ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2017 – 57
URGING THE HAWAI‘I STATE LEGISLATURE TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS IN OUR FASHION INDUSTRY TO PROMOTE PRODUCTIVITY, COMPETITIVENESS, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
WHEREAS, Hawaiʻi’s fashion industry generates more than $750 million in annual sales, $20.4 million in tax revenue and 3,630 local jobs; and
WHEREAS, economic benefits of this industry have attracted investment dollars from both the State of Hawaiʻi and City and County of Honolulu at approximately $170,000; and
WHEREAS, Hawaiʻi’s fashion industry is an emerging creative industry sector with capacity to create job opportunities across the entire production cycle and distribution channels; and
WHEREAS, fashion and designs created by Native Hawaiians and inspired by ʻōlelo noʻeau, native plants, natural dyes, and traditional moʻolelo, motifs, natural fibers and techniques can be classified as Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs); and
WHEREAS, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) identify that these expressions may encompass music, dance, designs, art, names, signs and symbols, performances, ceremonies, architectural forms, handicrafts and narratives or many other artistic and cultural expressions integral to the culture and societal identities of indigenous and local communities; and
WHEREAS, identified TCEs receive protection under Intellectual Property (IP) regional laws such as the authentic indigenous arts trademark by the Maori Arts Board in Aotearoa, Te Waka Toi; and
WHEREAS, in 2003, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners, artists, and kūpuna convened for the Ka ‘Aha Pono Native Hawaiian Intellectual Property Rights Conference and produced the Paoakalani Declaration to assert self-determination rights of Native Hawaiians over our TCEs and advocated for a system to empower Native Hawaiians to do so; and
WHEREAS, the 2004, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature adopted the Paoakalani Declaration; and
WHEREAS, Intellectual Property (IP) rights and innovation are primary drivers of job creation and Hawaiʻi’s economic growth; and
WHEREAS, according to a 2012 economic study by the U. S. Department of Commerce that ties employment and value-added numbers to IP-intensive industries found that IP-intensive industries pay their workers 42% higher wages than non IP-intensive industries; and
WHEREAS, IP-intensive industries account for $5.8 trillion in private sector output measured by gross domestic product; and
WHEREAS, protecting and enforcing rights of Native Hawaiian TCEs and IP-businesses are critical to advancing global economic advancement, propelling competitiveness and increasing export growth and creating high-quality jobs; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 58th Annual Convention in Seattle, Washington, in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani, this 4th day of November 2017, urging the Hawai‘i State Legislature to support indigenous intellectual property rights and traditional cultural expressions in our fashion industry to promote productivity, competitiveness and economic development; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, urging the AHCC establish a task force to explore and create specific action steps to support Native Hawaiian intellectual property rights and traditional cultural expressions in our fashion industry; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to PAʻI Foundation, Hale Kuʻai Study Group, Ka ‘Aha Pono as well as the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources & Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, all County Mayors.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani on the 4th day of November 2017, at the 58th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Seattle, Washington.
Annelle C. Amaral, President
