Asserting that his grandfather lived in an orphanage on the “Island of Hana”, he believes that he may in fact have native Hawaiian ancestry.

Although his gaffe regarding the Island of Maui (which has a town called Hana) may be simply amusing, given his self-admitted inability to be impartial, it seems that he should recuse himself from any further proceedings regarding this legislation.

Aloha and thank you for inviting me to speak on September 5, 2007.

My name is Jere Krischel and I was born and raised in Hawaii, living in Pauoa, Kaneohe, Red Hill, Makakilo, Wahiawa and Poamoho Camp. I attended Playmate School in Makiki, several summer programs at Kamehameha Schools, and Punahou School from kindergarten to 11th grade before attending the University of Southern California on an early admissions program. I finished a double major in Computer Engineering/Computer Science at USC, and have been involved in the high-tech industry for twenty years. I currently live in California with my wife, two children and disabled sister-in-law, and work as an IT executive at Kaiser Permanente.

My interest and involvement in the civil rights movement in Hawaii was inspired by online discussions at the Honolulu Advertiser’s website in 2004, and since then I have participated in various historical and legal research projects, including the complete transcription of the Morgan Report (the final congressional investigation into the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893 which found contrary to the initial report of Blount that the U.S. played only a tangential role in what was a purely internal matter). I also helped digitize the Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report of 1983, and have recently begun research at the Reagan National Library with access granted through a F.O.I.A. request to the materials collected there regarding the NHSC Report during Reagan’s administration. I have written extensively on many blogs regarding my research and study of the history of my homeland, and have had articles published by the Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu Magazine, and the Hawaii Reporter.

My family in Hawaii includes part-native Hawaiian cousins (including Senator Akaka himself), direct Japanese descent from the 1800s, a Portuguese father with ancestors who came from the Azores in the 1800s, part-Filipino brothers and nephews, and recent Lebanese and Filipino immigrant in-laws. My grand-uncle Kiyoshi Masunaga died in WWII serving with the 442nd. My mainland family includes German, French, Jewish, African, Russian, Spanish, Filipino and native American relatives. My commitment to the ideals of equality, and the rejection of the use of racial categories to separate out people for disparate treatment is inspired by my diverse heritage and my conviction that first and foremost we are all humans, indigenous to this earth.