{"id":242326,"date":"2023-08-21T12:02:41","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T11:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=242326"},"modified":"2023-08-20T05:33:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T04:33:58","slug":"continuity-of-the-hawaiian-national-consciousness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/08\/continuity-of-the-hawaiian-national-consciousness\/","title":{"rendered":"Continuity of the Hawai’ian National Consciousness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Hawaiian Flag with the UK Commonwealth symbol left top<\/p><\/div>\n

`Ano `ai me ke aloha `e na hulu manu like `ole.\u00a0 <\/em>O wau no `o P\u014dk\u0101 Laenui.<\/em>\u00a0 He Hawai`i au.<\/em><\/p>\n

(In the spirit of aloha, I great you, birds of many feathers. I am P\u014dk\u0101 Laenui.\u00a0 I am Hawai`i.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

21 Aug 2023 – <\/em>A nation never dies until its national consciousness dies.\u00a0 It dies not by a conquest by another, by a loss of territory, by a takeover of a foreign power, by an overthrow of the government, by a change of its economic system, or by the colonization of a foreign people.\u00a0 It dies when people have lost consciousness of themselves.<\/p>\n

Often that consciousness is enlivened and commemorated by the nation\u2019s sacred times or events of its past, events which are pulled out from its ancient memory or its more recent times.\u00a0 For us in Hawai`i, we recall the great travels of our ancestors who journeyed the world from the Middle East across Asia, the vast Pacific, to the Americas and back to Hawai`i, or of the recent travels of Hokule`a [i]<\/a>carrying modern explorers tracing ancient paths or finding new ones, breaking the bounds of our imaginations previously tethered by conditions which had stolen such knowledge and memories.<\/p>\n

At times that consciousness may be commemorated by the nation\u2019s sacred places, by the preservation of sites which represented significant events, the places of one\u2019s national capitols, places of religious significance such as temples, mosques or churches, battlefields which may have altered the course of the nation, or of an island, a valley, a mountain, stream, or other significant places.<\/p>\n

In addition to such sacred times and sacred places, a nation\u2019s national consciousness is also contained in the stories and songs of the people, in the surface and the deep cultures of the people, in their ancient healing methods, in their dances, arts and crafts, and the many other droplets of such memories which is a constant reminder to the people of the nation.<\/p>\n

There are several ways of seeing a place, predominantly through the eyes of a conquering population who only see a place as one for replacement, for economic tyranny, for possession, or through the eyes of visitors who come with no deep commitment but for merely curiosity into different life-patterns of inhabitants of the place.\u00a0 There is yet another perspective, from a people who continuous to carry a national consciousness of that nation and see the life pattern of that nation in strong and weakened times, as they try to adjust to the needs of that nation and to their personal needs and conditions, constantly negotiating for the survival of both their national existence and for themselves. In this confluence of peoples, there are also many \u201ccrossovers\u201d beginning from a conquering population to visitors and to taking up the role of carrying on the national consciousness of the nation.<\/p>\n

Ka L\u0101 ho`iho`i EA, [ii]<\/a>the day of the return of life of the nation\u201d is one of those events which is yet another occasion which nurtures the national consciousness of Hawaii.\u00a0 It is a day to commemorate a historical event of great significance, of the return by the British nation of the stolen powers of government of Hawaii during the Kingdom of Hawaii in the reign of Kamehameha III (King Kauikeaouli)[iii]<\/a> in 1843, but it also serves as an important reminder that we are now under the possession of another foreigner, the United States of America, who by sneak attack upon the shores of Hawaii in 1893, landed military forces here, and participated in an overthrow of the reigning constitutional monarch, Queen Lili`uokalani, and through various manipulations of the domestic laws of the United States, in cooperation with the puppet governments, the Provisional Government and the Republic of Hawaii, manipulated by that US government, has since declared that it is the lawful possessor of this Hawaiian nation, of all its territories, and of all its people!\u00a0 Ka \u00a0L\u0101 ho`iho`i EA serves as a day of rededication for Hawaiian Nationals who maintain their continued loyalty and allegiance to the Hawaiian nation, and continue to call upon the current colonizer to abide by the laws of nations and return the theft of Hawaiian sovereignty.<\/p>\n

