{"id":241168,"date":"2023-08-07T12:01:53","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T11:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=241168"},"modified":"2023-08-07T08:55:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T07:55:59","slug":"international-forgiveness-day-7-july-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/08\/international-forgiveness-day-7-july-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"International Forgiveness Day\u20147 July 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA thief in judgment of itself<\/em>.\u201d — Puanani Burgess, 1977<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

`Ano `ae me ke aloha e na hulumanu like `ole.\u00a0 `O wau no `o P\u014dk\u0101 Laenui, He Hawai`i au. <\/em>
\n(Yes, with love for all the different types of animals. I’m Pok\u0101 Laenui, I’m Hawaiian.)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The Theft of the Hawaiian Islands Kingdom by the United States of America
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Welcome to this beautiful valley of Lu`alu`alei.\u00a0 Notice how the mountains of Ka`ala surround this valley from what we know locally as Pu`ea or the Wai`anae valley all the way to the major part of Nanakuli.\u00a0 If one could lift the island of Kaho`olawe, one could place it in this valley, given the size of Lu`alu`alei.\u00a0 But perhaps we could discuss the geography of this place on some other occasion.<\/p>\n

Our topic for today is Forgiveness<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I borrow from a story shared with me from the late Bishop Desmond Tutu who called this the Mandela bicycle story.\u00a0 I visited Bishop Tutu on one of his travels to Hawaii, and this is the story I now share with you.<\/p>\n

There was a boy who had a bicycle which gave him great joy riding and sharing with his friends.\u00a0 The bicycle gave him much needed transportation for him and his family.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

One day, someone stole his bicycle.<\/em><\/p>\n

The boy hunted for his lost bicycle.\u00a0 He went around his village to see if anyone knew who had taken his bicycle.\u00a0 He could not find the culprit.<\/em><\/p>\n

Several months went by.\u00a0 Another boy, a friend to the one who lost his bicycle, approached the boy and said he was carrying a huge burden on his consciousness and he needed the first boy to relieve him of this burden.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

He told the boy that only he could give him relief, that he wanted to tell the boy something and wanted him to forgive the confessing boy.\u00a0 So, the first boy, the one without the bicycle, says, yes, he hopes to help relieve the second boy of his burden.<\/em><\/p>\n

The second boy then confesses that he stole the first boy\u2019s bicycle.<\/em><\/p>\n

First boy says, thank you for confessing that you had stolen my bicycle, and having confessed, I forgive you.<\/em><\/p>\n

The second boy says how much he appreciates being forgiven, gets up and proceeds to walk off.<\/em><\/p>\n

The first boy says, \u201cBut wait!\u00a0 Where\u2019s my bicycle?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Forgiveness is a fundamental ingredient in the formula for healing and bringing about peace, but is that all that is needed?\u00a0 Even if a Queen should write a beautiful prayer in a song, telling us not to hold on to anger and pain but to forgive, is that enough, or is forgiveness merely one of the important ingredients in the formula for healing?<\/p>\n

One does not walk around with a magic \u201cforgiveness wand\u201d and simply say, \u201cforgive, forgive, forgive.\u201d\u00a0 I suggest forgiveness must be a two-way street.\u00a0 Around forgiveness, there must be other considerations.\u00a0 There must be a confession, there must be a sincere request to be forgiven. There must be an analysis or review of the full extent of the taking and the injury which ensued because of the injury.\u00a0 There must be a fair remedy.<\/p>\n

How would we apply this concept here in Hawaii, with this grand theft standing before us, the theft of the Hawaiian sovereign and independent nation since 1893, over 130 years ago, and counting?<\/p>\n

The US Congress and President Clinton passed a law confessing to their deeds of theft, but that confession was limited only to the native Hawaiians and not to all the people who lost their nation!\u00a0 And with that confession, the U.S. \u201cstill holds on to the bicycle!\u201d\u00a0 There has been no acceptance and forgiveness by the Hawaiian nationals–including the natives–and others.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Let us make a quick accounting of what was stolen by this colonization that started in 1893.<\/p>\n

First, of course are the reins of government.\u00a0 Also taken, was a people\u2019s language, control over one\u2019s population, over one\u2019s lands such that the US government now controls 1\/3 of the Hawaiian Islands and claims jurisdiction over the 200-mile exclusive economic zone, over our education system, our international trade and economic development, the civil and criminal laws over these islands,\u2026 the list is endless.\u00a0 Ask a person enslaved for 130 years what he has lost, and you can begin with his roots and come to the same endless list.<\/p>\n

If you live in Hawaii and speak of forgiveness, ask yourselves \u201cwhat is that two-way street of forgiveness for the present colonization of Hawaii?<\/em>\u201d I leave the answer to you.<\/p>\n

Mahalo for your kind invitation to give some brief remarks on this occasion.<\/p>\n

Aloha `aina<\/p>\n

_________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

Talk at the Lokahi Cultural Center in Wai`anae, Honolulu, Hawaii<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>P\u014dk\u0101 Laenui<\/em>\u00a0is an attorney, founding member of the\u00a0<\/em>TRANSCEND Network<\/a>,\u00a0and lives in Hawai\u2019i.\u00a0He is <\/em>Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Hawaiian Affairs and <\/em>is regarded as the father of the modern Hawaiian Sovereignty movement having brought the issue in the Hawaii and Federal Courts since 1977 and taken that case to the UN via the Indigenous People’s hearing.\u00a0 He was the primary spokesperson for the World Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Pacific Asia Council of Indigenous Peoples from 1984 to 1992.\u00a0 He was noted as one of five pioneers of the development of Indigenous People’s Rights at the UN General Assembly.\u00a0 He is the latest chairperson of the Native Hawaiian Convention, an elected body of native Hawaiians to develop models of Hawaiian sovereignty to propose to the native Hawaiian constituents.\u00a0 This convention has been de-funded by the State of Hawaii and its domestic entity, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, while the convention was considering a proposal for a model of independence from the USA.\u00a0 He has been associated with Professor Emeritus Johan Galtung as a co-instructor at the University of Hawaii and has conducted extensive interviews with him on public radio, commercial radio and community television.\u00a0 He continues to practice law in Hawaii.\u00a0 His email is <\/em>plaenui@hawaiianperspectives.org<\/em><\/a> and website at <\/em>www.hawaiianperspectives.org<\/em><\/a> which contains most of his writings.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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