The Hawaiian Homelands set up in 1921 were for “Native Hawaiians” who were at least one half Native Hawaiian. If you did not have the right amount of ancestry, you were not “Hawaiian” enough.

The Akaka Bill is going to let nine “experts” decide who is, and isn’t “Hawaiian” enough to be in the new tribe. Even if you sign up for Kau Inoa, you may not be “Hawaiian” according to these nine “experts.”

And even if these nine “experts” decide you are “Hawaiian” enough, the new tribal leadership can “disenroll” you from the tribe later on. Even if you are pure Native Hawaiian, descended from King Kamehameha the Great himself, the Akaka Bill provides no protections for you.

He Hawai’i au; he mau Hawai’i kakou a pau. I am Hawaiian; we are all Hawaiians.

  He Hawaii au - Hawaiian enough? - MP3 (unknown, 3,853 hits)

Mau Piailug is from the island of Satawal. A master navigator, he taught his craft to the sailors of the Hokule’a, bringing celestial navigation back to the Hawaiian Islands for the first time in hundreds of years.

Through his works, the Hawaiian Renaissance made some of its greatest leaps, bringing a sense of pride and accomplishment to all of Hawai’i.

But that doesn’t matter according to the Akaka Bill. Since Mau cannot trace his ancestry to people in the Hawaiian Islands before 1778, no matter how instrumental he was in the recovery of Hawaiian culture, he can never be considered “Hawaiian.”

The Akaka bill will tell Mau Piailug, and all other Micronesians in Hawai’i, that they cannot have the same rights as the Native Hawaiians he taught to navigate by the stars.

He Hawai’i au; he mau Hawai’i kakou a pau. I am Hawaiian; we are all Hawaiians.

  He Hawaii au - Not enough (2) - MP3 (unknown, 3,920 hits)

Portuguese. Chinese. Filipino. Japanese. Native Hawaiian. European.

People of every background built the Kingdom of Hawai’i and the State of Hawai’i.

Local Hawaiians come from all backgrounds, most of us so kapakahi you cannot tell our ancestors just by looking.

But things are going to change. The Akaka Bill is going to find out who is really “Hawaiian.” The Akaka Bill is going to find out who can call Hawai’i their homeland, and who cannot.

The Akaka Bill is going to tell people who have never even been to Hawai’i that they have special rights to our Islands, simply because of their race. The Akaka bill is going to tell families that have lived and died in Hawai’i for over 200 years that they cannot share in these rights.

He Hawai’i au; he mau Hawai’i kakou a pau. I am Hawaiian; we are all Hawaiians.

  He Hawaii au - The next haole - MP3 (unknown, 3,871 hits)

Aloha Mr. President,

As a person of mixed race, you know about the struggle of human identity.
Imagine for a moment that your mother was Native Hawaiian.  Imagine telling your father that he could not enjoy the same “rights” as you and your mother.

This is what the Akaka Bill does.  A group of “experts” will decide who gets what “rights” in Hawai’i simply by race.

Please, Mr. President, tell the Akaka Bill supporters that we are “One America,” and that we should all live under “One Law.”  Tell the Akaka Bill supporters that the Kingdom of Hawai’i was always a multiracial nation, and that we will not dishonor that noble heritage by separating people by race.

You can move us away from division and towards conciliation with a single, moving speech opposing race-based privileges.

He Hawai’i au; he mau Hawai’i kakou a pau.  I am Hawaiian; we are all Hawaiians.

  He Hawaii au - Mr. President - MP3 (unknown, 3,673 hits)