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The 8 Main Islands of the Hawaiian Archipelago Composed of 137 Islands — US Geological Survey<\/p><\/div>\n

The Look in the Lady\u2019s Eyes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert Beaumont\u2019s song of Emma DeFries tells of the Light in the Lady\u2019s Eyes.\u00a0 I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with her and look into her eyes as she told me of her history, especially of living at Lualualei where the U.S. military has established its ammunition depot and Naval radio station to communicate with submarines across the world, land over which she and other Hawaiian homesteaders had once lived with their precious and ancient Hawaiian memorabilia.\u00a0 One night, the U.S. military came to their homes and gave them notice that they needed to move out of that location within 1 week or all their possessions would be taken and destroyed, for the military was here to set up their military installations, their ammunition depot and communication station. A week passed, the military came, and all their possessions still left in their homes were destroyed.<\/p>\n

She carried so much of the consciousness of our nation, assuring me that the sovereignty of Hawaii would return, especially during the generation she saw as she spoke with me.\u00a0 The lesson she taught me was, \u201cwatch those eyes\u201d, eyes which had recorded so much of her history and memory, and now including me in her sight, shared with me what she had seen, and making me a part of that great history and memory from those eyes.\u00a0 In that way, she maintained the continuity of her and the nation\u2019s consciousness, passing on to me and I to you.<\/p>\n

As I have wondered through these valleys of the Leeward coast of O`ahu, I come cross a lot more \u201ceyes of Hawaiian national consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1978, having successfully defended the case of State v. Pulawa [iv]<\/a>in which the State and the Federal Strike Force came into Hawaii to eliminate the Hawaiian-Samoan control over the Hawaiian underworld, we were able to thwart that takeover by answering the State\u2019s charges of double murder-kidnapping by refusing to answer the charges and instead challenging, \u201cwho are you foreigners to judge our people by your foreign laws, we are not North Americans, we are Hawaiians.\u201d\u00a0 After winning the Pulawa case, we fought the Federal Court in the attempt to remove my law license by the Federal Judge (which failed and I continue to practice law in all courts), we fought the eviction of the homeless throughout this leeward coastline, as well as the arrest of the Makua[v]<\/a> beach people for trespassing upon State lands in their return to their homes after Hurricane Iwa had blown them off the beach.\u00a0 All these cases were fought on the grounds of our history and the continued existence of our Hawaiian nation.<\/p>\n

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A great warrior, diplomat and leader, King Kamehameha I united the Hawaiian Islands into one royal kingdom in 1810, after years of conflict. His name, Kamehameha, means the lonely one, a reference to his being raised in his early years in secrecy, hidden away in a valley away from others due to fear of the threat to his life because of the well known prophecy that he was the child to unite the islands.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0Papa `Aila<\/strong><\/p>\n

Papa `Aila was very highly respected as a kupuna, already beyond his 70\u2019s, and a teacher among the eldest of our Na Kupuna who gathered at the Makaha Hawaiian Cultural Center across the Cornet Store nestled along side the condominium building there on the beach.\u00a0 Papa `Aila would tell of his experience as a child living in Wahiawa, remembering Queen Lili`uokalani coming to their Lili`uokalani Church and how they would all greet the Queen with gifts, bowing deeply (kulou) in their presentations to her, \u201cjust like in the movies\u201d he would say.<\/p>\n

Yes, he remembered his Queen.<\/p>\n

He recalled the saddest day of his life when in 1959, he heard that Hawaii had become a State of the United States,[vi]<\/a> and he was told that the Hawaiian nation was now forever dead!\u00a0 He thought all was lost!<\/p>\n

