Kalākaua Avenue turned into a sea of red t-shirts during the Jan. 17 Kū i ka pono March and Rally. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

Thousands rally to
protect ceded lands

Throng urged to fight on in the Legislature

By Lisa Asato / Ka Wai Ola

Thousands of people took to the streets of Waikīkī to prevent ceded lands from being sold by the state. They marched in red T-shirts, hoisted homemade signs and Hawaiian flags and filled the air with the sounds of chanting and blowing of pū in reaction to a pending U.S. Supreme Court review of a case involving the state's right to sell ceded lands, which were formerly held by the Hawaiian government.

Hawaiian leaders rallied the throng at Kapi'olani Park to let them know the work is just starting.

"Let's pass moratorium legislation in the 2009 Legislature, and let that serve as an incentive for the state administration to consider their action and remove the appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court," OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona told the thousands who showed up at the Kū i ka Pono March and Rally Jan. 17 – a date which also marked the 116th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. "We must do it in a unified effort. Divided we will not accomplish and we will not prevail. … It is legislation that government will understand."

Apoliona said OHA has submitted to the Legislature a bill that would impose a moratorium on the sale of ceded lands until unrelinquished claims of Native Hawaiians to those lands are settled. The bill is posted online at oha.org. "It's there for all to see, to study and to support," she said.

The march and rally took aim at the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over its ability to sell ceded lands before Native Hawaiian claims to those lands are resolved. Ceded lands once belonged to the Hawaiian government and are now held in trust by the state for five purposes, including the betterment of Native Hawaiians.

In 1994, OHA and four plaintiffs sued to stop the state from selling 1,500 acres of ceded lands in Maui and Hawai'i Island. In 2000, the Circuit Court ruled in favor of the state, but on appeal the Hawai'i Supreme Court in January 2008 ruled unanimously to bar the state from selling or transferring ceded lands until Native Hawaiian claims to those lands are resolved, basing its ruling on, among other things, the Apology Resolution, which was signed by then-President Bill Clinton and apologized for the United States' role in the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government. The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is hearing the case on Feb. 25.

Other speakers at the march and rally sounded a similar message that passage of a moratorium bill is crucial this legislative session.

State Sen. Clayton Hee, chairman of the Senate Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committee joined six lawmakers on stage in a show of support for a moratorium bill. Hee (D, Kahuku-Ka'a'awa-Kāne'ohe) said it was inevitable that the state would win its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and urged public action, saying: "I will hold a hearing. You come so we can win. Without you we cannot win. It's that simple. This ain't rocket science. It don't take brains. It takes the na'au."

Kupu'āina Coalition member Davis Price said he took heart in a common theme shared by the day's speakers of the examples of resistance by kūpuna in the 1898 Kū'ē petition that protested annexation, and the Hawaiian renaissance of the 1970s, which saw exercises of political power like fighting for the return of Kaho'olawe and the rebirth of Polynesian navigation in Hawai'i symbolized by the sailing canoe Hōkūle'a. "People, go up to your legislators tell them: 'We're not taking no for an answer. You pass this bill immediately to protect the 'āina so we can move forward and we can unite behind that,' and I'm confident we can have another amazing moment in our history from that moment of unity."

Earlier in the morning, 83-year-old Abbie Dela Cruz said she was marching to keep Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands. "We had plenty lands," she said. "They are taking away little by little." She said the fight has been a long one, seemingly without end. "We're trying to fight for our land that belongs to our kupunas way back. And we are the younger generation, but (look) how old I am and I'm still fighting for my kupunas. … That's the reason why I'm walking."

For 51-year-old John Chun of Papakōlea land is a matter of Hawaiian identity and worth fighting for. "If they sell the ceded lands, we lose everything," said Chun, who was marching with his wife and children and wearing a red T-shirt symbolizing Hawaiian blood and unity. His shirt read, "Stop Stealing from Hawaiians" in the front and "Don't Mistake our Kindness for Weakness" on the back.

And Kawika Johnson came with 10 members of his 'ohana, who often march together in support of Hawaiian issues. Carrying an upside-down Hawaiian flag – a sign of distress – he said his message to Gov. Linda Lingle was to withdraw the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "It's a ruling that's supposed to be resolved only when Hawaiian issues are resolved," he said. "Then a decision can be made. Obviously it's not resolved and (Lingle's) trying to sell land that's designated for the Hawaiian people."

He said Hawaiians voted for Lingle because she has been supportive of Hawaiian issues in the past, including marching in 2005 to preserve Kamehameha Schools' Hawaiian-preference admissions policy, which was being challenged in federal court. Now her actions are hypocritical, he said.

Asked what he made of her past statement that her support for Hawaiians remains unchanged, but that she has to maintain the interest of all her constituents in this case, he said he wasn't convinced. "It doesn't really ring true for me," he said. "But if she's for the people then this was her first big blemish."

Lingle did not respond to a request for comment.

Other speakers included Mililani Trask, plaintiff Jon Osorio, Lynette Cruz of Hawaiian Independence Alliance, former OHA Trustee Moanike'ala Akaka and Walter Ritte, a community leader on Moloka'i.

Rally organizer Kaho'onei Panoke told the audience the march was sending a message to the Lingle administration that "you still have time" to withdraw the appeal.

"Open your ears, maka'ala (be alert) and look at whose out here today … because we're not going to go away," Panoke said, addressing Lingle, who was not present. Panoke said it was wrong of Lingle to take the issue to the federal arena because it should be decided at home with Hawaiians at the table. But he promised Hawaiians would not give up. "We will continue to fight this issue up until Feb. 25 when this case will be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court," he said.