How #NativeHawaiians Have Fought for #Sovereignty

Ever since the US overthrew the #Hawaiian monarchy in an illegal #coup, Native islanders responded with #protest, #activism and expressions of #cultural pride.

By: Kelli Y. Nakamura
Published: May 10, 2023

"Ever since white Christian #missionaries first arrived in Hawaii (Native spelling: Hawai‘i) in the 1820s, the islands’ Native people have found their sovereignty, culture and way of life under increasing threat. For two centuries, many have resisted.

"The threats began early. By 1840, some scholars estimate, the Native Hawaiian population had plummeted by as much as 84 percent, largely due to diseases introduced by Western #colonizers. In 1893, an illegal coup, orchestrated by a handful of white planters [#Dole] and #businessmen, ousted the sovereign Hawaiian monarchy. Five years later, the United States annexed Hawaii, viewing the islands as both a rich agricultural resource and a strategic perch in the Pacific.

"And in 1959, the U.S. legislature voted to make Hawaii America’s 50th state. During that time, colonizers confiscated lands and #militarized parts of the island. They suppressed traditional cultural and #spiritual practices. And they banned the Hawaiian language in schools and government.

"Native Hawaiians have responded with protest, activism and expressions of Indigenous cultural pride. In the 1880s, #KingDavidKalākaua kindled nationalism and promoted Hawaii internationally as an independent sovereign kingdom. He also fostered what came to be known as the First Hawaiian Renaissance, reviving traditional cultural practices like hula dancing, an integral part of Native Hawaiian storytelling—and outlawed since 1830, largely because missionaries did not understand its cultural importance and viewed it as a pagan ritual. The Second Hawaiian Renaissance flourished in the 1960s and ’70s. Today, Native #HawaiianSovereignty remains a critical issue, informing contemporary protests against militarism, imperialism and occupation.

"'Resistance and nationalism have been intertwined throughout the last two hundred years of the history of Hawaii,' writes Noenoe Silva, a scholar of Indigenous politics at the University of Hawaii and author of Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian #Resistance to American #Colonialism."

Read more:
https://www.history.com/news/native-hawaiian-sovereignty-protest

#CulturalGenocide #Sovereignty #CorporateColonialism #DolePineapple #HawaiianHistory
#History #Histodon #IndigenousPeople #IndigenousActivism