Boyle: Akaka Bill attempt to dominate and control Hawaiians' right to self-determination

The Honolulu Weekly has published a piece today by Regina Gregory about the presentation of Prof. Francis Boyle in Honolulu on December 28, 2004:

The Weekly edited out significant portions of the article as it was submitted, however, so the author has made the original version available for distribution, and it is posted here.

The Akaka Bill, according to Francis Boyle, is the American government's attempt to "dominate and control Hawaiians' right to self-determination, and deny their rights under international law." Under international law—and according to the 1993 "Apology Bill," says Boyle—the Kingdom of Hawai'i still exists, and its government should be restored.

Boyle, who teaches international law at the University of Illinois, spent Dec. 28-30 on a whirlwind tour of the islands, lecturing on the topic "Restoration of Hawai'i's Independence: An Alternative Mode of Self-Governance." At the Neal Blaisdell Center on Dec. 28, he presented a scathing critique of the Akaka Bill (Senate Bill 344 / House Bill 4282) to a crowd of about 80, including Hawaiian activists Henry Noa and Bumpy Kanahele, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Oswald Stender and attorney Mona Bernardino. The Akaka Bill, which is intended to give Native Hawaiians a status similar to Native Americans (but without the casinos), is silent on the subject of land, Boyle said. It creates a "governing entity," not a government; it says Hawaiians can adopt "documents," not laws or regulations. And the whole thing—from deciding who gets to be a citizen, to approving the governing documents—is controlled by the U.S. Department of Interior.

Apart from working on a local economic base to replace federal entitlement programs, Boyle suggested that the dozen or so pro-independence groups in Hawai'i should join together to form a "provisional government of national unity." At an impromptu meeting just before his farewell luncheon at the Nation of Hawai'i's village in Waimanalo on Thursday, he took the opportunity to discuss this further with representatives from six organizations—the Nation of Hawai'i, Nation of Ku, Hawaiian Kingdom, Hawai'i Preservation Council, 'Oiwi Foundation, and Ke Aupuni o Hawai'i Nei—and they agreed to move in this direction. Many of the 40 or so people who showed up for lunch were disappointed that Prof. Boyle did not give a formal presentation, but they took the opportunity to socialize and ask him individual questions.

Boyle also spoke on Kaua'i, the Big Island, and Maui. Video recordings of all the sessions (including Thursday's impromptu meeting) will be available soon. Call 259-9018 for more information. A written transcript of Boyle's Dec. 28 presentation is available on the web at http://hawaii-nation.org/boyle-transcript-2004.html; the audio is at http://www.xenotypetech.com/ohana/boyle.wav.

Boyle was last here in 1993, when he spoke on the implications of the "Apology Bill" (U.S. Public Law 103-150), in which the U.S. conceded that overthrowing Hawai'i's monarch was an illegal act of war. At that time he also helped the Nation of Hawai'i draft its "Proclamation Restoring the Independence of the Sovereign Nation State of Hawaii."

Perhaps in response to charges of spending a lot of beneficiaries' money on the Akaka Bill while ignoring other options, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs co-sponsored Prof. Boyle's visit along with the Nation of Hawai'i. Trustee Stender remained unconvinced, however. He said Boyle was reading more into the Akaka Bill than is there. And while the appropriate legal remedy to the overthrow is indeed to restore the kingdom along with its lands, that is an impossible dream, said Stender. The U.S. will never walk away from Hawai'i, and in fact most Hawaiians want to remain U.S. citizens (along with the 80% of the population who are non-Hawaiian), he said.

Another OHA trustee, Linda Dela Cruz, said in her monthly message for January: "I went to Washington, D. C., two times to lobby for these [Akaka] bills, yet, I must confess, I am still not sure how these bills will benefit us Hawaiians. I keep telling myself, 'something is better than nothing.'"

Posted: Wed - January 12, 2005 at 03:00 PM

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Boyle: Akaka Bill attempt to dominate and control Hawaiians' right to self-determination

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