Webpage published March 16, 2024 and then updated until end of session in May, whenever a new bill or resolution relevant to Hawaiian sovereignty was introduced and got a committee hearing. 2024 is the second year of a two-year legislature, during which bills introduced during the first year can be carried over; therefore there are fewer new bills needing testimony. In addition, much time is being devoted to financial and political issues unrelated to Hawaiian sovereignty, concerning the wildfires which devastated Lahaina Maui. As of March 16 there were only 10 new bills or resolutions during 2024 on which Conklin had submitted testimony on behalf of the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies.
Here is an internal search engine allowing you to find all pages on this website which discuss the topic you're interested in.
BACKGROUND ON HAWAIIAN RACIAL ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE, AND EFFORTS TO PROTECT THEM BY CREATING A FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED HAWAIIAN TRIBE THROUGH AN ACT OF CONGRESS (THE AKAKA BILL 2000-2012) OR A REGULATION ENACTED BY PROCLAMATION OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR (43CFR50, developed 2013-2016 and proclaimed on October 14, 2016 by publication in the Federal Register to take effect on November 14, but available for implementation at any time in future years without needing approval by Congress or the State of Hawaii)
The Hawaii legislature is dominated by Democrats, most of whom are far to the left on the political spectrum. Legislation focusing on ethnic Hawaiians is often explicitly and shockingly favorable to racial supremacy, racial separatism in the tribal concept, and/or restoration of Hawaii as an independent nation. That's because ethnic Hawaiians as a group are the state pet: see "NATIVE HAWAIIANS AS THE STATE PET OR MASCOT: A Psychological Analysis of Why the People of Hawaii Tolerate and Irrationally Support Racial Separatism and Ethnic Nationalism" at
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/hawnsasmascots.html
Hawaii has hundreds of racial entitlement programs. See webpage "For Hawaiians Only. Webpages identifying and describing government funded racial entitlement programs providing benefits exclusively to Native Hawaiians using taxpayer dollars from the U.S. and State of Hawaii." at
https://www.angelfire.com/big11a/ForHawaiiansOnly.html
These programs provide financial benefits or governmental authority (such as advisory councils or fishing rights) exclusively to people who have at least one drop of Hawaiian native blood. People without a drop of the magic blood cannot receive benefits or serve on these special commissions. Racial entitlement programs are stepping stones to political sovereignty. The Akaka bill in Congress was pushed hard but unsuccessfully during the period 2000-2012. After that a four-year process within the U.S. Department of Interior under President Barack Obama and his Assistant Secretary of Interior Esther Kia'aina (a lifelong Hawaiian sovereignty activist) created a new pathway for federal recognition for a Hawaiian tribe through a regulation 43CFR50 proclaimed in the Federal Register on October 14, 2016. That regulation allows ethnic Hawaiians to be get federal recognition solely through an administrative process in the U.S. Department of Interior without needing approval from either Congress or the State of Hawaii. One of the primary purposes of that 16 year effort has been to provide a legal defense against lawsuits to abolish racial entitlement programs on the grounds that they violate the 14th Amendment clause requiring that government must treat all people equally under the law regardless of race. Federally recognized tribes are allowed to discriminate, including tax-supported racial entitlement programs; but federal, state, and local governments are not. During the four years from 2017 through 2020 there was no significant activity to create a Hawaiian tribe either in Congress or through the Department of Interior regulation, probably because everyone realized that President Trump, along with the Republican-controlled Senate, would block any such effort. During 2021 and 2022 the Biden administration, and his Native American Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland [50% Norwegian blood], caused expectations to rise that somehow a Hawaiian tribe will be created. That expectation is heightened by the fact that Hawaii Senator Schatz is chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee and Hawaii Congressman Kai Kahele, who served during 2021-2022, is ethnic Hawaiian (He chose not to seek re-election to Congress in order to run a campaign for Governor, which he lost by a wide margin in the Democrat primary election).
Legislation in Hawaii for racial entitlement programs or race-based political power is usually passed unanimously, showing no difference between Democrats and Republicans. Most Republicans in Hawaii might be called RINOs (Republicans in name only). In previous years there might be an occasional "Nay" vote by the lone Republican Senator Sam Slom, who was politically conservative. As the only Republican in the Senate he was automatically a member of every committee but therefore was physically unable to attend most committee hearings. However, Senator Slom suffered major health issues in 2016 and was defeated for re-election. He died May 22, 2023. The Hawaii state Senate during 2017-2018 was the only state legislative body in the U.S. where all members belong to a single political party. For 2019-2022 there was one alleged Republican in the Senate (Kurt Fevella). For 2023-2024 Fevella was joined in the Senate by another alleged Republican Brenton Awa, a former news reporter. Both are ethnic Hawaiian, engage in political activism favoring Hawaiian racial entitlement programs, and lean left and vote the same way as the Democrats on nearly every item. In the state House, which has 51 Representatives, only 6 are Republicans; and their longtime leader Gene Ward was a strong pusher of the Akaka bill and remains a strong supporter of racial entitlement programs. For a couple years Beth Fukumoto was the Republican leader in the House but then switched to the Democrat Party, then moved to the mainland from where she pontificates about Hawaii politics as a columnist for leftwing Honolulu Civil Beat online newspaper!
The bills and resolutions covered in this webpage are troubling. The public should study them to get a grasp of how real are the dangers of racial separatism and ethnic nationalism in Hawaii. Citizens should phone or write to their legislators to express outrage when a legislator sponsors or votes in favor of bills and resolutions like these, which are both dangerous and ridiculous.
