This video is of a Hula performance featuring High School boys from their May Day Royal Court. When thinking about high school and about the recent gun violence that has stricken American high schools, to see such a sight as this might seem strange and unfamiliar. Personally I grew up in San Diego California and Anchorage Alaska where boys would never willingly wear flower print ANYTHING, let alone a garland of fragrant foliage and dance in front of an auditorium proudly wearing capes of varying colors, happy to do so. From an outside perspective this site is foreign, unique, and quite beautiful to witness. As these young men perform their synchronize dance wearing adornments of leaves, it is important to note this is not just for show, there is actually deep cultural and historical meaning behind this performance and event as well.
Though May Day isn't exclusive to Hawaii, it is a holiday that has transformed into something quite unique in the islands. May Day, also referred to as Lei Day in Hawaii, has become a festival of flowers, dance, and a time of giving and receiving beautiful flower garlands called lei (lay). It is also a remembrance of the rich cultural history and the days when Hawaiian Kings and Queens existed on every island as well as the Great King Kamehameha who united the islands as one kingdom. Though I have met some native Hawaiians who have negative feelings about what King Kamehameha did by uniting the island chain, the general consensus is that his efforts helped to create a unified kingdom capable of maintaining its own sovereignty. In fact because of his foresight, he created a proudly established Hawaiian Kingdom with several successors that lasted up until 1893 when it was illegally overthrow by second generation western settlers with selfish business interests.
Hawaiians could certainly be considered one of the most educated, intelligent and politically strategic indigenous peoples of the past. They recognized the world was changing and they did their best to adjust and function in it despite how different it was from the world they knew before western contact. After realizing new western settlers weren’t going to stop coming, they began to integrate western technologies, land practices, business practices and cultural ways into their daily lives. Prior to western contact the concept of land ownership was very foreign just as it was for Native Americans. The understanding that no single man “owned” the land ensured no one could take more land for monetary gain especially since money was also a foreign concept. From a Hawaiian perspective they belonged to the land and it was their responsibility to care for the land as it provided everything they needed to live, indeed an old wise saying goes, "King, is the land, servant, is the man”.
Though Hawaiians were adjusting to new western mindsets they were still very rooted in the giving and gracious practice of offering help and support for those who might need it with aloha (love and deep reverence for the spirit we all carry) This mind set and outlook was taken advantage of by early settlers and businessmen who saw the islands as a profitable opportunity ripe for the picking. Overtime these businessmen tried to use western methods, such as land ownership, confusing legal documents and voting rights to strategically displace native Hawaiians as much as possible. Eventually these wealthy businessmen, led by Sanford B. Dole, who was just beginning his pineapple business, felt it was time to take control of what they felt entitled to. They conspired and convinced the U.S. Navy officials, who were stationed on the island of Oahu at the time, to illegally aid them in an overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Without the consent of the United States Government, U.S. Navy officials aided the wealthy businessmen led by Mr. Dole, in the overthrow of the Kingdom and imprisoned the beloved Queen Lili'uokalani in her own palace.
Though President Grover Cleveland sent a US ambassador to investigate the situation and found the overthrow to be illegal, he then sent another ambassador to return the Queen to power in 1887. Unfortunately Sanford B. Dole refused to step down from his illegal seat of power and with his support from the business and plantation owners, along with the reluctance of Grover Cleveland to use force, he remained the self proclaimed ruler of the illegally formed Republic of Hawaii. Following the Spanish American War, the business community responsible for the Hawaiian Kingdom overthrow pressured US Congress to annex Hawaii which they did, illegally 5 years after the overthrow.
Today many Native Hawaiians will refer to Hawaii as "illegally occupied" or the "illegal State of Hawaii" and indeed they would not be wrong in saying so. The situation is very complicated now and entangled. Military and business interests as well as property ownership and wealthy U.S. and foreign interests continue to purchase large swaths of land, constructing new buildings and creating new businesses with large influence over the financial and political systems here in the islands. Though many Native Hawaiians still call for the U.S. government to return the islands to the Hawaiian Kingdom, it is hard to imagine the U.S. government ever doing so with the current track record. When President Bill Clinton was in office, an official letter of apology was offered to the Hawaiian people though it did little to return what was taken from them.
Unfortunately the psychological effects of having their Queen imprisoned, their lands taken, and their language and culture made illegal, Native Hawaiians now mirror many ethnic minority groups in having the highest rates if incarceration, the highest rates of domestic violence and poverty in the state. It isn't surprising with such a history why there is often a deep hurt of anger and animosity towards westerners. It is important to understand and have compassion for the losses Hawaiians have felt and still feel, as families end up homeless or feel forced to move away from their beloved islands because homes are being purchased at inflated prices and turned into vacation rentals and vacation homes.
Thankfully things are looking up for Hawaiians over the last 4 decades with Hawaiian rights movements along side a cultural renaissance including the legalization of Hawaiian as an official state language in addition to English, the recognition of Hawaiian cultural gathering and burial rights and the relearning of Hawaiian sailing canoe voyaging across the Pacific Ocean and many more. There have been many achievements for the Hawaiian people, more than some indigenous peoples, but there is still a long way to go to right the wrongs that have been committed against them. Overcoming the challenges of a displaced people often struggling in poverty and the experiences that come with that can be very difficult but not impossible. Just as each young Hawaiian who follows their passion to become the teacher, artist, architect, archaeologist, psychologist, organic farmer or professional of their choice, the Hawaiian people grow a little closer to achieving true empowerment.
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