Geography:
The Hawaiian archipelago is situated in the north Eastern corner of the Pacific Basin. The state of Hawaii includes the islands of Nihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe. Maui and Hawaii.

People:
Population:

The total population is about 1,2 million people, of which less than 20% claim Hawaiian ancestry, while the majority is of Asian or non-Hawaiian Pacific ancestry.

History:

The indigenous Hawaiians are descendants of Polynesians who arrived at the islands in 200 A.D. Throughout the years the people of Hawai maintained a distinct culture shared amongst the islands of Nihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui, and Hawaii. Following the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1778, numerous missionaries and whalers settled in the region and eventually influenced the indigenous Hawaiians (the Kanaka Maoli).

Thus, the traditional state religion of the chiefs, the institutions of mana (spiritual power) and the kapu system (privileges according to mana) ended and a new structure, similar to the British monarchy, was installed. From the middle of the 19th century, pressure from England, France and the U.S. saw to it that laws were changed to facilitate the ownership of land. Foreigners acquired most of the land in just one generation and began cultivating sugar, controlling the government in order to maintain control over their wealth.
1893 The US forcibly overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii.

1900 Hawaii annexed as a territory.

1946 Hawaii was listed as a non-self-governing territory under United Nation.

1991 The Hawaii Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights issued a report documenting 73 years of civil rights violations against Hawaiians.

1993 The US Congress passed Pub Law, he Apology Bill? officially apologising to the Hawaiian People for the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom in 1893. Ka Lahui Hawaii became a member of the UNPO.

1996 The representatives of the US State Department and Departments of Justice and Interior came to Hawaii for a briefing on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but no progress was made towards the implementation of a program for self-determination for Kanako Maoli.

The Urban Institute of Washington D.C. reported that the Hawaiians have the worst housing conditions in the US. The UNPO mission to Hawaii reviewed the status and conditions of Native Hawaiians and inquired into the state initiative for a plebiscite.

2000 The US Census recognized Native Hawaiians in their survey of the US population in 1893, the U.S. overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii and in 1900 annexed it as a territory. In the same year, President Grover Cleveland reported fully and accurately on the illegal acts of the conspirators, described such acts as an "act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without authority of Congress. From 1946-1959, Hawai was listed as a non-self- governing territory under the United Nations. Statehood was imposed in 1959.

Kanaka Maoli are excluded from the U.S. policy by which American Indian and Alaskan Native governments are recognized and allowed legal and economic jurisdiction over their lands and natural resources.

In 1991, the Hawai Advisory committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report documenting 73 years of civil rights violations against Hawaiians. In 1993, the U.S. Congress passed Pub. Law 103-150, also known as the pology Bill,officially apologizing to the Hawaiian People for the illegal overthrow of their Kingdom in 1893. Most importantly, the Law acknowledged the right of the Kanaka Maoli people to self-determination, thus paving the way for a process of reconciliation.

From 1993-1996, the State of Hawaii passed a series of laws creating an appointed body to oversee a process for the creation of a Hawaiian Nation.

In June 1996, the state of Hawaii organized a Native Hawaiian Vote in order to obtain a mandate for a process towards some form of native Hawaiian sovereignty. The state initiative was presented as an act of self-determination. Nevertheless, questions about its validity under international law and the confusion as to what exactly was the voting issue led many native organizations to boycott the vote.

The result of the vote, held in June 1996, revealed that over 60% of eligible Hawaiians boycotted the vote and only 27% supported the state initiative. An UNPO mission went to Hawaii in 1996 to examine the political and economic status of the Kanaka Maoli and to investigate the state plebiscite.

Current events:

A century after the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government, the U.S. still has not granted Hawaiians the right to self-determintation. During this time span, over 1.5 million acres of hawaian lands and resources, which were integral to the sustenance of hawaian life and culture, were taken by the United States after the annexation.

In 1997 the State Legislature reinitiated a proposed law seeking to abolish Hawaiian traditional rights to land and to access private land for gathering, fishing and other customary uses. These rights had been affirmed in a court ruling in 1995.

Although most of these lands are held "in trust" for native Hawaians the U.S. government controls these lands and continues to breach this trust through desecration and illegal use.

As a result of the displacement from our lands and the devastation of our culture, native Hawaians today are plagued by social, economic and health related problems.The health problems include a high risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and other diet-related diseases. Hawaiians continue to be severally impoverished, unemployed and overpopulated in the penal populations of the state.


Organizations:
Created in 1987, after a Constitutional Convention, Ka Lahui Hawaii is committed to regaining their native lands and reestablishing Hawaiians as a self- governing people. It is based on a democratic constitution, created by native Hawaiians, that identifies four branches of government: the Executive, the Legislative, the Judiciary, and the Ali'i Nui. Ka Lahui Hawaii seeks inclusion for the Hawaiian people in the existing U.S. federal policy which affords all Native Americans the right to be self-governing and the right to access federal courts for judicial review. Ka Lahui Hawaii became an UNPO Member in 1993.

Statistics: