The latest spring
summer 2014 collection which re-traces the exotic years of Paul
Gauguin's life, is the most striking example of their stream of
consciousness inspired by the art. The printed fabrics declined on
hoodies, mini dresses and princesse gowns, remind the sarongs and
robes of Haitian women portrayed by the painter: stripes and floral
contrasting patterns, shimmering shades, complementary colors and
jais appliqué are the main themes of the collection, an opulently
concept, applied on extraordinarily contemporary shapes.
Hawaiian hula dancers c. 1885, photographed in J.J. Williams photo studio.
Source: Hawaiʻi State Archives
Anyone familiar with Hawai’i knows that it is the 50th state of the United States, the weather is sunny all year long, we have hula dancers and surfers,
and a TV show called Hawaii 5-0. Besides that though, the relationship
between the U.S., Hawai’i and its native people is a complicated one
that many people may not know about.
Native Hawaiians are a race of people
Hawaiians are not named for the state (Californians, New Yorkers, Texans, etc.) The state is named for the people.
Native Hawaiians, known also as kanaka maoli, are the indigenous people
(and their descendants) of the Hawaiian islands. Their ancestors were
the original Polynesians who sailed to Hawai’i and settled the islands around the 5th Century A.D.
“Native Hawaiian” is a racial classification recognized by the United
States. In the 2010 Census: 527,077 people reported that they are Native
Hawaiian alone or mixed race including Native Hawaiian. There may be as
few as 8,000 pure-blood Native Hawaiians remaining in the world.
They almost became extinct.
The first recorded western contact came in 1778 when Captain James Cook,
an English explorer, sailed on the HMS Resolution into Kealakekua Bay
in Kona on the Big Island of Hawai’i.
It is estimated that between 400,000 and as many as one million Native
Hawaiians were living on the major Hawaiian islands at the time. Because
of the isolation from other land masses and people, diseases known in
the rest of the world were not known in Hawai’i. Within a century, the
Native Hawaiian population had dropped to about 40,000 after deaths from
smallpox, measles, influenza, sexually-transmitted diseases, whooping
cough and the common cold.
Native Hawaiian family c. 1878
Source: Hawaiʻi State Archives
They formed an independent and sovereign nation.
The Kingdom of Hawai’i was
an internationally-recognized monarchy that entered into bilateral
treaties of trade and friendship with other countries including the
United States (1826), Great Britain (1836), France (1839), Denmark
(1846), Hamburg (1848), Sweden and Norway (1852), Tahiti (1853), Bremen
(1854), Belgium and Netherlands (1862), Italy and Spain (1863), Swiss
Confederation (1864), Russia (1869), Japan (1871), New South Wales
(1874), Portugal (1882), Hong Kong (1884), Samoa (1887).
Hawaiian schoolchildren c. 1900
Source: Hawaiʻi State Archives
They were highly literate soon after western contact.
Baibala Hemolele - Holy Bible in Hawaiian
The first Christian missionaries came to Hawai’i in 1820. Hawaiian
children began attending school and learned to read and write in the
Hawaiian language. In 1869, a newspaper article reported that Hawai’i
was the only government from the Pacific area to attend a Paris
exposition. At the event, Hawai’i displayed newspapers,
Bibles, textbooks, books of law, agricultural products and other
examples of ‘civilization’. European visitors were reportedly astounded
that in Hawai’i the common man was taught the same sorts of things that
only European elite of the time were entitled to learn.
Their government was illegally taken over.
A small group of American businessmen with backup from the U.S. military illegally overthrew the Hawaiian government.
Source: Hawaiʻi State Archives
On January 17, 1893 an
illegal overthrow of Hawai’i’s government took place. U.S. Marines from
the USS Boston, two companies of U.S. sailors, and U.S. Government
Minister John L. Stevens landed at Honolulu Harbor
and, along with U.S. and European businessmen, effectuated an illegal
coup against Queen Lili'uokalani. Motive: Greed, control over cheap
land, control over the sugar industry. The businessmen and sugar
planters were led by Sanford Dole who some refer to as a "sugar baron."
Sanfordʻs cousin, James Dole, sometimes called the "pineapple king",
began the pineapple industry in Hawaiʻi and the Hawaiian Pineapple
Company. Sanford Dole is the only American to be president (albeit self-imposed) of an independent foreign country.
Native Hawaiians tried to fight back.
Native Hawaiians tried to fight back through the U.S. “legal process”.
Drawing: "Meeting of Natives at Hilo, Island of Hawaii, Thursday, September 16, 1897 to Protest Against Annexation."
Source: Hawaiʻi State Archives
Hawai’i became a U.S. protectorate while an investigation was done by
U.S. President Grover Cleveland at the written request of Lili'uokalani.
Cleveland and his administration concluded that the overthrow had been
illegal (“a grievous wrong has been done…”). He turned the issue over to
Congress where it languished while the “straw government” in Hawai’i,
who now had Sanford Dole as its President, continued to gain a stronger
hold over the islands.
Meanwhile, Native Hawaiians launched a massive petition drive to stop
the formal annexation of Hawai’i to the U.S. They thought that if
Congress realized that Native Hawaiians did not want to be part of the
U.S., they would restore independence to Hawai’i. Public meetings were
held on the five major islands. Of the known population of 39,000 Native
Hawaiians: 21,269 signed the petition. An incredible majority since
many of the remaining were children.
