This testimony was submitted to the United States Committee on Indian Affairs regarding S.310.

S. 310 Hearing May 3, 2007

Aloha, and thank you for keeping the record open for further testimony on the Akaka Bill (S.310).

Much of the difficulty with this bill and its supporters is that they are starting from false premises. In his opening statement, Senator Dorgan wrote:

“It allows for the Native Hawaiian people to once again have an opportunity at self-governance and self-determination.”

Contrary to Senator Dorgan’s implication, the Native Hawaiian people have both self-governance and self-determination this very moment, only not as a separate racial group. Also contrary to Senator Dorgan’s implication, there has never been any race-based government in the entire history of the Hawaiian islands, including before western contact in 1778, and in fact, the Hawaiian Kingdom’s first constitution explicitly declared all people “of one blood”, and maintained itself without reference to race.

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