[hawaii-nation] Natives, Senators & Oil - ANWR/Akaka Bill connection

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Dear Friends,

The article below is an interesting expose on the use of Natives and Native

Issues to undermine Native Culture. I am sure people in India are familiar with

these tactics.

 

>Hawaii Nation Info <info

>hawaii-nation

>[hawaii-nation] Natives, Senators & Oil - ANWR/Akaka Bill

>connection

>Mon, 10 Nov 2003 11:10:25 -1000

>

>

>Hawaii Island Journal

>October 16-31, 2003

>http://hawaiiislandjournal.com/stories/10b03a.html

>

>

>Natives, Senators and Oil

>

>The connection between drilling in the Arctic

>National Wildlife Refuge and the Akaka Bill.

>

>by Anne Keala Kelly

>

>

>Hours before the war in Iraq officially began on

>March 19th, the Boxer Amendment stripped a

>provision from the budget bill that would have

>allowed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife

>Refuge. Had the President announced the beginning

>of the war sooner, it's unlikely the amendment

>would have succeeded. Now, as debates about the

>value of oil intensify, it will become

>increasingly difficult to keep drilling out of

>the Refuge. After all, how can we justify risking

>American lives in the Middle East to secure that

>region's oil reserves without being willing to

>drill the wells dry in our own back yard?

>

>This story is about that untapped oil at the top

>of the world and the surprising connection

>between it and the Hawaiian Federal Recognition

>bill, referred to as the Akaka Bill. It's a peek

>behind the curtain of how the politics of oil can

>corrupt the politics of native peoples. It shows

>how the Alaska oil industry has stepped into the

>Native Hawaiian community to secure Senator

>Daniel Akaka's support for drilling in the

>Refuge, and to convince Hawaiians to oppose the

>Gwich'in people.

>

>The Gwich'in are an Alaska Native tribe fighting

>to keep the oil industry out of the Refuge. As a

>federally recognized tribe, the Gwich'in are

>subject to the plenary powers of Congress, which

>means Congress has absolute power to make

>determinations that directly impact their

>environment and food source. The United States'

>classification of Hawaiians and how that would

>affect their political future is part of the

>debate over the Akaka Bill, which seeks to define

>them, like the Gwich'in, as federally recognized

>"Native Americans." Among Hawaiians who oppose

>the bill, such a definition is viewed as an

>attempt to extinguish the dual political status

>Hawaiians have as indigenous people and citizens

>of an occupied, independent Nation State that was

>illegally annexed by the US in 1898.

>

>Connections between what is happening with the

>Gwich'in people, and what may happen with

>Hawaiians should they choose to go the way of

>federal recognition, don't end with the plenary

>powers of Congress or Senator Akaka's vote on

>drilling. Hawaiians and Gwich'in actually have

>another critical link in common - that being how

>Alaska's oil industry has, via the Council for

>Native Hawaiian Advancement, influenced Hawaiian

>politics on the issue of the Akaka Bill. The

>answer to why this connects the Gwich'in struggle

>to keep drilling out of the Refuge with Hawaiian

>debates over the Akaka Bill, is discovered by

>examining who has power over federal dollars for

>Hawaiians and who is pressuring them to accept

>federal recognition.

>

>

>Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

>

>Three years ago, the Council for Native Hawaiian

>Advancement was organized to help non-profits

>that provide Hawaiian healthcare, housing,

>education and cultural programs apply for or keep

>federal funding. Robin Danner, a Native Hawaiian

>who, at 36, moved home to Kauai a little more

>than 4 years ago and led the way to assemble the

>Council, becoming its first President and CEO.

>After living 25 years in Alaska with her parents,

>and brothers and sisters, she brought a working

>knowledge of how Alaska natives have navigated

>the path to native corporate and non-profit

>federal contracts.

