A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

``SEC. 9202. FINDINGS.

``(1) Native Hawaiians are a distinct and unique indigenous people with a historical continuity to the original inhabitants of the Hawaiian archipelago, whose society was organized as a nation and internationally recognized as such by the United States, Britain, France, and Japan, as evidenced by treaties governing friendship, commerce, and navigation.

``(2) At the time of the arrival of the first non-indigenous people in Hawai`i in 1778, the Native Hawaiian people lived in a highly organized, self-sufficient subsistence social system based on a communal land tenure system with a sophisticated language, culture, and religion.

``(3) A unified monarchial government of the Hawaiian Islands was established in 1810 under Kamehameha I, the first King of Hawai`i.

``(4) From 1826 until 1893, the United States recognized the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Hawai`i, which was established in 1810 under Kamehameha I, extended full and complete diplomatic recognition to the Kingdom of Hawai`i, and entered into treaties and conventions with the Kingdom of Hawai`i to govern friendship, commerce and navigation in 1826, 1842, 1849, 1875, and 1887.

``(5) In 1893, the sovereign, independent, internationally recognized, and indigenous government of Hawai`i, the Kingdom of Hawai`i, was overthrown by a small group of non-Hawaiians, including United States citizens, who were assisted in their efforts by the United States Minister, a United States naval representative, and armed naval forces of the United States. Because of the participation of United States agents and citizens in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai`i, the Congress, on behalf of the people of the United States, apologized to Native Hawaiians for the overthrow and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination through Public Law 103?09150 (107 Stat. 1510).

``(6) In 1898, the joint resolution entitled `A Joint Resolution to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States', approved July 7, 1898 (30 Stat. 750), ceded absolute title of all lands held by the Republic of Hawai`i, including the government and crown lands of the former Kingdom of Hawai`i, to the United States, but mandated that revenue generated from these lands be used `solely for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands for educational and other public purposes'.

``(7) By 1919, the Native Hawaiian population had declined from an estimated 1,000,000 in 1778 to an alarming 22,600, and in recognition of this severe decline, the Congress in 1921 enacted the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, which designated approximately 200,000 acres of ceded public lands for homesteading by Native Hawaiians.

``(8) Through the enactment of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, the Congress affirmed the special relationship between the United States and the Native Hawaiians, as expressed by then Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane, who was quoted in the committee report for the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as saying: `One thing that impressed me . . . was the fact that the natives of the island who are our wards, I should say, and for whom in a sense we are trustees, are falling off rapidly in numbers and many of them are in poverty.'.

``(9) In 1938, the United States Congress again acknowledged the unique status of the Hawaiian people by including in the Act of June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 781 et seq.), a provision to lease lands within the National Parks extension to Native Hawaiians and to permit fishing in the area `only by native Hawaiian residents of said area or of adjacent villages and by visitors under their guidance.'.

``(10) Under the Act entitled `An Act to provide for the admission of the State of Hawai`i into the Union' approved March 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 4), the United States transferred responsibility for the administration of the Hawaiian Home Lands to the State of Hawai`i but reaffirmed the trust relationship which existed between the United States and the Hawaiian people by retaining the exclusive power to enforce the trust, including the power to approve land exchanges and legislative amendments affecting the rights of beneficiaries under such Act.

``(11) In 1959, under the Act entitled `An Act to provide for the admission of the State of Hawai`i into the Union', approved March 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 4), the United States ceded to the State of Hawai`i title to the public lands formerly held by the United States, but mandated that such lands be held by the State `in public trust' and reaffirmed the special relationship which existed between the United States and the Hawaiian people by retaining the legal responsibility to enforce the public trust responsibility of the State of Hawai`i for the betterment of the conditions of Native Hawaiians, as defined in section 201(a) of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920.

``(12) The United States assumed special responsibilities for Native Hawaiian lands and resources at the time of the annexation of the Territory in 1898, upon adoption of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, and upon admission of the State of Hawai`i into the Union in 1959, and has retained certain of those responsibilities.

