Hawaiian Kingdom Independence Blog

Hawaiian music legend Palani Vaughan dies at 72

Friday, December 9th 2016, 12:51 pm HST

By HNN Staff

By Ben Gutierrez, Reporter / Weather Anchor

Palani Vaughan, a Hawaiian music legend and authority on King Kalakaua, has died. He was 72.

The cause of death was not immediately known. Vaughan was discovered unresponsive inside a sauna at the Honolulu Club about 5 p.m. Thursday.

Vaughan was a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and got his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Hawaii.

Among his most popular recordings: “Ipo Lei Manu,” “Ka Mamakakaua,” and “He Pua Wehiwa.”

Kumu Vicky Holt Takamine saw Vaughan frequently, the last time less than a month ago.

“We did a function for the Friends of Iolani Palace,” she said. “And my son was at his daughter’s ho’ike at McKinley High School, and he sang. And he looked fine.”

Vaughan was a performer and composer, and was perhaps best known for his King Kalakaua tributes. Vaughan was also widely known as a historian, and had spent years studying the monarch’s life.

In 2008, Vaughan was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.

And five years later, in an interview with the Maui News, he explained why he’d dropped out of the spotlight in his later years.

“Since 1999 until May of 2012, I’ve been taking care of my parents’ needs. That’s why I dropped out of music. I’ve been getting re-involved and part of that process involves writing new music. I didn’t drop out entirely, as I’ve been involved with the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.”

In 2013, he was the first among several Hawaiian musicians from around the state who appeared in the Project Kuleana video of “Kaulana Na Pua,” a mele of opposition to the U.S. annexation of Hawaii.

“He’s contributed so much to the Hawaiian music scene, with his compositions and his songs,” said Takamine. “He’s really going to be missed.”

China/Taiwan … U.S./Hawaii

Here in Hawaii, the election of Trump as the next U.S. president resulted in an outpouring of support for the notion of restoring Hawaii’s independence. My Facebook feed was filled with the discussion in the days following the election, with many folks who aren’t necessarily everyday outspoken supporters of independence suddenly finding it a very palatable consideration in light of the prospect of a Trump presidency. The groundwork has been laid both within our own political institutions and in the international community, in ways that are much more pervasive than most folks even within the movement realize, to initiate the transition when the time is right, and there is widespread feeling that now is the time.

Well now as president-elect, Mr. Trump has likely taken an action to further the support for Hawaii’s independence in another important location—China.

From the Wall Street Journal:

President-elect Donald Trump spoke with the president of Taiwan on Friday, a conversation that breaks with decades of U.S. policy and could well infuriate the Chinese government.

The conversation between Mr. Trump and President Tsai Ing-wen runs counter to the longstanding effort by Beijing to block any formal U.S. diplomatic relations with the island off China’s coast. Chinese leaders consider Taiwan a Chinese territory, not a sovereign nation.

[…]

There was no immediate response from Beijing, and posts citing foreign media reports about the call were being removed from Chinese social media sites Saturday morning. Reaction could be so severe as to include sanctions against U.S. companies, said Victor Shih, associate professor in the school of global policy and strategy at the University of California at San Diego.

“China and the U.S. have both worked very, very hard to create a status quo where Taiwan has de facto autonomy without any international legal standing,” he said. “And with one phone call—I think—Trump did in fact undermine the status quo quite a bit.”

I have noted a previous incident in which U.S. support for Taiwan reportedly yielded statements of support for Hawaii’s independence among Chinese officials. The idea of “arming” Hawaiian independence groups, as reported in this previous incident, is ridiculous because among other things Hawaiian independence groups are and have always been completely nonviolent, and that it would be stupid and futile. However, “the larger point here is simply that there are certainly elements within the Chinese government who are quite aware of the history of the U.S. claim to sovereignty in Hawaii, and the movement to end the occupation.”

Should the Trump administration continue to pursue diplomatic initiatives that violate the “one-China” policy, it is certainly conceivable that the Chinese government could respond with diplomatic moves of its own in support of Hawaii’s independence. De facto diplomatic relations is one of the foundations international statehood.

These are huge stakes in international diplomacy. Such is Hawaii’s political-strategic importance, the hub of the Pacific. But the main thing now is to continue to plant the seed, and to remember that Hawaii can and must be its own actor in this geopolitical drama, in our own interests, not just a pawn for the interests of others.

Geographically and politically, Hawaii is the fulcrum point between China and the U.S. It is very likely that over the next four years, under the Trump administration, leverage will be applied here. This will be a challenge and an opportunity.

Is Hawaii ready? I think so.