Jan 13, 2005

Ka Lahui Hawai'i: Akakamamie legislation


The Akaka Bill, according to Francis Boyle, is the American governments attempt to dominate and control Hawaiians right to self-determination, and deny their rights under international law.
The Akaka Bill, according to Francis Boyle, is the American government’s attempt to “dominate and control Hawaiians’ right to self-determination, and deny their rights under international law.” Under international law—and according to the 1993 “Apology Bill,” says Boyle—the Kingdom of Hawai‘i still exists, and its government should be restored.
Boyle, who teaches international law at the University of Illinois, did a whirlwind tour of the islands Dec. 28-30, lecturing on, “Restoration of Hawai‘i’s Independence: An Alternative Mode of Self-Governance.”

At the Neal Blaisdell Center, he presented a scathing critique of the Akaka Bill to a crowd of about 100, including Hawaiian activists Henry Noa and Bumpy Kanahele, Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Oswald Stender and attorney Mona Bernardino. The Akaka Bill, which is intended to give Native Hawaiians a status similar to Native Americans, is silent on the subject of land, Boyle said. It creates a “governing entity,” not a government; it says Hawaiians can adopt “documents,” not laws or regulations. And the whole thing—from deciding who gets to be a citizen, to approving the governing documents—is controlled by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Boyle was last here in 1993, when he spoke on the implications of the Apology Bill, in which the U.S. conceded that overthrowing Hawai‘i’s monarch was an illegal act of war. Boyle also helped the Nation of Hawai‘i draft its “Proclamation Restoring the Independence of the Sovereign Nation State of Hawaii.”

Perhaps in response to charges of spending a lot of beneficiaries’ money on the Akaka Bill while ignoring other options, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs co-sponsored Boyle’s visit along with the Nation of Hawai‘i. But even after hearing Boyle’s argument against the Akaka Bill, OHA’s Stender remains unconvinced. He says Boyle is reading more into the bill than is there. And while the appropriate legal remedy to the overthrow is indeed to restore the kingdom along with its lands, that is an impossible dream, says Stender. The U.S. will never walk away from Hawai‘i, and in fact most Hawaiians want to remain U.S. citizens (along with the 80 percent of the population that is non-Hawaiian), he says.

Another OHA trustee, Linda Dela Cruz, said in her monthly message for January: “I went to Washington, D. C., two times to lobby for these [Akaka] bills, yet, I must confess, I am still not sure how these bills will benefit us Hawaiians. I keep telling myself, ‘something is better than nothing.’”

Source: Honolulu Weekly