Certainly, the omens for passing the bill giving federal recognition to Native Hawaiians look better than they have in more than a decade.

That is something to applaud. The Akaka bill, in its essential form, creates a pathway for establishing Hawai'i's indigenous people as a political entity, enabling their reconstitution as a "state within a state" government.

Federal recognition will end the legal challenges to the trust funds derived from part of the revenues from lands that once belonged to the Hawaiian kingdom. And the focus then can turn back to the use of these funds for the benefit of Native Hawaiians, as they were intended.

But to achieve that end, the delegation — led by U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, chief sponsor of the legislation — needs to keep things simple.

That means Hawai'i's senators and representatives, now redrafting the bill, must not bank on more political capital than there really is.

Because of previous opposition from the Bush administration and Capitol Hill Republicans, the bill had been constrained. For example, Native Hawaiians were to be treated the same under criminal and taxation laws as anyone else.

And land claims by Native Hawaiians were to be confined to the negotiations between the state and Native Hawaiian representatives.

Despite objections from some quarters, these changes would help uncomplicate the functioning of government in a state where native and non-native populations intertwine.

And it would make more sense tactically to leave the bill intact. This will make it easier to recommit the votes already in hand from supporters and avoid roiling the opponents.

It's true that there are now more comfortable margins for the majority Democrats in House and Senate to secure passage of the bill. And President-elect Barack Obama already has stated his support for federal recognition, so the White House will send no thumbs-down signals to torpedo the bill.

But the country now is struggling with deep economic malaise. Any excess ballast in the bill could sink it. What's most critical is establishing the political status Hawaiians need to protect program funding from charges of unconstitutionality on the basis of race.

The process of reorganizing will be complex, with logistical and legal hurdles to overcome. But the ultimate goal is to enable the final settlement of grievances dating back more than a century to the overthrow of the monarchy.

And that's a worthwhile aim, in the interest of redressing injustice as well as bringing the unproductive battles over entitlements to a close.