'''Author's note: This article, already lengthy, has a
more detailed version twice as long, which can be found
at:''' https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/AkakaHawnChicanoNatnl.html
There are strong similarities between the
Hawaiian sovereignty movement and the Chicano
nationalist movement. The 2003 Gubernatorial recall
campaign in California focused attention on the
radical agenda of an ethnic nationalist group to which Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante belongs. This Chicano-power group is MEChA, or Nation of Aztlan. Its view of history and demands for nationhood are strikingly similar to the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.
The same misguided theory of the Akaka bill that
would allow Congress to convert an ethnic group into a
racial separatist government in Hawaii could also be
used to support racial separatism and eventual
independence for "indigenous" people of Mexican
ancestry in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas,
and perhaps other states. The success of one would
help the other both politically and legally. There are
also parallels to Black nationalism and demands for
reparations for slavery.
Our country is strong enough militarily to
defeat any foreign enemy. Our most dangerous enemy
comes from within -- the idea of race-based rights and
ethnic nationalism. S.344/H.R.665 is the thin edge of
a very large knife poised to dismember America. That
is a very good reason why Senators and members of
Congress from throughout America must oppose this
disastrous legislation.
Introduction
Congress gives genuine Indian tribes special
sovereign governmental powers over their lands and
people, in accord with the Indian Commerce clause of
the Constitution. Indigenous tribes which have
maintained a separate and distinct lifestyle and have
governed themselves continuously from before Western
contact through the present time should be entitled to
keep their autonomy. But today there are some radical
members of racial or ethnic groups who would like
their groups to have similar powers. They want to pull
away from our integrated society, and perhaps secede
entirely. They want Congress to give them recognition
as though they are an Indian tribe, including a
race-based government, race-based control over land,
and megabucks from the federal treasury as reparations
for historical grievances. The result would be
unprecedented racial balkanization and political
instability, possibly leading to the breakup of the
United States (similar to the breakup of the former
Yugoslavia and the former Soviet Union).
A View of History Shared by Hawaiian and Chicano Activists
The following three paragraphs may sound to
people in the Southwestern U.S. like the viewpoint of
MEChA or Nation of Aztlan; and they may sound to
people of Hawaii like the viewpoint of Hawaiian
sovereignty activists. Actually these are the views
of both groups, and are similar to the views of other
ethnic nationalist movements in America.
The activists claim to be indigenous to a certain
area because they have at least one ancestor who lived somewhere in that area (in a range of hundreds of
miles) prior to Western contact. Although someone's
percentage of native blood may be very small, he
nevertheless claims to be an aboriginal, indigenous,
native person of that area.
The history of that area following Western
contact goes something like this: Natives suffer
extreme population decline (some call it genocide)
because of newly introduced Western diseases.
Gradually white people of European and American
ancestry arrive in increasing numbers, and "impose"
their culture, religion, language, legal system, money
economy, and private property ownership, "forcing" the
native people to assimilate to this strange new way of
life. The white people bring in other non-natives,
from Asia and Africa, as laborers. Eventually white
people end up owning most of the property and running
most of the government. Other non-white immigrants
also get well-established. Natives end up at the
bottom of society. At some point the U.S. stages an
armed invasion to support a total takeover by the
white oligarchy. After a few years or a few decades
the area is officially annexed by the United States
and sooner or later becomes a state.
A growing awareness of historical heritage
produces special pride in people who have any degree
of native ancestry. Some people of native ancestry
choose to identify more closely with their native
ancestors than with their other ancestors, even when
their native blood quantum is very small. An
activist's pride in his native ancestry is accompanied
by anger at historical injustices committed by his own
white, Asian, or African ancestors against his native ancestors. The newly self-proclaimed indigenous people demand the right to self-determination, nationhood, and reparations from the United States for the "crimes" committed against them more than a century ago.
