Hawai'i: "America's Tibet" - By David Ingham, Amy Marsh & Kukauakahi Ching

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>[hawaii-nation] Hawai'i: "America's Tibet" - By David Ingham, Amy

>Marsh & Kukauakahi Ching

>Fri, 02 Apr 2004 20:49:53 -0000

>

>Now published in April 1-15, 2004 issue of Hawai'i Island Journal,

>and eventually will be viewable online at

>http://www.hawaiiislandjournal.com.

>

>AMERICA'S TIBET

>By David Ingham, Amy Marsh & Kukauakahi Ching

>

>In 1959, as the Chinese massacred civilians in its violent

>annexation of Tibet, another powerful country was putting the

>finishing touches on its takeover of a peaceful former ally. That

>ally was a constitutional monarchy which had declared its neutrality

>as early as 1850, a country accepted and

>recognized by over fifty other nations. That ally was the Kingdom of

>Hawaii.

>

>On January 17, 1893, Queen Lili`uokalani was forced from her

>throne by American businessmen and business-minded missionary sons,

>with the help of John L. Stevens, the American Minister to the

>Hawaiian Kingdom, and the American navy. The overthrow was violent,

>unjustified, insulting, and in complete violation of international

>law. U.S. President Benjamin Harrison apparently gave unofficial

>encouragement to the conspirators in 1892 and after the overthrow he

>presented their annexation petition to the U.S. Senate. But incoming

>President Grover Cleveland was appalled. He withdrew the petition

>before the Senate could act, called for an investigation, and issued

>a powerful statement to reinstate the queen and the rightful

>government. But the treasonous provisional government refused to

>comply. President Cleveland was also opposed

>by powerful interests within the United States who were loathe to part

>with their juicy prize.

>

>In 1898, approximately 29,000 Hawaiians--more than half the adult

>Hawaiian population--signed and presented a petition protesting

>annexation to the United States. Congress ignored them. Despite the

>petition evidence to the contrary, it was far more lucrative for

>Congress to accept the assurances of missionary lobbyists who

>claimed the Hawaiians were eager for annexation.

>

>Our motives for acquiring Hawaii were similar to China's

>motives for acquiring Tibet. We could, therefore we did. Like China,

>we justified our aggression by the pretense of modernizing a

>backwards people. To this end, the U.S. relied on policies of deceit

>and decades of legal and social repression. Hawaiian children were

>taught that they were lazy and no good. The beautiful Hawaiian

>language, hula, and other sacred cultural practices were made

>illegal. Like Tibetans, Hawaiians are second class citizens in their

>own home. Native Hawaiians suffer from denial of human and national

>rights that have resulted in the poorest health, employment,

>education, incarceration, youth suicide, and economic statistics of

>any group in Hawaii.

>

>Due to the recent renaissance of Native Hawaiian culture and a

>new emphasis on historical accuracy, Native Hawaiians (na kanaka

>maoli)now know that the substantial theft of their nation and most of

>its land and assets was unjus tified, illegal, and in violation of

>treaties promising perpetual friendship between the United States and

>the Kingdom of Hawaii. On the mainland we might say all in the past

>but this matter is hardly a done deal for Native Hawaiians and

>descendants of Hawaiian nationals. They want their country back.

>Native Hawaiians are, and have always been, emotionally and

>spiritually connected with their aina (the land). Now they reclaim

>their rightful political connection. As far as theyre concerned, the

>Kingdom still exists, though illegally occupied. They are its

>subjects.

>

>Experts who are familiar with legal aspects of the case for

>Hawaiian independence agree with their assessment. For example, three

>years ago a citizen of the occupied kingdom presented a Hawaii case

>to the international Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

>After consideration of the case, the court recognized the continuity

>of the Kingdom of Hawaii and flew the Kingdom's flag among those of

>other nations.

>

>Experts say the overthrow and annexation are both in clear

>violation of international law. Even the 1959 Statehood vote violated

>United Nations rules under which the vote was supposedly conducted.

>First, American citizens and the military occupation forces should

>not have been allowed to cast ballots. Second, eligible voters should

>have been given at least three choices, such as:

>independence (including free association as an independent member of

>a commonwealth); remaining an occupied territory; or incorporation

>into the United States. But on the ballot, statehood was the only

>option.

>

>Few American citizens are aware of the true status of

>our vacation paradise. We are oblivious to the consequences of our

>colonization and economic and cultural rape of Hawaii. We are

>ignorant of the devastating price Hawaiians continue to pay as

>inhabitants under occupation.

