Post #20871 by Cuisson on Fri, Jan 24, 2003 8:45 PM

Actually there are two groups persuing some type of Sovereignty for Native Hawaiians. One group favors complete independence while proponents of the the other wants some type of nation within a nation like Native Americans have. The whole subject has been made more relevent in recent times by an attack on Hawaiian entitlements like homeland leases, funds for Hawaiian language, etc. Conservative lawyers and missionary descendents have been pursuing law cases (Rice vs Cayetano) that demand a stop to favoritism because of being Native Hawaiian. If you ask me and I've studied the history the Hawaiians have a good case for independence. Even President Clinton apologized for the takeover but didn't go any further towards reparations for the illegal overthrow. There's a bill in Congress now (the Akaka Bill) that would give Native Hawaiians the same type of protection as Native Indians but it's meeting strong opposition.