The Akaka bill: A case for a Hawaiian government

From U.S. Senate Bill 2899

Quickly introduced in the wake of the Rice vs. Cayetano decision, the measure was passed by the House, but died in the Senate for lack of action. Sen. Daniel Akaka has pledged to reintroduce it in the next session.

"The Native Hawaiian people wish to preserve, develop, and transmit to future Native Hawaiian generations their ancestral lands and Native Hawaiian political and cultural identity in accordance with their traditions, beliefs, customs and practices, language and social and political institutions, and to achieve greater self-determination over their own affairs; this act provides for a process within the framework of Federal law for the Native Hawaiian people to exercise their inherent rights as a distinct aboriginal, indigenous, native community to reorganize a Native Hawaiian government for the purpose of giving expression to their rights as native people to self-determination and self-governance."