ABSTRACT
Genealogy and connection with ancestral land is at the core of Native Hawaiian national identity. Conditions of Native Hawaiians reflect a disparity in the standard of living in comparison with Caucasians, Japanese, and Chinese in Hawaiʻi. These statistics reflect the individual and collective pain, bitterness and trauma of a people whose sovereignty has been and remains suppressed. Nevertheless, Native Hawaiians who first established sovereignty over the Hawaiian Islands continue to have the right of self-governance and to perpetuate the unique culture and language. Since the 1970’s, Native Hawaiians have exercised various forms of sovereignty and co-management of ancestral and national lands and actively engaged in perpetuation of Hawaiian culture, language and spiritual beliefs and practices.