>

>Once established, the Council quickly came to

>include nonprofit powerhouses who handle most of

>the millions of federal dollars earmarked for

>Native Hawaiians. It also includes CEOs and

>trustees from Native Hawaiian trusts like the

>Queen Lili'uokalani Trust, which has a modest

>portfolio that benefits Hawaiian orphans, and the

>billion-dollar Bishop Estates Trust, now called

>Kamehameha Schools. Since its inception, the

>Council has become part of the status quo,

>serving as facilitator of the prestigious

>Administrative Native American federal contract,

>which is worth $1.2 million, and directed by

>Robin's younger sister, Jade Danner. The Council

>has also received a pledge of $100,000 from Bank

>of Hawai'i, and other institutional support,

>including $100,000 from the Inupiat-owned Arctic

>Slope Regional Corporation.

>

>The need for an organization like the Council

>became apparent in the wake of the US Supreme

>Court's 2000 decision in Rice vs. Cayetano,

>allowing non-Hawaiians to elect trustees to the

>state agency, Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Since

>then, funding and tax breaks given to Hawaiian

>non-profits and trusts have come under legal

>attack as unlawful, race-based benefits. (See

>"Rice on Rice," page 17 of this issue of HIJ).

>

>Lesser- known, less well-connected Hawaiian

>non-profits looking for funding have joined or

>considered joining the Council, hoping to team up

>with other non-profits. But what has apparently

>emerged as the Council's most pressing concern is

>not what most Hawaiian non-profit organizers were

>expecting. In September 2002, the Council's 1st

>Annual Native Hawaiian Conference took place at

>the Sheraton Waikiki. With a personal visit from

>Senator Daniel Akaka and videotaped messages from

>the Hawai'i Congressional delegation that were

>shown daily, the gathering took the shape of a

>well-financed sales pitch and rallying cry for

>the Akaka Bill.

>

>The Council held its second gathering in Waikiki

>in August 2003. This time the congressional giant

>himself, Senator Daniel Inouye, addressed several

>hundred Hawaiians in person, assuring them that

>there now exists a "rare demonstration of unity"

>between Hawai'i state, local, and federal

>lawmakers on the matter of federal recognition.

>Inouye then went on to urge Hawaiians to do the

>same and unite behind this bill.

>

>

>The Alaska Connection

>

>In July of 2001, more than a year before the

>Council hosted its first convention for

>Hawaiians, it held the "1st Annual Native

>Hawaiian-Alaska Native Summit," funded by major

>Hawai'i banks that hold hundreds of millions of

>Hawaiian trust dollars. Bank of Hawai'i, First

>Hawaiian Bank, American Savings Bank and others

>put up the money for an invitation-only gathering

>with the stated purpose of discussing management

>of native trusts, foundations and service

>agencies. The CEO of the Council, Robin Danner,

>had proven her ability to gain the cooperation of

>influential politicians and financial

>institutions in a very short time, pulling

>together some of the most distinguished members

>of Congress from both sides of the aisle.

>

>Keynote speakers included Senators Inouye and

>Akaka; other speakers were then Senator, now

>Governor of Alaska, Frank Murkowski,

>Representatives Patsy Mink and Neil Abercrombie,

>Alaska Representative Don Young, and a videotaped

>message from Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Senator

>Stevens, who as pro tempore is third in line to

>the presidency of the United States, has put his

>name to the Hawaiian Federal Recognition Bill,

>which was re-dubbed the Akaka-Stevens Bill in

>June of this year.

>

>Although Hawaiians are not organized into

>villages and corporations like the 138 Alaska

>Native villages and 13 Alaska Native Corporations

>that comprise the Alaska Federation of Natives,

>the network of Hawaiian nonprofits now in the

>Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement could be

>said to be a close imitation. But the Council is

>either intentionally or unwittingly also

>mimicking the federation's interest in Alaskan

>oil money and federal control.

>

>

>The Gwich'in, The Inupiat, the Oil

>

>Inupiat-owned Arctic Slope Regional Corporation

>owns five million acres of land, including the

>Alpine oil field, which is the 10th

>largest-producing oil field in America. A map of

>the North Slope shows that millions of acres

>surrounding the Refuge are dotted by

>oil-producing fields.

>

>Thus far, all drilling has taken place outside of

>the 5% of the Arctic Coastal Plain known as the

>Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is where

>the Porcupine Caribou birthing grounds, sacred to

>the Gwich'in people, are located. It's estimated

>that the oil inside the Refuge will take 10 years

>to deliver and is only enough to sustain U.S. oil

>consumption for 6 months.

