The Hawaiian issue is an interesting one because their identification and rights are much different than that of other American Indians and racial minorities. In the 2000 Supreme Court case Rice v. Cayetano, thee Court ruled that the Native Hawaiians could not try to exclude non-Native Hawaiians from factions of their government. The context is that Hawaii's annexation was a questionable political act, laying the groundwork for resistance to the new rule. Hawaii was not initiated as a State until fairly recently, and because of that the Native Hawaiians are not recognized as a American Indian tribe. The significance of being a Native American Tribe is it gives them the right to soverignty and self-governance which includes taking care of their own people as they see fit, inluding education or scholorships for example. Anyway, because of the freshness of their rule in the memories of the people, the questionable way it was taken, and many other issues... The Native Hawaiians do not want Soverignty, but complete Independance from the US, or control of governing their land as more than just a "soverign" nation. So in the context of that case from 2000, the government continues to deny their claim to independance or more control over their government, and because they are not a tribe, there are few benefits for the Native Hawaiian People in place, except for those put force by the state government, which is many times sympathetic. So it is an interesting thought that their aid to Native Hawaiian school children is making up for the needs that are not being met by the tribal or federal governments. All in all, Im not suprised that they are getting special treatment, because they are a very special situation. Sory if that was incoherant, its a VERY complicated issue. Let me know if any of you want to know more.... I have info.