HOW THIS WEBPAGE TRACKS HAWAII LEGISLATION DURING 2024
Each bill or resolution has its own webpage on the legislature's website. On that webpage there are links to full text of the bill or resolution, list of all the committee hearings including a record of how each legislator voted, a pdf file containing all the written testimony, and the official committee report for each committee. If a bill or resolution is introduced in either the House or Senate and also has a duplicate companion introduced in the other chamber, links are provided to the webpages for both of them. Full text is also provided of the testimony of Ken Conklin on behalf of the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies. Conklin's testimony was provided to each committee, usually as a formatted pdf file on letterhead, or occasionally as unformatted shorter comment. Conklin's testimony can be seen in each committee's file of all testimony; but is also provided here on this webpage in simple text to save bandwidth. Some bills appropriate millions of dollars (or hundreds of millions of dollars!) while other non-monetary bills or resolutions are focused on culture or language. Items are generally listed here in order of the date when the first hearing for a bill or resolution is scheduled, or its clone companion is scheduled in the other chamber.
This webpage was created on March 16, 2024 after ten different bills (not counting cloned companions) had already had hearings held or scheduled in either the House or Senate, or both, for which Ken Conklin submitted testimony. Items are listed approximately in chronological order according to the date of their first hearing. More items were added to this webpage through the end of the legislative session in May, as new items got introduced and had committee hearings and Ken Conklin submitted testimony. However, ordinarily only Conklin's testimony on the first version of a bill or resolution was posted here. Amended versions of bills or resolutions and new testimony can be tracked through the legislature's webpage for that item as listed below.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS REGARDING THE HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE 2024: List of bills and resolutions on which Conklin testified, in the order they appear below, for the 2024 Hawaii Legislature. Scroll down to find the one that interests you. They are in approximately chronological order of when each item had its first committee hearing, not necessarily in the order of their importance. Full text of Conklin's testimony on each item is presented in the same order, below the table of contents, along with links to the legislature's webpage for each item to find the text of the bill or resolution, the chronology of actions and votes on it (including names of yeas and nays), and a file of all the written testimony presented at each hearing.
SB 2640 RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT. Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to authorize the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to provide cash awards to beneficiaries on the waitlist in lieu of a lease. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to remove those beneficiaries from the waitlist.
SB 2780 RELATING TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN BENEFICIARIES. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to complete an assessment and report on the feasibility of digitizing its applicant, beneficiary, and lessee records and creating an interactive digital database software program. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to submit a report to the Legislature by 7/1/2025. Makes an appropriation.
SB2655 RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION. Allows the Hawaiian Homes Commission to retain independent legal counsel. Authorizes the Hawaiian Homes Commission to use the services of the Attorney General as needed. Provides that funds owed to independent legal counsel shall be paid by the Hawaiian Homes Commission with general funds appropriated by the legislature. Declares that the appropriation exceeds the state general fund expenditure ceiling for 2024- 2025. Appropriates moneys.
SB 2397, SD2 RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT. Excludes from any waiting list maintained by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands any lessee or successor who sells or transfers their lease on a tract of Hawaiian home lands for personal gain. Establishes that the Hawaiian Homes Commission shall have a right of first refusal for the sale or transfer of a lessee's interest in the lease when the sale or transfer is for personal gain. Takes effect 4/14/2112. (SD2)
SB 3363, SD2 RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS. Provides that a living beneficiary's place on the Department of Hawaiian Home Land's waitlist for any residential, agricultural or pastoral tract may be designated for transfer to a successor if the living beneficiary dies before receiving an offer for a tract; provided that the successor shall be at least 1/32 Hawaiian. Takes effect 4/14/2112. (SD2)
SB2937 RELATING TO ACCESS TO LEARNING.
Repeals the sunset date for the exemption of laboratory school programs of the Hawaiian language college at the University of Hawaii at Hilo from state English-medium standards, assessments, performance ratings, staff qualifications, and staff training requirements.
SB 2593 RELATING TO FEDERAL LANDS. Establishes within the Department of Land and Natural Resources a Makua Valley task force to prepare for the transition of the management of the Makua military reservation from the United States Army upon the expiration of the Army's lease for the land. Requires a report to the Legislature.
HB 2063 RELATING TO THE ENRICHMENT OF DIVERSITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII SYSTEM. Establishes and appropriates funds for a three-year pilot program to enrich diversity across the University of Hawaii System.
SB 2937 RELATING TO ACCESS TO LEARNING. Repeals the sunset date for the exemption of laboratory school programs of the Hawaiian language college at the University of Hawaii at Hilo from state English-medium standards, assessments, performance ratings, staff qualifications, and staff training requirements.
SB 541, SD1 RELATING TO HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS. Establishes January 17 of each year as Reconciliation Day, to commemorate the memory of Queen Liliuokalani and the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, provided that this day is not and shall not be construed to be a state holiday. (SD1)
SCR 114 / SR 96 URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TO DISPLAY A PORTRAIT OF PRINCE JONAH KUHIO KALANIANAOLE IN EACH STATE BUILDING, OFFICE, MEETING ROOM, AND WAITING AREA UNDER THE DEPARTMENT'S JURISDICTION.
