More than 100 years after the Unites States government and American sugar cane growers expropriated the tropical islands of Hawaii, native Hawaiians are still struggling for recognition and control over their ancestral lands.
Mililani Trask, a leader in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, spoke Tuesday to an enthusiastic crowd in the Cesar Chavez Student Center as part of an Associated Students-sponsored speaking tour at SF State and CSU Hayward.
Trask is the kia 'aina, or governor, of Ka Lahui HawaiÕi, a group fighting for Hawaiian sovereignty and self-determination. With 21,000 members, Ka Lahui is among the largest of HawaiiÕs pro-sovereignty groups.
HawaiiÕs monarchy, which was recognized by other nations, was overthrown in a 1893 coup by American businessmen supported by US troops, according to Trask. Queen Lili'uokalani commanded the natives not to resist to avoid bloodshed.
The 43-year-old lawyer spoke about the history of Hawaii and the sovereignty movement and the struggle of the Hawaiian people. Trask said she wants to promote awareness and understanding of the civil rights violations in Hawaii and the environmental crisis in the islands, which lead Ka Lahui to include its own people on the endangered species list.
Ka Lahui was formed in 1987 and wants to enable Hawaiians to be self-governing, said Trask. The group also wants to gain control of the more than 1.5 million acres of native lands held in trust by the state government since Hawaii was accepted for statehood in 1959. The land is controlled by two boards of directors. Its members are appointed by the state governor without input by native Hawaiians.
"We formed our own nation because we could no longer wait for the enlightened justice of America," said Trask, who was elected governor of Ka Lahui in 1991.
Sovereign options for Hawaii fall into three categories: gaining total independence from the United States; retaining statehood and receiving compensation for native Hawaiians; or building a nation within a nation, as have Native-American groups. Ka Lahui advocates the nation within a nation goal, and is committed to peace and disarmament in achieving its goals, Trask said.
"America is the most violent nation in the history of the world," she said. "We will not get down into the gutter of violence."
The federal government does not recognize Hawaiians as Native Americans, instead classifying them as an ethnic minority group. Hawaiians became wards of the state when it was accepted into the union in 1959.
Since they are wards of the state, Hawaiians can't sue the state, said Trask. She tried to file suit against the state for breach of trust after completing law school at the University of Santa Clara but the judge ordered her out of his courtroom, she said. In 1993 President Clinton signed Public Law 103-150, which apologized to native Hawaiians "for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii ... with the participation of agents and citizens of the United States, and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination."
Trask said the congressional apology opened the way for Hawaiian sovereignty because the US acknowledged that Hawaiians had never ceded their lands.
Trask's sister, Haunani-Kay Trask, a professor of Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has also been vocal in the struggle for sovereignty, Trask said.
Trask is also the vice-chair of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, an organization which provides an opportunity for unrepresented groups to speak to the United Nations. The UNPO was created after the Dalai Lama tried to access the UN system but couldnÕt since the UN recognized China but not Tibet, according to Trask. "The UNPO is making it their business so the international arena is not dominated by the UN," she said.
Trask is also part of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace, an international activist group founded by Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu. Trask represented the group at the 1993 World Conference of Human Rights in Vienna in 1993 and the 1994 United Nations Population Control conference in Cairo.
While Trask praised SF State's ethnic studies department, she criticized the lack of diversity in education in American universities.
ŌNo one here is an authority on Hawaiian issues, which is an unrecognized movement,Ķ said AS President Cristina Lopez. "That's why we brought her here."
International Relations Professor Dwight Simpson said he went to the presentation to learn more about the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.
"She covered a lot of ground about relations of indigenous peoples around the world with colonial powers," Simpson said.
The Associated Students of Hayward and SF State shared the cost of bringing Trask to the Bay Area after a Hayward board of directors member heard her speak in Hawaii, according to Sharon Derego, AS administrative assistant in Hayward.
"She has made enormous contributions to women of color," said Lopez. "We wanted to show her the respect of recognizing that and bringing her here."
Before Trask spoke, a local band called Mo ÔOpuna, which means grandchildren, played several songs in the traditional Hawaiian slack key guitar style. Speakers from SF State student organizations La Raza, the General Union of Palestinian Students, and the Student Kouncil of Intertribal Nations welcomed Trask and presented her with flowers and gifts.