The NATIVE Difference
Resources:
US TITLE 42 Chapter 122 Definitions
(3) Native Hawaiian
The term "Native Hawaiian" means any individual who is-
(A) a citizen of the United States, and
(B) a descendant of the aboriginal people, who prior to 1778, occupied and exercised sovereignty in the area that now constitutes the State of Hawaii, as evidenced by-
(i) genealogical records,
(ii) Kupuna (elders) or Kama'aina (long-term community residents) verification, or
(iii) birth records of the State of Hawaii.
- STATUTE LAWS OF HIS MAJESTY KAMEHAMEHA III, 1846
Vol. 1, Chapter V, Article II, Section III (English Translation)
"All persons born within the jurisdiction of this kingdom, whether of alien foreigners, of naturalized or of native parents, all persons born abroad of a parent native of this kingdom, and afterwards coming to reside in this, shall be deemed to owe native allegiance to His Majesty. All such persons shall be amenable to the laws of this kingdom as native subjects. All persons born abroad of foreign parents, shall, unless duly naturalized, as in this article prescribed, be deemed aliens, and treated as such, pursuant to the laws."
Mana'o:
This is a legal perspective and narrative about an everyday word.
Those of us born in the Hawaiian Islands are known to be Hawaiian, Kanaka Maoli and or Kanaka Hawaii. Hawaiian is both an Ethnicity AND a Nationality. As a nationality Hawaiian means you were born in the Country called the Hawaiian Islands. As an ethnicity it means you have Hawaiian blood and ancestors from the Hawaiian Islands since time immemorial. Because of this dual meaning and poor quality political education under US public schools system many here in Hawaii are confused intentionally about the meaning and use.
Because I was born in the Hawaiian Islands, its laws say I am a Native to these lands, even if I did not have the Hawaiian blood. As a Native of the Hawaiian Islands I have the same Civil and Political Rights as the Mo'i, because the first constitutional monarch gave his own Rights to all born in the Hawaiian Kingdom in the Declaration of Rights 1839. In addition to this great gift there are five Trusts set up for Hawaiian Kingdom Natives by our past King's and Queens to provide for our welfare and continued survival. These trusts provide services and products FREE OF COSTS to Native Hawaiians for land, education, health, retirement and orphan needs. Today these trusts have been subverted since the US invasion and takeover of the Hawaiian Islands government as they all originated in Hawaiian Kingdom law.
On the other hand, in the US, 'Natives' are those "indigenous" people born on US soil that were there prior to the establishment of the US government and do not profess to be Christian. They are called Native American. (Similarly 'Natives' in Canada call themselves First Nations People). The US government created a special set of laws on how to engage and treat Native Americans aside from initial Treaties. Hawaiians are similarly and incorrectly treated as "indigenous" and non-Christian and to avoid critics the US government does not include 'American' as a part of their term for Hawaiians. The reality is, however, under US laws I am viewed and treated as a Native Hawaiian American. In US laws Native Hawaiians also have special laws on how to engage and treat us.
Conclusion
In comparison, one would benefit far greater in the Country that gives those born there the King's or Queen's Civil and Political Rights versus a set of special laws for a group of people viewed as less-than human. In my experience living on 'Hawaiian Home Lands" since 1980 to present, the administration of the US Congress Hawaiian Homes Act of 1920 although initiated for good cause by one of our own Kanaka Maoli leaders has resulted in what I call an EPIC FAIL and essentially GENOCIDE. US Congress gave the administration of this Act to the State of Hawaii in 1959. After a century, all the State of Hawaii could do is award 9,000 Hawaiians with lots while the wait list grew to more than 28,000 QUALIFIED people today. Tens of thousands of Kanaka Maoli have passed on to Po waiting for the State of Hawaii to award them lands to "REHABILITATE" our population from the mass loss of life from foreign diseases in the early 1800s. Approximately ninety (90%) of the Hawaiian Islands population was decimated in a short period after contact with Western explorers, namely James Cook in 1778. By 1897 about forty thousands (40,000) or 10% Kanaka Maoli existed as opposed to Cook's population estimates of 400,000.
Be ACCURATE in the country you are Native to AND Be HONEST! Where you were born makes a difference in what laws apply to you. A Hawaiian born in the US is a US Native, despite having Kanaka Maoli blood. However, should the same Kanaka move to the Hawaiian Islands to live, all Native Hawaiian laws apply because of their physical presence in the Hawaiian Kingdom. Foreigners born in Hawaii are Hawaiian Islands Native despite no Kanaka blood or relations. Native in the laws, whatever the Country, is not about whose blood you have but the soil where one is born.
