History You Didn’t Learn: A Brief Introduction to the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement
In 1893, unconstitutionally backed by the United States Military, American businessmen, motivated by colonial capitalist interests, started the (still on-going) occupation of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The so-called “annexation” of the Kingdom does not hold. There is no treaty, but instead the passage and signage of a joint resolution under the assumption that the land which is now the state of Hawaiʻi was already considered a legal US territory. In fact, the illegally occupied Kingdom of Hawaiʻi did not “legally” become a US territory until April 1900, when the Territory of Hawaii was established under the Hawaiian Organic Act.
Ever since 1893 (it has been argued that ever since the arrival of outsiders in 1778) the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi has been an occupied kingdom in distress. With the arrival of Christian missionaries, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi was banned and hula was forbidden. The practice of Hawaiian culture was outlawed. Cultural genocide ran and runs rampant. With the introduction of tourism to the islands, the theft and commodification of culture was introduced. As well as the leaching of the colonial mentality onto those with female bodies, subservient and exotic. The bombing of our islands for the furtherment of military conquest, the desecration of all our sacred lands to make way for the foreigners wishing to live in “paradise.”
Now, Kānaka find themselves separated from their homelands, in diaspora. Away from their land. Their people. With the on-going pandemic of COVID-19, intergenerational traumas of disease and genocide of our people bleeds to the surface. Foreigners coming to the homelands with no care or consideration for their impact on our Land, our People.
What is Sovereignty?
In this conversation surrounding sovereignty, I believe there are some important things to note. It is important to keep in mind that the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi is an occupied Kingdom. The US Military does not have the consent of the Kānaka Maoli to be in our homelands, building bases, bombing islands. It is also worth mentioning that sovereignty is subjective and can mean different things for different people.
Sovereignty is achieved in different ways and looks differently depending on the individual. Sovereignty deals with the self, the perspectives of self, how the self interacts with the world around it, and how the world around the self interacts with the self. The same is true when talking about Hawaiian sovereignty.
Sovereignty for Kānaka Maoli and sovereignty for the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi looks different to different people; means different things to different people; is achieved differently for different people. Kānakaʻs perspectives on Hawaiian sovereignty differ greatly and are actually one of the most important but heated debated topics among Kānaka.
Sovereignty is a complex issue. I will focus on the two major camps in the discussion of sovereignty: Hawaiian Sovereignty through the process of Federal Recognition or Hawaiian Sovereignty not through the process of federal recognition.
Sovereignty via Federal Recognition
Under the western colonial framework that controls our dominant society, sovereignty is thought to be something that is granted. Sovereignty is defined by Merriam Webster as “freedom from external control.” Under this framework, sovereignty is something that needs to be given, demanded, fought for. There is already an implication of power and dominance. A needs to be free from B. B will grant sovereignty to A. The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi needs to be free from the United States. The United States needs to grant sovereignty to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.
Some people with this belief believe that the best way for Hawaiian sovereignty to be achieved is through the process of Federal Recognition by the United States government. Federal recognition by the US government allows Native communities to enter into a government-to-government relation with the United States. It sets Native communities up to become eligible for funding and services provided by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs. Federal recognition also means that Native communities function as sovereign nations, have inherent rights to self-government, and are able to control their own lands.
In 2009, Senator Daniel Akaka from Hawaiʻi introduced The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 S1011/HR2314 to the 111th House of Congress. Known as the Akaka Bill, this was a monumental step toward Hawaiian sovereignty because it established the groundwork for Native Hawaiians to have the same recognition as other Native tribes. Tribe/Tribes is the word that is used legally and in all governmental texts, however, I hesitate to use this term because not all Indigenous and Native communities use ‘tribe’ to describe themselves or their communities.
The Akaka bill differs, however, because it prohibits Kānaka from establishing casinos, limits gaming, and excludes Native Hawaiians from the Secretary of the Interiorʻs list of tribes eligible for federal benefits because of their legal status as Indians. The Akaka bill also blocks the ability to pursue legal claims against the United States for past wrongs in national courts. Further, this bill helps to create an Office for Native Hawaiian Relations at a national level as well as the Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group, which is meant to be a group for coordination of various agencies and policies, with the specific exclusion of the US Department of Defense.
Federal WRECKognition
Earlier, I mentioned how under this western colonial framework that has been pushed onto us, sovereignty implies dominance and power. A needs sovereignty from B, so B will grant sovereignty to A. But what happens when A needs so-called sovereignty from B, but B never actually had any legal power over A in the first place?
That is the case here, with the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Based on the fact that there was no actual treaty of annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi into the United States, the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was never actually stolen. The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi is still sovereign and has inherent rights to an independent statehood under international law.
What is the thing that keeps Kānaka from practicing their sovereignty? The on-going militarized occupation of our ʻāina.
A lot of Kānaka are against federal recognition because they believe that it bebases our heritage as sovereign peoples and our right to self-determination. Many believe that because over 38,000 of our Kūpuna fought and won against annexation through the Kūʻē petitions, that to be for federal recognition would ruin the legacy of our ancestors.
The Akaka bill aiming for recognition would also push Kānaka Maoli under the guise of “Native American/American Indian” which is not who we are as a people. The Akaka bill does nothing to “right the historical wrongs” of what happened and pushes the illegal overthrow and US military backed coup under a rug. Another big problem with the Akaka bill is that it glosses over the very important issue of land and land rights.
If Hawaiians were to agree to federal recognition, we would consent to giving all of our power, rights, self-determination, and land to the US federal government and the US Secretary of the Interior. With the Akaka bill and Native Hawaiians as a federally recognized “tribe,” the US Secretary of the Interior would become the new sovereign of the Kānaka Maoli, with even more power and control over our land and people.
Those who oppose federal recognition can dream of sovereignty through the framework of restoration. Since the monstrous acts in the 1800s, many Kānaka and non-Kānaka have gathered data, evidence, and political claims against the United States under international law. These claims are factual and must be recognized by the US for true restoration of Hawaiian sovereignty.
I believe that the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement is about so much more than the restoration of true Hawaiian sovereignty and the shedding of the colonial shackles of Amerikkka. To me, the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement is about total abolition and complete destruction of colonial capitalist systems just as much as it is about restoration of sovereignty and betterment of my people.
To me, the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement is transoceanic. It is inexplicably tied with the liberation of our Black siblings and the sovereignty for all other Indigenous Peoples all across Creation. The Hawaiian Sovereignty movement is a call for me to return to my homelands and join my people in the protection and aloha of our ʻāina.
Header graphic: Kesha Peterson / Parachute
Written by Ariel Watanabe
