Hawaiʻi Sovereignty Coordinating Committee

Hawaiʻi Sovereignty Coordinating Committee
Name	Hawaiʻi Sovereignty Coordinating Committee
Formation	1990s
Headquarters	Honolulu, Oʻahu
Region served	Hawaiʻi
Leader title	Coordinators

Hawaiʻi Sovereignty Coordinating Committee

The Hawaiʻi Sovereignty Coordinating Committee emerged as a coalition of Native Hawaiian activists, community leaders, cultural practitioners, and legal advocates responding to the contested legacy of the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and subsequent Territory of Hawaii and State of Hawaii transitions. The committee operates within networks that include tribal organizations, nonprofit groups, academic institutions, and political offices across Oʻahu, Maui County, Hawaiʻi (island), Kauaʻi County, and national venues in Washington, D.C., engaging with treaty histories, land claims, and federal recognition processes associated with the Apology Resolution and cases related to United States v. ʻKaʻōhu-era law.

History

The committee traces roots to 1990s convenings following the passage of the Apology Resolution in 1993, drawing participants from Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna O Hawaiʻi Nei, Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, and activist networks formed after events like the founding of the Hoʻokena Resistance and occupations such as the Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu actions. Early membership included descendants of monarchs associated with the Kingdom of Hawai‘i lineage claims, scholars from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Kamehameha Schools, and veterans of protests at sites including Mauna Kea and Kahoʻolawe; the committee coordinated responses to litigation such as disputes invoking the Treaty of Paris (1898) and legislative measures debated in the United States Congress. Over time the committee built linkages with litigators experienced in cases like Liliuokalani v. United States-era arguments and collaborated with cultural councils formed after the Hawaiian Renaissance.

Mission and Objectives

The committee’s stated aims encompass advancing rights articulated by descendants tied to the House of Kamehameha and customary stewardship across ʻāina, coordinating strategies aligned with principles in documents like the Apology Resolution and principles cited in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Objectives include coordination among ʻohana and lāhui groups, preservation of wahi kūpuna referenced in inventories curated by the Bishop Museum and archives at the Hawaiian Historical Society, support for claims in venues such as the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and the United States Congress, and promotion of cultural reclamation efforts consistent with initiatives by Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees and educational reforms advocated by Kamehameha Schools and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Organizational Structure

The committee functions as a loose coalition with rotating coordinators, liaison roles to organizations like Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, Nation of Hawaiʻi, Hoʻokahua, and legal advisory partnerships with firms and advocates who have argued cases before the Hawaiʻi State Supreme Court and federal courts in Honolulu. Membership includes representatives from community-based entities such as Nā Hula, Polynesian Voyaging Society, Hawaiian Civic Club, and cultural institutions including Iolani Palace and the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. The structure emphasizes consensus decision-making influenced by customary leadership models from aliʻi lines associated with genealogies documented in works housed at Hamilton Library and consulted by researchers at Hawaiʻi Pacific University and the William S. Richardson School of Law.

Activities and Campaigns

The committee has coordinated campaigns on land stewardship and protection of sacred sites, supporting actions at Mauna Kea, engagements around Kahoʻolawe remediation, and opposition to development projects affecting sites like Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site and Honouliuli National Historic Site. It has organized public education events in partnership with Hawaiʻi State Archives, conferences drawing scholars from Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of British Columbia, and cultural revitalization projects involving ʻukulele, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi immersion initiatives with Hoʻoulu ʻŌlelo programs, and voyaging initiatives through the Hōkūleʻa and Polynesian Voyaging Society. The committee also supported testimony to bodies including the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and coordinated with environmental groups active in campaigns like those by Sierra Club affiliates in Hawaiʻi and climate coalitions addressing concerns raised by Pacific Islands Forum delegates.

Legal and Political Advocacy

Legal strategies coordinated by the committee have engaged attorneys experienced in matters before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, filings influenced by precedents from cases involving United States v. Wong Kim Ark-adjacent arguments, and submissions that reference the Apology Resolution as a legislative backdrop. The committee has offered coordinated testimony to the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, submitted amicus briefs in disputes over the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, and worked with advocates presenting claims related to return of crown lands formerly under entities like the Department of the Interior. It has liaised with representatives to pursue federal recognition dialogues modeled on processes used by tribes recognized following hearings in Bureau of Indian Affairs adjudications, while engaging with policy offices in Washington, D.C. to address statutes and administrative rules affecting Native Hawaiian entitlements.

Relationships with Other Movements and Organizations

The committee maintains alliances with Indigenous networks including representatives from Cook Islands, Samoa, Tahiti (Society Islands), Aotearoa (New Zealand) delegations, and cross-movement solidarity with groups such as Black Lives Matter, environmental networks like 350.org, and human rights NGOs that have collaborated on petitions to the United Nations and campaign strategies used by movements connected to the American Indian Movement. It works alongside academic centers such as the Center for Pacific Islands Studies and civil society organizations like the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu and engages with municipal bodies including the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and City and County of Honolulu offices when addressing land-use and cultural resource management concerns.

Category:Native Hawaiian activism Category:Indigenous rights organizations in Hawaiʻi