[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 27, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H1178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION REAUTHORIZATION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Hawaii (Mrs. Mink) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask for support of the 
Native Hawaiian Education Reauthorization Act, which I have today 
introduced with my colleague the Honorable Neil Abercrombie.
  The Native Hawaiian Education Act has been in effect since 1988. 
Congress has recognized its special responsibilities to the native, 
indigenous peoples of the United States by creating education programs 
to meet the special needs of American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and 
Native Hawaiians.
  Programs supported with the modest appropriations provided under the 
Native Hawaiian Education Act have helped to improve educational 
opportunities for Native Hawaiian children, youth, and educators. 
Through the establishment of Native Hawaiian Education Councils, the 
Act has given Native Hawaiians a voice in deciding how to meet the 
critical education needs of their community.
  Native Hawaiian students begin their school experience lagging behind 
other students in terms of readiness factors, such as vocabulary 
scores, and they score below national norms on standardized education 
achievement tests at all grade levels. In both public and private 
schools, Native Hawaiian students are over-represented among students 
qualifying for special education programs provided to students with 
learning disabilities. They have the highest rates of drug and alcohol 
use in the State of Hawaii. Native Hawaiian students are under-
represented in institutions of higher education and among adults who 
have completed four or more years of college.
  Why are Native Hawaiian students so disadvantaged? The poor showing 
of Native Hawaiian students is inconsistent with the high rates of 
literacy and integration of traditional culture and Western education 
historically achieved by Native Hawaiians through a Hawaiian language-
based public school system established in 1840 by King Kamehameha III. 
But following the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, by 
citizens and agents of the United States, middle schools were banned. 
After the United States annexed Hawaii, throughout the territorial and 
statehood period of Hawaii, and until 1986, use of the Hawaiian 
language as an instructional medium in education in public schools was 
declared unlawful. This declaration caused incalculable harm to a 
culture that placed a very high value on the power of language, as 
exemplified in the traditional saying:

       I ka `olelo no ke ola; I ka `olelo no ka make
       In the language rests life, In the language rests death.

  Our nation must make amends for the terrible damage that has been 
done to the Native Hawaiian people since the overthrow of the Hawaiian 
monarchy by military force in 1893. From 1826 until 1893, the United 
States had recognized the Kingdom of Hawaii as a sovereign, independent 
nation and accorded her full and complete diplomatic recognition. 
Treaties and trade agreements had been entered into between these two 
nations. In 1893, a powerful group of American businessmen engineered 
the overthrow with the use of U.S. naval forces.
  Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned and over 1.8 million acres of lands 
belonging to the crown, referred to as crown lands or ceded lands, were 
confiscated without compensation or due process.
  A Presidential commission, led by Congressman James Blount declared 
that the takeover was an illegal act by the U.S. government. The U.S. 
Minister of Hawaii, John Stevens, was recalled. President Grover 
Cleveland sent a message to Congress calling the takeover an act of war 
committed by the United States against another sovereign nation and 
called for the restoration of the monarchy. This request was ignored by 
the Congress.
  I say that the takeover was illegal because there was no treaty of 
annexation. There was no referendum of consent by the Native Hawaiian 
people. In recent years, we have learned that in the vaults of the 
National Archives is a 556-page petition dated 1897-1898 protesting the 
annexation of Hawaii by the United States. The petition was signed by 
21,259 Native Hawaiian people; a second petition was signed by more 
than 17,000 people. Historians advise that this number constitutes 
nearly 100 percent of the native population at the time. Their voice 
was totally ignored.
  Since the overthrow of the Kingdom and up until the present, Native 
Hawaiians have suffered from high rates of poverty, poor health status, 
low educational attainment, and high rates of alcohol and drug abuse 
and incarceration. By 1919, the Native Hawaiian population had declined 
from an estimated 1,000,000 in 1778 to 22,600. In recognition of this 
severe decline and the desperate situation of the native people of 
Hawaii, Congress enacted the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which 
returned 200,000 acres of land confiscated by the federal government 
(out of the total of 1.8 million acres stolen) to the Native Hawaiian 
people as an act of contrition.
  Unfortunately, the lands that were returned were in places where no 
one else lived or wanted to live. They were in the most remote areas of 
the islands. Relegated to isolation, without infrastructure, with no 
access to jobs, Native Hawaiians live today in segregated reservations, 
much like Indian tribes. Their current despair and conditions of 
poverty is due to this forced isolation.

  Progress has been made over the years, even with the modest funding 
provided under the Native Hawaiian Education Act. One of the 
outstanding successes of the program is the dramatic increase in the 
number of young people who are fluent in the Native Hawaiian language. 
Once a dying language spoken only in isolated Native Hawaiian 
communities, primarily by elders, the Hawaiian language is now taught 
through a number of immersion programs, beginning in kindergarten and 
continuing through high school. The University of Hawaii at Hilo now 
has a program for a Masters' degree in Native Hawaii Language and 
Literature--the first program in the United States focusing on a Native 
American Language.
  It is important to note that Congress does not extend services to 
Native Hawaiians because of their race, but because of their unique 
status as the indigenous people of a once-sovereign nation with whom 
the United States has a trust relationship. The political status of 
Native Hawaiians is comparable to that of American Indians and Alaskan 
Natives.
  Justice requires that the United States fulfill its trust obligations 
to Native Hawaiians who lost everything at the time of their 
annexation. The $28 million authorized for Native Hawaiian education 
programs in this bill can't begin to make up for the loss of a nation.
  I call upon my colleagues to support the reauthorization of the 
Native Hawaiian Education Act and justice for the Native Hawaiian 
people.

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