Native Hawaiians blockade historic palace

[Haole Girl]

Source: CNN

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- A native Hawaiian group that advocates sovereignty locked the gates of a historic palace Wednesday in downtown Honolulu, saying it would carry out the business of what it considers the legitimate government of the islands.

State deputy sheriffs weren't allowing anyone else to enter Iolani Palace grounds as unarmed security guards from the Hawaiian Kingdom Government group blocked all gates to the palace, which is adjacent to the Hawaii Capitol.

Arrest warrants were being prepared and would probably be served on the 60 or so protesters later in the day, officials said. Protest leaders said they were prepared to be arrested and would go peacefully.

Protest leader Mahealani Kahau said the group doesn't recognize Hawaii as a U.S. state. Supporters planned to keep the protest peaceful and if evicted would return later, she said.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/30/palace.takeover.ap/index.html

[Xithras]

1. These are not friendly people

The "king" advocates the restoration of a feudal monarchy and the ethnic cleansing of any people who cannot trace an ancestor back to the islands of 1898. The legislature they propose, according to their constitution, will only meet when the king requests it, and he has absolute veto rights over any law they pass. They want all property to return to the pre-Hawaiian ownership system where the land belongs to the king and to the chiefs...everyone else leases from them at their will. It's a system designed to build wealth among a privledged few.

Not a group I'd support.

[gate of the sun]

5. Are you aware that the whites who own

the land in Hawaii lease it back to the natives on 100 year leases? I Know this because a "friend" of mine's family went to Maui as missionaries and the whole family has been living the high life ever since....matter of fact he has some Hawaiian's princess's bed in his house. Talk about fuedalism? the natives don't even own the land anymore. Even if it went back to the Kings and Chiefs it would at least be in Hawaiian's hands. I'm not saying I agree with these people but they are living with the same arrangement of these post missionary families owning the land for all these years It's a very weird set up.......they can not "own the Land"..

[Xithras]

6. You're talking about the Hawaiian Homelands.

When the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, the new government seized large swaths of property that had previously belonged to the king and made them available to common native Hawaiians. The idea was to give the native Hawaiians access to lands on which they could practice their traditional culture without having to worry about dealing with the bills of modern society. There were only three rules about holding this essentially "free" land (that lease is only $1 a year). 1) You have to be 50% native Hawaiian. 2) You have to live on it. 3) You have to pay your lease.

In return, you get to keep ownership for up to 200 years, you only pay taxes on the improvements you make to the property, and you are eligible for all sorts of government loans to help you make any improvements you want.

No, they don't ever technically "own" the land, but they didn't own this land in the first place. The government took over the land previously held by the king, and instead of hoarding it as he did, they made it available to the natives. $200 for 200 years is NOT a bad deal.

I don't know about that missionaries thing. The Hawaiian Homelands are administered by the DHHL, which is part of the state government. The guy who runs it is a native himself.

[ellisonz]

9. Actually, the Hawaiian Homestead Act was passed in 1921.

It was the bone thrown to Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole for selling out the Home Rule Party to the GOP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_William_Wilcox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonah_K%C5%ABhi%C5%8D_Kalaniana%27ole#From_prince_to_American_statesman

Most of the land is inaccessible and many are unable to secure financing to build a home on the property: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Feb/11/ln/FP702110352.html

19,000 people are on the waiting list and only about 6,000 lots have ever been awarded and many of those were abandoned in the early years.

You also might want to review the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_mahele

[mahina]

8. Check your info,

it's much more complex than that. People of all races own land here. Kama'aina has a couple of good links for you here.

[timtom]

10. I remember when living on Oahu

seeing houses for sale with signs that included the phrase "fee simple".

I just googled the term and am not certain just what it means, but I believe there is a limit to ownership: that is, you never REALLY own the land.

Any clarification from those more knowledgeable will be most appreciated.

By the way, K & R!

[KamaAina]

24. Actually 'fee simple' means you DO own the land

as opposed to 'leasehold' which means someone else, usually one of the large landowners such as Kamehameha Schools, owns the land and charges you ground rent. My own building is a leasehold condo: my landlords own the unit, but the association pays ground rent to whoever actually owns the land. Fee simple has been gradually supplanting leasehold since the '70s; at one point, Honolulu had a mandatory leasehold conversion law that kicked in if the majority of owners in a complex wanted to buy the fee interest. Alas, the big landowners pressured prevailed upon the current mayor to get rid of it.

[mahina]

25. Fee simple means you own the land. Leasehold means you lease it.

[roody]

7. Is that Bush that they are working with?

[KamaAina]

2. This is far from the only approach to sovereignty

in fact, this "Hawaiian Kingdom Government" group is quite radical. One wonders how they managed to gain such intimate access to 'Iolani Palace.

http://www.hawaii-nation.org/turningthetide-6-4.html

What is Ka Lahui Hawai'i's approach to gain Sovereignty?

Ka Lahui's approach is to seek inclusion for the Hawaiian people in the existing U.S. federal policy which affords all Native Americans the right to be self-governing, and to obtain access to the federal courts for judicial review. Once this is achieved, the sovereign nation can explore with the state, federal and county governments, resolution of claims relating to the Native trusts and other entitlements. Ka Lahui believes that the nation should be created before Native entitlements are negotiated. It is the right of the sovereign entity to advance the claims of the people and to explore ways to resolve conflicts with the State and the U.S.