>

>So, why are the state of Alaska, Arctic Slope

>Regional Corporation, and multi-national oil

>corporations lobbying the Congress to grant

>access for drilling the Refuge? And how did

>drilling inside a national "Refuge" ever become

>an option?

>

>

>Settling Native Claims

>

>The 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,

>referred to as ANCSA, is considered by many

>organizations of indigenous peoples in and

>outside of the U.S. to be the worst native

>settlement in modern times. It is also one of the

>most amended Congressional Acts in the history of

>the United States. When oil corporations and the

>State of Alaska realized the substantial wealth

>and jobs that could be generated from drilling in

>Prudhoe Bay and the surrounding area, the push

>was on for a claims settlement. Throughout

>Alaska, in exchange for extinguishing native

>title to 90% of their lands, tribes were given

>what amounted to less than $3 per acre.

>

>In the face of the less-than-generous terms of

>ANCSA, the Inupiat Eskimos are among a few tribes

>that have been financially successful

>strategists. They formed the Arctic Slope

>Regional Corporation, and it has paid off. With a

>rate of growth ahead of the S&P 500 index, last

>year's revenues through oil and other

>subsidiaries were about $1.5 billion. Among their

>many subsidiary corporations is one that

>maintains a contract with the U.S. to supply fuel

>to the military, another that provides support

>services for U.S. military radar systems, a

>company that operates a plastics manufacturer in

>Guadalajara, and an office in Venezuela that

>analyzes that country's oil industry.

>

>But ANCSA was not attractive to all of Alaska's

>Native tribes, and some communities were split;

>there were no hearings or votes taken at the

>villages. Of the 8 Gwich'in villages on the U.S.

>side of the border, 2 villages opted out of ANCSA

>and maintained a traditional subsistence life and

>title to their lands. Like many Federally

>Recognized tribes, the Gwich'in have a tenuous

>relationship with the U.S. government.

>

>The Inupiat, on the other hand, have a corporate

>relationship with the state and federal

>government. In 1983, Department of Interior

>Secretary James Watt signed a controversial land

>exchange with the Arctic Slope Regional

>Corporation that brought the total acreage of the

>corporation's contingent subsurface rights in the

>coastal plain of the Refuge to 92,000.

>

>In spite of the stipulation prohibiting

>development (unless Congress opens the Refuge)

>the corporation has already made $39 million from

>speculative lease agreements with Chevron,

>Texaco, and British Petroleum. In fact, within

>five years of the 1983 land exchange, efforts

>were begun in earnest to open the Refuge to

>drilling. But the Gwich'in people, who live on

>the south and east border of the Refuge, have put

>up resistance to every proposal put before

>Congress and have maintained a grassroots

>struggle because of the threat to the Porcupine

>Caribou.

>

>The Inupiat, who own the Arctic Slope Regional

>Corporation, are a coastal people who rely mainly

>on marine life for their traditional foods; the

>Porcupine Caribou account for about 10 percent of

>their diet. But for the Gwich'in, who

>strategically established their villages along

>the migratory paths of the Porcupine Caribou herd

>during the past several thousand years, the

>caribou are 70 percent of their food. Faith

>Gemmill, spokesperson for the Gwich'in, said,

>"The caribou are our family. We made a commitment

>to protect the caribou and our way of life, and

>if we are not successful we will perish, too."

>

>Other animals that birth and den in the Refuge

>include grizzly bears, polar bears, and many

>different species of birds.

>

>

>The Hawaiian Connection

>

>Before anything can be done to settle Hawaiian

>claims, it appears that Hawaiians must accept the

>moniker of being a federally recognized tribe to

>insure the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress

>over them as a people. One section of the Akaka

>Bill allows for a "Hawaiian governing entity" to

>enter into negotiations with the federal

>government to settle Native Hawaiian land claims,

>as was done to/with the Alaska Natives. Plans for

>a settlement are already being put forth by the

>Office of Hawaiian Affairs, who together with

>another state agency, Department of Hawaiian

>Homelands and the Council for Native Hawaiian

>Advancement appear eager to set themselves up as

>representatives of the Hawaiian people. But the

>Council has the power at this point because they

>can lobby for the legislation freely. Whereas,

>despite the numerous trips Office of Hawaiian

>Affairs trustees have made to D.C. to lobby for

>the bill, state agencies must at least appear to

>represent the interests of all residents of

>Hawai'i.

