This blog is about Hawaii's status as an independent country under prolonged illegal occupation by the United States, and the history, culture, law & politics of the islands.

By Scott Crawford, Hana, Maui

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Anti-annexation petition names displayed at Queen’s birthday celebration

Here’s some photos from the Queen’s Celebration at Iolani Palace yesterday and a news article from the Star-Advertiser.

Native Hawaiians, other Hawaii residents and visitors gathered to celebrate Queen Liliuokalani’s birthday yesterday with hula, mele and prayer on the grounds of Iolani Palace.

Among others, the girls of Halau La Onohi Mai Haehae, dressed in lavender and white, performed hula and sang songs commemorating the queen, a composer herself of poetry and music, including “Aloha Oe.”

But a number of attendees solemnly walked through roughly 1,500 names handwritten on white placards that lined the lawn of Iolani Palace yesterday, searching for ancestors who may have signed the 1897 petition against the annexation of Hawaii to the United States.

The 1,500 names represent just a few of the more than 21,000 who signed the petition against annexation of Hawaii in 1897. The petition was retrieved from the U.S. National Archives to Hawaii in 1997 by Noenoe Silva.

Check out GoPetition.com’s Famous Petitions in History, the first petition listed is the 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii, and it has a pretty well-written and accurate summary of the history leading up to the petition and it’s significance.

The Hui Aloha Aina for Women and the Hui Aloha Aina for Men now organized a mass petition drive. They hoped that if the U.S. government realized that the majority of native Hawaiian citizens opposed annexation, the move to annex Hawaii would be stopped. Between September 11 and October 2, 1897, the two groups collected petition signatures at public meetings held on each of the five principal islands of Hawaii. The petition, clearly marked “Petition Against Annexation” and written in both the Hawaiian and English languages, was signed by 21,269 native Hawaiian people, or more than half the 39,000 native Hawaiians and mixed-blood persons reported by the Hawaiian Commission census for the same year.

Four delegates, James Kaulia, David Kalauokalani, John Richardson, and William Auld, arrived in Washington, DC on December 6 with the 556-page petition in hand. That day, as they met with Queen Lili’uokalani, who was already in Washington lobbying against annexation, the second session of the 55th Congress opened. The delegates and Lili’uokalani planned a strategy to present the petition to the Senate.

The delegation and Lili’oukalani met Senator George Hoar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the following day, and on December 9, with the delegates present, Senator Hoar read the text of the petition to the Senate. It was formally accepted. The next day the delegates met with Secretary of State John Sherman and submitted a formal statement protesting the annexation to him. In the following days, the delegates met with many senators, voicing opposition to the annexation. By the time the delegates left Washington on February 27, 1898, there were only 46 senators willing to vote for annexation. The treaty was defeated in the Senate.

Honoring Queen Lili’uokalani on her Birthday 9/2

‘Onipa’a: Celebrating Queen Lili’uokalani

Hawaii – Fake State

Waikiki last Friday:

Check out Hawaii – Fake State

‘Aha Kānaka Kū‘oko‘a

Aha Kānaka Kū‘oko‘a

Please come and join us to review Hawaiian presentations that outline possible processes to eventual independence.

Still wondering if Hawaiian independence is possible? Hawaiian leaders of various groups who believe so, have been invited to share their mana‘o with the community at this forum. Presentations will begin at 10 am and continue throughout the day until 3 pm. Each leader will be given 20 minutes to present.

Date: September 25, 2010; Saturday.

Time: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Place: IMIN International Conference Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Campus; Jefferson Hall; Keoni Auditorium.

Co-Sponsored by Ho‘omana ‘ōiwi, Hawai‘i’s People Fund, The Reinstated Hawaiian Kingdom, and The Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Inquiries directed to 808-233-8500. A hui hou!

High court upholds burial site challenges

Native Hawaiians have the right to challenge construction plans that disturb Hawaiian burial sites, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
The court held that native Hawaiians can turn to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to appeal decisions by the Oahu Island Burial Council that approve a developer’s treatment plan for burial remains.
“We’re quite pleased,” Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. lawyer David Kimo Frankel said of the 59-page opinion written by Chief Justice Ronald Moon. “It reinforces that native Hawaiians have a right to a contested case hearing when their cultural practices are impacted.”

Mai Poina: Never forget the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Keanu Sai video: History of Perfect Title Company and the Federal lawsuit

This is the sixth and final of six short videos that cover sections of the Sai v. Obama complaint, to help people to understand federal lawsuit filed on June 1, 2010 against President Obama’s administration in Washington, D.C.

This video covers the history of Perfect Title Company and the Federal lawsuit against the Obama administration from 1995 to the present.

Keanu Sai video: The history of the United States’ prolonged occupation of Hawai`i since 1898

This is the fifth of six short videos that cover sections of the Sai v. Obama complaint, to help people to understand federal lawsuit filed on June 1, 2010 against President Obama’s administration in Washington, D.C.

This video focuses on the history of the United States’ prolonged occupation of Hawai`i since 1898.

Keanu Sai video: United States’ Unilateral Seizure of the Hawaiian Islands (1898)

This is the fourth of six short videos that cover sections of the Sai v. Obama complaint, to help people to understand federal lawsuit filed on June 1, 2010 against President Obama’s administration in Washington, D.C.

This video covers the history of the United States Unilateral Seizure of the Hawaiian Islands in 1898.