Lili'uokalani, last Queen of Hawai'i
Source: Hawaiʻi State Archives
Lili'uokalani traveled to Washington D.C. to present her protest and
the petition to Congress. At the time, a trip of this distance took
months by sea and land. All to no avail. Congress had not acted on
President Cleveland’s request and a new Congress came in with the
administration of President William McKinley. By that time, the Spanish
American War was brewing and the U.S. didn’t want to give up Hawai’i’s
prime location in the Pacific. Hawai’i was annexed as a U.S. territory in 1898, along with 1.2
million acres of Hawaiian crown lands that had belonged to the monarchy
and to the nation of Hawai’i. No compensation was paid to anyone.
The Hawaiian language was banned.
Soon after the overthrow, a law was passed to make it illegal to teach
in the schools in anything but the English language. English replaced
Hawaiian as the language of government, business and education.
So began the colonization of the Native Hawaiian people. Children were
punished in school for speaking Hawaiian. Those who spoke Hawaiian in
the home were looked down on. Systematic oppression of the culture and
language took place for decades, and the language was almost lost due to
parents and grandparents who were uncomfortable passing the language on
to younger generations
It was not until a constitutional amendment passed in Hawaiʻi in 1978 (!) that it was once again legal to teach Hawaiian in the school system.
Queen Lili'uokalani wrote the famous song "Aloha Oe". (Translation: Farewell)
Ironically, the only person who saw any jail time from the overthrow was…Lili'uokalani.
In 1895 a clandestine group of supporters of the monarchy attempted an
unsuccessful counter-rebellion against the government led by Sanford
Dole. There was no bloodshed, but weapons were discovered on the grounds
of the royal palace. Lili'uokalani was found guilty of treason…against
the government that had illegally overthrown her. Although she was sentenced to five years of hard labor, she served nine months of house arrest.
It was during this time that she wrote several songs, although she is
best known for the song “Aloha ʻOe” which she composed in 1878.
Lili'uokalani wrote "Aloha ʻOe" as a love song, and it is now commonly
sung as a farewell song.
The territorial government eventually voted her an annual pension of
$4,000. The United States never compensated her for personal lands that
were taken. Lili'uokalani died in 1917 at the age of 79. In her will,
she ordered that all of her belongings be sold with the proceeds going
to the Queen Lili'uokalani Children’s Trust for orphaned and indigent
children. Her trust still operates today. A statue of Lili'uokalani was
erected on the grounds of the Hawai'i state capitol.
The statue of Liliʻuokalani stands at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol, but she faces ʻIolani Palace, her former home.
Tribute to Queen Lili'uokalani by Adam Manalo-Camp
The U.S. officially apologized.
President Bill Clinton signed an official apology to Native Hawaiians
for the illegal overthrow of their nation. Public Law 103-150 was passed
by a joint resolution of Congress in 1993 to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the overthrow. Stipulations in the law included:
1) The overthrow was illegal. Section 1 states: "The Congress...on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893, acknowledges the historical significance of this event which resulted in the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people; (italics added)
2) The U.S. apologizes. "...apologizes to Native Hawaiians
on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the
Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893."
3) Native Hawaiians may have legal claims against the U.S. "Nothing in this Joint Resolution is intended to serve as a settlement of any claims against the United States."
President Bill Clinton signed the official apology to Native Hawaiians.
In the 19th century they were decimated by disease until less than 40,000 survived. In the 20th
century they were colonized and had to learn to live with their
homeland being lost to the largest Super Power in the world, along with
an unlimited influx of tourists and immigrants from other states and
foreign countries. Not to mention having Pearl Harbor bombed during
World War II because America used Hawai’i (and continues to) for its
Pacific fleet. Although they are now only 12% of Hawai'i’s population,
Native Hawaiians continue to work towards finding their rightful place
in modern-day Hawai'i.
Gov. John Waihe'e was the first elected governor of Hawai'i of Native Hawaiian ancestry. He served from 1986-1994.
In 1987, instruction in the Native Hawaiian language began again in
public schools. Today there are 21 public Hawaiian immersion schools in
the state of Hawai'i. Students are of diverse races who choose to be
educated in all subjects in the Hawaiian language.
A renaissance of the Hawaiian culture – language, dance, arts, customs - began in the 1970’s and continues today.
Native Hawaiians continue their quest to regain self-governance in
some form, and rightful compensation for the illegal overthrow and a
nation lost.
Kaulana Na Pua
Published on Jun 4, 2013
Project KULEANA and Kamehameha Publishing present a collaboration of musical KULEANA.
Written
by Ellen Keho'ohiwoakalani Wright Pendergast in 1893. This was a mele
of opposition to the annexation of Hawai'i to the United States.
Originally this mele was titled Mele ʻAi Pōhaku (The Stone Eating Song)
and was also known as Mele Aloha ʻĀina.
Project KULEANA- Sean Nāleimaile, Kīhei Nāhale-a, and Kamakoa Lindsey-Asing Kamehameha Publishing- www.kumukahi.com 4 Miles, LLC.- Dirk Fukushima, Dawn Kanaiaupio, and Ruben Carrillo Dave Tucciarone Kēhau Cachola-Abad Ryan "gonzo" Gonzalez
Resources
Here are some resources if you would like to learn more about the
Native Hawaiian people. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
