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ONE VOTE...GIANT STEPby Kawika Cooper Now that the Native Hawaiian vote has been counted and a mandate given to take the next step, it is time to plan the process to sovereignty. The first major issue is the definition of sovereignty; it will drive the entire shape and content of the Constitutional Convention. A return to the Kingdom of Hawaii and seceding from the United States was voted dead in its tracks - overwhelmingly. A nation within a nation appears to have merit; and a state within a state is not inconceivable. Blood quantum is the second major issue; it has been an extremely divisive policy since it was included by the Congress in passing the Hawaiian Homelands Act of 1921. It is being improperly used by many factions to exclude all Native Hawaiians from proper representation and entitlements regardless where they reside. Inclusivity versus exclusivity is the third major issue; Native Hawaiians are everywhere is today's modern world, and our networks include the majority and minorities. And fourth, Native Hawaiian leadership must be reinvented if the rest of the world is to believe that the movement towards sovereignty is pono. Send mail to halepai@punawelewele.com
with questions or comments about this web site.
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