...As fiduciary of the Native Hawaiian trust, OHA’s Board of Trustees has determined that the reestablishment of a government-to-government relationship between the United States and the Native Hawaiian community is the most viable action that could be taken to protect and expand existing trust assets, federal programmatic funding, federal consultation rights and other self-determination rights under federal law.
Moreover, as a matter of justice and equity, this opportunity should be available for the Native Hawaiian community to pursue. We should not be denied the basic self-governance rights afforded all other major indigenous groups in the nation. We have suffered through colonization and the dispossession of our lands, resources and culture, and the hearts of our people continue to be burdened by these historic injustices, as recent oral testimony made clear. Our community cannot heal until the federal government shows meaningful respect for our dignity by engaging us as a sovereign Native nation under federal law. The issue of further reconciliation through international redress is a separate question for a different forum that will not, as a legal matter, be affected by Native Hawaiians’ status under federal law.
Therefore, OHA STRONGLY SUPPORTS the accelerated promulgation of a federal rule, or the taking of other federal action, such as a Secretarial or Assistant Secretarial Order, that would reestablish a government-to-government relationship with the official Native Hawaiian government formed by the qualified Native Hawaiians on the certified base roll, upon that Native Hawaiian government’s affirmative request for such a relationship....
See OHAʻS Entire Testimony HERE -
