Native Hawaiians Divided on Federal Recognition

 

More than 100 years ago, the American government took control of the Hawaiian islands and took away Native Hawaiians’ land rights.

Now, officials at the United States Civil Rights Commission are urging lawmakers to permit Native Hawaiians to establish their own independent government.

But many Native Hawaiians reject the idea. They say they will not accept anything less than Hawaii’s complete independence. And, they say, they want control of more than 400,000 hectares of the islands’ land.?

How did we get here?

Sailors from Polynesia first settled the Hawaiian Islands around the year 400. For more than 1,000 years, the Native Hawaiians lived together in small groups, farmed and fished for their needs, and governed themselves. In the late 1700s, one native leader overpowered the others and united the islands into a single kingdom.

But in the early 1800s, the area changed sharply. Other groups came. Many Native Hawaiians died from the new diseases that came with the foreigners. Others were forced from their lands to permit the newcomers to create large sugar cane¹ farms. American planters soon dominated the islands’ economy.

In time, the planters, United States government officials and Marines ousted² from power Hawaii’s last ruler, Queen Lili?uokalani. In 1898 the U.S. government officially annexed⁴ Hawaii, and in 1959 named it the country’s 50th state.

Today Native Hawaiians are only about 20 percent of the state’s population.

Calls for sovereignty

Noelani Goodyear-Ka’opua is an expert on Native Hawaiian social movements. She is also Native Hawaiian, or Kanaka Maoli.

Ka’opua says Native Hawaiians have been protesting the loss of their rights and calling for sovereignty since the 1800s. But they do not always agree on what they are asking for. Some want to form a government and operate as a kind of nation-within-a-nation, like Native American tribes on the U.S. mainland. Others want to be a country independent from the United States.

In 2014, U.S. government officials held a number of hearings across Hawaii to learn what Native Hawaiians thought about forming their own government. A large majority of people who spoke⁵ in the hearings said they did not want it. Instead, they argued the U.S. violated international law when it removed the queen as ruler. The kingdom, they say, continues to exist.

Yet in 2016, the U.S. government released a final rule to permit Native Hawaiians to form a government – in other words, the nation-within-a-nation solution.

Noelani Goodyear-Ka’opua points out that the rule does not permit Native Hawaiians control of any land currently controlled by the U.S. government.

“How is this in any way to our benefit?” she asks. “We wouldn’t even be getting the crappy deal that Native American nations have. And once you accept a lesser⁶ deal, a better deal is impossible.”

Another Hawaiian historian does not reject the U.S. government’s offer completely. Bavianna McGregor is a founding member of the Department of Ethnic⁷ Studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. She says the U.S. officially recognizing that Native Hawaiians have the right to govern themselves is an important step toward full independence.

She says she hopes to see an independent Native Hawaiian government within an independent Hawaii. But, she says, she does not think she it will happen in her lifetime.

I’m Caty Weaver⁸.

Words in This Story

dominate – v. to overpower and take control

annex³ – v. to seize

benefit – n. something that leads to good results

crappy – adj. of poor quality

1 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

2 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

3 annex   

vt.兼并，吞并；n.附属建筑物

参考例句：

• It plans to annex an England company in order to enlarge the market.它计划兼并一家英国公司以扩大市场。
• The annex has been built on to the main building.主楼配建有附属的建筑物。

4 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。