>

>After the overthrow, the United States quickly transformed its

>once self sufficient, prosperous, and independent ally into a

>floundering, unsuccessful commercial and military venture. Whereas the

>Hawaiians had ingeniously managed and sustained their limited island

>resources, fisheries, and agriculture for nearly two thousand years,

>the Western usurpers quickly replaced these proven agricultural and

>social systems with those better suited to American interests. Such

>practices accelerated the depletion and degradation of Hawaii.

>Residents became dependent on American imports, a burgeoning tourist

>industry, and a growing dependence on the military economy. This in

>turn increased commercial, military and residential development, which

>caused still further degradation and depletion. This vicious cycle

>continues unabated.

>

>The United States finally admitted some of its culpability a

>century after the overthrow. In 1993, Congress formally apologized to

>Hawaiians (spurred by uncertainty over title to nearly half the land

>in Hawaii). The Apology Resolution PL 103-150 included a commitment by

>Congress to reconcile with Hawaiians. Congress also admitted the

>illegal nature of the damagedone to the Kingdom of Hawaii. And, of

>paramount importance, the Apology Resolution acknowledged

>that Hawaiians have never given up their rights to sovereignty or

>relinquished title to their land.

>

>The Apology Resolution was a top story in Hawai’i, but

>only a blip in the mainland press. Nevertheless, some policy makers

>began to take note of the resolutions implications. Perhaps to

>undermine growing international awareness of Hawaii's true status or

>perhaps as a last ditcheffort to retain control of Hawaii's assets,

>Congress and the Departments of the Interior and Justice

>began a process in 1999 to implement a superficial semblance of the

>reconciliation called for in the Apology Resolution. This process has

>produced six versions of what are known as the Akaka bills and most

>recently as the Akaka-Stevens bill. These bills propose a federally

>recognized "domestic dependent" Hawaiian government that would

>eventually negotiate Hawaiians's claims

>with the Federal government through the Department of the Interior.

>

>It's important to note that many Hawaiian organizations

>and State agencies are dependent on federal benefits and have thus

>undertaken an expensive lobbying and educational pro-Akaka-Stevens

>campaign to gain Congressional, Hawaiian, and Native American support

>for the bill. This well funded campaign, led by the Office of

>Hawaiian affairs and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

>(among others), gained extra momentum by (so far unsuccessful) attacks

>on Hawaiian benefits in the courts. Unfortunately the ambitious

>lobbying and educational campaigns conducted by these federally

>dependent agencies is profoundly tainted by misinformation, half

>truths, and outright lies.

>

>Grass roots efforts by Hawaiian nationalists have exposed the

>deceit embedded in the promotion of the Akaka bills. They have also

>exposed unethical relationships between some of the officers of these

>agencies and Alaska Native organizations seeking to secure oil deals

>in congress. In addition to exposing this corruption, grass roots

>legal efforts have also exposed ongoing malfeasance and misfeasance

>within the Department of the Interior.

>

>The Department of the Interior has been deemed an unfit trustee

>by a federal judge. Secretaries of the Interior, under both Clinton

>and Bush administrations, have been cited for contempt of court and

>for perpetuating fraud on the court in the disappearance of as much as

>$137 billion dollars in Indian assets and 40 million acres of Indian

>land (in the ongoing Cobell vs. Norton case).

>

>If the Akaka-Stevens bill is passed, Hawaiians will be

>negotiating a claims settlement agreement in a process that has

>historically resulted in grossly unfair settlements. For example, the

>Alaska Native Claims settlement act resulted in Alaskans relinquishing

>9/10ths of their homeland for less than three dollars an acre. Should

>the Akaka bill turn the Hawaiian nation into a domestic

>dependent government, Hawaiians can expect any portion of their

>homeland they are allowed to use and occupy (as a result of

>negotiations) to be held in federal trust, with the Department of the

>Interior managing the account. This hardly seems desirable or

>rational, given the Department's record.

>

>Under Akaka-Stevens, the lands that will be given up by Hawaiians

>to the United States through the Department of Interior will be

>quiet titled by removing the present cloud (of Hawaiian claims) on

>them. Conversely, those lands "held in trust" will forever be

>susceptible to further seizure by the United States, at its whim, at

>any time, and without compensation.

>

>Hawaiians don't want to be cheated any more than they have

>been already. They are now aware of the history of unfair outcomes

>and permanence of claims settlements that have resulted from

>negotiations similar to that offered in the later versions of the

>Akaka bill. Given these facts, why should we expect Hawaiians to

>trade their present status as full citizens for a secondary

>citizenship (or wardship) that the bill would also accomplish?