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FULL TEXT OF KEN CONKLIN'S TESTIMONY ON EACH BILL OR RESOLUTION, AND LINKS TO LEGISLATURE'S WEBSITE WHERE THE PROGRESS OF EACH ITEM IS TRACKED AND FILE OF ALL TESTIMONY IS PROVIDED
SB 2640 RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT. Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to authorize the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to provide cash awards to beneficiaries on the waitlist in lieu of a lease. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to remove those beneficiaries from the waitlist.
Bill text (including all amended versions), history, committee hearings, pdf of all testimony submitted to each committee, YEAs and NAYs, committee reports:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2640&year=2024
Ken Conklin's TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION
The slogan most frequently heard about the purpose of the Hawaiian Homelands is "to put Hawaiians back on the land." We might ask: Where else would they be? If they are not on the land, then are they up in the air? Some might say that people who have been waiting for a lease for decades are indeed up in the air about their future, including thousands who have gone so high in the air they are now in heaven! (they "died on the waitlist") The concept of "putting Hawaiians on the land" is clearly a metaphor related to engaging in the occupation of farming, it is not simply a way of identifying the fact that gravity makes everything on Earth rest upon the ground.
This bill's description says "Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to authorize the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to provide cash awards to beneficiaries on the waitlist in lieu of a lease. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to remove those beneficiaries from the waitlist."
But HHCA (the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act) had a very clear purpose which was NOT to provide housing -- its purpose was to provide LAND which people could lease longterm for farming of vegetables or animals, and where they might also build a farmhouse for their families. The purpose of HHCA was especially NOT to provide money as a bribe for people to give up their spot on a waitlist for a lease on farmland. Indeed, the recent settlement of the class-action lawsuit Kalima v. State of Hawaii should be regarded as the already- completed payment of a bribe such that anyone who accepted such a payment has thereby waived any legal demand or moral claim for alleged damages arising from past or future time on the waitlist.
State of Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Homelands prominently displays on its website a page devoted to Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole, Delegate to Congress for the Territory of Hawaii, who introduced the bill that became the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920.
https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/kuhio/
The webpage begins with the following description of the purpose of HHCA (Webpage retrieved on January 26, 2024):
"Through its passage, the United States set aside approximately 200,000 acres of land to establish a permanent homeland for native Hawaiians, who were identified as a “landless and dying” people as the result of disease, intermarriage, and loss of lands. After extensive investigation and survey on the part of various organizations organized to rehabilitate the Hawaiian race, it was found that the only method in which to rehabilitate the race was to place them back upon the soil,” Kūhiō wrote to U.S. Senators before the passage of the Act. The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act intended to return native Hawaiians to the land while encouraging them to become self-sufficient homesteaders on the leased parcels of trust land." By the way, Native Hawaiians are clearly no longer a dying race facing extinction as portrayed in HHCA: following decades of devastating depopulation under the Kingdom, the population of Native Hawaiians increased tenfold during the first century of U.S. sovereignty, from fewer than 40,000 in Census 1900 to more than 400,000 in Census 2000; and then further exploding to 527,000 in Census 2010, then 780,000 in Census 2020, and simple extrapolation would indicate now more than 850,000.
Notice that the purpose of HHCA was NOT to provide houses or apartments, roads, water pipes, electricity, or other conveniences of urban life -- the clearly-stated purpose, repeated several times, was to provide LAND for native Hawaiians "to place them back upon the soil ... to return native Hawaiians to the land while encouraging them to become self-sufficient homesteaders on the leased parcels of trust land." It was envisioned that the leaseholders would become farmers, growing vegetables, cattle, chickens, etc. to feed their own families or to barter or sell to be self-sufficient.
But most leaseholders under the Department of Hawaiian Homelands live in urban-style houses on tiny parcels of land with hundreds of neighbors living so close nearby they can see and hear each other at all hours. They grow more ornamental bushes and flowers than vegetables. They have pet dogs but no cows or pigs. This urban use of "homestead" lands got started in the very first "Hawaiian homeland" of Papakolea on a hill overlooking Honolulu, and continues in the more recently developed nearby "Kalawahine" hillside area on steeply-sloping streets with closely-packed upscale houses owned by native Hawaiians who are business owners, police detectives and fire captains. The houses on leased land in the middle-class Waimanalo Hawaiian homestead look exactly the same as the houses across the street owned in fee simple by people with no native blood, while native and non-native children mingle in their classrooms at the state-run Blanche Pope Elementary School; and the Department of Hawaiian Homelands decided to build a rental apartment-building nearby, across the street from the public beach (no farm animals allowed in those apartments!).
Prince Kuhio's Hawaiian Homes Commission Act has been twisted far out of line from his intention of rehabilitating a dying race by putting Hawaiians back on the land. This bribery bill would add insult to injury. It also is a slap in the face to the kind-hearted legislators who in 2022-2023 already sent an extra $600 Million to the Department of Hawaiian Homelands in their misguided desire to provide funding for urban-style development of lands intended for farming.
This bill further expands the growth of a line of legislation that rips money away from the needs of the 95% of Hawaii's people who lack the 50% native blood quantum needed to qualify for the list of bribe- eligible people.
