This blog is about Hawaii's status as an independent country under prolonged illegal occupation by the United States, and the history, culture, law & politics of the islands.
From: “Keanu Sai, Ph.D.” <anu@hawaii.edu> Subject: UPDATE: UN Protest and Demand (South South News) Date: October 26, 2012 7:53:19 AM HST UPDATE. Last week when I was in New York city meeting with an ambassador and an official from the United Nations regarding the Hawaiian Protest and Demand that was filed on August 10, 2012, an invitation was extended to me to do an interview with South-South News about Hawai‘i as a sovereign and independent state. The interview was done this past Friday in New York City and today the video was posted on their website under the title “Experts on Development.” It was a great opportunity to share with a broader audience the prolonged and illegal U.S. occupation of the Hawaiian Islands and the impact it has today from a legal, political and economic standpoint.
South-South News is an initiative launched in February 2010 during the sixteenth session of the United Nation General Assembly High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation (SSC). The purpose for South-South News is to advance the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the sharing of best practices in the areas of South-South and Triangular Cooperation. South-South News disseminates news about Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. South-South News is a digital media platform for the countries of the South that is facilitating, connecting, and publishing news on various efforts in sustainable economic and social development to audiences and multiple constituencies not only in the South but also around the world.
Deep Green Resistance News Service has a good review of Anne Keala Kelly’s film “Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai’i” that ends with this conclusion:
The Hawai’i that exists in our imagination is not the real Hawai’i. The real Hawai’i is a land that is under cultural, psychological, economic, ecological, and military siege. It is a land where sacred places are desecrated every day to humiliate Hawaiian people and prop up a colonial culture. It is one of the most militarized places in the world. It has the highest concentration of GMOs anywhere in the world. It has more endangered species per square mile than anywhere else in the world.
As Trask says in the film, “This is not our natural environment anymore. This is a tourist environment. This is a military environment.”
There is nothing about this that is inevitable. As the existence of this film shows, and as the voices within it make clear, the wrongful occupation of Hawai’i is not something that has to be taken for granted. It is something that can and will be resisted, and it is something that can and will be won. And this powerful film is an important step in making it happen.
The names of more than two thousand people who more than a century ago signed petitions opposing the U.S. annexation of Hawaii will be displayed this month in the heart of Washington, D.C.
The names will be displayed on the center panel of the National Mall next Monday and Tuesday.
Honolulu-based Ka Lei Maile Alii Hawaiian Civic Club is sponsoring the exhibit.
Nearly 40,000 people signed Kue petitions opposing annexation in 1897. The U.S. went ahead and annexed the islands in 1898, five years after businessmen backed by U.S.-Marines overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy.
The civic club is also sponsoring a historical reenactment of a meeting of Hawaiian patriots that will be performed at the National Museum of the American Indian on Sunday and at a Washington hotel on Tuesday.
(I do want to correct a common misrepresentation here that I wish folks on this side of the argument would stop making. It is simply not accurate to say, “Nearly 40,000 people signed the Ku’e petitions opposing annexation in 1897.” There were two petitions, one referred to as the Ku’e petitions opposing annexation, which was signed by about 21,000 people, and another separate petition calling for the restoration of the monarchy which was signed about about 17,000 people. Almost certainly there was significant overlap between these two petitions, although the second one has never been recovered from the archives so there is no way to verify the exact extent of this. So while it is accurate to say there were close to 40,000 signatures between the two petitions, it is very likely not the case that 40,000 people signed the two petitions, let alone the Ku’e petition like this article says. The facts are impressive enough, that the numbers don’t need to be repeatedly misrepresented in this way.)
Now screening at the 2012 Hawaii International Film Festival
Sunday, October 21, 5:45 p.m. at the Dole Cannery Theater E.
Attendance is free, and we’ll have a discussion afterwards with the team. Bring along your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, students, teachers, boss, lover, etc. There is limited seating, so please reserve your seat here.
This film is part of the Pacific Showcase at the Film Festival.
Official Trailer – “Ua Mau Ke Ea: Sovereignty Endures”
Prepare yourself for a virtual mind-walk through the historical plateaus of the Hawaiian Islands. “Ua Mau Ke Ea” takes its audience on a fascinating journey through the history of Hawaii as it examines key events which shaped the laws and politics of Polynesia’s first nation state.
