The article on Native Hawaiian Nationalism presents an emotional yet powerful argument regarding the Native’s drive toward sovereignty. The Hawaiian kingdom’s overthrow in 1893 and its annexation to the United States five years after that became the impetus for the political and cultural suppression of Native Hawaiians. The dominant Republican Party and the haole oligarchy’s unrestrained control over government, educational, transportation and economic systems pushed the limits of the politically active Hawaiians so much so that they decided to form the opposing Democratic Party.
It was only after over fifty years later that Hawaii became a state, which transformed the nation into a tourism and land-based economy. However, the commercial development that came with this urbanization threatened the rural Hawaiian communities. In this time and age of technology where the world is virtually one global village, I strongly believe that national identity should frontline our priorities. The perpetuation of a civilization, the Hawaiian culture in this case, is fundamental in marking that sense of identity among its peoples.History has proven that colonialism’s genocidal ramifications are not exclusive to Hawaii alone. Other colonized countries have also been rid of their traditional communities and worst, the natives driven out of their ancestral homelands.
As a natural self-defending mechanism, threatened communities are left no other option but to uprise against this oppression and thus in 1970, the Hawaiian movement was formed. The Hawaiian movement was the forefront defending organization for the land-rich but capital-poor Hawaiians who were victims of land and anti-evictions struggles.Add to these the military expropriation and land abuses that the author has explicitly enumerated to support the argument on the state’s drive for sovereignty. For one thing, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), an extension of the state that is supposedly the advocate of native Hawaiians, is anything but.
Without self-governing status or statutory rights to inhibit exploitation of native Hawaiian culture, the OHA only manifests its pro-Hawaiian position in theory. Apparently, the OHA’s stained reputation among Hawaiians is a result of its public scandals including misuse of money, misrepresentations and mismanagements.Still, the natural instinct of a nation for self-preservation came to be realized by the watchdog association Ka Lahui Hawaii. This sovereignty group, which has documented trust land abuses and consequent recommendations, has a membership growth rate to show for the initiative towards self-determination. Whichever way to call it, nationhood, sovereignty, nationalism, there is only one call heeded by native Hawaiians.
And that call is the Native’s right to self-determination. Regardless of group or race you belong to, there is no price in the comfort of knowing that you are represented in the community and the country.This is what the Ka Lahui had tried to address amidst the bootless efforts of the OHA. Their strong and prevailing nationalist structure, backed by unsurpassed proposals for achieving the goal of independence, is a light in the dark for many natives.
In the author’s closing statement, we can sense the optimism that comes from the hope given by sovereignty movements like the Ka Lahui. Only a native would appreciate the beauty of once again living in a decolonized Hawaii—where taro farming, fishing and spoken Hawaiian language are unexploited ways of living.While it did not take a century to spark the nationalism among Hawaiians to regain their kingdom, the movement towards independence is not a far cry for the younger generations. This article serves as an eye-opener to the unknowing tourist, who can only bask in the Maui sun and swim in the pristine waters of Hawaiian’s tourist resorts, while the native Hawaiian longs to free its lands and resources from State control. Perhaps in time, with more concrete programs and steadfast unity among sovereignty groups, this long-time dream of Hawaiian sovereignty can still become a reality.