>

>The motivation for financial support from the

>Inupiat-owned Arctic Slope Regional Corporation

>to the Council, though, has come into focus due

>to a business arrangement between a company

>called Danner and Associates and an Alaska

>non-profit group called Arctic Power. Arctic

>Power is funded by the state of Alaska, oil

>industry corporations, including Exxon Mobil, and

>unions with interests in Alaska's oil industry,

>including the Teamsters. The relationship between

>Danner and Associates and Arctic Power dates back

>at least to February 2002.

>

>When asked about her role in Danner and

>Associates, Council for Native Hawaiian

>Advancement CEO, Robin Danner, described it as

>one of several Danner family initiatives. She

>then declined a telephone or in-person interview,

>and stated in an email: "I don't have an

>ownership interest in it [Danner and Associates],

>I don't manage it, I've never been paid by it,

>I've never done any work for it - I can't really

>tell you much more than that."

>

>A request for an interview with Jade Danner

>yielded a phone call asking to have questions

>emailed to her. Question: Are you or have you

>ever been a paid lobbyist for Arctic Power or any

>Alaska corporation, specifically with interests

>in oil development? Answer: "I've never been a

>'lobbyist,' paid or unpaid, for Arctic Power or

>any other Alaska corporation with an interest in

>oil development. Two years ago, I was contracted

>by Arctic Power for six weeks to assist the

>Inupiat people in their efforts to set the record

>straight and educate the Hawaii public about

>their position in the ANWR debateŠ."

>

>Less than two years ago, in March 2002, Jade

>Danner wrote a letter to the editor of the

>Honolulu Star-Bulletin, in response to an op-ed

>written by Charles Burrows. Burrows, a retired

>Kamehameha Schools teacher and President of

>Ahahui Malama I ka Lokahi, a

>cultural/environmental group on Oahu, criticized

>Senator Akaka's support for drilling in the

>Refuge. Akaka has been asked repeatedly about his

>position on drilling since his visit to Alaska to

>meet with the Inupiat Eskimoes in 1995, a trip

>that he credits with changing his vote in favor

>of drilling. Burrows and others have publicly

>asked the senator why he hasn't taken the time to

>visit the Gwich'in to hear their side of the

>issue, a question that has consistently gone

>unanswered.

>

>Jade Danner's criticism of Burrows' editorial

>invoked the kind of rhetoric that confuses native

>politics with oil politics, lauding Senator

>Akaka's support for the Inupiat as support for

>native "self-determination." Public records

>indicate, however, that she was being paid for

>writing such letters as part of a contractual

>agreement with Arctic Power.

>

>State of Alaska public records include a copy of

>an Arctic Power contract signed by Jade Danner on

>2/15/02, with no date of termination. It is an

>agreement to pay Danner and Associates "A flat

>monthly fee of $5000 for services." Included in

>the "Scope of Work" section of the contract is:

>"Development of a Strategic Plan in conjunction

>with Arctic Power for Hawaii; Monitor and respond

>to opposing editorials/stories in local news

>media; Provide periodic updates to Arctic Power

>about activities and progress in Hawaii;

>Communicate with Hawaii's Senators' staff to

>determine how to be most effective in assisting

>with educating the Hawaiian populace about the

>facts of ANWR; other projects as may be assigned

>by Arctic Power," and more.

>

>Staff members from the offices of both Senators

>Inouye and Akaka say they have no knowledge of

>Jade Danner being paid to represent drilling in

>the Refuge. Paul Cardus, Senator Akaka's press

>secretary said, "No one was aware of her role as

>a lobbyist, no one met with her to discuss ANWR."

>He continued, "Jade Danner never met with or

>spoke to the Senator."

