“The Sovereign expression of native self-determination” (2003)

Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) have always considered the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai’i and the incorporation of the islands into the United States a gross violation of sovereignty. Whether reconciliation could ever be achieved remained an open question throughout the twentieth century. In 1993 Congress took some responsibility for the past by issuing a formal Apology Resolution. The succeeding years saw Hawai’i’s senators champion legislation to recognize Native Hawaiians as “American Indians” and to extend the federal government’s trust relationship to them. Each iteration, and there have been several, has proved divisive. Some Kanaka Maoli support recognition, arguing that it serves as a necessary, if not fully satisfactory, first step toward restoring sovereignty. The following document clarifies the position taken by nationalists opposed to incorporative legislation. Consider how Kanaka Maoli scholar J. Kehaulani Kauanui called upon a history of resistance, distinguished between racial and political identities, and articulated a different vision of citizenship and belonging to test the limits of sovereignty.¹⁵.