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<h2><b>Friday, May 16,
2008</b></h2><font size=3>
<a href="http://freehawaii.blogspot.com/" eudora="autourl">
http://freehawaii.blogspot.com/<br><br>
</a><a name="3112338469713677914"></a>HAWAIIAN KINGDOM GOVERNMENT
RECOGNIZED BY ITALY<br>
<br>
Italy gave recognition to the Hawaiian Kingdom Government which is
conducting business each weekday on `Iolani Palace grounds.<br><br>
A letter addressed to Hawai`i Kingdom Government and stamped “Italian
Consulate” reads -<br><br>
“This office on behalf of the Italian Government in Hawai`i acknowledges
that there was a prior treaty that was not between the United States nor
the State of Hawai`i but between the Hawaiian Kingdom and the Italian
government.<br><br>
“We acknowledge and recognize that the Hawaiian Kingdom exists and is
operating at 210 `Iolani Avenue in Honolulu, Hawai`i 96783.<br><br>
We appreciate your visits to our office and appreciate the relationship
that Italy has with the Hawaiian Kingdom and its currently operating
government.”<br><br>
Posted by The Koani Foundation at
<a href="http://freehawaii.blogspot.com/2008/05/hawaiian-kingdom-government-recognized.html">
12:14 AM</a>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=5685265&postID=3112338469713677914">
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Hawaiian Kingdom Government Iolani Palace Italy Free Hawaii</a> <br><br>
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<br>
Native Hawaiian group: We're staying<br>
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-15-hawaii_N.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-15-hawaii_N.htm<br><br>
</a>By Dan Nakaso, USA TODAY<br>
HONOLULU Native Hawaiians claiming to be the "seat of government
for the Hawaiian Kingdom" vow to indefinitely occupy the grounds of
historic Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu, as state officials consider
possible penalties against them.<br><br>
About 70 members of the organization known as the Hawaiian Kingdom
Government chained the gates of the palace April 30 and barred
non-Hawaiians from the palace grounds, a popular tourist
attraction.<br><br>
Though the palace quickly was reopened to the public, Hawaiian Kingdom
Government members show no signs of leaving.<br><br>
Mahealani Kahau, who calls herself head of state of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Government, said the news media have misrepresented the organization as a
Hawaiian "sovereignty group" or even
"protesters."<br><br>
"We're not protesting against anything," Kahau said.
"We're not a sovereignty group. We are the seat of government for
the Hawaiian Kingdom. We are here assuming and resuming the Hawaiian seat
of government, and we are proceeding as the seat of
government."<br><br>
After the Hawaiian Kingdom Government unlocked the gates of the palace
grounds, state officials issued Kahau a permit to occupy the palace lawn
during the day, and the public is once again able to visit the palace.
The application for the permit was signed by "Her Royal Majesty,
Mahealani."<br><br>
Laura H. Thielen, the head of Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural
Resources, which has jurisdiction over the palace grounds, said attorneys
are considering legal action against the Hawaiian Kingdom Government for
chaining the palace gates and refusing access to non-Hawaiians.<br><br>
Native Hawaiian groups have occupied Hawaiian beaches and other public
places in the past in protest over perceived injustices to Hawaiian
people, but rarely in such a high-profile location.<br><br>
After Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1898, Hawaiians were barred from
speaking Hawaiian in school and condemned for dancing hula and following
other cultural practices, said Jon Van Dyke, a law professor at the
University of Hawaii who is a consultant to Hawaii's Office of Hawaiian
Affairs.<br><br>
Though Hawaiian culture now thrives in the school system "Hawaiian
studies" is a requirement for fourth-graders in public and some
private schools government-sanctioned entitlements continue to be slow
in coming for many Hawaiians, Van Dyke said.<br><br>
Congress issued an apology in 1993 acknowledging that the U.S. government
illegally overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii a century before.<br><br>
Van Dyke said many Hawaiians are growing frustrated as they await passage
of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007, commonly
known here as the Akaka Bill, after its sponsor, Sen. Daniel Akaka,
D-Hawaii.<br><br>
Akaka has proposed similar bills since 2000. The current bill would
establish a process for Native Hawaiians to gain federal recognition,
similar to what more than 500 Native American tribes have on the
mainland, Van Dyke said.<br><br>
The bill, passed by the House of Representatives, will be considered by
the full Senate this year, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.<br><br>
The Hawaiian Kingdom Government, which does not recognize U.S. or
Hawaiian state authority, is one of the lesser-known organizations that
claim to be the legitimate representatives of Native Hawaiians. Others
include the Reinstated Hawaiian Government and the Independent and
Sovereign National State of Hawaii.<br><br>
The Hawaiian Kingdom Government has an office from which its leaders hold
regular hours. According to the organization's website
(<a href="http://www.higovt.org/" eudora="autourl">www.higovt.org</a>),
its goals include quality housing for the Hawaiian people and more
affordable education and health care for residents.<br><br>
Honolulu officials' handling of the Iolani Palace situation has been both
criticized and applauded.<br><br>
H. William Burgess, a Honolulu attorney and member of the Hawaii Advisory
Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, called the actions by
the Hawaiian Kingdom Government "outrageous."<br><br>
"It harms the interest of the people of Hawaii when (government
officials) sit there idly and allow thugs to take over an important
treasure that all of us own," he said.<br><br>
"There is an acknowledged wrong that needs to be resolved," Van
Dyke countered. "Our local officials have always appreciated the
frustration that Native Hawaiians have."<br><br>
Kahau maintains that members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government will
return to the palace grounds each day indefinitely.<br><br>
The permit, she said, "is just to satisfy them," she said,
referring to the local government. "We are obeying the laws of the
Hawaiian Kingdom."<br><br>
<i>Nakaso reports for The Honolulu Advertiser</i>. Contributing: Gordon
Y.K. Pang, <i>The Honolulu Advertiser</i>; Gannett News Service.<br><br>
<br><br>
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