Meanwhile, this protest strikes a sour historical note:

http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=7036

The Friends of Iolani Palace issued a statement late this morning decrying the takeover the palace.

"While we respect the freedom of Hawaiian groups to hold an opinion on the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, we believe that blocking access to Iolani Palace is wrong and certainly detrimental to our mission to share the palace and its history with out residents, our keiki and our visitors," the statement read.

"As a matter of historical record, we wish to point out that the original seat of government of the Hawaiian Kingdom was NOT Iolani Palace. The Palace was the royal RESIDENCE. Government activities were carried out in the original Courthouse (now demolished), then later in Aliiolani Hale," the statement continued.

[AlphaCentauri]

15. why did they demolished the original Courthouse?

it was part of their history

[KamaAina]

22. Dunno brah. That was way before my time.

Historic preservation, here as elsewhere, wasn't a very big deal until about the '70s.

[crimsonblue]

3. I traveled to Maui in January, and the people there loved being Americans.

I would definitely say that this group is not at all representative of all Hawaiins, native and transplanted. On a lighter side, this group reminds me a little of the Conch Republic, which coincidentally just celebrated its "anniversary" on April 23.

[Haole Girl]

13. If you think Hawaiians "love" being Americans....

you haven't spoken with many true Hawaiians.

[crimsonblue]

16. True Hawaiians...?

So only the indigineous people of Hawaii are true Hawaiians? Does that then mean that everbody on the mainland not of native american descent is not a true American? Give me a break. If you think things were better back when it was a feudal system that enslaved the people of Hawaii, or when it was just a colony that enslaved the people of Hawaii, then I must disagree. Are things perfect there? No. Being a part of the US has brought Hawaii a lot of money that otherwise wouldn't exist for them. The percentage of people below the poverty line is below the national average, and jobs are easy to find. I will concede that the native habitat has been damaged to a large extent, but there are numerous natural parks and national forrests. I had a "native" tour guide on the road to Hana, and I asked him about how he felt about visitors and such. He said that it is a balancing act-- tourism helps the economy drastically, but there is the need to constantly assess to make sure that Hawaiin customs and culture are not eradicated. I will grant that a lot of the oldest generations of Hawaiians may not "love" being Americans, but to the younger generations, they haven't known anything else and they love their country just as much as a kid from Kansas does.

[Haole Girl]

17. True Hawaiians know what I mean...

And, I would never call myself Hawaiian...even if I lived there the next 50 years.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[defendandprotect]

26. Just want to say that I absolutely agree with your comments and

I personally think that the most beautiful people/cultures/societies were purposefully damaged . . .
the most humane, the most free, the most responsible human beings first to be attacked.

There is something wrong with the few among us who seem to be motivated by self-hatred which
propels them toward such violence and destruction of nature and other human beings.

You cannot feel your own humanity, you cannot have respect for yourself and at the same time
try to destroy one of your brothers and sisters on the planet.

[KamaAina]

23. There are no national forests here

not a bad idea, though, once we get rid of Bush** and his Orwellian "Healthy Forests Act"! We do have two national parks (Hawaii Volcanoes on Hawai'i and Haleakala on Maui). Most of the forest land is in forest reserves under the state Dept. of Land and Natural Resources.

[Dreamer Tatum]

19. Replace "Hawaii" with any other state and you'll see how silly that sounds nt

[Haole Girl]

20. Replace your statement with some history and you'll see Hawaii wasn't a state.

[Dreamer Tatum]

21. Got it. And Texas was a Republic, and...and...and...

Hawaii is a beautiful place with a long and rich cultural tradition that endures even now. It's also a
state, and enjoys immense benefits therefrom. Study the histories of statehood and I'm sure you'll
find thousands of people who never wanted it, but even more who did.

[defendandprotect]

4. Someday international courts may bring justice to the people of Hawaii .. .

though, as I think I've read, only 20% of Hawaiians are native Hawaiians.

Imagine if one day the land the US government has stolen were returned to the original inhabitants!

Image if it had all never been stolen . . !!!

PEACE?

[timtom]

11. And your comment

is why I K & R'd this thread.

Spot on!

[AlphaCentauri]

14. another anexation of a colony in history

[moez]

27. Someday the people of Maui and Kauai

will get the property that was stolen from them by Kemehameha....

please.... this can get ridiculous.

[slackmaster]

28. Ah, the old slippery slope

The Navajo don't deserve any favors because they screwed over the Anasazi.

Frankly I'd like to have some of the German farmland that my family was forced from by Roman Catholics.

[moez]

29. The heck with that -

My uncle Og and his Neanderthal buddies owned it WAY before the Germans.... Before you get anything, I'd better get a piece first!

[missTheBigDog]

12. Yep, it's really sad

What happened in 1893 when Dole and his ilk, with Dollar signs in their eyes, basically threw the Queen in jail and took over the lands. The US military showed up to ensure no one resisted. The Queen traveled to Washington multiple times to plead her case and was denied by 2 different presidents. I'm surprised even today that nothing was ever done about this.

[Doctor Cynic]

30. Gee, I wonder what the "Free Tibet" people will say to this.