There were plenty of protests and pageantry surrounding yesterday's oral arguments in Hawaii vs. Office of Hawaiian Affairs. But disentangling the ceded lands dispute, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday, is harder, less satisfying work. The state is appealing a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that said it can't sell ceded lands before resolving native Hawaiian claims. Without getting into a close reading of the oral arguments, the justices seemed a little puzzled by what all the fuss was about. It's understandable: In the cold light of a legal debate, what separates the petitioners from the respondents seems less than what unites them.

• Ceded lands shouldn't be sold, at least not in the near future. Yes, the Lingle administration wants the high court to establish that the state has clear title, and therefore the legal right to sell or exchange ceded lands. But it has no plans to do so. And the Legislature — acting as though it has this disputed right — has introduced bills to put a moratorium, or at least a two-thirds approval requirement, on selling or transferring ceded lands.

• The federal Apology Resolution isn't the main issue in dispute. Both sides agree that whatever the Hawaii Supreme Court says, this resolution does not forbid the state from selling ceded lands, or alter the state's status as titleholder to the lands. Rather, OHA says the resolution recognizes that native Hawaiians have unresolved claims that must be settled before lands can be sold —  an unlikely prospect anyway.

• Hawaiians have a right to some form of sovereignty. This was not an issue before the court, but it is fundamental to the future of native Hawaiians in Hawaii. And it's the essence of the Akaka Bill, now before the U.S. Senate, which both OHA and the state support.

The picture on the front page of today's Advertiser showed OHA's Haunani Apoliona and state Attorney General Mark Bennett shaking hands outside the U.S. Supreme Court building. However the high court rules, surely it's in our best interest that Apoliona, Bennett and the agencies they represent eventually wind up on the same side — for Hawaiians, and for Hawaii.

Tags: Akaka, Bennett, ceded lands, Hawaii Supreme Court, Hawaiians, Lingle, OHA, U.S. Supreme Court

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