The march and rally

Happy Aloha Monday and Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Don't forget that each Monday we have our live-streaming webcast that starts at 5:30pm Hawaii Standard Time at stopsellingcededlands.com

The march this past Saturday was awesome! Thousands of people were in the streets and some tourists eventually realized that the what was happening on Kalakaua Avenue was not a "parade" but rather a march.

As can be expected, the two Honolulu dailies published articles on the march.

The Honolulu Advertiser article is titled, "Hawaiian rights activists take land case public in Waikiki march." The Advertiser also has a short video clip of the event.



Supporter Edward Hu, was quoted in the Advertiser,
"I think the issue is pretty simple," said Hu, who is not Hawaiian. "If there's property or land whose ownership is in question, the issue ought to be resolved before that property is sold. You don't even have to believe that the claims are valid, except that the Hawai'i Supreme Court has said that we need to resolve those claims before they can be sold. I don't see why Lingle has to appeal this. The highest court in her state has spoken."

Edward Hu is a Kupu‘āina Coalition member and helped out on Saturday with the organization's Makawalu Initiative. The initiative is an attempt to convey the voices of the people to their elected politicians at the state capitol and letting them know (through postcards) that the people want them to act to protect the "ceded" lands.


(image from Honolulu Star-Bulletin)

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin has its own article titled, "Hawaiian march targets lands case at high court." The article reports however, "Lingle noted that it was Gov. John Waihee, a native Hawaiian, who wanted to sell the former monarchy lands as part of an affordable housing development. That proposed sale led to the lawsuit that is now before the U.S. Supreme Court."

This statement was rather disappointing to read because it's a "political" argument and not a legal argument. It is important to realize that the factual background provided in the 1993 Apology Resolution passed by Congress did not exist when Governor Waihe`e wanted the "ceded" lands for affordable housing. Most importantly though, Governor Waihe`e never challenged Native Hawaiian claims to the ceded lands. Governor Lingle however, argues that Native Hawaiians do not have a "legal" claim. We held an event at the UH law school (on 1/7/09) where Governor Waihe`e spoke about this issue and the latter point. We have video footage of Governor Waihe`e's statements that can be watched below.