WHEREAS, the Native Hawai'ian peoples are the indigenous peoples of the islands of Hawai'i; and

WHEREAS, Queen Lili'uokalani did not abdicate her throne, but was forced to relinquish it on January 16th, 1893, in order to protect her Hawai'ian peoples from certain violence and genocide; and

WHEREAS, in the 1993 Apology Bill to the Native Hawai'ian peoples, President Clinton acknowledged the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and formally recognized the American and the Hawai'ian societies; and

WHEREAS, prior to statehood, Hawai'i was scheduled to become an independent nation recognized by the United Nations; and

WHEREAS, under statehood the children of the indigenous Hawai'ian peoples have experienced a U.S. government-imposed, two tiered system of discrimination based on fifty percent blood quantum, both below and above, which has divided the indigenous Hawai'ian peoples; and

WHEREAS, the indigenous Hawai'ian peoples have been deprived of the exercise of their sovereignty, including self-determination, control of their islands and ocean resources, use of their language, and exercise of their cultural and religious practices; and

WHEREAS, the self-determining indigenous Hawai'ian rights movement has sustained momentum from the first contact with other nations; and

WHEREAS, the Hawai'i National Organization for Women (NOW) has formally recognized the existence and work of the independent indigenous Hawai'ian peoples' NOW VISION SUMMIT self-determining grassroots sovereignty movement since October 1, 1994; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. government is currently conducting a sovereignty vote through the State Office of Hawai'ian Affairs (SOHA);

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that NOW provide moral support for and encourage political recognition of the self-determining indigenous Hawai'ian peoples and the newly forming independent indigenous Hawai'ian women's non-governmental organization.

Submitted by: Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee
Author: Audrey E. Keesing, MPH, President of Hawai'i NOW - now@aloha.net

Note: The Native Hawaiian Vote on sovereignty is being conducted by the state of Hawaii through the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council, on which the Office of Hawaii Affairs is represented by Trustee Kina`u B. Kamali`i.

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