Billy V In The Morning

Ceded Lands Decision: What happens next?

@ March 31, 2009 11:15 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As misplaced as this may seem, I am still going to believe in our Governor. Linda Lingle lived and worked here in our Honolulu. She lived and worked on the island of Moloka'i and started the Moloka'i Free Press, the community newspaper.

She knows how it is and how important it is to be local. She gets it. She understands Hawaiian issues. In the past, she has been a supporter of Hawaiian Issues.

So what priority goes over the understanding of these issues? Is it financial? The fact that we're in economic difficulties and have a budget to cover? Is it something that needs to be addressed legally? Is it something so simple that the rest of us don't see it?

Times, ways and standards change so fast with time; things that were not acceptable several years ago are now the norm and things that were the norm are now no longer acceptable. Does this change how we view cultural programs, cultural means and how we conduct ourselves?

I'm still trying to understand how the selling of ceded lands will benefit Hawaiians.

This after the US Supreme Court ruled that the 1993 Apology cannot be used in determining the case, and the case now goes back to the Hawaii State Supreme Court.

What Happens Now?

This will be brought up again, and the arguments will come up. If you watched the coverage from Washington; our Attorney General Mark Bennett and OHA Chair Haunani Apoliona are very conciliatory with each other but civil. They want to win, but they shake hands after arguments are heard. This makes me smile to know that we can agree to disagree, shake hands after and still get along, for we ALL have to exist in this island home that we live in.

But I'm still of the opinion, and have not heard anything otherwise to change my feelings; that ceded lands should not be sold until unrelinquished claims are settled and that the lands should benefit those of Hawaiian ancestry.