What is the Hawaiian recognition bill?
The Hawaiian recognition bill reaffirms the political and legal status of Native Hawaiians as the indigenous people of Hawai’i. The bill extends a process of U.S. federal recognition of a reorganized Native Hawaiian representative governing entity to Native Hawaiians, similar to the U.S. recognition that already exists for American Indians and Alaska Natives. S. 310/H.R. 505 would provide clarity to the status of Native Hawaiians under federal law. This moves the U.S. toward fairness in its policies toward the three groups of indigenous, native people in the United States – American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. Under the U.S. Constitution and Federal law, America’s indigenous, native people are recognized as groups that are not defined by reference to race or ethnicity, but by the fact that their ancestors exercised sovereignty over the lands and areas that subsequently became part of the United States. It is the pre-existing sovereignty of America’s indigenous, native
