FreeHawaii.Info CONTINUES INDIAN COUNTRY TODAYS' HIGHLIGHT OF THE AKAKA BILL
Akaka Bill revisions draw Hawaiian ire
by Jerry Reynolds / Washington D.C. correspondent / Indian Country Today
Washington - Whatever the ultimate meaning of these distinctions in law, they and a number of other major revisions got the attention of Mililani Trask.
A Native rights activist who represents indigenous Hawaiian people in several
international forums, among them the Organization of American States and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Trask denounced the revised bill in a widely distributed e-mail. In the process she identified the specific nature of
negotiations set forth in the revision, but mentioned only in passing and somewhat obscurely at the April 21 meeting:
"A new addition to the bill is the requirement that the U.S. and the state of Hawaii must obtain a global settlement for [indigenous] Hawaiian lands and revenues before the [indigenous] Hawaiian nation is recognized. In addition, the new bill says that the U.S. Congress and the state legislature must pass laws approving the global settlement [i.e., between the federal government, the state of Hawaii and the indigenous Hawaiian governing entity] before the nation is recognized."
Another point not mentioned at the hearing is the referral of Native Hawaiian claims against the U.S. to U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. Trask interprets this to mean that "Hawaiian claims for the overthrow [of the indigenous Hawaiian monarchy in 1893] and for economic development rights under our treaties will be lost. All historic claims relating to mismanagement or transfer of trust lands and assets will also not be allowed. These claims cannot be addressed under international law at
the U.N. They must be litigated with the U.S. in Federal court.
Trask issued an immediate call for "all sovereign Hawaiians" to contact Sen. Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., Senate Majority Leader, stating opposition to S. 344 and demanding a
congressional hearing on the bill in Hawaii. Senators Akaka and fellow Hawaii Democrat Daniel Inouye, a co-sponsor, have asked Frist for time to consider the bill on the Senate floor in a crowded legislative schedule. That crowded schedule, and the legislative gridlock setting in
around it, looms large for several items of
complex legislation, besides S. 344 - including national energy legislation.
We Conclude With Part Three Tomorrow