>

>Yet, payment from Arctic Power to Danner and

>Associates, for deflecting criticism from within

>the Hawaiian community about Senator Akaka's

>support for drilling, suggests that the senator's

>staff is aware of the business arrangement

>between Danner and Associates and the Alaska oil

>industry, via Arctic Power.

>

>A Danner & Associates ANWR Activity Log lists

>eight activities undertaken on behalf of Arctic

>Power. Number seven reads: ". . .Worked to defeat

>local attempts to use Hawaiian forums as an

>avenue to pass resolutions opposing Senator

>Akaka's position on ANWR. Provide appropriate

>follow-up in communicating action to Senator

>Akaka's office." One such "Hawaiian forum" was

>the November 2002 Hawaiian Civic Club Convention,

>wherein Robin Danner successfully argued against

>a resolution to support the subsistence rights of

>the Gwich'in people. She also used the lexicon of

>native sovereignty struggle, telling the

>attendees that the matter of drilling in the

>Refuge is a matter of self-determination for the

>Inupiat.

>

>With regard to Robin Danner's connection to

>Arctic Power, when asked if she has ever been

>financially compensated for efforts done by her

>on behalf of drilling in the Refuge, through her

>position as CEO of the Council, she responded,

>"The answer is clearly no, I have not done any

>lobbying through CNHA." But in her position with

>the Council, she billed Arctic Power directly,

>using a Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

>reimbursement request form, for her own travel

>expenses to attend a Teamster's Convention in

>Honolulu. Using such a form suggests Arctic Power

>is well aware of her position at the Council and

>apparently willing to accept a request for

>payment with the Council's letterhead on it.

>

>If any of that money was reimbursed directly to

>the Council, that means Alaska oil lobbying money

>went into the Council's bank account. If the

>travel expenses were not reimbursed to the

>Council, then Robin Danner used Council money to

>represent Arctic Power at the Teamsters

>Convention.

>

>When asked about this, she explained the

>Council's reimbursement form as a matter of

>reverse invoicing for airline coupons, saying

>that they were "used to attend a regional

>conference of the Teamsters . . . I was invited

>to speak at their conference, accepted and did

>so. Jade did not attend, she did not accompany

>me, she was not invited."

>

>The Danner and Associates ANWR Activity Log

>contradicts this and her earlier comment about

>never having done work for Danner and Associates.

>Among the activities on the log are: "Prepare and

>deliver speech to the Teamsters with Presentation

>of Bowhead Ear Drum to Senator Daniel AkakaŠ

>Provide appropriate feedback to Senator Akaka's

>Office and Arctic Power." The activity log, along

>with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

>request for travel reimbursement that was signed

>by Robin Danner on 2/27/02, became part of a

>$7500 Danner and Associates invoice submitted to

>Arctic Power in March of 2002, and eventually

>made its way into Alaska's public records.

>

>Beyond the uncertainties of Hawaiian political

>identity there remain questions about power and

>political process. If Alaska's oil industry can

>reach into the Hawaiian community and make its

>will known, what other influence does it have in

>determining the future of the Hawaiian people?

>

>As it stands, two politically powerful Hawaiians,

>with ties to Alaska oil money and two U.S.

>Senators, have garnered tremendous support for

>the Hawaiian Federal Recognition Bill and

>inspired a dearth of support for the Gwich'in and

>their efforts to keep drilling out of the Refuge.

>Their economic dealings shine an embarrassing

>light on the political relationship between the

>Hawaiian people and Hawaii's Congressional

>delegation, and chilling similarities between

>Hawaiians and Alaska Natives.

>

>If Federal Recognition can lead to Hawaiians

>relinquishing claims to any part of Hawai'i, they

>could end up in a situation like that between the

>Inupiat and the Gwich'in: corporate natives

>versus cultural natives. Right now, the acreage

>of Hawaiian Homestead land, which is part of the

>nearly 2 million acres of "Crown and Government

>land" renamed "ceded lands" when the United

>States took control, is virtually the same amount

>of land the Alaska Natives ended up with after

>their settlement: just 10% of what was once all

>theirs.

>

>___________________________

>

>Documents cited in this article are available at:

>

>http://hawaii-nation.org/danner.html

>

>

>

>

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