Akaka bill clashes with Hawaii ideals


It is widely known that the Akaka bill would enable federal recognition of Native Hawaiians as a political entity. It is not so widely known that the bill defines "Native Hawaiian" as anyone, anywhere in the world with at least one ancestor indigenous to Hawai'i. And it defines "indigenous to Hawai'i" to mean anyone who lived in Hawai'i before 1778 when Captain Cook and westerners first arrived.