

“There is a silver lining under this cloud,” Clayton Hee, chairman of the OHA board, said after the ruling. “Many Hawaiian organizations and people have joined together as a result of this decision. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Hawaiian people now fully appreciate the importance of obtaining federal recognition and status as a native indigenous people.”

In its opinion, the court noted that Native American tribes may restrict voting to their members because “such elections are the internal affair of a quasi-sovereign.”

“The OHA elections, by contrast, are the affair of the state of Hawaii,” the justices said. Therefore, voting must be opened to all Hawaii citizens, not just those who trace their ancestry to the Polynesians who lived here before the arrival of English explorer Capt. James Cook in 1778.

Disappointment over the decision turned to outrage when Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano announced he would name replacement trustees as soon as possible, rather than waiting until the next scheduled election in November. Noting that the current board is “virtually dysfunctional at times,” the governor has said he would not consider simply reappointing its members.

Many native Hawaiians considered his move another slap in the face as they struggle to control their own destiny.

“I’m urging civil disobedience,” said OHA Trustee Mililani Trask, who founded Ka Lahui, the state’s largest pro-sovereignty organization. Former state Rep. Annelle Amaral echoed Trask’s call, saying the time has come for “something more than chants and drums, more than marches. Something that will have an economic impact on the airports, the harbors.”

On Thursday, the governor softened his stand. Cayetano, who is not native Hawaiian, agreed to join OHA in asking the state Supreme Court to clarify whether he has the authority to replace the trustees.

The plaintiff in the case, white rancher Harold “Freddy” Rice, says that now that his right to vote is protected, he plans to go back to tending his cattle.

But his lawyer, John Goemans, expects the court ruling will open all sorts of benefits established for native Hawaiians--including housing, health and education programs--to legal challenge.

“All governmental action preferring or discriminating in favor of Hawaiians is presumed to be unconstitutional and is subject to being struck down unless the governmental action can be shown to be for the purpose of remedying the present effects of past discrimination,” Goemans said.

Hawaii was a kingdom until 1893, when its last queen was overthrown with the help of the U.S. government. It became a territory shortly thereafter and a state in 1959. In 1993, the Clinton administration acknowledged the illegality of the overthrow and apologized for America’s role in it. The Justice and Interior departments held hearings in Hawaii last year and are preparing a draft report on “reconciliation” with the islands’ native people.

Robin Danner, head of Project Hawaiian Justice, says the time is ripe for Hawaiians to approach Congress.

“The ruling makes very, very clear the limitations of operating within the state,” she said. “I feel like, whether it was intentional or not, the Supreme Court issued a personal invitation to the native Hawaiian people, saying, ‘Come to the federal level.’ ”

Robert Klein, a Hawaiian who stepped down as a justice of the state Supreme Court a few weeks ago, predicts that the U.S. high court ruling will ultimately help Hawaiians.

“I do believe that this decision will help the Hawaiian community put their long-term interests into focus,” Klein said.