Kirena Clah is actually from a nation within a nation: a Navajo Tribe reservation in New Mexico. She spoke from her own experiences as an American Indian in Hawaiʻi: “After all my experiences in Hawaiʻi, I do not believe that federal recognition is for the Hawaiian people.” She originally came to the meeting to support her Hawaiian friends, but felt the need to speak. She cited the temptations of federal recognition: “Getting rewards, getting all these benefits, all these moneys from our suffering and our hard work.” Many believe nation-within-a-nation status should be the goal, but Kirena cut into the federal recognition success myth cited by Trustee Akana: “There were earlier statements where there was mention of American Indian tribes. There was one in particular where: ‘on the reservation there are Indians who are not unhappy with the U.S. government.’ But I would like to know which ones are happy with the U.S. government, she challenged. Who would be happy with having their cattle or sheep slaughtered; who would be happy with having their land taken; who would be happy with the cancer that we suffer through; everything that has happened to us? There is no American Indian I know that is not unhappy with the U.S. government. What will we leave for our children? Casinos? I do not want my children to be left with casinos and Hard Rock Cafes.” As a witness of her own people’s struggles, she warned: “I just feel sad. I don’t want them to follow in our footsteps, because our footsteps were not chosen, they were given to us. It was the only path we could take.” She closed with a final wish for the trustees to think about what native people around the world mean to each other: “Federal recognition is not for the Hawaiian people. As an American Indian, I wish that the Hawaiian people can thrive, more so than my people. And that they can share what they’ve learned and what they did with other people so that native communities all over the world can grow together. I would like to see my children be educated with that.” #impeachRowenaAkana #ikepono Lelemia Irvine Hooheno Haumea
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 09:40:10 +0000
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