One draft of the failed federal Akaka Bill for Native Hawaiian sovereignty stalled when Hawaiians opposed a provision requiring details to be finalized within 20 years.

I told a Hawaiian friend, “If this can’t get done in 20 years it’ll never get done.”

He replied, “It takes as long as it takes. Twenty years is nothing in terms of our history.”

Sure enough, 20 years later sovereignty has advanced little, but more Hawaiians seem more ardently behind it. Americans tend to think short-term; veteran Hawaiian activists are more culturally attuned to the long game.

Time is central again in the fight over Army renewal of land leases around the Pohakuloa Training Area on Mauna Kea, scheduled to expire in 2029.

Hawaiian opponents of the military presence, who won a major victory when the state

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