...thousands of native Hawaiians, many dressed in red T-shirts emblazoned with the words KU I KA PONO ("justice for Hawaiians"), turned Waikiki's main boulevard into a vast red river to stand up for Hawaiian rights at a time when many feel their rights, lands and entitlements are under attack.

March organizers' and police estimates of participants in the annual parade ranged from 10,000 to 18,000. Afterward, marchers joined a political rally at the Waikiki Shell where activists gave rousing speeches, some groups sought signatures for political petitions and others just enjoyed the Hawaiian food, music and a proud sense of unity despite many differing personal notions of what it is to be Hawaiian.

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There were groups representing the alii societies and trusts, Hawaiian schools, civic societies, sovereignty activists, Hawaiian cultural organizations, environmental groups and families proud to be Hawaiian.

They turned out yesterday to protest development of sacred Mauna Kea, the continued desecration of Hawaiian remains, forcing landowners such as Kamehameha Schools to sell leasehold lands and a dozen other issues that wound the souls of Native Hawaiians.

Some carried ancient fighting spears as others sipped from plastic water bottles. Some wore traditional malo, while others donned modern-day T-shirts.

They rode on scooters, pushed baby strollers, blew conch shells, and some even showed their disdain by carrying the Hawaiian flag upside-down.

But all along the course of the mile-and-a-quarter march, sometimes disparate Hawaiian groups were united in one thing: chanting for justice in Hawaiian and English.

It was the second year that Honolulu police closed Kalakaua Avenue through the heart of Waikiki so Native Hawaiian organizers could stage a "March for Justice" that some see as a massive protest, and others consider a major opportunity for Hawaiians to unite.