Ethnic Hawaiian activists might think the above
three paragraphs describe themselves. But no. Those
paragraphs describe people who have at least one
ancestor of Mexican-Indian blood. The area where they
live is not the state of Hawaii, but rather the
states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas;
and perhaps parts of other nearby states. The lands
of those states were formerly part of Mexico, and were
obtained as a result of military conquest in a war
with Mexico, or through treaty or purchase. And before
the Spanish conquest and creation of Mexico those
lands belonged to the indigenous people who lived
there (especially the Aztecs), and whose descendants
still live there today. The immigrants who came and
took over the land, and the newer immigrants who came
since then, freely chose to come (except for African
slaves dragged there by their owners), and freely
chose their new nationality as Americans. But the
surviving "natives" of today never chose to be invaded
or engulfed by a foreign culture or nation. Some
radicals among them say they owe no allegiance to the
United States, and they assert "indigenous rights"
under "international law" to self-governance and
independence.
MEChA, The Nation of Aztlan; and the Reconquista of the American Southwest
The radical Chicano group MechA, also known as
the Nation of Aztlan, came to public attention in late
August, 2003 during the recall campaign for Governor
of California. Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante,
the leading Democrat contender to replace Governor
Gray Davis if Davis is recalled, was an active member
of this radical group during his days as a college
student. But what grabbed public attention in the
recall election is that Bustamante repeatedly refused
to disavow his continuing support for their radical
agenda of racial separatism and, indeed, racial
supremacy in a secessionist nation.
The acronym MEChA stands for Movimiento
Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or the Chicano Student
Movement of Aztlan. The Nation of Aztlan maintains a longstanding, large Web site called La Voz de Aztlan, at http://www.aztlan.net/
In addition to the anti-American political content and commitment to ethnic nationalist secession, there is clearly a strong anti-Jewish racism. Some of the articles prominently displayed on the front page
include: The "Kosher Nostra Scam" on the American
Consumer; The Petition to End Kosher Certification
Labels; Fidel Castro Says US Should Return Aztlan Back
to Mexico; Did Schwarzenegger pay the Wiesenthal
Center to "shut up" about his father's Nazi past? Mel
Gibson, Anne Emmerich, Jesus and the Jews; The
Manjewrian Candidate: The making of California
Governor Gray Davis
Here is some of MEChA's "El Plan de Aztlan" taken
from:
https://www.angelfire.com/sd/mcdsd/ElPlanDeAztlan.html
Readers in Hawaii should think about the rhetoric of
Hawaiian sovereignty activists when reading this
material:
"In the spirit of a new people that is conscious
not only of its proud historical heritage but also of
the brutal 'gringo' invasion of our territories, we,
the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern
land of Aztlan from whence came our forefathers,
reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating
the determination of our people of the sun, declare
that the call of our blood is our power, our
responsibility, and our inevitable destiny.
Aztlan belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the
fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign
Europeans. Brotherhood unites us, and love for our
brothers makes us a people whose time has come and who struggles against the foreigner "gabacho" who exploits our riches and destroys our culture. We are a bronze people with a bronze culture. Nationalism as the key to organization transcends all religious, political, class, and economic factions or boundaries. Nationalism is the common denominator that all members of La Raza can agree upon."
In November of 2001 Phyllis Schlafly published an
article about the Mexican government's official
endorsement of the reconquista and the concept of
Aztlan on her "Eagle Forum." Here are excerpts from
her essay: http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2001/nov01/01-11-28.shtml
"In Chicago on July 27, 1997, then Mexican President
Ernesto Zedilla told the National Council of LaRaza,
"I have proudly affirmed that the Mexican nation
extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders.
"When President Vicente Fox came to the United States
this year, he reiterated this line, proclaiming that
'the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory
enclosed by its borders' and includes migrants living
in the United States. He called for open borders and
endorsed Mexico's new dual citizenship law. Some
Mexicans use the term 'reconquista,' which is Spanish
for reconquest, to describe their desire to see
California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas acquired by
Mexico and named the new country of Aztlan. They are
teaching their youth that the United States 'stole'
those areas from Mexico and that they should be
'returned.' ... Vicente Fox presented Mexico's
Congress with a five-year development plan to
eliminate the U.S.-Mexican border. He said he plans to
serve 'the 100 million Mexicans who now live in Mexico
and the more than 18 million who live abroad,' and to 'strengthen our ability to protect and defend the rights of all Mexicans abroad.' Juan Hernandez, appointed by Fox as special liaison to Mexicans abroad, lobbies to get U.S. driver's licenses issued to illegal aliens and defends the Mexican government's issuance of desert survival kits to those sneaking across the border. On ABC's Nightline on June 7, he
boasted: 'We are betting that the Mexican-American
population in the United States ... will think Mexico
first.' ... the Mexican consul donates to the local
public schools the same textbooks that are used in
every elementary school in Mexico, grades 1 through 6.
