DAVID INGHAM, WORLD REKNOWN EXPERT ON FEDERAL RECOGNITION, REBUTS LINGLE'S TESTIMONY YESTERDAY FROM THE INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE HEARING IN WASHINGTON, DC
Linda Lingle: Let's look at the facts.
David Ingham: Yes! "Let's look"
LL: Native Hawaiians were governed by their own leaders and their own laws long before Europeans and Americans came to the Hawaiian Islands.
DI: And more importantly long after Europeans arrived
LL: The United States recognized and understood that the Kingdom of Hawai'i was a sovereign nation as evidenced by the exercise of Congress' constitutional authority to confirm treaties between the United States and the Kingdom of Hawai'i as far back as 1826.
DI: And as recently as 9 years before a handful of Americans took it upon themselves to unlawfully imprison the Queen and disrupt Hawaiian government. Let's not forget that part.
LL: When the United States annexed Hawai'i as a territory, it effectively subordinated the Native Hawaiian government to the federal government. Hence the United States' relationship to the people governed by the Native Hawaiian government was political, not racial, in nature.
DI: What in the world are you talking about? The Kingdom of Hawaii was never subordinated to anyone. Are you talking about the pre-1840 government? Are you denying the advancements Hawaiians made in creating a constitutional independent kingdom? Do you discount their sacrifice?
LL: To those who opine that SB147 will result in racial discrimination, I would posit that the only discrimination that can reasonably be associated with this bill is if it fails to become law. Let me explain this point.
DI: Please do, I'm very interested in how now, all of a sudden , after the State of Hawai'i has failed so miserably in meeting its obligation to Hawaiians, that the same kind of treatment from the federal government, administering the same responsibility, will make the kind of discrimination Hawaiians have suffered on State of Hawaii's watch somehow go away.
Tomorrow - David Saves The Governor From Her Own Ignorance On Native American Issues...
