The Political Status of the Native Hawaiian People
The Political Status of the Native Hawaiian People Jon M. Van Dyke' More than 200,000 people now living in Hawai'i are descendants of the Polynesian people,' who had a thriving isolated culture in the Ha- waiian Islands until westerners started arriving at the end of the eight- eenth century. The Native Hawaiians3 "lived in a highly organized, self- sufficient, subsistent social system based on communal land tenure with a sophisticated language, culture, and religion., 4 Their self-sustaining economy was based on agriculture, fishing, and a rich artistic life in which they created colorful feathered capes, substantial temples, carved images, formidable voyaging canoes, tools for fishing and hunting, surf boards, weapons of war, and dramatic and whimsical dances." The newcomers t Professor of Law, William S.Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. B.A. cum laude, Yale University, 1964; J.D. cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1967. Professor Van Dyke has served as a resource person and consultant for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and other Native Hawaiian organizations seeking self-determination and control over their resources. The author would like to express his thanks to the past and present OHA Trus- tees for their encouragement and advice over the years, to Sherry P. Broder, Carl C. Chris- tensen, and Mark A. Levin for useful comments on earlier drafts of this Article, to Steven How- ard and Heather Stanton for their research assistance, and to Phil Spector for his ideas and assistance in preparing this Article for publication. The views expressed in this article are, how- ever, the author's own.
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