Section 1, sentence 3 of this bill explicitly says "the purpose of this Act is to shorten the waitlist" by paying a bribe to anyone who removes his name. But in recent years this committee has forwarded legislation asking Congress to approve lowering the blood quantum requirement for issuance of a HHCA lease from 1/2 all the way down to 1/32, which is for all practical purposes the same as a "one-drop" rule. According to recent Census data there are now about 700,000 people in the U.S. who identify themselves as being "Native Hawaiian" and could thereby be added to the waitlist for a DHHL lease. Combining the current bill to bribe people for removing themselves from the waitlist, together with the previous bills to lower the blood quantum to one drop and thereby hugely increase the size of the waitlist, looks very much like a scam. Sell the scam to the public and its legislature by claiming to reduce the waitlist, while actually increasing it vastly, thereby setting the stage for the next round of Kalima v. State of Hawaii whose settlement could very well bankrupt the State. The committee members conspiring in this scam deserve a "lifetime achievement" award if they succeed.
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SB 2780 RELATING TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN BENEFICIARIES. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to complete an assessment and report on the feasibility of digitizing its applicant, beneficiary, and lessee records and creating an interactive digital database software program. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to submit a report to the Legislature by 7/1/2025. Makes an appropriation.
Bill text (including all amended versions), history, committee hearings, pdf of all testimony submitted to each committee, YEAs and NAYs, committee reports:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2780&year=2024
Ken Conklin's short TESTIMONY URGING AMENDMENT
Amend.
This is a great idea. But creating an interactive digital database software program is something DHHL should have done long ago, and is a specialized project which they should now do without additional money. You already gave them $600 Million 2022-2023, and they are having trouble figuring out how to spend it. Pass this bill to give them a shove in the right direction, but remove the part pertaining to "Appropriates moneys."
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SB2655 RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION. Allows the Hawaiian Homes Commission to retain independent legal counsel. Authorizes the Hawaiian Homes Commission to use the services of the Attorney General as needed. Provides that funds owed to independent legal counsel shall be paid by the Hawaiian Homes Commission with general funds appropriated by the legislature. Declares that the appropriation exceeds the state general fund expenditure ceiling for 2024- 2025. Appropriates moneys.
Bill text (including all amended versions), history, committee hearings, pdf of all testimony submitted to each committee, YEAs and NAYs, committee reports:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2655&year=2024
Ken Conklin's short TESTIMONY URGING AMENDMENT
Amend to delete "funds owed to independent legal counsel shall be paid by the State." Yes DHHL as a government agency should be allowed to use the services of the Attorney General. However, the reason for them wanting to hire independent counsel is if they are suing the state, which is what would cause a conflict of interest. In that case, let them pay their own way -- this would incentivize them to resolve their dispute through either mediation or arbitration.
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SB 2397, SD2 RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT. Excludes from any waiting list maintained by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands any lessee or successor who sells or transfers their lease on a tract of Hawaiian home lands for personal gain. Establishes that the Hawaiian Homes Commission shall have a right of first refusal for the sale or transfer of a lessee's interest in the lease when the sale or transfer is for personal gain. Takes effect 4/14/2112. (SD2)
Bill text (including all amended versions), history, committee hearings, pdf of all testimony submitted to each committee, YEAs and NAYs, committee reports:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2397&year=2024
Ken Conklin's TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION
This bill contains a mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly. But the bad and ugly greatly outweigh the good; therefore this bill should be defeated.
What's good is "to prohibit lessees who sell or transfer their interest in a Hawaiian home lands tract for personal gain from being placed on any subsequent waiting list maintained by the department of Hawaiian home lands for an additional lease." The waitlist is already too long, so it's good to delete wannabe double-dippers to avoid further lengthening the waitlist, further burdening the citizenry of the State of Hawaii, and to ensure "that all department of Hawaiian home lands beneficiaries should be able to enter the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act program with a reasonable expectation of eventually receiving a lease."
What's bad is the whole concept of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act which was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment equal protection clause when HHCA was introduced in Congress in 1920 and enacted in 1921; and which has drained billions of dollars from the State's fisc since it was incorporated into the State's Constitution under terms of the Statehood Act of 1959 -- money which otherwise could be used for the benefit of all Hawaii's people regardless of race, including native Hawaiians. The bad is not solely about money. The worst element of the bad is violating a fundamental moral principle of diversity, equity, and inclusiveness -- The lands and people of Hawaii should not be divided along racial lines.
What's ugly is the trojan horse in this bill -- the attempt to greatly expand the scope of HHCA to allow a mere 1/32 native blood quantum to qualify a person to inherit a lease. When HHCA was enacted in 1921 an applicant was required to have at least 50% native blood in order to be granted a lease. Decades later HHCA was amended to allow lessee's children with only 25% native blood to inherit the lease. In recent years there have been repeated attempts by this legislature, as in the present bill, to persuade Congress to amend HHCA to allow inheritance of a lease by a descendant with as little as 1/32 native blood. Exactly how far into the pit of racism are we prepared to descend? A one-drop rule seems to be the goal. Archie Bunker would be proud [TV show "It's All in the Family].
This bill contains a mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly. But the bad and ugly greatly outweigh the good; therefore this bill should be defeated.
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SB 3363, SD2 RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS. Provides that a living beneficiary's place on the Department of Hawaiian Home Land's waitlist for any residential, agricultural or pastoral tract may be designated for transfer to a successor if the living beneficiary dies before receiving an offer for a tract; provided that the successor shall be at least 1/32 Hawaiian. Takes effect 4/14/2112. (SD2)
Bill text (including all amended versions), history, committee hearings, pdf of all testimony submitted to each committee, YEAs and NAYs, committee reports:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=3363&year=2024
Ken Conklin's TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION
What's bad about this bill is the whole concept of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act which was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment equal protection clause when HHCA was introduced in Congress in 1920 and enacted in 1921; and which has drained billions of dollars from the State's fisc since it was incorporated into the State's Constitution under terms of the Statehood Act of 1959 -- money which otherwise could be used for the benefit of all Hawaii's people regardless of race, including native Hawaiians. The bad is not solely about money. The worst element of the bad is violating a fundamental moral principle of diversity, equity, and inclusiveness -- The lands and people of Hawaii should not be divided along racial lines.