But he now had a renewed hope, hearing of our refusal to let the history die, and the call for Hawaiian sovereignty being demanded.\u00a0 He was an early and enthusiastic joiner in the call for Hawaiian sovereignty, himself re-emerging as a proud Hawaiian National.\u00a0 He translated our prayer into the Hawaiian language, \u201cO Akua, return to us our face, give us the strength to rip this US mask from our flesh, give us the strength to reclaim what is ours, our sovereignty, let us be Hawaiians in our own homeland.\u00a0 Amene\u201d<\/p>\n

The light in Papa Aila\u2019s eyes carried his memory of our Hawaiian nation.<\/p>\n

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Lili’uokalani, the latest Monarch of Hawaii, was deposed by US marines on 17 Jan 1893 and died on 11 Nov 1917 under ‘house arrest’ at the Royal Iolani Palace in Honolulu. She was 79 years old.<\/p><\/div>\n

Arthur Cathcart, lived on School Street above the freeway before the Liliha Street Intersection.\u00a0 He was suffering great breathing difficulty, but he still made every effort to catch the bus or some other transportation to join the meeting of kupunas at Makaha[vii]<\/a>.\u00a0 He too remembered Lili`uokalani, and the carriage she would ride, driven by a man in a suit with his white sleeves puffed at his wrist, as he guided the horse, along School Street.\u00a0 As the carriage passed along that street, you could hear from the houses, the voices of the Hawaiian people chanting their greetings to Queen Lili`uokalani.\u00a0 She would have the driver stop so she could hear the Oli[viii]<\/a> from the homes, and when completed, she would return the greeting with her own Oli before the carriage would move on.\u00a0 By telling his story, Mr. Cathcart retained and passed on his Hawaiian National consciousness to me and to you.<\/p>\n

Ned Burgess was born and for his early years, raised in the Hualalai mountainside above Kailua, Kona.\u00a0 After his great great grandmother, P\u014dk\u0101 Laenui[ix]<\/a> died, the family moved to Honolulu and lived on Auld Lane, named after a Scottish ancestor to Hawaii.\u00a0 One of the places he played was at the Bishop Museum, sliding down the bannisters, where at times he had seen Queen Lili`uokalani visiting there.\u00a0 Mr. Burgess carried his Hawaiian nationalism in the music he played and enjoyed, in joining with other \u201cold time Hawaiians\u201d in speaking the language in a discussion of things of old Hawaii and sharing stories he had accumulated over his years.\u00a0 He recovered his Hawaiian national consciousness in the late 1980s following retirement as he gathered with other folks and re-engaging in discussions, marches and demonstrations reinvigorated his identity as a Hawaiian.<\/p>\n

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U.S. troops from USS Boston across the street from \u2018Iolani Palace 17 Jan 1893 date of the US coup d’\u00e9tat.<\/p><\/div>\n

A.K. Chong (Sam Cheong) \u2013 born and raised in Kipahulu, Maui, graduate of Lahainaluna school.\u00a0 His racial ethnicity was Pake, (Chinese).\u00a0 His national identity was Hawaiian.\u00a0 He spoke both the Hawaiian and the Chinese languages fluently. He also spoke English.\u00a0 Even at age 80, he would catch the country bus line from his home in China town out to Makaha to join the other kupuna at the cultural learning center meetings.\u00a0 At times, I would see him at Mauna`ala [x]<\/a>or at Iolani Palace[xi]<\/a> at various ceremonial activities.\u00a0 In one occurrence, I asked him, \u201cA.K. Chong, what are you doing here?\u201d\u00a0 He turned to me and in a very dignified manner, said, \u201cI have come to pay my respects to my Kings and my Queens.\u201d\u00a0 He was proud of his Hawaiian nationality and meant to show that pride whenever and wherever he could, especially when he came across Hawaiian language speakers and he could engage them in the native language.<\/p>\n

There were so many more kupuna who carried this memory and abiding love for the Hawaiian nation, whose stories I wish we had the time to recall, and to hear of your stories but perhaps for another day and time.\u00a0 Here, I only mention the names of some of the folks I would have loved to tell you about.\u00a0 Perhaps you remember them too. Or of others from your community.<\/p>\n

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