>Hawaiians are wise to reject the federal offer in favor of full

>restoration of the national rights they have been denied.

>

>The tragic plight of the Tibetan people and the spiritual

>leadership of the Dalai Lama has inspired the creation of Free

>Tibet chapters in many universities and communities in the U.S. But

>the plight of Native Hawaiians is no less dire, and the cultural

>traditions and practical and spiritual wisdom of Hawaii are no less

>inspiring. Citizens of a sovereign Hawaiian nation will have much to

>offer the world, as they reconstruct their society based on their

>rich cultural heritage. For them, the spiritual legacy of Queen

>Lili`uokalani is a guiding light.

>

>Those of us who combine American citizenship with a commitment to

>humanitarian and progressive activism are strangely blind to the

>Tibet on our own doorstep. This must change. This is our opportunity

>to oppose passage of the Akaka-Stevens bill and support the Hawaiian

>Kingdom's just struggle for independence. Free Hawaii. Now.

>

>------

>Kukauakahi is a kanaka maoli cultural practitioner who resides in

>Hawaii. David Ingham is a proponent of Hawaiian Independence and is

>active in research and writing on the subject. He is former resident

>of Hawaii. Amy Marsh is a writer and student of Hawaiian culture.

>_____________

>

>

>Update on workshop:

>Hawaiian Cultural Practices and

>The Struggle for Independence

>

>Workshop with

>Clarence Kukauakahi Ching,

>kanaka maoli cultural practioner and activist from Hawaii, and

>David Ingham researcher, writer, and independence supporter.

>

>Friday, May 7, 7-9 PM

>Part One: A Baited Trap: The Akaka-Stevens Bill and Federal

>Recognition

>

>Part Two: The Three R's: Restoration, Reconciliation, Recognition

>Saturday, May 8, 10 AM-5 PM

>Exploring Culture, Vision and Activism

>.

>Language Studies International

>2015 Center Street, Berkeley, CA (near BART)

>$20 for Friday night only. $75 for both days.

>

>Class size limited. Advance registration required.

>To register, or for more information, please contact Amy Marsh via

>email: waihili

>

>Malama the air. Please come fragrance-free to enable people with

>asthma to breathe freely. Mahalo!

>

>Bios of Workshop Panelists

>Clarence Kukauakahi Ching:

>Kukauakahi is active in numerous cultural projects and community

>issues in Hawai'i, seeking always to preserve and strengthen Native

>Hawaiian practices and values, and to foster appreciation and care of

>the aina. In 2002 he co-founded Huaka'i I Na 'Aina Mauna -- group

>hiking in the footsteps of "Ka Po'e Kahiko" on Hawai'i island. He is

>an intervener in the contested Keck Observatories Outrigger Telescope

>case since 2002. From 1992 to 1995 he was part of the Hawai'iLoa

>construction crew and is gearing up to do a video documentary

>about the construction. He was instrumental in placing Kaniakapupu

>(Summer Palace of Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III) on the state and

>federal registers of historic places in 1986 and has promoted

>Uluhaimalama (The Queen's Garden in Pauoa) from the mid-1980s to

>present. He was co-executive producer of the video

>documentary "The 'Aina Remains" (1983). He served as a trustee of the

>Office of Hawaiian Affairs(OHA) from 1986 to 1990. Kukauakahi is a

>graduate of Kamehameha Schools (1954), a graduate of

>Brigham Young University, (major chemistry, minor zoology-1963) and a

>graduate of University of Idaho School of Law (1976).

>

>David Philbrick Ingham:

>David was born in Los Angeles but lived in Kauai during his early

>teens through late twenties. David married in Kauai and his

>children were born there. While living in Kauaa, he developed a deep,

>abiding respect for Hawaiians. In the early 1980's, David began to

>actively research Native Hawaiian history and documents as well as the

>state of Native American affairs on the mainland. After reading the

>1993 Apology Resolution issued by the Clinton administration, which

>stated the Native Hawaiians never did relinquish their land or

>sovereignty, he began to conduct extensive research and analysis of

>the Akaka-Stevens bill. David is outspoken in his assertion that

>federal recognition and passage of this bill will have dire

>consequences for Native Hawaiians. David has been welcomed as a

>speaker by the Living Nation at Iolani Palace (2002), by Hawaiian

>Patriotic League (HPL) on Kauaa (2002), and has

>traveled with Aloha Aina to meet with legislators about the

>Akaka-Stevens bill in March 2003. Much of his work can be found on

>http://www.stopakaka.com.

>

>Pau.

>

>

>

>

>

>

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> - Queen Lili`uokalani

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