What's even worse in this bill is the attempt to greatly expand the scope of HHCA to allow a mere 1/32 native blood quantum to qualify a person to inherit a lease. When HHCA was enacted in 1921 an applicant was required to have at least 50% native blood in order to be granted a lease. Decades later HHCA was amended to allow lessee's children with only 25% native blood to inherit the lease. In recent years there have been repeated attempts by this legislature, as in the present bill, to persuade Congress to amend HHCA to allow inheritance of a lease by a descendant with as little as 1/32 native blood. Exactly how far into the pit of racism are we prepared to descend? A one-drop rule seems to be the goal. Archie Bunker would be proud [TV show "It's All in the Family"].
This bill should be defeated.
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SB2937 RELATING TO ACCESS TO LEARNING. Repeals the sunset date for the exemption of laboratory school programs of the Hawaiian language college at the University of Hawaii at Hilo from state English-medium standards, assessments, performance ratings, staff qualifications, and staff training requirements.
Bill text (including all amended versions), history, committee hearings, pdf of all testimony submitted to each committee, YEAs and NAYs, committee reports:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2937&year=2024
KEN CONKLIN'S SHORT TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION
Do we really believe there should be universal standards for all Hawaii government schools regardless of which island the school is located on, which race or ethnicity or social class the students and teachers are, and whether the students and teachers are multigeneration kama'aina or newcomers from the mainland USA or first generation immigrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds? Do we really believe we should impose upon all students and staff a minimum set of standards for curriculum content, assessment of student and staff performance, and staff qualifications and training requirements? We have imposed such universal standards for many years because the students will grow up needing to make their way in Hawaii's multiracial population and economy. Then why would we want to adopt a different set of standards for ethnic Hawaiian children or children of any race merely because they are being taught through the Hawaiian language? Do we hope and believe that the children in the laboratory school at UH-Hilo will go to live in some sort of a ghetto where Hawaiian is the predominant language of everyday usage and where employers will tolerate substandard performance?Year after year we see news reports that children in the charter schools are performing very poorly when compared to children in the standard schools; and we know that a majority of the charter schools have ethnic Hawaiian-focus curriculum and an activity-focused instructional method ("Ma ka hana ka 'ike") which fails to provide rigorous intellectual content including logical-deductive reasoning, algebra, U.S. and world history, etc. To vote in favor of this bill is to adopt the soft bigotry of low expectations, telling the community in general, and the students and staff at these schools, that the diploma they receive is little more than a certificate of attendance and not a certificate of academic, intellectual, or vocational competency.
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SB 541, SD1 RELATING TO HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS. Establishes January 17 of each year as Reconciliation Day, to commemorate the memory of Queen Liliuokalani and the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, provided that this day is not and shall not be construed to be a state holiday. (SD1)
Bill text (including all amended versions), history, committee hearings, pdf of all testimony submitted to each committee, YEAs and NAYs, committee reports:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=541&year=2024
KEN CONKLIN'S TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION TO ONE-SIDED APPROACH TO "RECONCILIATION"
This bill proposes to establish January 17 as an annual day of observance to be called "Reconciliation Day." The date of January 17 is obviously focused on the year 1893 when the Hawaiian revolution, led by an armed militia comprised entirely of Hawaii subjects/citizens and local business- owners, overthrew the monarchy.
Unfortunately the twisted concept of "reconciliation" embedded in this bill demands the repudiation of every step in the history of Hawaii's political status beginning with the revolution and Provisional Government, leading to a Constitutional convention and establishment of the internationally recognized Republic of Hawaii, then the mutually-agreed annexation of Hawaii as a territory of the United States and then to full-fledged statehood.
Indeed, the Republic of Hawaii was internationally recognized in a far more powerful way than the Kingdom had been. In 2023 the Hawaii legislature adopted SB731 proclaiming November 28 as Ka La Ku'oko'a, a day of observance commemorating the historical date in 1843 when a low-level diplomat from Britain and a low-level diplomat from France signed a declaration agreeing that Hawaii had a stable government and pledging to each other that neither nation would try to take over Hawaii. Their declaration was addressed only to each other but not to Hawaii; and there were only two copies, in side-by-side English and French -- one copy for each signer with no copy for Hawaii. But in the Fall of 1894, after the Republic of Hawaii had been established; Emperors, Kings, Queens, and Presidents of at least 19 nations on 4 continents personally signed letters in 11 languages addressed to President Dole recognizing the Republic as Hawaii's rightful successor government. Perhaps the most politically significant letter was signed by Britain's Queen Victoria -- significant because of her close personal relationships with Queen Emma, Queen Kapi'olani, Queen Lili'uokalani, and Princess Ka'iulani. Photos of those 19 letters and accompanying diplomatic documents can be seen at
https://historymystery.kenconklin.org/recognition-of-the-republic-of- hawaii/
The nasty language of repudiation in this bill includes the phrase "inconsistent with the principles of justice, self-determination, and international law" despite the fact that political revolutions overthrowing monarchies and dictatorships have been happening for centuries throughout the world and are regarded as perfectly consistent with the principles of justice, self-determination, and international law: including revolutions in France, China, Russia, Cuba, numerous South American nations -- and most notably the American revolution that succeeded only because of massive amounts of guns, ammunition, ships and soldiers from France. This bill deplores "the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii"; but of course every revolution is "illegal". The political leaders and oligarchs on the losing side of a revolution always regard it as a "historical injustice" and some might feel it necessary to go into exile; for example some of the British loyalists in the American revolution.