The books, written in Spanish and including all
academic subjects, teach that America 'stole' the
southwest from Mexico and that Mexico is entitled to
take it back. ... The question we should ask our
Mexican immigrant friends is, are you assimilating or invading?"
Those who wish to read details about California
Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante's support for
MEChA and Aztlan are referred to the following two
recently published articles whose URLs are accompanied
by brief excerpts:
Bustamante, MEChA and the media, by Michelle Malkin,
August 20, 2003. Excerpts taken from: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/mm20030820.shtml
MEChA members in the University of California system
have rioted in Los Angeles, editorialized that federal immigration "pigs should be killed, every single one" in San Diego, and are suspected of breaking into a conservative student publication's offices and stealing its entire print run in Berkeley. MEChA's symbol is an eagle clutching a dynamite stick and machete-like weapon in its claws; its motto is "Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada (For the Race, everything. For those outside the Race, nothing)." The MEChA Constitution calls on members to "promote Chicanismo within the community, politicizing our Raza
(race) with an emphasis on indigenous consciousness to
continue the struggle for the self-determination of
the Chicano people for the purpose of liberating
Aztlan."
Bustamante Ties to Student Movement Raises Questions
of Racism (by Fox News). Excerpts taken from: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95871,00.html
"California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante refused Thursday
to renounce his past ties to a little-known Hispanic organization considered by critics to be as racist as the Ku Klux Klan. Instead, Bustamante, who is running to be governor of California, praised the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan, or MEChA, and said he still supports it. ... MEChA has used violence in the past to make its case. At a July 4 celebration in 1996, members of the group, who call themselves Mechistas, were videotaped attacking black and white Americans protesting illegal immigration. In 1993, students at UCLA caused $500,000 worth of damage during protests to demand a Chicano studies department. MEChA has also been associated with anti-Semitic groups like Nation of Aztlan. Bustamante has been questioned before about racism. In 2001, he had to apologize profusely to state African-American leaders after mistakenly referring to a black union using the N-word.
Provisional Government of Aztlan Expresses Solidarity with the 'Nation of Hawaii' and Acknowledges the United States as Their Common Enemy
The following email was sent by the Provisional
Government of Aztlan to the Nation of Hawaii (Bumpy
Kanahele) on Sept. 28, 2000. It was widely
circulated among Hawaiian sovereignty activists, as
evidence of international support and solidarity with
their ethnic nationalist independence movement. It is
copied here in its entirety.
From: noevilempire@earthling.net
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000
To: exec@hawaii-nation.org
Subject: Provisional Government of Aztlan
Aloha!
Since 1848 when the Mexican government "signed" the
"Treaty" of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the U.S. has been
occupying the northern half of Mexico known as Aztlan.
What makes this occupation as patently illegal as
their current occupation of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is
the fact that the U.S. Army forces occupying Mexico
City and other parts of Mexico had standing orders to
overrun the rest of the country if the government
refused to sign this "treaty." This is known in legal
circles as BLACKMAIL-rendering the "agreement" entered
into null and void! From California to Texas, millions
of U.S. citizens are in fact residing on foreign soil.
Millions of others, born and raised in this territory,
think they are U.S. citizens, when in LEGAL reality,
they are MEXICAN. Many are aware of this situation
and, tired of U.S. racism and economic exploitation on
both sides of the false border (frontera falsa), are struggling to end U.S. occupation of their land.
A provisional government has been set up to address
these issues: 1. Ending YanKKKee occupation and 2.
Shall Aztlan be independent, or re-unify with Mexico?
