The largest statewide organization representing all Native Hawaiian homestead beneficiaries will soon have a bigger presence in Washington, D.C.
Robin Danner, chairwoman of the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, will move from Kauai to the nation’s capital next month to reopen the advocacy group’s office. This marks the first time in the organization’s 34-year history that it will have full-time representation on the Hill.
“It’s time for Native Hawaiians to have a presence there and to be seen, to be visible and to be able to more quickly engage with our federal government,” said Danner, who was elected SCHHA’s chairwoman in 2015. “I’m excited. I love Washington, D.C. I love democracy and engaging in our government, even when it’s frustrating.”
Founded in 1987, SCHHA, which represents and advocates for the nearly 10,000 Native Hawaiians living on homestead lots and the more than 28,000 on the wait list under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, opened a Washington office in 2015 which was staffed part time by Danner, interns and fellows but temporarily closed it last year due to the pandemic. Danner said prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she traveled to the nation’s capital three to five times a year, for about a week or two at a time, to advocate for SCHHA’s membership and meet with federal officials.
Once she gets settled and reopens SCHHA’s Washington office, which is within walking distance of the Capitol, Danner said priorities to work on include increasing federal resources for those awaiting homestead lots, advocating for federal legislation that would lower the blood-quantum requirement for many homestead successors to one-thirty second from one-quarter, and helping homestead farmers and ranchers access more U.S. Department of Agriculture programs. From her past trips to Washington, Danner said she’s seen the benefits and progress made when meeting with federal officials in person and that being there full time could improve and speed up the progress. She also said she’s looking forward to working with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ administration.
Long-term goals are to hire more staff to help Danner, including a full-time policy director, she said.
SCHHA also has organized trips in September and November to bring homestead leaders to D.C. to meet with the Hawaii congressional delegation, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and officials from the Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Treasury and Agriculture departments. Danner added that depending on the COVID-19 situation, the September meetings may be virtual instead of in person.
It was a difficult decision to move to Washington full time, said Danner, whose youngest child is already in college, but she and her husband made the decision to move because it was the best for SCHHA and its Native Hawaiian membership.
“When the governing council discussed it and asked me, I prayed on it, thought about it and talked to my husband,” she said. “There’s a lot of work to be done that needs to be focused on the nation’s capital. Hoping the federal government understands and sees the 28,000 on the wait list is not a good approach. We have to physically be there and advocate so they have a voice.”
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Jayna Omaye covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
