After Hawaiian independence activists protested on Monday, joined by a chorus of right wing anti-Hawaiian think tanks and media outlets to denounce alleged secret plans to slip the Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill (Akaka Bill) into the Defense Appropriations Bill, Senator Inouye publicly denied that such a rider was in the works.
Now Governor Lingle has come out against the latest markups of the bill, which the administration claims would grant Native Hawaians “inherent powers and privileges of self-determination”. This is laughable on two counts: 1) The Lingle administration contradicts itself, saying it suppports Native Hawaiian self-determination through the Akaka Bill, but objecting to too much self-determination under the proposed latest amendments; and 2) The Akaka Bill was never meant to truly provide for self-determination; it was always about pre-determining the shape and status of a Hawaiian governing entity, limiting the powers and claims of Native Hawaiians and terminating future claims to land and restoration of Hawaiian independence.
The Akaka Bill should be called the “Hawaiian Sovereignty Termination Bill”. At the heart of the conflict over Hawaiian sovereignty is the U.S. interest in securing its hold on Hawaiian land for use by the military. For more than a hundred years, this is all it’s been about.
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Posted on: Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Hawaii governor opposes Akaka bill revisions
Governor opposes latest draft, which would make
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