The language of repudiation in this bill also cites the U.S. apology resolution of 1993. But note that the 162 U.S. peacekeepers landed to protect American lives and property did not fire a shot, did not give the revolutionaries any arms or ammunition or food, did not patrol the streets or take over any buildings, unlike the massive French assistance to the American revolution which everyone regards as legitimate. See the 808- page transcript of the Morgan Report: testimony under oath in the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs in February 1894 at
https://morganreport.org
The apology resolution itself has been repudiated. See a detailed monograph by esteemed Constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein: "Hawaii Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand."
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/ AkakaHawaiiDividedFeinJune2005.pdf
with a detailed summary printed in the Congressional Record on Flag Day June 14, 2005
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2005-06-14/pdf/ CREC-2005-06-14-pt1-PgS6471.pdf#page=1
On January 31, 2008 the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled unanimously, 5-0, that the State of Hawaii is forbidden to sell any parcel of the ceded lands, because of the 1993 apology resolution. But on March 31, 2009 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously, 9-0, overruled the Hawaii Supreme Court specifically focusing on and repudiating the apology resolution. See the Supreme Court's decision in HAWAII ET AL. v. OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS ET AL. at
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-1372.pdf
Here are some quotes: "This is not the kind of language Congress uses to create substantive rights, especially rights enforceable against the cosovereign States. ... First, such “whereas” clauses cannot bear the weight that the lower court placed on them. ... Second, even if the clauses had some legal effect, they did not restructure Hawaii’s rights and obligations, as the lower court found. ... Third, because the resolution would raise grave constitutional concerns if it purported to “cloud” Hawaii’s title to its sovereign lands more than three decades after the State’s admission to the Union ... the Court refuses to read the nonsubstantive “whereas” clauses to create such a “cloud” retroactively"
See also webpage "U.S. apology resolution 20th anniversary -- A resolution was introduced in the Hawaii legislature to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the U.S. apology resolution; and testimony was offered to the Hawaii legislature in the form of a substitute resolution explaining that the apology resolution is filled with falsehoods, has produced bad consequences, and should be repealed." at
https://www.angelfire.com/big09/ApologyReso20thAnniv.html
RECONCILIATION CAN ONLY BECOME A REALITY IF OPPOSING VIEWS ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER IN A SPIRIT OF MUTUAL RESPECT AND ALOHA -- NOT A ONE-SIDED DEMAND TO REVERSE THE COURSE OF HISTORY, BLAME AND SHAME ONE OR MORE ETHNIC GROUPS, AND ESTABLISH RACIAL SUPREMACY IN LAND OWNERSHIP AND GOVERNMENTAL POWER.
The fundamental principles leading to reconciliation in Hawaii must include unity and equality.
Unity means that Hawaii must remain unified with the United States -- secession, or independent nationhood, must be rejected. Unity means that the lands and people of Hawaii must not be divided along racial/ethnic lines, such as by creating a phony Hawaiian tribe.
Equality means that all humans are equal in the eyes of God. We must not allow one racial group to demand political power based on religious fascism: the claim that they are children of the gods and brothers/sisters to the land in a way nobody else ever can be who lacks a drop of the magic blood. See webpage "Hawaiian religious fascism. A twisted version of a beautiful creation legend provides the theological basis for a claim that ethnic Hawaiians are entitled to racial supremacy in the governance and cultural life of the Hawaiian islands."
https://www.angelfire.com/big11a/HawnReligFascism.html
Equality means that government must treat all citizens equally regardless of race; therefore we must not allow racial entitlement programs where people must prove they have a drop of the magic blood in order to receive land, housing, money, schooling, or other benefits funded by taxpayer dollars.
The concept of "reconciliation" embedded in this bill violates both unity and equality. The hateful language of repudiation in this bill, cited earlier in this testimony, shows that this bill fosters divisiveness by demanding one- sided "reconciliation" as a weapon of hate, and is contrary to the principles of unity and equality.
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SCR 114 / SR 96 URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TO DISPLAY A PORTRAIT OF PRINCE JONAH KUHIO KALANIANAOLE IN EACH STATE BUILDING, OFFICE, MEETING ROOM, AND WAITING AREA UNDER THE DEPARTMENT'S JURISDICTION.
Bill text (including all amended versions), history, committee hearings, pdf of all testimony submitted to each committee, YEAs and NAYs, committee reports:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SCR&billnumber=114&year=2024
AND
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SR&billnumber=96&year=2024
AND COMPANION HOUSE RESOLUTION HR107
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HR&billnumber=107&year=2024
Ken Conklin's TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION
This resolution urges the Department of Hawaiian Homelands to display a portrait of prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole in each state building, office, meeting room, and waiting area under the department's jurisdiction.
