Whose independence? Why some Native Hawaiians don鈥檛 celebrate on July 4.
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Noelle Swan Staff writer
| Honolulu
This July Fourth, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu won鈥檛 be celebrating American freedom from Britain. She鈥檒l be commemorating the loss of her ancestors鈥� independence at the hands of Americans.
As Americans gather in backyards and public parks around the United States, Ms. Wong-Kalu听will be performing at the 驶Iolani Palace,听the cultural heart of Honolulu.听There, she will be portraying Hawaii鈥檚 Queen Lili驶uokalani, who was imprisoned in the palace during the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom by American businessmen and plantation owners. Within five years, the U.S. government annexed the islands, setting the stage for Hawaii to become the 50th U.S. state in 1959.
But Ms. Wong-Kalu doesn鈥檛 feel much like an American. She is first and foremost a听Kanaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiian.听
Why We Wrote This
What does American liberty mean? It depends on whom you ask. While Independence Day is a joyful celebration for many Americans, for some Native Hawaiians, it is a painful reminder of the loss of sovereignty.
鈥淚 feel a sense of duty and obligation to Hawaii because Hawaii is my homeland,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t is the heart of my existence. This is the part of my life that is my dominant identity.鈥�
Connecting with that identity has not always been easy for Native Hawaiians. And for some, America鈥檚 Independence Day is a reminder of that separation from their heritage.
Today,听Ms. Wong-Kalu听works to inspire young听Native Hawaiians to learn about their cultural roots as a听kumu, or teacher.听
Kumu Hina, as she is known throughout Hawaii, splits her time between correctional facilities and local schools, where she promotes the Hawaiian values of听aloha: love, honor, and respect.
Talking story
鈥淚鈥檓 going to tell you a story,鈥� Konia Freitas says听with a warm smile, her neck framed by a pink and red lei. 鈥淭alking story is important to us Hawaiians.鈥�
鈥淚 was a little girl and my mother and I were watching TV, and a movie with Hawaiian subject matter was on,鈥� she says. She can no longer recall the precise film but remembers watching as actors portraying the first American missionaries to arrive in Hawaii stepped off the ship, Thaddeus, in 1820.听
鈥淚 was sitting at my mother鈥檚 feet and I heard a sniffling behind me. And I looked up and she was crying,鈥� says Dr. Freitas. 鈥淏ut she wasn鈥檛 crying because she was sad.鈥澨�
鈥溾�楾his is when they stole all of our land,鈥欌�� she recalls her mother seething through furious tears.听
Throughout her childhood, Dr. Freitas heard this refrain with little explanation. It wasn鈥檛 until high school and college when she started branching her studies beyond the sanctioned curriculum that she began to understand the context for that sense of loss. Now the听director of the Kamakak奴okalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai驶i at M膩noa听in Honolulu, she has devoted her work to furthering Native Hawaiian scholarship.
When the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown, the adult literacy rate in the Hawaiian language听was nearly 100%,听says historian Jonathan Osorio.听Protestant missionaries had brought the Roman alphabet and the printing press in the 1820s. Their intent was to spread the study of the Bible. But the Hawaiian people soon began to devour Hawaiian language听translations of classics such as 鈥�20,000 Leagues Under the Sea鈥� and 鈥淚vanhoe.鈥�
In the decades that followed, several Hawaiian newspapers听sprung up with news from听around the islands and the outside world.听听
鈥淎merican 海角大神s brought the written word,鈥� says Dr. Osorio, dean of Hawai驶inui膩kea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at听the University of听Hawai驶i at M膩noa. 鈥淗awaiians made [scholarship] into a national ethos.鈥澨�
A cultural renaissance
Dr. Osorio, Ms. Wong-Kalu, and Dr. Freitas all came of age at a time when many young Native Hawaiians were beginning to reconnect with their history. After decades of emphasis on assimilation into American culture, they were rediscovering cultural traditions of hula, canoe building, and taro cultivation. Interest in learning the native tongue grew, inspired in part by a broadcast in Native Hawaiian over the radio by local Hawaiian language activist Larry Kimura.
Today, children with Native Hawaiian ancestry can enroll in Hawaiian language immersion programs, though instruction in Hawaiian history remains limited in public schools.听A revived sense of scholarship has emerged as Native Hawaiian scholars have carved out a home at the University of Hawai驶i.
And a quiet but emphatic sovereignty movement persists as a steady undercurrent throughout the Native Hawaiian community.
Ikaika听Hussey supports the idea of Hawaiian sovereignty, but not just for Native Hawaiians. He imagines independence as a multicultural, inclusive, and socially democratic nation.
Historically, the Hawaiian Kingdom was an incredibly diverse nation, with citizens from all over Asia Pacific and the world. Mr. Hussey, like the majority of Native Hawaiians, is of mixed heritage.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all mixed race. I鈥檓 half Filipino,鈥� says Mr. Hussey, a journalist and community organizer. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all mixed up 鈥� in a good way.鈥�
On the day the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown, a group of farmers of Chinese descent听from the plantations of western Oahu marched in defense of Hawaii鈥檚 constitutional monarchy, Mr. Hussey says. The United States had just passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 halting immigration of Chinese laborers. Similar sentiments were pervasive throughout many European nations. In Hawaii, they had felt a welcome that they feared would disappear听under U.S. control.
On the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, then-President Bill Clinton formally apologized to the Native Hawaiian people for the U.S.鈥檚 role in that coup.
鈥淭he problem with the apology resolution is that it is aimed at the wrong people: Native Hawaiians,鈥� says Dr. Osorio. 鈥淚n actuality it was the kingdom government, the sovereignty of this multiethnic state that was wronged.鈥�
Dr. Freitas saw hope in that apology that a chance for political independence might soon be in sight.听
But for others, like former state Rep. Hermina 鈥淢ina鈥� Morita, the idea of sovereignty has other meanings.
鈥榃e belong to the land鈥�
鈥淭he issue of sovereignty and taking back the nation is really hard for me to grasp,鈥� says Ms. Morita. 鈥淲hat I see as sovereign is how I conduct myself. It is where I can contribute not only to making a better life for Hawaiians, but for everybody in general.鈥�
She doesn鈥檛 consider herself an activist, but she does see hope in the willingness of people to come out and not just participate in Native cultural practices but to defend them.
On the island of Kauai, where Ms.听Morita lives, Native Hawaiian salt farmers have been lobbying the planning commission to block permits for a helicopter company to operate next to the salt beds on the west side of the island.听The Native community has harvested pa驶akai, or sea salt, from the Hanapepe Salt Ponds since ancient times.
Throughout the islands, Native communities are waging similar battles to protect the natural resources that they see as their birthright. A network of activists across the state is preparing to of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop the Big Island鈥檚 Mauna Kea, a to Native Hawaiians.
Seeing communities come out to help each other protect their natural resources is heartwarming, Ms. Morita says, because it represents a renewed embrace of environmental stewardship.
鈥淲e belong to the land,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the most significant part of being Hawaiian; we are a part of this place.鈥�
This story was produced with the assistance of local reporters Chad Blair,听Anita Hofschneider, and Blaze Lovell at as part of a pilot partnership between the Monitor and local newsrooms.