Those who support independence argue that Mexico's
current government is so dominated by the U.S. and its corporate interests, that it represents de facto total occupation of the entire country by the U.S.-reunification will solve nothing. Those who support re-unification argue that while engaging in a process of transition toward re-unification, Aztlan will support the liberation of Mexico by the Zapatistas(EZLN), and other popular revolutionary movements. Once Mexico is liberated, the transition to re-unify Aztlan with the rest of Mexico will be completed.
With this background in mind, I hope the Kingdom of
Hawaii will support the Provisional Government of
Aztlan (Revolutionary Council) in its efforts to end
U.S. occupation, just as we would support the Kingdom
of Hawaii in its efforts to accomplish the same
objective. We have a common enemy. We have a common
struggle, for Aztlan and Mexico are also Indigenous
nations (remember Mexico RE-GAINED its independence
from Spain in 1821, after 300 years of colonial
occupation by that country. Mexico as a nation was
founded in 1325 by representatives of the Tenochca Mexica-"Aztecs"), which is why, as you will find, the representatives of our provisional government have names in the Indigenous Nahuatl language.
Here then, is the URL for the Revolutionary Council of
the Provisional Government of Aztlan: http://www.serve.com/Aztlan/revgov.html
The e-mail address for Cuauhtli, Minister of
Information is
Cuauhtli@Aztlan.Org.
We need to support each others efforts for
International recognition and hopefully, establish
mutual agreements, fair trade and SELF-DETERMINATION
for both Aztlan and the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Solidarity!,
S.J.A.
Professor Haunani-Kay Trask, Hawaiian Nationalist, Clearly Expresses Similar Anti-White and Anti-American Attitudes
Excerpts from a speech available in its entirety at: https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/leasetofeetrask090202.html
which is part of a larger Web page of writings and
speeches of Professor Trask at: https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/trask.html
Aloha, my people, aloha. I want to talk today about
the causes, both historical and contemporary, for the
situation that we, the native people of Hawaii, now
find ourselves in. If we go back in time to contact
with the syphilitic Captain Cook, what we realize is
that the first thing that was a gift of Western
civilization was disease. The second thing that was a
gift of Western civilization was violence -- they
tried to take our chief hostage, and as a result of
that we killed him. That was called Justice. Death to
the conqueror is justice, that's what it is. In 1848
the missionaries -- the disease-laden racists --
that's a very good word. Racism. Racist. Race. Very
very good words. These were racist people. They came
here to colonize us because we didn't have the right
gods.
Don't let anybody tell you not to be angry. And we
are angry. And the reason that we're angry is because this is OUR country, and they took our government and imprisoned our queen -- right here she was imprisoned in her palace. And they banned our language. And then they forcibly made us a state of the racist, colonialist United States of colonial America. Do you have a right to be angry? Of course you do!
Foreigners came. They conquered. They took our lands.
They imprisoned our queen. And they divided us by
blood quantum. They did. Isn't it ironic that a Haole -- Freddy Rice -- Mr. missionary, whose illustrious ancestor overthrew Kalakaua and created the bayonet constitution that that racist man, who received so much of our land, now says that we are racists. impossible. Do we have power? No. They all have power. The power of white supremacy. The power of white courts. The power of a white country called the United States of white America.
Why are we, as native people, subjugated in our own
land? Why are we made to be afraid? Because we are
colonized. We live in a colony. The United States of
America. All that military theft of our lands, our
homelands, our ceded lands, all of that, all of that
was done by the United States of America.
When Kamehameha was getting ready to go to war, he
didn't sit there and think, "Oh gee I wonder if we
should make nice." When you gonna make war, you get
your facts down and you make war. The opposition knows
that. Aren't they making war against us? You bet they
are. And you do not belong on the American side. You
do not belong on the Hawaii state side. You belong on
the side of your people --lahui Hawaii [racially
defined Hawaiians] -- that's the side you belong on.
We need to think very, very clearly about who the
enemy is. The enemy is the United States of America,
and everybody who supports it. You have to know which
side of history you're on, and who is there with you.
They are not there with you, Hawaiians. They want to
take every single thing away from you.
