Opinion ID: 151537
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Challenged Expenditures

Text: Plaintiffs challenge four projects on which the OHA trustees have spent parts of its 20-percent share of the § 5(f) trust's proceeds. 1. The Akaka Bill. OHA used § 5(f) trust money to lobby for and support the proposed Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007, commonly referred to as the Akaka Bill after Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, one of its chief proponents. The Akaka Bill would create a process through which the United States could recognize a governing entity for Hawaii's indigenous people. See Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007, S. 310, 110th Cong. (2007). The governing entity would have the power to establish its own criteria for citizenship. Id. § 7(c)(2)(B)(iii)(I)(aa). Initially, however, it would be governed by an interim governing council, id. § 7(c)(2)(A), to be elected by adult members of the Native Hawaiian community who elect to participate in the reorganization of the Native Hawaiian governing entity and are certified to be Native Hawaiian, id. § 7(c)(1)(A). For the purposes of the Akaka Bill, the term Native Hawaiian includes (essentially) any direct descendant of the indigenous people of Hawaii. Id. § 3(10). This definition is broader than the class of native Hawaiians (like plaintiffs) comprised only of individuals with not less than one-half part indigenous Hawaiian lineage. See HHCA § 201(a). The Akaka Bill would expressly empower both the United States government and the State of Hawaii to negotiate and enter agreements with the Native Hawaiian governing entity regarding the transfer of lands, natural resources, and other assets, and the protection of existing rights related to such lands or resources and the exercise of governmental authority over any transferred lands, natural resources, and other assets, including land use. Akaka Bill § 8(b)(1)(A)-(B). 2. Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC). NHLC identifies itself as a non-profit corporation that specializes in Hawaiian land and Hawaiian rights issues. OHA used § 5(f) trust money to fund a contract with NHLC, under which NHLC agrees to render a range of legal services including [a]ssertion and defense of quiet title actions, protection of water rights, [p]reservation of Native Hawaiian Land Trust entitlements and preservation of traditional practices and culturally significant places. The contract does not restrict NHLC to providing legal services to native Hawaiians. Its recitals explain that OHA has established a program whereby all Hawaiians can receive certain legal services and that the program is intended to better the conditions of all Hawaiians. In addition, the contract defines Hawaiian to include not only native Hawaiians under the HHCA (like plaintiffs) but also any descendant of the aboriginal peoples inhabiting the Hawaiian islands in 1778, without regard to proportional ancestry. 3. Na Pua No'eau Education Program (Na Pua). Na Pua identifies itself as a Hawaiian Culture-based Education Resource Center within the University of Hawaii ... that provides educational enrichment program activities to Hawaiian children and their families. OHA used § 5(f) trust money to fund a contract with Na Pua. Na Pua does not appear to restrict the services it provides under the contract to native Hawaiians either generally or under the OHA contract. 4. Alu Like, Inc. Alu Like is a nonprofit service organization that strives to help Hawaiians achieve social and economic self-sufficiency by providing early childhood education, services to the elderly, employment preparation and training, library and genealogy services, specialized services for at-risk youth and information and referral services. OHA used § 5(f) trust money to fund a contract with Alu Like. Alu Like does not appear to restrict its services to native Hawaiians either generally or under the OHA contract.