Last year, much of Hawaii was shocked to learn a Chicago restaurant chain owner had trademarked the name B次元官网网址淎loha PokeB次元官网网址� and wrote to cubed fish shops around the country demanding that they stop using the Hawaiian language moniker for their own eateries. The cease-and-desist letters targeted a downtown Honolulu restaurant and a Native Hawaiian-operated restaurant in Anchorage, among others.

Now, Hawaii lawmakers are considering adopting a resolution calling for the creation of legal protections for Native Hawaiian cultural intellectual property. The effort predates Aloha Poke, but that episode is lending a sense of urgency to a long-festering concern not unfamiliar to native cultures in other parts of the world.

B次元官网网址淚 was frustrated at the audacity of people from outside of our community using these legal mechanisms to basically bully people from our local community out of utilizing symbols and words that are important to our culture,B次元官网网址� said state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, a Native Hawaiian representing Kaneohe and Heeia.

The resolution calls on state agencies and Native Hawaiian organizations to form a task force to develop a legal system to B次元官网网址渞ecognize and protectB次元官网网址� Native Hawaiian cultural intellectual property and traditional cultural expressions. It also seeks protections for genetic resources, such as taro, a traditional crop that legend says is an ancestor of the Hawaiian people and that scientists have tried to genetically engineer in the past.

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The task force would be commissioned to submit its recommendations and any proposed legislation to lawmakers in three years.

The House passed the resolution Thursday. The Senate is scheduled to vote on it Monday.

The Aloha Poke incident echoes past disputes, like when a non-Hawaiian photographer claimed copyright over an image of a woman dancing hula and Disney copyrighted a modified version of a Hawaiian chant used in a movie.

ChicagoB次元官网网址檚 Aloha Poke Co. chose as its battleground the word B次元官网网址渁lohaB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� a term meaning love, compassion, kindness as well as hello and goodbye. ItB次元官网网址檚 a term central to how Native Hawaiians treat others and how many in Hawaii B次元官网网址� Native Hawaiian or not B次元官网网址� try to live.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 traumatic when things like this happen to us B次元官网网址� when people try to take, modify or steal whatB次元官网网址檚 been in our peopleB次元官网网址檚 world view for generations,B次元官网网址� said Healani Sonoda-Pale, chairwoman of the Ka Lahui Hawaii political action committee, who testified in support of the resolution.

Aloha Poke CEO Chris Birkinshaw didnB次元官网网址檛 return messages seeking comment left at his West Madison store in Chicago and on the companyB次元官网网址檚 website. The company has stores in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida and Washington, D.C.

Aloha Poke Shop in Honolulu initially ignored the Chicago companyB次元官网网址檚 letter, said co-founder Jeff Sampson. When the issue burst into the news, he and his partners had an attorney write their Chicago counterpart saying they wouldnB次元官网网址檛 change their name. They explained there would be no confusion between their businesses because they operated far from the mainland companyB次元官网网址檚 stores.

But Tasha Kahele, who is Native Hawaiian, has spent nearly $10,000 so far changing her Anchorage storeB次元官网网址檚 name to LeiB次元官网网址檚 Poke Stop after receiving one of the letters.

Native Hawaiian experts note thereB次元官网网址檚 a cultural clash underlying much of this. Modern European-based traditions use trademarks, copyright and patents to create economic incentives and rewards for creating knowledge and culture. Indigenous culture, on the other hand, is often passed on through generations and held collectively.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e never going to sit nicely together in a box,B次元官网网址� said Kuhio Lewis, the CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.

It will be difficult to determine who would decide who can use Native Hawaiian culture and who would be able to use it. Limits may violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The task force will have to explore who can do what, Lewis said.

B次元官网网址淎t the least, they need to have some cultural sensitivity about how itB次元官网网址檚 used. And they need to know you canB次元官网网址檛 be telling Native Hawaiian businesses they canB次元官网网址檛 use their own language,B次元官网网址� Lewis said.

The resolution points to potential models in New Zealand and Alaska, which both created signifiers that indigenous people may place on their art as a mark of authenticity.

Marie Texter of Anchorage said her late father Andy Makar B次元官网网址� who drew, made carvings from tusks, cottonwood and horns, and sewed animal skins B次元官网网址� was a strong believer in the Silver Hand seal for Alaska Natives.

B次元官网网址淗e said this is a great program because so many times the Native artwork gets commercialized or used by someone else,B次元官网网址� she said.

He had to fill out proof of his Indian blood B次元官网网址� he was mostly YupB次元官网网址檌k but his mother was Athabascan B次元官网网址� to apply.

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But Rosita Worl, president of Juneau-based Sealaska Heritage Institute, said not all Alaska Native artists apply for or use the emblem. Nor does the program deter the sale of bogus Native art made overseas, she said. It also lacks enforcement and publicity, she said.

Charles E. Colman, a University of Hawaii law professor, said such programs hold up under federal law because they donB次元官网网址檛 prohibit people from making work that resembles indigenous art. They merely wonB次元官网网址檛 allow people to say their work is produced by an indigenous person if itB次元官网网址檚 not.

Colman believes the Aloha Poke situation, on the other hand, could be addressed within existing trademark law.

He believes the Chicago companyB次元官网网址檚 trademark could be cancelled if challenged because itB次元官网网址檚 not so well-known that its name has developed a secondary meaning the way the words in the retailer name B次元官网网址淏est BuyB次元官网网址� have, for example.

B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 just register a descriptive phrase unless youB次元官网网址檝e achieved a certain amount of public recognition,B次元官网网址� he said.

Audrey McAvoy, The Associated Press

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