Civil Beat Poll - Does the Government Treat Native Hawaiians Fairly?

[ellisonz]

By Michael Levine 05/05/2012

More than 100 years after the overthrow of the Native Hawaiian government, the rights of the island's indigenous people are still at the top of the conversation.

But voters are split on whether the government is providing enough benefits to Native Hawaiians.

According to The Civil Beat Poll survey of 1,162 registered voters1, 36 percent of respondents said the level of benefits is just right. Twenty-seven percent of voters said Hawaiians get "too many" benefits and 23 percent said "not enough." The margin of error was 2.9 percent.

The poll was conducted in mid-April and comes on the heels of the Hawaii Legislature settling a decades-old $200 million ceded land debt by deeding 25 acres of prime Kakaako real estate to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The fight for federal recognition continues, and a Native Hawaiian Roll Commission has been created to that end. OHA, a state agency, provides scholarships and small business loans to Native Hawaiians. But the list of those in line for Hawaiian homesteads is still so long that some people die waiting.

More: Civil Beat Story

[dkf]

1. I'm not sure if the average Hawaiian gets ANY benefit from OHA.

But OHA collects money in the name of the Hawaiian people.

I'd say collectively maybe they do get enough, individually heck no.