This is what is affecting us today is racism. And we
have to tell it like it is. As black people say, it's
not [inaudible], it's racism. That's what it is. You
are not a racist because you fight racism. You're a
warrior, like I am. You are a warrior.
Black Nationalism, The Republic of New Africa, and Reparations for Slavery
Racial separatists and ethnic nationalists among both
Hawaiians and Chicanos have always looked for
inspiration to radical leaders of the black power
movement. Of course the situation of African
Americans is different from Hawaiians and Chicanos. Africans were brought in chains across an ocean to America, and their descendants today demand reparations for slavery. Hawaiians and Chicanos remained in the lands of their indigenous ancestors and were invaded and overrun by foreigners -- they demand reparations not for slavery but for loss of lands and loss of political control. But viewed from the present situation of the United States of America, all three groups are minorities who claim historical grievances against America. Radicals in all three groups demand enormous amounts of money, land, and power as reparations. Some in each group demand political recognition as sovereign governments. Here are some excerpts from two Web pages focusing on Black nationalism.
Republic of New Africa. Excerpts from: http://www.africana.com/research/encarta/tt_433.asp
At the height of the Black Power Movement in the late
1960s, members of the Republic of New Africa (RNA)
called for the creation of an independent black nation
spanning the states of Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. ... Their
manifesto demanded that the U.S. government cede the
five proposed states to the Republic of New Africa and
pay $400 billion in reparations to African Americans
for the injustices of slavery and segregation. In
1968, attorney Milton Henry and his brother Richard,
former acquaintances of Malcolm X who renamed
themselves Gaidi Obadele and Imari Abubakari Obadele, respectively, convened a group of militant black nationalists in Detroit, Michigan, to discuss the creation of a black nation within the United States. Conference members established the Republic of New Africa and declared their allegiance to the provisional government. They elected Imari Obadele as provisional president. Based in Washington, D.C. with a membership of almost 10,000, the Republic of New Africa continues to promote the formation of a black nation.
The following excerpts from: http://www.africana.com/articles/daily/index_20000601.asp
The issue of reparations has received increased
attention in the last several months. Local and state legislative bodies have taken up the issue; articles have appeared in leading newspapers and magazines; it has been a topic of lively debate on the Internet and local and national television and radio programs; and Randall Robinson's TransAfrica conducted a nationally televised symposium on the subject. [In 1988] Obadele and his associates formed the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (NCOBRA).
NCOBRA initiates litigation, publishes a newsletter
and sponsors national and regional conferences. At
its tenth annual convention held in St. Louis in June
1999, NCOBRA adopted the "Six Down-Payment Demands on
the U.S. Government," which demanded that a billion
dollars each be given to 10 black colleges, that a
billion dollars be placed in a black economic
development fund, that $20,000 be awarded to each
black family, that a billion dollars be given to black
farmers, and that all "political prisoners" be
released.
The principal aim of the RNA since its formation has
been the organization of a plebiscite among African
Americans in order to determine whether they would
wish to form an independent nation-state within the
current boundaries of the United States. Professor
Obadele has written extensively on the right of blacks
under prevailing standards of international law to
have been accorded after the Civil War the opportunity
to choose independent nation-state status rather than
forcible incorporation into the United States.
Excerpts of the NCOBRA platform for black slavery
reparations, taken from:
http://www.ncobra.com/ncobra_info.htm
What do we want? We want our just inheritance: the
trillions of dollars due us for the labor of our
ancestors who worked for hundreds of years without
pay. We demand the resources required removing all
badges and indicia of slavery. When do we want it? We
want it NOW! How much is owed? Once we know how much
damage has been done to us, and what is required to
repair the damage, we will know how much is owed. For
example, the four year internment of Japanese in
America, or the five year holocaust of Jewish people
in Europe may require a different set of remedies than
the 500 years holocaust of Africans in America. Some
estimate eight trillion dollars. How would
reparations be paid? Payment may include all of the
following: land, equipment, factories, licenses,
banks, ships, airplanes, various forms of tax relief,
education & training, to name a few. Who would pay
reparations? The U.S. Government would pay reparations
in the same manner as they voted for and paid billions
to Europe through the Marshall Plan after WWII, or
billions to Israel every year since WWII, or to
Russia, or Eastern Europe, or to prop up some puppet
African Government. Who would receive reparations?
