Of the Trust Lands. the Longer the Prob
200 THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC. SPRING 1991 of the trust lands. The longer the prob to promote a series of events that lem is framed in terms ofmoney, the would make the sesquicentennial "our harder it becomes to frame it in terms year." The commission promoted the ofland. In typically American fashion, theme of unity and racial harmony money has come more and more to extensively on television and made replace the Hawaiian birthright. grants to community projects that Meanwhile, Hawaiians continue to would enhance the sense ofnational leave Hawai'i, the intended result of unity. dispossession. This was not an easy task in view of The only hopeful sign is public dis the history of colonial despoliation of approval of the agreement by a host of the Maori. For twenty years Maori sovereignty groups. One in particular, activists had targeted the government Ka Lahui Hawai'i, dogged OHA at each sponsored treaty celebrations at of its community presentations, forcing Waitangi, revealing the contradictions the question of land dispossession into between Maori and Pakeha in New open debate. Apart from critical educa Zealand society. In 1971 Nga Tamatoa, tion, however, these forums did not the young warriors, protested at succeed in overturning the settlement. Waitangi, proclaiming Waitangi Day a In the year ahead, Hawaiians will day of mourning for the loss of 63 mil need to consider strategies aimed at the lion acres ofMaori land and calling on US Congress, the Justice and Interior the government to ratify the treaty. departments, and the broader interna The government responded in 1976 by tional human rights community.
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