Editor's Note: This is Round Two. Catch up with Round One here: "Interior Department Lumps Kamehameha and Lahaianaluna in with 'Indian Boarding Schools'"
Waihee operative Norma Wong -- kitted out with a spanking new Hawaiian name ‘Kawelokū’ -- was sent, June 22, 2022, to denounce Kamehameha Schools and Lahainaluna School before Sen Brian Schatz’ Indian Affairs Committee -- “Oversight Hearing on Volume 1 of the Department of the Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report & Legislative Hearing on S. 2907, Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act”'.
Akamai readers will remember that, in 2016, after OHA cut him off, John Waihee III sent Norma Wong to unsuccessfully pitch the ‘Native American Rights Fund’ for $2M to promote the fake Hawaiian Indian tribe. Therefore, Wong’s testimony at this ‘Boarding Schools’ hearing should logically be related to another attempt by Waihee to get money from Indian organizations.
In a 'Boarding Schools' report considered at the hearing, the US Department of the Interior (endorsed by US Rep Kai Kahele and with State Rep Patrick Branco and now Norma Wong supplying unverifiable stories) is apparently trying to gloss over the fact that Hawaii was not part of the US until 1898. DoI is also trying to equate private schools like Kamehameha with mainland schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. For anyone even vaguely familiar with Hawaii history, this is a mind-boggling display of ignorance. It is also another example of what happens when the DoI attempts to force Hawaiian history to conform with an 'American Indian' model.
Remember This? "Ben Cayetano: I never knew any Hawaiians who were ‘Beaten for Speaking Hawaiian’"
The purpose of the DoI report is to lead the US through the same kind of ritualized self-flagllation that Canada endured last year and trick the public into equating so-called 'cultural genocide' with actual genocide without actually understanding the difference.
Most of the report's Hawaii-related content is a recitation of education policy as it evolved under the Hawaiian Kingdom. In essence the report authors seek to strip away the identities created by the Hawaiian Kingdom and create an illusory pre-Hawaiian identity. In other words, they are uh ... overthrowing the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Here is an example of what is in store for the USA: "At least 500 Indigenous children died at U.S. residential schools, report says".
Do you think any bodies are buried at Kamehameha?
Norma Wong Background:
Related:
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SCHATZ LEADS OVERSIGHT/LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON FEDERAL INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS
Hearing Examined Interior Department Report And Indian Boarding Schools Bill
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led a hearing titled “Oversight Hearing on Volume 1 of the Department of the Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report & Legislative Hearing on S. 2907, Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act” to hear from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Native leaders and experts on the Department’s report, S. 2907, and addressing the needs of impacted Native communities.
Schatz opened the hearing by recognizing the shameful history of the Indian Boarding School era and affirming the Committee’s commitment to working with impacted Native communities to move forward together.
“The Indian Boarding School era was a dark period in our nation’s history – a painful example of how past federal policy failed American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians,” said Chairman Schatz. “We can’t undo history, but we must acknowledge it. We have to look at the full scope of these failures unflinchingly, with clear minds and fresh eyes. And most importantly, we must work directly with Native communities on forging a path towards healing.”
As part of the Committee’s work to help guide the federal government’s path toward achieving truth and reconciliation, Schatz welcomed testimony from survivors, should they choose to share their stories. These stories, as well as any written comments for the record on the hearing, can be submitted to testimony@indian.senate.gov.
The following witnesses participated in the oversight hearing:
The Honorable Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC
Accompanied by the Honorable Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary–Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC
- The Honorable Kirk Francis, Chief, Penobscot Indian Nation, Indian Island, ME
- Ms. Sandra White Hawk, President, National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, Minneapolis, MN
- Ms. Norma Ryūkō Kawelokū Wong Roshi, Native Hawaiian Policy Lead, Office of former Hawai‘i Governor John Waihe‘e, Honolulu, HI
- Ms. La Quen Náay Liz Medicine Crow, President & CEO, First Alaskans Institute, Anchorage, AK
To view the full video of the hearing, click >>> VIDEO OF HEARING.
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Oversight Hearing on "Volume 1 of the Department of the Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report" & Legislative Hearing to receive testimony on S. 2907
from US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Chair Brian Schatz, June 22, 2022
LINK: VIDEO OF HEARING
PANEL 1
The Honorable Deb Haaland
Secretary of the Interior
Department of the Interior, Washington, DCTESTIMONY
PANEL 2
The Honorable Kirk Francis
Chief
Penobscot Indian Nation, Indian Island, ME TESTIMONY
Ms. Sandra White Hawk
President, National Native American Boarding School
Healing Coalition, Minneapolis, MN TESTIMONY
Ms. Norma Ryūkō Kawelokū Wong Roshi
Native Hawaiian Policy Lead
Office of Former Hawai'i Governor John Waihe'e, Honolulu, HI TESTIMONY
La Quen Náay Liz Medicine Crow
President/CEO
First Alaskans Institute, Anchorage, AK TESTIMONY
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COVERAGE:
HNN: Hearing on boarding schools highlights ‘dark period’ for Native Hawaiians