People identified as Negro, Colored, Black, African
American, New Afrikan, Black American who are the
descendants of persons enslaved in the United States.
Of course, those who feel that they are not due
reparations, or do not need reparations will not be
forced to accept it. What about Africans enslaved in
other countries? Black reparations is an international movement. The descendants of Africans in Canada, Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, and Brazil, West Indies, Caribbean, etc., are due preparations, but from their particular European colonizer. Colonized African countries too are due reparations. We recognize that although we were colonized and enslaved by different European colonizers and slavers, we are one people with many family members dispersed to different Countries.
The Senate of the State of Hawaii in 2001 Passed a Resolution Questioning Whether the Statehood Vote of 1959 was Legitimate, and Calling Upon the United Nations to Come to Hawaii and Perhaps Supervise a Plebiscite Offering the Option of Total Independence
This resolution might be seen as just one of those
crazy things which state legislatures sometimes do.
However, a resolution reaffirming pride in statehood
and calling upon the governor to hold a celebration on
the official statehood day holiday failed to pass out
of committee in both 2002 and 2003; and meanwhile the legislature has passed resolutions supporting the Native Hawaiian recognition bill. Thus it appears the legislature supports both racial separatism (the recognition bill in Congress) and ethnic nationalism (the independence resolution) but lacks the courage or desire to express pride in being the 50th state. Members of Congress should defeat S.344/H.R.665 if for no other reason than to discourage the separatist/nationalist mentality, which has clearly run amok in Hawaii. Here is the independence resolution which passed the Hawaii Senate in 2001, visible directly on the Legislature's Web site: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2001/bills/sr98_.htm
Hawaii Senators Akaka and Inouye -- Why Both Are Members of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs; and Why Inouye is America's Most Powerful Advocate of Racial Balkanization
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye is one of the most powerful
members of the Senate. He has high seniority because
of the many years he has served there. He has always
been one of the top pork-barrel Senators, bringing
billions of federal dollars home to Hawaii. He is the top-ranking Democrat on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, which makes him chairman whenever the Democrats are in control. That gives him enormous power to steer federal military expenditures to Hawaii -- military spending is the second-largest factor, after tourism, in Hawaii's economy. He is also the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, which makes him chairman whenever the Democrats are in control. Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka is also a member of the Indian Affairs committee, where he has served throughout his Senate career.
Why would Senators from Hawaii want to serve on the
Indian Affairs Committee? Especially considering that
there are no Indian tribes in Hawaii, and neither of
them has any Indian ancestry! Why would both Senators
from this state choose to serve on the same committee,
when they could spread Hawaii's influence by serving
on different committees? The only other state that has
both of its senators on the Indian Affairs committee
is North Dakota, where Indian tribes are very
important. All the other members of the Indian Affairs committee come from states where tribes are numerous and powerful.
So, why have both of Hawaii's senators spent their
careers on this committee? The answer is pork barrel
politics. Senators Inouye and Akaka have been
successful in quietly inserting "Native Hawaiians"
among the beneficiaries of legislation for Native
Americans and Alaska Natives. They are like the cuckoo
bird that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds
who then hatch and feed the babies. They are like
tapeworms inside the bowels of legislation intended to
benefit genuine Indian tribes. Thus the senators bring megabucks in federal spending for Indians to Hawaii. The money directly helps "Native Hawaiians" and indirectly helps the rest of Hawaii's economy. Federal legislation to provide healthcare, education, or housing to Indian tribes has always been easier to pass than similar legislation to benefit everyone. Providing free healthcare or college scholarships to all Americans has never been considered an obligation of the federal government; but providing those benefits to Indian tribes is clearly a federal responsibility.
