Giving Hawaiians What Belongs To Them

Map of Hawaiian Homelands

Those of Native Hawaiian ancestry can and should control the assets that belong to them.

Those of Native Hawaiians ancestry are stymied when it comes to the full benefit of the assets they can use to enrich themselves and the Hawaiian culture in-spite of the fact that they are beneficiaries of a sizable inheritance:

• Department of Hawaiian Homeland control some 312 square miles out of 6,422 square miles in the entire state.
• The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has some 600,000,000 dollars in assets.

While combined they would become a major economic force in Hawaii, as separate entities they can never achieve the promise of both enriching and preserving the Hawaiian culture and in turn bringing greater prosperity to the state at large. Both these assets are controlled by the State of Hawaii and their operation as government functions fails to meet either the financial obligations or the cultural preservation role they could play as a combined Native Hawaiian Corporation.

Consider:

• 80,000 square feet of prime Hawaiian Homelands real estate at 820 Isenberg Street in Honolulu has sat idle for decades neither producing housing or income for native Hawaiians
• Most Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees are elected based on name recognition, not their economic resume and have little or no experience in operating and growing major assets in either a public or private setting.

Compare this sorry state of affairs to the prosperity the Native Alaskan Corporations have achieved which can be credited to:

1. They are controlled by the beneficiaries as shareholders and can choose corporate governance based on proven ability.
2. They produce jobs and wealth by a varied portfolio using their combined assets.
3. They directly support cultural preservation and are engaging tribal members to interact in their own best interest.
4. Their success is supportive to the general prosperity of all Alaskans.

The goal of establishing a Native Hawaiian Corporation to achieve similar results for native Hawaiians can be done by using the same federal process which has clear precedent with the ANC (Alaska Native Corporations) and is doable given a popular base of support.