The 50th state is on the verge of being governed quite differently, now that a pro-sovereignty Hawaiian is in the White House:
The Obama administration came through on its promise to support Native Hawaiian self-governance Thursday with a powerful statement to a Senate panel, backing a bill that would give Native Hawaiians the same rights as Native Americans and Alaskans.
The full-throated endorsement came from Sam Hirsch, deputy associate attorney general, to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
The panel was weighing 9-year-old legislation, authored by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, that would a set up a process for Native Hawaiian autonomy within the state and federal systems. […]
"The general history of the Native Hawaiian people bears significant similarities to the history of Indian tribes," he said. "The United States has recognized the Kingdom of Hawaii as a sovereign power and dealt with it as such through much of the 19th century." […]
"The legislation before us today provides parity," [Sen. Akaka] said. "It enables Hawaii's indigenous people to establish a government-to-government relationship with the United States. The process is consistent with Constitution, federal and state law."
Eventually, it could give Native Hawaiians greater control over their highly valuable ancestral lands.
The Akaka legislation would develop a process for reorganizing a Native Hawaiian government.
Read the Akaka bill here; Wikipedia page here. Check out this Honolulu Advertiser bit about why for many Hawaiians statehood is a "crime." And read my tentative case from four years ago for putting full-on Hawaiian secession up for a vote.
