05-17-2015, 05:06 PM
I think where the Federal Government made a mistake was not sticking to the pre contact protocol of which it used to determine Native Status qualifications. Then they came to the table with a reservation based on a single government to government consideration and that was not the situation pre contact, that was the situation as a Kingdom post contact Western influence derived.
So - going back to the table with an X year open window offer of subdivided multiple offers to the individual Islands and applicable sub regions each with offerings of separate Reservations accompanied by its own separate Government might get things rolling. Somewhere one group would accept and that would perhaps create the forward momentum pressure to act while available as others had done. Any group that failed to lay claim within the X year claim window would face permanent loss of claim. Also adding to that as the number of people per claim would determine the net size of the reservation established. Just a thought.
So - going back to the table with an X year open window offer of subdivided multiple offers to the individual Islands and applicable sub regions each with offerings of separate Reservations accompanied by its own separate Government might get things rolling. Somewhere one group would accept and that would perhaps create the forward momentum pressure to act while available as others had done. Any group that failed to lay claim within the X year claim window would face permanent loss of claim. Also adding to that as the number of people per claim would determine the net size of the reservation established. Just a thought.