Director: Kau’i Sai-Dudoit
Screenwriter: Peter Sai
Executive Producer: Toni Bissen, Executive Director, Pu`a Foundation
Two screenings of “Hawaii a Voice for Sovereignty” next week If you haven’t seen it yet, now’s your chance…
This documentary by photojournalist Catherine Bauknight, spoken in the words of kanaka maoli, explores the culture of the people and their connection to the land. At the forefront of the film are social, economic, and ecological issues that have developed in Hawaii since the takeover by the U.S. in 1893, revealed in interviews with grassroots indigenous people and scholars. Honolulu: When: Monday, October 8
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: MONDAY MOVIE CAFE at BAMBU Venue 1146 Bethel Street, Honolulu Leon Siu will host a Q&A after the screening. $10 ($5 students) at door. Call (808) 436-4326 for more info
Hilo: When: Saturday October 13, 2012
Time: 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Where: Keaukaha Elementary School Cafeteria
240 Desha Ave, Hilo HI. 96720
Call Agnes Tavares for seating,(808)315-7976. Seating limited.
Keeping in touch and updated on activities regarding the restoration of Ke Aupuni o Hawaii, the Hawaiian Kingdom. Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono. Aloha mai kakou,
This is to bring you up to date on some of the recent activities.
——- Cleveland’s Grandson Visits In early September, George Cleveland, the grandson of President Grover Cleveland visited Hawaii to participate in a series of events honoring the remarkable ties between Queen Lili’uokalani and President Cleveland — a bond created through their efforts to pursuepono for Hawaii in spite of adverse and disappointing circumstances. George Cleveland participated in formal honoring ceremonies at Mauna’ala, ‘Iolani Palace, Washington Place, St. Andrew’s Cathedral as well as several public meetings and seminars. Mahalo to the pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center, the Episcopal Diocese, the Forgiveness Project, the Kingdom of Hawaii and others who sponsored the visit and the activities to honor those who stood for pono for our nation.
——- Onipa’a 2012 This year’s celebration of Onipa’a took place at ‘Iolani Palace grounds on September 2, the Queen’s Birthday. It was a very inspiring and encouraging time of stirring speeches, music, dance and various cultural and educational displays and activities. Next major Hawaiian Kingdom holiday: La Kuo Koa, November 28.
WASHINGTON D.C. (HawaiiNewsNow) – A streamlined bill to grant native Hawaiians federal recognition has passed the Senate committee on Indian affairs. Sen. Daniel Akaka, who chairs the commission, cut his namesake bill from 60 to 15 pages and reduced the amount of terminology to simplify the proposed law.
The Akaka bill now incorporates a new Hawaii state law that created a roll commission that determines who qualifies as a native Hawaiian.
Sen. Akaka is hoping opponents may reconsider a leaner bill.
Sen. John McCain voted against passing the bill out of committee.
It now goes to the Senate floor. The bill has reached this point before but has never received an up or down vote.
Renowned as a vacationers’ paradise, Hawai‘i was once a sovereign nation, with accomplished people that enthusiastically fostered their land with great pride. Then, at the close of the 19th century, American business interests led to the overthrow of the kingdom and its annexation to the United States.
That’s the short version, but new information teaches us there is more to discover, and more to be told, about the events of those turbulent times. Inspired by newly transcribed Hawaiian newspaper articles from that era, Bay Area kumu hula Mark Keali‘i Ho‘omalu and performers from his Academy of Hawaiian Arts will present “Kingdom Denied — Between the Lines,” a dramatic production with song and dance, Saturday at Chabot College in Hayward. With a title evoking feelings of empathy and betrayal, the story of a nation’s stripped independence is meant to educate as well as entertain.
“The recent transcription of Hawaiian newspapers — known as the Awaiaulu Project, led by Puakea Nogelmeier, a professor of Hawaiian language at UH Mānoa, has allowed us to look further into the history of this period,” Ho‘omalu explained. “These papers delivered local news and knowledge and were a place of dialogue and public communication for Hawaiian people. It shows the advancement of the Hawaiian people and their excitement for literacy, with a written language and active publications in place just 50 years after the missionaries arrived. … It speaks to the intelligence of the Hawaiians.”
[…]
“Kingdom Denied — Between the Lines,” 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, Buffington Center for Visual & Performing Arts, Chabot College, Hayward. Tickets are $35 to $70.
