Native Hawaiians - Politics

In joint Honolulu Advertiser newspaper / Channel 2 KHON-TV polls throughout the past decade, approximately 65% of the state’s Native Hawaiians consistently say they want Hawaii to retain its status quo as one of the 50 states in the U.S. The remaining approximately 35% of the state’s Native Hawaiians want a significant change and are divided between three different “solutions" that they bicker about and never reach consensus on for a united front:

(1) A “Nation within a Nation”: Basically this is like Indian reservations within parts of the state of Hawaii that would provide land to Native Hawaiians. Among the federal government powers that be, this would appear to be the one solution that would possibly have a real chance of happening. In the event the “Akaka Bill” is passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by the President, the beginning of the “Nation within a Nation” plan would be put into action.

(2) Independent Nation: Basically this would be secession of Hawaii from the U.S. It would not appear likely that the U.S. Government would go along with this because of the highly important military value of Hawaii’s location in the Pacific.

(3) World Court & United Nations intervention: As a genuine, independent nation that was illegally taken over by force by the U.S., a significant faction of Native Hawaiians want the World Court and the U.N. to decide and enforce what should happen to Hawaii and how to bring a fair and equitable return of Hawaii to becoming an independent nation again. Native Hawaiians would demand that the U.S. must follow and execute what the World Court and the U.N. decide. Again, because of Hawaii’s extremely important Pacific military value to the U.S., it would not appear realistic that the U.S. Government would go along with this.

“Divide and conquer” has historically been the technique used to handle the Native Hawaiians. That way Native Hawaiians never develop a united front because they tend to bicker and fight among themselves over a “solution” but never seem to agree on ONE solution to unite behind.

It may be well to keep in mind the massive 86.5% decrease in Native Hawaiian population over a period of about 38 years.

Native Hawaiian population:

Year
1798
1836

Population of Native Hawaiians 1
800,000 Native Hawaiians during Captain Cook 1
108,000 Native Hawaiians 1

Hawaiians for many years were punished in school if they spoke Hawaiian.

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1 "Before the Horror: The Population of Hawaii on the Eve of Western Contact," by David E. Stannard, pages 55, 56, 59 (Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawaii, 1989)