Why this 'Aha ? (Native Hawaiian Congress)

Why are we meeting?  In my case:

We are responding to the systematic destruction of the Native Hawaiian people and our homeland & habitat, including the aggressive seizure of our indigenous lands by outsiders such as U.S. military forces. We demand return of our lands wherever possible. We also require ongoing consultation on issues of Hawaiian heritage, and compensation for continuing misuse of our inheritance. We are drafting a proposed governing document that will protect our ancestral lands, to help provide the Native Hawaiian people and our families with better lives, and to cultivate continuing Aloha in the wider community and throughout the world.

'Aha 2016 participant

14 Feb 2016

On the Road to 'Aha 2016

This summarizes my view of our condition, generally good-natured but impatient. Among our group we are discussing many solid steps and great designs. I hope our meetings can generate substantive future development proposals. Our role is to propose & suggest -- not to impose or rule.

We gather at the 'Aha to discuss suggestions & concerns for the future of Native Hawaiians.

We are each Native Hawaiian, each nominated by ten Native Hawaiians, part of a peaceful effort where tens of thousands of Native Hawaiian people actively participated -- until our voting process was imperiously blocked in a 5-4 injunction by the U.S. Supreme Court. Subjugation of Native Hawaiians in Hawaii is continuing.

Our combined voices are nonetheless heard worldwide: do not expect continuing silence about colonial suppression and the American militarization of our peaceful homeland. Our legacy is the beautiful Hawaiian archipelago, cherished, farmed and protected by Native Hawaiians over many centuries.

Native Hawaiians speak of struggle. We struggle against genocide; naturally we seek to avoid further destruction of our people. We've withstood deadly infections brought from overseas. We've survived occupation by hostile settlers. But we've also learned new techniques and technology, and we have welcomed many newcomers into our community with love & aloha.

We are descended from Native Hawaiians, the indigenous people of Hawaii. But we Native Hawaiians are now multiracial and multi ethnic, a peaceful community still delivering our world-famous Aloha.

We welcome visitors and non-Native friends, sharing blessings between families and the wider community. Some arrive seeking to steal from us, taking criminal advantage of Hawaiian hospitality. Sadly, some in America encourage bad behavior. We do not accept the occupation & theft of our common & Crown lands and surrounding seas.

Hawaii's indigenous & aboriginal people seek peaceful reconciliation, but we will not give up our legal claim to the lands of our ancestors we inherit as descendants. Yankee tries to block many paths with race-based claims of exclusivity. Yet most American grandchildren & great-grandkids are not kept from their inheritance simply because a qualification to inherit is greatly exclusive (e.g., descended from grandma Bush or great-grandfather Rockefeller); these others inherit through their mix of great-grandparents, only indigenous peoples in America face such prejudice and property pilferage.

We inherit responsibilities from ancestors as well as benefits. Native Hawaiians perpetuate the righteousness of our lands, protecting and nurturing wider life and the natural world. WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER. We are determined to greatly improve the pervasive health problems and substandard living conditions hobbling many Native Hawaiians.

The 150+ Native Hawaiians meeting for 'Aha 2016 are eager to help improve the lives of our families, cousins, and community. We are not empowered to institute new treaties, or to impose our decisions on anyone. Nothing we do is intended to relinquish any past, present, or future claims of sovereignty by Native Hawaiians.

Native Hawaiians belong to a family and community association stretching back many centuries, and have welcomed all races and religions.   Aloha.

Kanaka Māoli: I Support Native Hawaiian Inheritance

I'm involved in a process for Hawaiian rights, where I mean Native Hawaiian -- descendants of the indigenous Hawaiian people. I feel part of an ancient & sacred inheritance. Welcome support for our effort may be offered & received by temporary visitors, American soldiers billeted in Hawaii, recent immigrants, and the families of naturalized Hawaiian Kingdom citizens, etc. But I'm not working for them.

Sorry to be a naysayer, and appear disrespectful.

I'm tempted to say "the more the merrier" because a larger group might have more success. But I believe the core constituency should define ourselves as the descendants and heirs of Hawaii's indigenous or aboriginal people, Kanaka Māoli.

We can hope many social groups will call for the recovery of Native Hawaiian lands. I hope people in other nations will also care about and work for our welfare. We've been very accommodating, with reason to hope others have noticed. Aloha is a well-known reflection of Hawaiian values.

Native Hawaiians worked for centuries on the islands. Naturalized newcomers to the Hawaiian Kingdom joined at a time of great disturbance and cultural genocide. They brought help and new ideas, and many have been great neighbors. But some worked to destroy the Hawaiian Kingdom:

http://tinyurl.com/jehsfnh

http://hialliance.com/Lambert-Hawaiians-DoleOut-Peace-proof.pdf

The US 1910 Census (at least in Hawaii) intrusively required answers to "Color or race" and "Place of Birth" as well as places of birth for mother and father, and two questions on Citizenship (Year of immigration to Hawaii or other part of United States) (Whether naturalized or alien). A dozen years before, and since 1893, heavily armed paramilitary groups had commandeered all major streets around Honolulu to discourage uppity or defiant natives resisting the overthrow. Should we divisively examine the community at the time of overthrow and make decisions about treason or saintliness, clouded by time and generation gaps? No naturalized citizens of the Hawaiian Kingdom remain alive. We've no possibilities to cross-examine. What are appropriate penalties? Could we be fair?

Many descendants of Hawaiian Kingdom naturalized citizens now have a "place at the table" through intermarriage with da kine. Kindly requesting others to wait seems not terribly cruel when the glaring status quo alternative is we recover nothing of our inheritance. Of course, we can share freely, and show aloha to anyone (or everyone). But that approach has not proven wholly successful...

Our Native Hawaiian constituency has claims as indigenous people that receive separate scrutiny in the global community and at the United Nations. We share solidarity with native peoples elsewhere. We've been robbed of ancestral lands & our inheritance by extravagant military occupation... a resonant story worldwide.

Peaceful Thinking - Don't Race

It's difficult to root-out indoctrination. Powers wielded over us may be unrecognized.

Opponents of our process to assist Native Hawaiian people are arguing (even repeatedly to the U.S. Supreme Court) we're racist and nasty.  I don't see it.

Our activities have a qualifying condition. Sitting at a family breakfast table also has certain requirement(s). Our wider society abounds with prerequisites. Virginia won't issue a driver's license to someone who's never been there. Male golfers aren't allowed to compete in the LPGA Championship. It's not possible everyone becomes a Roman Catholic priest. The Muscular Dystrophy Association only funds certain people. Voting rights are denied to many Americans due to supposedly insufficient age.

Kamehameha Schools have admission requirements. But children of many backgrounds are admitted. We could analyze a class and regroup the members in dozens, perhaps hundreds of ways.

Look around in American society and you'll see many doors closed. Most require money to enter: no money, no entry. Think of $10,000-per-plate political dinners.

Very few doors require Native Hawaiian ancestry. We belong to a family and community association stretching back many centuries, and have welcomed all races and religions. 

Celebrate Our Aloha.