Hawaii should be Deoccupied

SUBHEAD: Hawaiian sovereignty advocates support de-occupation by USA, not for de-colonization.

By Juan Wilson on 22 November 2015 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2015/11/hawaii-should-be-deoccupied.html)


Image above: Supporter of "deoccuopation" of Hawaii. From (http://learni.st/users/gwen.duralek/boards/29314-annexation-of-hawaii).

The article in the Garden Island News announcing the meeting was titled "Election Critics Host Meeting" with the subhead "Public meeting to discuss Native Hawaiian self-governance slated Friday at Wilcox school".  TGI got that article right, but their followup article this morning got the message of the meeting completely wrong.

 The presenters, Walter Ritte, Trish Kehaulani Watson-Sproat and Donovan Preza agreed that their were three current paths for Hawaii to reach an international standing of having achieved sovereignty.
  1. One path would be through claims of indigenous rights
  2. Another path is through efforts at decolonization
  3. The last is through accomplishing a deoccupation of Hawaii by the United States
Donovan Preza was crystal clear in his presentation. The best and most effective path is to pursue deoccupation.

However, the TGI article's author states that Preza was proposing we focus on decolonization when she writes:
“They want you to focus on becoming recognized as indigenous peoples, but (focus on) decolonization.”
Certainly, achieving sovereignty along a path of indigenous identification weakens the effort in several ways. One crucial way is by measuring blood quantum as the qualification for inclusion. It is literally a dead end.

People in Hawaii with even a quarter pure Hawaiian heritage are rare and usually elderly. Their numbers can only dwindle further - thus exluding many who are sympathetic with Hawaiian independence.

In my opinion, the sovereignty movement should be seeking the participation of people who are "Kama Aina" (the children of the land); and not "Kanaka Maoli" (the native Hawaiians). 

Donovan Preza went on to detail how by focusing on "Occupation" we are acknowledging that Hawaiian sovereignty was never destroyed. An illegal overthrow, supported by America, of the constitutional monarchy occurred in 1893. No treaty relinquishing sovereignty was ever signed and the regent never relinquished the throne.

As stated by the Hawaiian Kingdom website (http://www.hawaiiankingdom.org/us-occupation.shtml):
"As a result of the Spanish-American War, the United States opted to unilaterally annex the Hawaiian Islands by enacting a congressional joint resolution on July 7, 1898, in order to utilize the Hawaiian Islands as a military base to fight the Spanish in Guam and the Philippines. The United States has remained in the Hawaiian Islands and the Hawaiian Kingdom has since been under prolonged occupation to the present, but its continuity as an independent State remains intact under international law."

The government might change from a monarchy to a democracy, as happened in France, but there is continuity of the nation's sovereignty.



See also:
Island Breath: Time for Provisional Government 12/28/04
Rebuilding Hawaiian Kingdom 9/3/05
Island Breath: Sustainability and Sovereignty 11/15/07
Island Breath: Hawaii Nation Part 1 4/25/08
Island Breath: Hawaii Nation Part 2 4/30/08
Ea O Ka Aina: Hawaiian Sovereignty Pane 9/26/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Case for Hawaiian Sovereignty 12/20/10
Ea O Ka Aina: Hawaiian Sovereignty Issues 9/17/11
Ea O Ka Aina: Feds Threaten Hawaiian Sovereignty 2/2/12
Ea O Ka Aina: State of Hawaiian sovereignty 9/11/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Hawaiian sovereignty on the line 10/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Guide to Hawaiian secession 11/6/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Na'i Aupuni is indefensible 11/18/15


Questions rise over Nai Aupuni election

By Ellen Else on 22 November 2015 in the Garden Island - 
(http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/questions-rise-over-nai-aupuni-election/article_0cd53e36-a4ba-5606-931b-c28eeb8936f2.html)

Skeptics of the upcoming Nai Aupuni elections sought clarity at Wilcox Elementary School Friday night.

“We’re here to learn about this process and then engage in a conversation about what we want,” said Shane Cobb-Adams of Anahola, who was moderating the meeting. “We’re here to put a rudder on this canoe.”

Native Hawaiian advocates Walter Ritte, Trish Kehaulani Watson-Sproat and Donovan Preza all had about 15 minutes each to educate their audience about aspects of the process.

Watson-Sproat kicked off the panel discussion with a quote from King Kamehameha III, “He aupuni palapala ko’u,” which means “Mine is an educated kingdom.”

“King Kamehameha III took pride in his kingdom,” Watson-Sproat said. “He was proud that the whole kingdom was literate.”

Watson-Sproat transitioned into an explanation of the private election among Native Hawaiians who can vote for 200 delegates who will write a new constitution at a convention scheduled in Honolulu this winter. This constitution will provide a recipe for a new Hawaiian government. Voting for these delegates closes Nov. 30.

“There’s a lot to learn,” said Ritte, a former candidate who withdrew his name from the election last month. “Come hell or high water, they want to push this thing through and we need to do something.”

Preza, who teaches geography and Hawaiian history at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, outlined three different avenues to sovereignty and explained the history of the legislation to date.

“America has shackles on Hawaii and decolonization is the way to break those shackles,” Preza said. “They want you to focus on becoming recognized as indigenous peoples, but (focus on) decolonization.”

Just before the election opened, Ritte said he believes the process is leading toward a native government that is seeking federal recognition rather than independence.

“As long as you participate, you’re stuck in it,” Ritte said. “Don’t vote.”

Chief Delbert Black Fox Pomani, full-blooded Hunkpapa Lakota from the Crow Creek Reservation, and Kaplan Bunce, a full-blooded Apache from Washington currently living in Kauai, both attended the meeting to lend support for their native brothers and sisters.

“My ancestors fought this battle and we are here to add our blessings,” Pomani said.

After the panel discussion, the audience broke up into groups of 15 or 20 people and discussed their thoughts on how Native Hawaiians should go about finding sovereignty.

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