Bill Text: HI HR110 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 110 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument; Customary Exchange

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-15 - (H) Referred to WLO, HAW, referral sheet 47 [HR110 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-HR110-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	110
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

URGING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO AMEND PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION 8031, as amended by proclamation 8112, TO include CUSTOMARY EXCHANGE AS A PERMITTED ACTIVITY within THE PAPAHANAUMOKUAKEA MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT.

WHEREAS, in June 2006, the President of the United States signed Presidential Proclamation 8031, establishing the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument; and

WHEREAS, Proclamation 8031 authorizes the issuance of permits for Native Hawaiian practices; and

WHEREAS, Presidential Proclamation 8112, signed by the President of the United States in 2007, amended Proclamation 8031, renaming the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument as the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument and requiring that any living monument resource harvested from the monument be consumed or utilized in the monument; and

WHEREAS, the Native Hawaiian practice permits are intended to benefit the resources of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the Native Hawaiian community; and

WHEREAS, the Native Hawaiian practice permits strictly limit harvest, consumption, and utilization of marine resources within the monument area, denying traditional practitioners the opportunity to participate in customary exchange; and

WHEREAS, the Native Hawaiian practice permits severely limit traditional access and benefits from these lands to the Native Hawaiian community, demonstrating contempt for traditional cultural practices, ignoring the beneficial purposes of the ceded lands, and undermining the intent of the creation of the ceded lands trust; and

WHEREAS, the Native Hawaiian practices permit process outlined in the Proclamation, which assigns the values of "appropriate" and "necessary" to the determination of pono practices, is patronizing and condescending to Native Hawaiian cultural practices and lacks understanding of cultural practices in general; and

WHEREAS, the issuance of the Native Hawaiian practice permits is subject to discriminatory and arbitrary criteria; and

WHEREAS, subsequent marine national monuments established in the United States Pacific islands allow for fishing by the indigenous people; and

WHEREAS, customary exchange is a traditional practice that is not a commercial or recreational activity and, in the case of fishing, does not result in fish or fish products entering commerce; and

WHEREAS, customary exchange is a result of non-commercial fishing activity in which the gifting of fish and other marine resources to related and unrelated persons, 'ohana and extended 'ohana, strengthens cultural and social bonds in Pacific island communities; and

WHEREAS, customary exchange is an important traditional practice that protects and maintains the social fabric and cultural continuity of Pacific island communities; and

WHEREAS, customary exchange contributes to social cohesion and community resilience in Pacific island communities; and

WHEREAS, customary use and customary trade are recognized as legitimate subsistence practices in Alaska fisheries; and

WHEREAS, fishing shrines at Nihoa and Mokumanamana (Necker island), as well as fishing implements and luhe'e, indicate that fishing was traditionally practiced in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands; and

WHEREAS, numerous oli, mele, and stories indicate that fishing and other extractive activities occurred in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands; and

WHEREAS, submerged lands are ceded lands and are held in trust for the benefit of Native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, these lands in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were taken without proper compensation to, or consultation with, the Native Hawaiian community and the State Legislature, which has oversight over the disposition of ceded lands; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court, in Kalipi v. Hawaiian Trust Co., Pele Defense Fund v. Paty, and Public Access Shoreline Hawaii v. Hawaii County Planning Commission, ruled that it is the responsibility of state agencies to protect Hawaiian customary and traditional rights; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, that the President of the United States is urged to amend Presidential Proclamation 8031, as amended by Presidential Proclamation 8112, to include customary exchange as a permitted activity within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Executive Director of the White House Executive Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Chairperson of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, Regional Administrator of the Pacific Islands Region of the National Marine Fisheries Services, and the Co-Trustees of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.