Hawai’i group welcomes recognition

HAWAI‘I – A prominent native Hawaiian says moves to allow the state’s indigenous population to choose whether to form a unified government is a huge development.

The United States last week announced that native Hawaiians are now eligible for federal recognition, and can choose to form a body to enter into formal government-to-government relations with the US.

It would be the first time the Native Hawaiian community had their own government since their kingdom was overthrown in 1893, a move that led to US annexation in 1898.

The proposal gives native Hawaiians similar tribal status to that of native American groups.

Any change would follow a lengthy process in which Hawaiians would have to form a unified government through a ratification referendum.

The president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Annelle Amaral, said she is overjoyed by the announcement, which has been decades in the making.

“It means that finally the indigenous people of Hawai‘i are recognised by the federal government,” she said.

“They have never formally recognised us as the people. And the other thing it means as that we will finally have sovereignty, we will finally have a full-throated voice.”

Amaral said the community is already working to establish a unified government.

She said the community was looking at a constitution and working hard to meet the other requirements for recognition.

“I think there’s a threshold of 150,000 having to participate in the ratification of the governing document and the election of their people, and we have in total 300,000 – so that’s a participation rate of half.

“The indigenous people are being held to a pretty high standard but that’s okay, we can do this.”

The announcement is part of a reconciliation process that has been negotiated for more than 20 years.

The move is part of an attempt by President Barack Obama, who was born in Hawai‘i, to strengthen relationships with native communities.

- RNZI