A historic stone structure can be seen in the foreground of Mauna Kea, the most sacred mountain in Hawaii. Photo by Siowl via Wikipedia
Anne Keala Kelly, the director of Noho Hewa, a film about the occupation of Hawaii, believes the federal recognition process at the Interior Department will result in the loss of more Native Hawaiian lands:
Na‘i Aupuni is happening because the US wants to extinguish Hawaiian rights to the Crown & Government lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom, about 40 percent of the archipelago. These are Hawaiian national lands, referred to as “ceded lands.” But to create the appearance of a legal transfer of title, the state and federal governments need Na‘i Aupuni, Hawaiian acquiescence to the US takeover. Na‘i Aupuni was invented and funded by the state, in conjunction with the Department of Interior (DOI), which acts on directives from President Obama. The list of Hawaiians who can vote was derived from Kanaiolowalu, which was the result of Act 195, a mandate to create a Hawaiian roll. $4 million from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) was spent in an effort to secure 200,000 Hawaiian names, but only 19,000 signed on. So, another state law, Act 77, was passed to disguise that abysmal failure, giving permission to Kanaiolowalu commissioners to loot other state registries. Lists of Hawaiian people, who were trying to get scholarships and loans or signed other forms of enrollment separate from Kanaiolowalu were counted, ballooning the number to 125,000. It took a court order to make the list public, which was good because it includes people who have passed away. 24% of the names were removed for various reasons, whittling Kanaiolowalu’s list down to 95,000. That means that 80% of the people on this new, state manufactured list of “voters” did not consent. $2.5 million so far has been spent on this fake election, but we’re supposed to believe Na‘i Aupuni is a grassroots movement for Hawaiian self-determination.Get the Story:
Anne Keala Kelly: How to Steal a Nation—Twice (Indian Country Today 11/23) Federal Register Notice:
Procedures for Reestablishing a Formal Government-to-Government Relationship With the Native Hawaiian Community (October 1, 2015)
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