"Native Hawaiians" comprise 20 percent of Hawaii's people,
so programs that benefit them are a major factor in
Hawaii's economy and political power structure. Until
2000, nobody thought of challenging the inclusion of
"Native Hawaiians" in Indian legislation. But then
along came the Rice v. Cayetano decision by the
Supreme Court. The decision only directly affected the
right to vote for statewide office without racial
restrictions, but in reaching its decision the Court
ruled that "Native Hawaiians" are a racial group and
not a political entity. And then it began to occur to government officials and civil rights lawyers that it is probably unconstitutional to give government benefits to the racial group "Native Hawaiians" exclusive of all other racial groups like Filipino-Americans or Chinese-Americans. And that's when there was a sudden urgency to convert this racial group into an Indian tribe even though they have never been regarded as such.
In retrospect, Hawaii Senators Akaka and Inouye can
be regarded like "sleeper agents" in spy stories. For
many years they served in positions where they worked
very quietly to add the term "Native Hawaiians" to
Indian legislation in order to bring home the pork.
But nobody could have imagined that the time would
come when they would suddenly spring to life to create
a phony Indian tribe out of thin air. It is as though
their entire careers have been pointing in this
direction all along.
As the years went by and Sen. Inouye acquired more
seniority, he became the highest ranking Democrat on
the Indian Affairs committee. He acquired great power
over the Indian tribes. While his main motivation had
been merely to bring home the pork to Hawaii, now he
began receiving huge political campaign contributions
from the Indian tribes. When tribes got the right to
have tax-exempt gambling casinos, tribal casino money
(tax free) and tribal political influence grew
tremendously. Senator Inouye began sponsoring
legislation to give federal recognition to bogus
tribes who wanted to build casinos, like the
Mashantucket Pequot "tribe" of Connecticut (see Jeff
Benedict's book "Without Reservation" about the
creation of this phony tribe and Sen. Inouye's
role). Inouye also got more aggressive about
sponsoring legislation demanded by the tribes to
greatly expand the sovereign powers of the tribes and
give them more leverage against the states and local communities. Among the sovereign powers of the tribes is the right to give unlimited political campaign contributions to candidates -- because sovereignty means tribes are not governed by federal, state, or local laws limiting political contributions. The vast bulk of Senator Inouye's campaign contributions come from outside Hawaii, mostly from Indian tribes and their affiliated contractors. Thus, Senator Inouye has become the most powerful person in America in the business of racial balkanization. He and Sen. Akaka talk very nicely about the rights of the "indigenous people" of Hawaii to have "self-determination," and how these poor, downtrodden people so desperately need government assistance to preserve their beautiful culture and their future as "a people." But it's really pork barrel politics. See: https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/AkakaPorkBarrel.html
Any short-term gain from protecting existing racial
programs against court challenges would be far
outweighed by long-term damage to Hawaii's local
businesses and local communities. See: https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/tribeimpactbizandcommunity.html
There would even be severe damage to the political and
legal rights of the "Native Hawaiians" who are
supposedly being helped by the legislation. See: https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/tribeimpactethnichawns.html
The expansion of tribal power, and the resulting
balkanization of America and loss of Constitutional
rights, is very well described in a newly published
article by Elaine D. Willman, entitled "United States:
562 Nations Under God." Professor Willman's article
also shows the role of Hawaii's two Senators, Akaka
and Inouye, in sponsoring a bill now pending that
would greatly expand the powers of Indian tribes and
deny Constitutional rights to Indians, to non-Indians
living on tribal lands, and to non-Indians just
passing through. People of Hawaii should consider
the consequences, in view of the fact that the "ceded
lands" claimed by OHA to be Native Hawaiian (tribal)
lands comprise nearly half the land of Hawaii and are
scattered throughout all the islands. Here are a few
excerpts from Professor Willman's article:
http://www.eco.freedom.org/el/20030901/cera.shtml
Fabric left unattended can be devastated from tiny
moth-eaten holes that grow. For a moment, please
visualize in your minds, a map of the United States,
all 50 states -- a map that includes the fabric of
traditional American government as established by our Constitution, that manifests in small townships, villages, cities, counties states and a federal center in Washington D.C. Now imagine holes in the fabric of that American government map -- 562 sizable holes that are daily enlarging in more than 40 of our states across that map. There are over 100 such holes in California, and 29 such holes in Washington State alone -- governments known as federally recognized Indian reservations predominantly require their enrolled tribal members, even though American citizens, to forego their Constitutional guarantees and Bill of Rights. The prevailing form of government within these holes is known as tribalism. It bears no relationship to a republic form of government or a democracy, as you and I understand democracy.
