FREEHAWAII.INFO PRESENTS
"HAWAIIANS UNIFYING FOR INDEPENDENCE"
PART TWO OF A THREE PART SERIES -
From SPASIFIK Magazine, September/October 2005 by Gretchen Kelly
Although some question the logic of relying on this resolution – essentially an admission by an aggressor nation that it was wrong to have ruthlessly squashed the national identity of an peaceful country – to provide a framework for the restoration of the nation of Hawai`i, there is no doubt that the decades of efforts of Kanaka Maoli [Native Hawaiian] independence activists have been revitalized by the apology.
In the twelve years since that resolution was signed, the dozens of Hawaiian sovereignty groups have made efforts to come together into a unified organization that can represent the interests of the nation of Hawai`i.
Although these efforts have stumbled over differences in the groups’ outlooks regarding independence and how to achieve it, a kahea (call) in June of this year by Big Island Maoli leader Skippy Ioane has resulted in the formation of a new independence coalition, Hui Pu.
Hui Pu, comprised of a broad-based alliance of Maoli leaders in the areas of Hawaiian-rights activism, cultural practice and protocol, farming, academics and other fields, as well as sovereignty groups, is embracing a new level of determination to find a way to unify Hawaiian independence efforts.
The issue around which Hui Pu coalesced is the impending U.S. Congress decision regarding the so-called “Akaka Bill,” which supporters say will stave off court challenges to Hawaiian programs and entitlements by providing for the formation of a Hawaiian “nation within a nation” similar to the status of Native American tribes.
The members of Hui Pu are adamantly opposed to the Akaka Bill and its provisions, primarily on the basis of the fact that it “purports to legislate the political status of a people who have never yielded their sovereignty over their National lands to the United States.”
The Conclusion Tomorrow...
