56. Support Justice for Native Hawaiians

WHEREAS native Hawaiians are the indigenous people of the Hawaiian archipelago and have never given up their inherent right of self-determination; and

WHEREAS according to the federal Native Hawaiian Education Act, Part B, Public Law 107-110, "The United States has recognized and reaffirmed that:

• Native Hawaiians have a cultural, historic, and land-based link to the indigenous people who exercised sovereignty over the Hawaiian Islands, and that group has never relinquished its claims to sovereignty or its sovereign lands;
• Congress does not extend services to Native Hawaiians because of their race, but because of their unique status as the indigenous people of a once sovereign nation as to whom the United States has established a trust relationship;
• Congress has also delegated broad authority to administer a portion of the Federal trust responsibility to the State of Hawai`i;
• The political status of Native Hawaiians is comparable to that of American Indians and Alaska Natives"; and

WHEREAS the value of native Hawaiian traditional knowledge is exhibited in many forms, including natural resource management principles, such as malama `aina and the ahupua`a system; and agricultural systems such as lo`i and loko i`a, la`au lapa`au, and ka ho`okele; and the value of native Hawaiian cultural expressions and art forms is exhibited in many forms, including the use of ka `ölelo Hawai`i, hula, mele, oli, leimaking, kapa making, wood carving, kakau, weaving, lua, and canoe building; and

WHEREAS native Hawaiian trusts and service organizations wonder about its operations on a year to year basis, due to constant legal threats; and

WHEREAS the cause for justice in Hawai`i is found through advocating for native Hawaiians and their claim for justice; and

WHEREAS the lawmakers of the State of Hawai`i recognize the traditional and customary rights of native Hawaiians, and their obligatory trust responsibility to native Hawaiians, but do not currently express these recognized facts; now

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of the Island of Maui seeks to correct the injustices perpetrated on the Hawaiian people and promote legal, political and socio-economic justice for native Hawaiians; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of the County of Maui will make its best effort to attain both State and National platforms to implement this resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the State Democratic Committee, the National Democratic Committee, and to Hawai`i’s Congressional delegation.