PACIFIC ASIA COUNCIL OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
	86-649 Puuhulu Road
	Wai`anae, Hawaii  96792-2723
	(via U.S.A.)
 	Tel: 1-808-696-5157  Fax: 1-808-696-7774

	10 December 1992

	Address to the U.N. General Assembly

	by 

	P_k_ Laenui (Hayden F. Burgess)

`Ano ai me ke Aloha e na hulu manu like `ole.  `O wau no `o P_k_ Laenui, 
he kupa o Hawaii.  In the spirit of Aloha, I bring greetings to you all, birds 
of many feathers.  I am P_k_ Laenui, a citizens of the nation of Hawaii.

	My friend, colleague and fellow executive member of the Pacific-
Asia Council of Indigenous Peoples, Naw Louisa Benson, a Karen 
national of the liberated areas of Burma joins me here at the podium on 
this special day.  We welcome with enthusiasm the U.N.'s call for a new 
partnership with the indigenous peoples of the world.  

	For me, this seems to be a time of special observations:  1992 
observed the 500th anniversary of the "Encounters of Two Worlds," 
January 1993 marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S.' invasion of my 
independent nation of Hawaii, and today, we mark the opening of the 
International Year for the World's Indigenous People.  Observations and 
anniversaries give us all a common time to reflect on acts and patterns of 
conduct and so they are indeed important as we strive for a better world.

	But why must we await such special times?  Isn't every moment of 
cruelty a crime and every act of humanity a celebration?  Should we not 
contemplate each day and each act with equal sacredness?  I hope we will 
not have to wait another one hundred or 5 hundred years to revisit 
fundamental questions of cruelty and humanity.

	We take the call for a new partnership as a sincere and hopeful sign 
of according indigenous peoples a proper place in the common work for 
human progress.  As a first task, let us reexamine the definition of progress 
and the mode of achieving it, for a partnership can never work if there is 
no common values or aspirations.  We can not merely adopt patterns of 
conduct used over the past 500 years without question.  The domination 
theme which has ruled the present evolutionary period of humankind must 
be questioned as we enter the next 100 years, the next 500 years and 
longer.  We have seen the tug and pull of forces under that theme which 
has brought us no closer to spiritual development, which I pose as the 
ultimate goal of all societies.  

	The theme of domination has permeated every aspect of man's 
relationship with one another and with his environment.  We have 
witnessed the institution of slavery, of imperialism and colonization, and 
of economic conglomerations which have demoted the quest for spiritual 
development to the lowest rung of consideration.  In the quest to dominate, 
we have seen man's rampant destruction of his immediate environment 
and his insatiable hunger for further destruction in lands far from his own 
shores.  None of those activities have raised the measure of happiness for 
the human society one iota.  Indeed, peace, joy and contentment, the 
requisites for spiritual development, have been experienced in the sounds 
of children laughing, waters running freely, in the sight of a woman and 
man working side by side in their fields.

	I submit that in our new partnership, we explore not new ways of 
sharing in the domination process, but in totally new modes of conduct 
built on the respect of all things to be.

	A second area for consideration as we build this foundation for a 
new partnership is the elevation of property and economic values above 
those of human values.  The primary model of a healthy society is one 
measured by economic standards such as Gross National Product, Gross 
Domestic Product, Income Flow, Capital Accumulation, etc.  Limited 
social resources are subsequently spent to improve short-term economic 
conditions.  Development programs thus fail to take a holistic social 
approach, incorporating values of strong cultures, healthy people, respect 
for the elderly and protection for the children, a pristine environment, an 
ethic of human rights and compassion within a society.  Aren't these 
values just as important, if not more important in the measure of the health 
of a society?  We are looking for a shift in value priorities as we take a 
position of partnership with others.  

	Developing principles and goals upon which we can act together as 
partners is one thing, but acting consistent with them is clearly another.  
For example, we have the highest regard for the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights and all of the lofty documents and speeches spent on the 
subject.  But we can not accept a partnership of hypocrisy.  How does an 
international body evoke such high principles and yet include within its 
membership countries which consistently commit gross violations of 
human rights.  I speak of the atrocities occurring in East Timor, West 
Papua and Moluccas Islands, in the Chittagong Hill tracts and in the 
territories of the ethnic nationalities of Burma.  We find insufficient action 
to protect the rights of people in those indigenous territories.  Instead, 
many other members of the United Nations act in partnership with those 
violating elements by continuing trade, military training and support to 
those very elements which are carrying on such activities.  We call for an 
end to such hypocrisy and for firm action to be taken by this institution to 
end such atrocities.

	We are anxious to participate in many areas of work with the 
United Nations and we ask that necessary steps be taken to permit us the 
needed entry into your chambers.  Many of our members must obtain 
travel documents from those very governments whose conduct we wish to 
have examined.  Those governments in which U.N. offices are located 
must make special arrangements to permit any indigenous person, certified 
by international indigenous organizations, entry into their countries for the 
purpose of such work.  Furthermore, indigenous representatives should 
have permanent places within your general assembly to raise the special 
concerns of indigenous peoples from the various regions of the world.  If 
the U.N. is serious about the formation of a new arrangement with 
indigenous peoples, than structural changes must take place to bring about 
such an arrangement.

	In closing, I should caution about the new-found enthusiasm of 
indigenous peoples, our cultures, our rights, our environmental attitudes 
and practices, etc.  Let us not be carried off into a belief that indigenous 
peoples have the answers to all of the environmental, cultural, and 
relational challenges of the world.  Indeed, we have every right to be proud 
of our cultural, philosophical and historical roots.  Indeed, we form an 
important part of the heritage of humanity.  And just as other people have 
had the opportunity to proudly hold up their cultures, indigenous people 
should do likewise.  But who among us have achieved a life quality of 
universal perfection.  We, indigenous and non-indigenous peoples are in a 
constant search for spiritual development which has not ended.  We must 
all share in that continuing quest as partners.  We look forward to that 
challenge.

	`Ano `ai me ko `oukou alahele.  Aloha `_ina, aloha a hui hou.
 
 


	APPENDIX E
	


	APPENDIX E