Now consider Senate Bill 578 entitled the "Tribal
Governments Amendment to the Homeland Security Act of
2002." Four senators sponsor it: Daniel Inouye and
Daniel Akaka, both from Hawaii, Ben Nighthorse
Campbell (R-CO) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). SB 578
would remove the remnants of American government from
Indian reservations, directly impacting more than
500,000 Indians, and as many other, non-Indian
American citizens. The indirect impact affects
millions of nearby Americans and even more millions of
touring Americans.
For example, in Yakima County, Washington, SB 578
would remove the governance, jurisdiction and
authority of three municipalities, county government
and state government from 45 percent of Yakima County's total
land base. Thus would traditional American government
be removed from some 40,000 American citizens (the
reservation is 90 percent non-Indian) who reside or work
within or near the Yakama Indian reservation. Now
apply the same or similar measuring stick to
approximately 1,400 other counties in the United
States that contain or surround Indian reservations
(and many reservations spread out over several
counties). Except for the Navajo Reservation, the
great majority of Indian reservations are
predominantly non-Indian in population. Congress, in
its "Dancing With Wolves" mentality entirely ignores
the reality of census data on Indian reservations.
Congress now dances with new wolves -- the gaming
industry.
Senate Bill 578 does several other things. It grants
tribes a sovereignty status equal to the 50 states - a
direct violation of Article IV, Section 3 that
disallows the creation of a state within a state.
Worse, it allows these non-republic, unaccountable
forms of government that do not abide by the
Constitution, access to Homeland Security data, secret information, and additional federal funds.
I hope that you will help all of us across the country
talk openly, freely and incessantly about spreading
"holes" of tribalism in American government, called
"Federal Indian Policy." I encourage you to keep up
all individual and collective effort to preserve our
United States as One Nation Under God -- forever
indivisible.
Conclusion
The Native Hawaiian Recognition bill, S.344/H.R.665,
is the thin edge of a knife poised to dismember
America. It would set a precedent for racial
balkanization. It must be defeated. Hawaiian
nationalism, Chicano nationalism, Black nationalism,
and reparations for alleged historical injustices
threaten the political stability of America.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in his
concurring opinion in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v.
Pena, (1995) made the following statement:
"Individuals who have been wronged by unlawful racial discrimination should be made whole; but under our Constitution there can be no such thing as either a creditor or a debtor race. That concept is alien to the Constitution's focus upon the individual, see Amdt. 14, 1 ('[N]or shall any State ... deny to any person' the equal protection of the laws), and its rejection of dispositions based on race, see Amdt. 15, 1 (prohibiting abridgment of the right to vote 'on account of race') or based on blood, see Art. III, 3 ('[N]o Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood'); Art. I, 9 ('No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States'). To pursue the concept of racial entitlement -- even for the most admirable and benign of purposes -- is to reinforce and preserve for future mischief the way of thinking that produced race slavery, race privilege and race hatred. In the eyes of government, we are just one race here. It is American."
That's why those patriotic Americans in Hawaii
who are able to see the "big picture" must humbly ask
people from other states to rescue us from our own
Senators and Congressmen. We are like drug abusers
hooked on federal dollars, willing to prostitute
ourselves and ruin our health to get more. Please take
away the drugs and restrain us from hurting ourselves
further, even if we cry in the pain of withdrawal and
scream angrily at your persistence in helping us. In
your own best interest, please stop sending megabucks
to Hawaii for racially exclusionary programs. Either
send us money to help all needy people, or else keep
your money for yourselves. And in the interest of
protecting America against racial balkanization and dismemberment, please defeat S.344/H.R.665, even though our politicians demand that you pass it and claim that our people want it.
Kenneth R. Conklin is an independent scholar in Kaneohe, Hawaii. His Web site on Hawaiian Sovereignty is at: https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty '''He can be contacted at: mailto:Ken_Conklin@yahoo.com