And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1999 20:09:40 -1000 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Scott Crawford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Native Hawaiians To Elect Delegates for Sovereignty Convention >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >Native Hawaiians To Elect Delegates for Sovereignty Convention > >Some want monarchy restored > >.c The Associated Press (National Release) > >http://cnn.com/US/9901/15/hawaii.sovereignty.ap/ > >January 15, 1998 > >By RON STATON > > >HONOLULU (AP) -- Imprisoned in her palace bedroom, Queen Lili`uokalani was >given an ultimatum in 1895: abdicate the throne or her followers would face >a firing squad. > >``For myself, I would have chosen death rather than to have signed it,'' >the eighth Hawaiian monarch later wrote. But she felt she had no choice. >Her signature forever relinquished the monarchy begun in 1810 by Kamehameha >I. > >Now, more than a century later, some native Hawaiians want the crown >restored, others want their own nation and still others would like to see >something akin to an Indian reservation for ancestors of the original >islanders. > >No one seriously worries about insurrection, but the sovereignty movement >in Hawaii is real, and native Hawaiians will cast votes Sunday to select >the people who will shape it. > >``Sovereignty is a trail Hawaiians have been traveling actively for 25 >years and even longer since the overthrow of the monarchy,'' said Kaipo >Kincaid, executive director of Ha Hawaii <http://www.ha-hawaii.com>, >sponsor of the election. ``This is a journey we are taking -- all of us.'' > >About 100,000 native Hawaiians are eligible to elect delegates to a >sovereignty convention planned for this summer. The convention, organizers >hope, will set specific goals for the sovereignty movement. > >The process began three years ago when the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections >Council mailed ballots to 81,507 registered native Hawaiians. Less than >half voted, but 73 percent of those who returned ballots favored electing >delegates to a convention. > >A total of 156 Hawaiians are competing for 85 seats at the convention. >Results of Sunday's vote are to be announced Jan. 27. > >Opponents call process "kiss of death" > >Not all native Hawaiians support the push for sovereignty. Some question >the legitimacy of a process begun by less than half of qualified voters. > >Kina`u Boyd Kamali`i, a former trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ><http://www.oha.org>, an agency charged with looking out for the interests >of native Hawaiians, said the election should meet minimum requirements, >including having ballots cast by a majority of registered native Hawaiian >voters. > >Ha Hawaii (``ha'' means ``breath'' in Hawaiian) succeeded the >state-appointed Sovereignty Elections Council ><http://www.planet-hawaii.com/hsec> -- and Kamali`i said any process >started by state appointees is tainted. > >``The Ha Hawaii process is not the breath of life, but possibly the kiss of >death to native Hawaiian self-government,'' Kamali`i said in a January >newsletter from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. > >She also likened the election to the creation of the Republic of Hawaii >after Lili`uokalani's overthrow. > >``Then, as now, a small group of unelected individuals decided the process >and drafted a constitution -- ready or not, wanted or not.'' > >But Ha Hawaii president Pua`ala McElhaney said the group's authority comes >from its membership and supporting organizations. > >``Can detractors have such total lack of trust in the judgment of the >Hawaiian people to think that all of these groups, all of these people, as >diverse as they are, are under state control and not know it?'' McElhaney >asked. > >Sovereignty drive has roots in 19th century > >Sentiment in favor of sovereignty has existed ever since Americans, Germans >and Britons sacked Queen Lili`uokalani's government and formed the Republic >of Hawaii in 1893. Sugar planters then convinced the United States to annex >Hawaii in 1898, despite opposition from native islanders. > >The islands became a U.S. territory in 1900. Though Hawaiians were U.S. >citizens, they could not vote and were represented by a congressional >delegate who also could not vote. Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959. > >Ha Hawaii still needs to raise about $3 million to hold the convention. >Assuming fund-raising targets are met, delegates will likely hold community >briefings and then make recommendations for ratification by voters, Kincaid >said. > >``Over time, the (sovereignty) discussion will weave a fabric,'' she said, >``As there is more dialogue, the predominant concepts will prevail.'' > >### > <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> IF it says: "PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW...." Please Check it before you send it at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
