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Recently, the National Congress of American Indians, the largest and oldest Native American organization in the U.S., released its federal budget request for the next fiscal year. While the NCAI focused on federal programs for American Indians and Alaska Natives, it also stated its strong support for Native Hawaiian federal programs.

For this, we are grateful to our American Indian and Alaska Native brothers and sisters. With the current fiscal landscape, there could be no better time to remind Congress of the federal government’s obligation to fulfill its trust responsibilities to Native Hawaiians.

Funding for Native Hawaiian programs is part of the federal government’s trust obligation to Native Hawaiians— an obligation codified in national law. Ronald Reagan clarified this 25 years ago when he signed the Native Hawaiian Education Act and the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act, both of which affirmed the federal trust obligation to Native Hawaiians.

Before anyone in the U.S. House of Representatives talks about rolling these programs back, they would do well to recall the legacy of President Reagan, a conservative hero. Indeed, respecting the rights of Native Hawaiians should be a bipartisan issue.

Despite these facts, there will be some in Congress who will attack Native Hawaiian rights under the cloak of fiscal responsibility. The reality, however, is that there is nothing fiscally responsible about the federal government denying its obligations.

Any reduction in federal funding inappropriately transfers the federal government’s duties onto the State of ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± and the people of ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾±. Like other states, ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± cannot afford to fulfill the federal government’s duties.

Those who want to eliminate Native Hawaiian rights would have us believe that if we destroy Native Hawaiian federal programs, we can balance the federal budget. But the numbers don’t support this assertion. If the federal government defunded every Native Hawaiian federal program, it would make no meaningful impact on the deficit.

The Native Hawaiian Health Care Act, Native Hawaiian Education Act and the Department of Hawaiian Homelands Block Grants combined total less than 1/250th of one percent of the federal debt. Clearly we cannot balance the federal budget on the backs of the Native Hawaiian people.

Over the long term, cutting Native Hawaiian federal programs would likely increase the federal deficit, while maintaining them would be a smart investment.

Cutting Native Hawaiian education programs will lead to fewer opportunities for Native Hawaiians to contribute to the economy as skilled, college-educated employees. Similarly, cuts to Native Hawaiian health programs will likely increase the incidence of preventable illnesses and thereby increase health care costs— the heaviest burden of which would fall on the people of ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾±.

The fiscally and morally responsible course is for Congress to maintain funding for Native Hawaiian programs, while Hawaiian-serving agencies and organizations continue efforts to be more effective.

We have already seen Native Hawaiians use federal investments to develop and sustain successful programs that work for our community and that offer models for other indigenous peoples. Successes in Hawaiian language immersion (‘Aha Pūnana Leo), diabetes prevention (Department of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine) and leadership training (MAʻO Farms) are solid examples.

Today, we thank the National Congress of American Indians for supporting Native Hawaiians. But tomorrow, all of us must be prepared to forcefully dismiss those who will argue that the federal government can abandon its responsibilities to Native Hawaiians in the name of fiscal responsibility. If we do not, ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾± will be burdened with the federal government’s responsibilities and the social and financial consequences of unfulfilled obligations.

About the author: Kawika Riley is the Washington DC Bureau Chief for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. He teaches at the George Washington University’s Native American Political Leadership Program.

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