Native Hawaiian independence?

[kahea67]

Aloha!

I am a third year, native Hawaiian student at the University of San Francisco School of Law, and though I'm living in the Bay Area right now, I hail from the Big Island of Hawaii (Hilo side ) (I'm a Kamehameha grad, if anyone is wondering...).



I am currently conducting a survey to measure opinions regarding the possible creation of a sovereign government for native Hawaiians. I am hoping that individuals from throughout the Hawaiian community (both native and non-native) may be willing to weigh in on this topic, providing thoughts and suggestions as to the pros and cons of federal recognition, indicating whether there is support for the federal recognition of native Hawaiians, and more.

To participate in the survey, please visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1gyih87QmmxyZJrLqAJA_2bA_3d_3d
The survey has been designed so that you can answer anywhere from one to all of the questions.

My intent is to publish the results of this survey in an article that will be available for consideration by lawyers, judges, legislators and the general public. This article could make a significant contribution in terms of policy making regarding the future recognition of native Hawaiians. I am committed to sharing the results of this survey with Indian country, as well as with the Hawaiian and Native communities at large.

Thank you, in advance, for your participation.

Best regards,

Kahea Pacheco

[TATTRAT]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

Sorry, I understand the point, but it seems ironic being that you are in a mainland university...I recognize the irony, because the system I oppose of affords me the luxury to bite the hand that feeds, but that is what makes things open for all interpretation.

Welcome to HT

[kahea67]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

Thank you for the welcome! With this article, I'm really just trying to provide a forum and an analysis for the opinions of others, and putting those opinions in a format accepted by the legal community. If those opinions largely say that Hawaii should remain a state of the US, and Native Hawaiians should be ecstatic about it, then that's what I'll write about, thereby by-passing the need to bite anyone's hands!

Besides, if I went to UH Law, it would still be the case that I would be "biting the hand that feeds me" since UH is a state school as well, and is therefore funded by the US gov.

I will admit, however, that it was only when I was outside of Hawaii that I truly began to appreciate what being Native Hawaiian meant. Now THAT is ironic!

Please take the survey, I'd love to hear from you!

[timkona]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

Separating folks by race is just so 20th century.

Humility is supposed to be a virtue in Hawaii. And yet, the whole issue of race is spiked with giant egomania.

We are (insert race here). That is why we are (special, deserving, entitled, cheated, better, et al)

So you are Hawaiian, and for some reason that makes you special.
Well, I am a modern American, and am exactly as special for the same reasons.

[turtlegirl]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

heh. I'm surprised by how often I agree with TimKona!

But I took the survey and liked it. Its short, only 17 questions, some of which are multiple choice, and the questions that ask for a written response are gooooood! Do check it out, at least!

Actually, no wait, I think that all of us HT'ers SHOULD DO the survey. BE the voice of Hawaii! I can't wait to read about the results from Kahea67. You will share the results with us, right Kahea?

[timkona]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

I bet she won't like my answers to that survey.

Gawd I hate racism.

[turtlegirl]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

heh, again, as they may be very similar to mine. If I had thought to copy what my answers were, I could PM them to you, and we could have a no holds barred, knokdown, dragged out discussion. And that would be rad.

I really, really can't wait to find out how this survey's results went!

Kahea67, Is this a class project or something like that for USF?

[kahea67]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

timkona, I'll love any answers to my survey. Please don't assume you know me, or what I think, or what I believe in. Because simple fact? You don't.

The survey was made so that everyone, no matter what they feel about race or sovereignty, can answer as they see fit. If you disagree with sovereignty based on ancestry in Hawaii, then by all means, I'd appreciate that input into the survey, and ultimately into my article. And please feel free to have like-minded people like yourself do the survey as well! I'm not trying to get one-sided results, nor am I trying to skew the results with my personal opinion (which, again, you know nothing of).

Yes, I am Native Hawaiian. I'm sorry that my being proud of it appears to offend you, and if my previous posts implied that I value being Native more than not, again, I'm sorry as that was not my intention. I was just trying to introduce myself, and I see being Native Hawaiian as part of who I am. You'll also notice that I mentioned I was a law student, though before conclusions are jumped to I'll say that being one doesn't mean I don't value people who aren't. I simply chose those as descriptors of who I consider myself to be. It does not, however, mean that I am for or against Native Hawaiian independence.

Can't I be a Native Hawaiian and Modern American at the same time? Who is anyone to judge?

And turtlegirl, I will most definitely post my article, once it's finished (which will probably not be for some time, since I'm still in the data collecting stages!), to this discussion forum for people to see! Thanks for taking the survey!

[kahea67]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

turtlegirl, it's an article i'm working on with a professor that we'll get published in a law journal once it's done.

[kani-lehua]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

i took the survey yesterday and was not surprised by the questions some of which have been asked by others.

kahea67, may we assume that you are also portuguese given your last name? or, is it your married name? do you identify more with being hawaiian? or, with both ethnicities?
not that it really matters as the survey, to me, was not a race issue. but, rather about the sovereignty movement and the akaka bill.

[kahea67]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

Hi kani-lehua! Agreed that this is not really that important, but to answer your question, I am also Portuguese, Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and French. I think I identify most with being Hawaiian, mainly because I went to Kamehameha and they kinda drill it home, you know?

And you're right, the Akaka Bill is what spurred the idea for the article, and my interest in Native Hawaiian sovereignty as a political/racial movement is what helped the survey develop into what it is. I also specialize in tribal law, so the survey is also being sent to Native American orgs/etc. to get their input on federal recognition and what they think of it as it concerns Native Hawaiians.

Should be interesting though!

[kani-lehua]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

thanks for answering.

it will be interesting to read the final result (s).

mahalo for your post and welcome to ht, kahea67

[timkona]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

Why is Turtlegirl surprised by how often she agrees with me?

Kahea says Who is anyone to judge?

KSBE, OHA, DHHL, Kau Inoa, Sen. Akaka, Hitler, Milosevic, Mao, Hussein, the list goes on and on of those who would use race or ethnicity as a criteria to judge.

In fact, using race as judgement criteria is a very popular notion in many cultures, not just Hawaiian. Think of America just 160 years ago. Or today with Affirmative Action.

What kind of defeatist mentality does it take to naturally believe that because of who you are you have some need for special treatment or entitlement? Must be hard to have any self-esteem at all.

It is the most important tenet in basic liberal philosophy to separate and categorize folks in order that some will qualify for your sympathy, while others do not.

What kind of twisted sick egomania does it take to naturally believe that because of who they are, they cannot compete on an equal playing field?

[TuNnL]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

I enjoyed taking the survey! I hope the data gathered proves useful. I’m looking forward to the results.

[Amati]

Re: Native Hawaiian independence?

My intent is to publish the results of this survey in an article that will be available for consideration by lawyers, judges, legislators and the general public. This article could make a significant contribution in terms of policy making regarding the future recognition of native Hawaiians.

Good luck with your article, I hope it proves helpful. But, are you sure that using SurveyMonkey will give an accurate, non-biased result? With a survey where people can "call in" or "link to" it, there is the strong possibility that a someone could call forth a movement by like-minded cohorts, and have their associates respond to the survey with certain pre-specifed answers. For example, "hey everyone, respond yes to question #52 and no to question #53". The results would be tainted. I would hate to see you go to all the work trying to write an article that would be considered by "lawyers, judges, legislators", but based on a potentially biased survey. You might find all your work is unusable. Check with your academic advisor on how to perform a survey that will hold up under scrutiny.

Again, good luck.