``(13) In recognition of the special relationship which exists between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people, the Congress has extended to Native Hawaiians the same rights and privileges accorded to American Indian, Alaska Native, Eskimo, and Aleut communities under the Native American Programs Act of 1974, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the National Museum of the American Indian Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Native American Languages Act.

``(14) In recognition of the special relationship which exists between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people, the Congress has enacted numerous special provisions of law for the benefit of Native Hawaiians in the areas of health, education, labor, and housing.

``(15) In 1981, the Senate instructed the Office of Education to submit to the Congress a comprehensive report on Native Hawaiian education. The report, entitled the `Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment Project', was released in 1983 and documented that Native Hawaiians scored below parity with national norms on standardized achievement tests, were disproportionately represented in many negative social and physical statistics, indicative of special educational needs, and had educational needs which were related to their unique cultural situation, such as different learning styles and low self-image.

``(16) In recognition of the educational needs of Native Hawaiians, in 1988, the Congress enacted title IV of the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988 to authorize and develop supplemental educational programs to benefit Native Hawaiians.

``(17) In 1993, the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate released a ten-year update of the Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment Project, which found that despite the successes of the programs established under title IV of the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988, many of the same educational needs still exist for Native Hawaiians. For example--

``(A) educational risk factors continue to start even before birth for many Native Hawaiian children, including--

``(i) late or no prenatal care;

``(ii) half of Native Hawaiian women who give birth are unmarried; and

``(iii) high rates of births to teenage parents;

``(B) Native Hawaiian students continue to begin their school experience lagging behind other students in terms of readiness factors such as vocabulary test scores;

``(C) Native Hawaiian students continue to score below national norms on standardized education achievement tests at all grade levels;

``(D) both public and private schools continue to show a pattern of lower percentages of Native Hawaiian students in the uppermost achievement levels and in gifted and talented programs;

``(E) Native Hawaiian students continue to be overrepresented among students qualifying for special education programs provided to students with learning disabilities, mild mental retardation, emotional impairment, and other such disabilities;

``(F) Native Hawaiians continue to be underrepresented in institutions of higher education and among adults who have completed four or more years of college;

``(G) Native Hawaiians continue to be disproportionately represented in many negative social and physical statistics, indicative of special educational needs, for example--

``(i) Native Hawaiian students are more likely to be retained in grade level and to be excessively absent in secondary school;

``(ii) Native Hawaiian students are the highest users of drugs and alcohol in the State of Hawai`i; and

``(iii) Native Hawaiian children continue to be disproportionately victimized by child abuse and neglect; and

``(H) Native Hawaiians now comprise over 23 percent of the students served by the State of Hawai`i Department of Education and there are and will continue to be geographically rural, isolated areas with a high Native Hawaiian population density.

``(18) The findings described in paragraphs (1) through (17) are contrary to the high rate of literacy and integration of traditional culture and Western education achieved by Native Hawaiians through a Hawaiian language-based public school system established in 1840 by Kamehameha III.

``(19) After the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai`i in 1893, Hawaiian medium schools were banned. After annexation, throughout the territorial and statehood period, and until 1986, use of Hawaiian as a medium of education in public schools was declared unlawful, thereby causing incalculable harm to a culture that placed a very high value on the power of language, as exemplified in the traditional saying: `I ka `o?AE8lelo no ke ola; I ka `o?AE8lelo no ka make. In the language rests life; In the language rests death.'.

``(20) Despite the consequences of over 100 years of nonindigenous influence, the Native Hawaiian people are determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their ancestral territory, and their cultural identity in accordance with their own spiritual and traditional beliefs, customs, practices, language, and social institutions.

``(21) The State of Hawai`i, in the constitution and statutes of the State of Hawai`i--

``(A) reaffirms and protects the unique right of the Native Hawaiian people to practice and perpetuate their culture and religious customs, beliefs, practices, and language; and

``(B) recognizes the traditional language of the Native Hawaiian people as an official language of the State of Hawai`i, which may be used as the language of instruction for all subjects and grades in the public school system.

PART B--NATIVE HAWAIIANS

SEC. 9203. PURPOSE.