This resolution implies that DHHL leadership and the managers of those buildings, offices, rooms, and waiting areas have not already placed such portraits in those places. Bills REQUIRING the placement of such portraits in such places were introduced in 2021 and 2023, and failed. Apparently during these last three years, DHHL personnel still have not seen fit to put up those portraits on their own initiative. One must wonder why they have not done so. What do they have against Kuhio, so that the legislature felt compelled to FORCE them to do it in previous years and continues to feel compelled to urge them to do it now? Or perhaps the facilities have not yet been built, and the legislature is acting now to urge DHHL personnel to erect such portraits when the facilities are built, for fear they would not otherwise do so.
Or maybe the reason why DHHL personnel want the legislature to pass this resolution is for the purpose of ensuring that additional taxpayer money will be sent to DHHL. But in 2022 the legislature appropriated $600 Million dollars extra to go to DHHL. Isn't that enough money for them to get the job done? This resolution also proposes an astounding level of "overkill" by urging that each and every office, meeting room, and waiting area must have a portrait of Kuhio. Did the authors of this resolution forget about the hallways, toilets, and broom closets?
Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole is widely regarded as a cultural and political hero among today's ethnic Hawaiians. But there are some important reasons why even Hawaiian sovereignty activists would want to re- evaluate their opinion of him, if they were aware of these facts about his life. Below are details about two of those reasons: (1) He abandoned Hawaii at the time when its independence was being lost to annexation, in order to go to South Africa on an adventure as a soldier fighting for Britain in the Boer War; and (2) he waged a personal attack against ex-queen Lili'uokalani during the last years of her life, trying to have her declared mentally incompetent so he could become conservator of her estate and grab her Waikiki properties for himself.
Before providing some details about those character flaws, let's think about the idea of putting up pictures glorifying Kuhio in public buildings on DHHL lands, even if his character had been beyond reproach.
In dictatorships around the world there are photos of the dictator looming large over public squares and inside government buildings. It's ugly. After a while those pictures arouse resentment and feelings of oppression more than they inspire love or respect. Haven't we all seen news reports from China showing the huge photo of long-dead Chairman Mao looming over Tiananmen Square in Beijing? In the old Soviet Union there was a big photo of Joseph Stalin in every classroom in every school, every office in every government building, and every grocery store. Big brother is watching you!
Some ethnic Hawaiians revere Kuhio as a prince for the same reasons the peasantry in any monarchial nation reveres its royalty -- majesty, mystery, pride in the nobility of a great leader, and hope for handouts to help the poor and downtrodden. Wealthy racial separatist Hawaiian government institutions honor Kuhio as their founding father, the man who bowed low enough to the colonizers to bring home the bacon from their far-away seat of power.
But was Kuhio's personal behavior princely? At least two major events in Kuhio's life after the revolution of 1893 should cause Hawaiian sovereignty activists to question his worthiness as their torch-bearer. On these two occasions Kuhio was grossly unpatriotic to his Hawaiian "nation." The first occasion was when he abandoned his nation at its time of greatest peril in order to pursue personal pleasure and foreign adventure. The second occasion was two decades later when he abused his power and prestige to launch a personal attack against Queen Liliuokalani in order to steal her land, for his personal enrichment, from the children she intended to help. Kuhio's behavior on both occasions should be seen as not merely selfish, but treasonous from the viewpoint of today's sovereignty activists.
In January 1895, at age 23, Kuhio participated in the attempted counterrevolution against the Republic of Hawaii led by Robert Wilcox. He was sentenced to a year in prison, where his fiancee visited him regularly. After his release they got married and went to Europe. It's understandable that the heir to the throne would feel unhappy about imprisonment and about the loss of his future crown. Certainly nobody
would begrudge him the right to get married, and perhaps to travel for a while.
But Kuhio's extended absence is inexcusable in view of the major political events taking place in Hawaii. He played no part in fighting against annexation, even while his fellow "patriots" were making speeches, writing articles in the newspapers, and gathering 21,000 signatures on a petition in 1897 opposing annexation. Today's sovereignty activists excuse his non-participation by claiming he was "in exile." But nobody forced him to leave. Others who had been imprisoned with him stayed in Hawaii after their release in 1895.
Kuhio extended his European adventure by going to Africa where he spent three years fighting on the side of England in the second Boer War.
Let's put that in different terms so that today's sovereignty activists will get the point. Kuhio, designated heir to the throne, abandoned his native land during a time of great political upheaval and went to war halfway around the world, fighting on the side of one White colonial power against another White colonial power in a war to see which one would win control over the land of a poor, downtrodden dark-skinned native population.
Kuhio returned to Hawaii in time to join the Republican Party and defeat the incumbent Robert Wilcox in the 1902 election for Territorial Delegate to Congress, whereupon he took the oath of office swearing to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic (Traitor to the Hawaiian nation!). He introduced the first bill in Congress for statehood for Hawaii (Traitor to the Hawaiian nation!). He finally "brought home the bacon" after 19 years in Congress with passage of his Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (Sellout!).
