A rule in the making would create the basis for a relationship between the federal government and a Native Hawaiian governing body.
AUGUST 18, 2015·By THE CIVIL BEAT EDITORIAL BOARD

The generations-old push to re-establish U.S. recognition of the sovereignty and government of the Native Hawaiian people reached a milestone last week when the Department of the Interior announced it will soon publish a draft rule that would allow Native Hawaiians to leverage that recognition.

As Interior spokeswoman Jessica Kershaw told Civil Beat’s Chad Blair last week, Interior “will propose a rule that establishes an administrative procedure that the secretary would use if the Native Hawaiian community forms a unified government that seeks a formal government-to-government relationship with the United States.”

The rule language hasn’t yet been made public, but its title has: “Procedures for Reestablishing a Government-to-Government Relationship With the Native Hawaiian Community.”

----

This news comes on the heels of notices sent by the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission earlier this month to thousands of voters certified to take part in elections this fall for delegates to a Native Hawaiian constitutional convention for self-governance. The filing deadline to run as a potential delegate for the convention is a month away, with election results to be released Dec. 1. Convention dates haven’t been set.

http://www.civilbeat.com/2015/08/u-s-recognition-of-native-hawaiians-dont-waste-the-opportunity/