“Hawai wŏnjumin munje e taehan yŏksajŏk chaengjŏm kwa Mi yŏnbank taebŏpwŏn ŭi kwallyŏn pangyŏl punsŏk”[Analysis of historical issues on Native Hawaiians and relevant US Supreme Court cases]

Analysis of Historical Issues and the US Supreme Court Cases on Native Hawaiians This article deals with a history of Hawai'i whose territory was the only kingdom in the US, and with court decisions relevant to Native Hawaiians. The Kingdom of Hawai'i was toppled by some Americans in 1893 and annexed by the US in 1898. Concurrently, the crown lands of Hawai'i became part of US government land. US Congress passed Native Hawaiian Homestead law in 1920, defining Federal Government’s “trust responsibility” toward Native Hawaiians. However, the designated lands were less than 10% of the whole Public Land in Hawai'i. Thereafter, Hawai'i became a State in the US in 1959, so that the Public Lands were delivered to the State government for administration. Later, the revised State Constitution (1978) established the Office of Hawaiian Affairs which is in charge of Native Hawaiian issues. The US federal administration also supports an idea that Native Hawaiians are one of US Native Americans. The two US Supreme Court cases, however, explain how Native Hawaiian issues are framed in the Federal Courts. The cases are Rice v. Cayetano (2000) and Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs (2009). The former case is a judicial review of election limitation to Native Hawaiians in the election of Board members of Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The latter is whether the State of Hawaii should stop liquidating Public Lands due to Congress “Apology Resolution” before Native Hawaiian issues are wholly solved. The Court were negative on two issues because the judges thought that whether Native Hawaiians are Native Americans was not clear. Thus Hawaiian community is eager to have US Congress pass a bill for recognizing Native Hawaiians as one of Native Americans. Thus the recognition process is still ongoing. If US Congress recognizes this, then it might also affect Japanese perception of colonial issues in Korea. [Key Words] U.S. Supreme Court, Hawai'i, Native Hawaiian, American Indian, Apology Resolution, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kingdom of Hawaii, U.S. Constitution Fourteenth Amendment, U.S. Constitution Fifteenth Amendment