The case of Kuhio vs. Liliuokalani in 1915-1916 is perhaps even more troubling. The "prince," now Hawaii's Territorial Delegate to Congress for 13 years, abused his power and prestige to launch a personal attack against Queen Liliuokalani in order to steal her Waikiki land from the children she intended to help. Kuhio publicly accused her of mental incompetence in order to nullify her creation of the Queen Liliuokalani Childrens' Trust, and to establish himself as conservator of her estate, so that after her death her Waikiki properties would go to him instead of to the benefit of the Hawaiian children. Luckily for the children, his lawsuit failed. Full text of the Hawaii Supreme Court decision, including details about what Kuhio was trying to do, is on a webpage: JONAH KUHIO KALANIANAOLE v. LILIUOKALANI, Supreme Court of Hawaii, 23 Haw. 457; 1916. Syllabus and full text of the Court's decision:
http://tinyurl.com/ce7avc
Evelyn Cook's book "100 years of Healing" includes extensive description of the lawsuit, and especially the role of attorney W.O. Smith in defending Liliuokalani. Knowledgeable readers might be surprised, because W.O. Smith was one of the leaders of the revolution of 1893 that overthrew Liliuokalani. But as time went by the ex-queen realized that Smith was completely trustworthy whereas Kuhio was arrogant, selfish, greedy, and profoundly disrespectful to the woman most ethnic Hawaiians still regarded as their Queen. Instead of native Hawaiian "Prince" Kuhio, Lili'uokalani appointed White man W.O. Smith as trustee of her Queen Lili'uokalani Childrens Trust.
Kuhio was also a womanizer, both in Hawaii and in Washington D.C., -- in today's parlance we might call his scandalous behavior Trumpian. He earned the nickname "Prince Cupid" (Google it if you want some titillation).
Kuhio does not deserve to be ensconced as head of a cult of personality. You should defer this resolution to avoid the embarrassment of voting against it or the even larger embarrassment of voting for it.
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HAWAIIAN SOVEREIGNTY BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN PREVIOUS YEARS -- TESTIMONY BY KEN CONKLIN AND SOME MEMBERS OF THE ALOHA FOR ALL AND GRASSROOT INSTITUTE GROUPS.
Personal note by Ken Conklin: I came permanently to live in Hawaii in 1992. From then until 1998 I spent full time doing independent study about Hawaiian language, history, and culture. I felt a strong spiritual relationship with the land and people, which I sensed on three summer vacations beginning 1982 and was one of my main motives for coming to live here permanently. Because of the beautiful spirituality in Hawaiian music, hula, and legends, I was inclined to go along with the historical victimhood narrative pushed by Hawaiian sovereignty activists on such topics as the overthrow of the monarchy (1893), annexation (1898), and statehood (1959). I attended a large number of Hawaiian sovereignty rallies, panel discussions at University of Hawaii, and conversations in public places or in private homes; and read many books. But having a Ph.D. in philosophy I am accustomed to studying issues that are both complex and controversial, asking lots of questions, and doing research. And my masters in Mathematics made me feel a need to be logical and keep my beliefs clear and consistent. The more questions I asked, the more my erstwhile "friends" began questioning my "loyalty" to them and to their movement. In many cases they did not know the facts; and in some cases they did know the facts but persisted in telling me half-truths or outright lies. It took many months of soul-searching, gut-wrenching introspection to figure things out; and then everything fit together within a few days and I saw the whole gestalt picture -- the face of evil in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. Since then I gradually began stepping out of private life, writing letters to editor, creating this website, running as a candidate for OHA trustee in 2000, writing my book, etc. I began writing testimony on bills in Congress and in the state legislature around year 1999. For the past decade the internet has made it increasingly easy to keep up to date about bills in the legislature and to submit testimony by email or through the legislature's website.
Below are some webpages providing testimony to the Hawaii legislature over the years, mostly by myself but also some by friends who were members of the Aloha For All and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii groups. This is an incomplete list, but it shows the kind of issues arising in the legislature over time and how civil rights activists are fighting back in an effort to protect unity, equality, and aloha for all. There's a gathering storm in Hawaii as racial supremacists demand either creation of a racial separatist tribe recognized by the state and federal governments, or else restoration of Hawaii's status as an independent nation with racial supremacy for ethnic Hawaiians under the modern theory of "indigenous rights." See my book
"Hawaiian Apartheid: Racial Separatism and Ethnic Nationalism in the Aloha State"
http://tinyurl.com/2a9fqa
I hope that Hawaii citizens who read the bills and testimony in this year's legislature, and in the legislatures since 2002, will see the dangers, rise to the occasion, and hold their state Senators and Representatives accountable.
Here are webpages covering State of Hawaii legislation related to Hawaiian sovereignty in previous years, listed in reverse chronological order (most recent listed first).
In 2014 no compilation was kept of racist bills in the Hawaii state legislature. However, special attention was given to very dangerous legislation creating and expanding a racial registry for building a Hawaiian tribe. See webpage
"Building a Hawaiian tribe through actions of the state legislature: May 2014 progress report (Roll Commission failure to follow the requirements of enabling legislation Act 195; identity theft of 87,000 names from earlier racial registries; enrollment of minor children; legislative hearing as cheerleader rather than oversight enforcer; and more issues)" at
https://www.angelfire.com/big09/KanaiolowaluMay2014ProgRpt.html
February 10, 2013: U.S. apology resolution 20th anniversary -- A resolution was introduced in the Hawaii legislature to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the U.S. apology resolution; and testimony was offered to the Hawaii legislature in the form of a substitute resolution explaining that the apology resolution is filled with falsehoods, has produced bad consequences, and should be repealed.
February 3, 2009: Ceded lands issues in the Hawaii Legislature, 2009
February 3, 2009: Legislation in Hawaii in 2009 to declare ethnic Hawaiians as an indigenous people
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SEE MORE WEBPAGES ABOUT HAWAIIAN SOVEREIGNTY ISSUES IN GENERAL
Ken_Conklin@yahoo.com
