The Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ Ka Wai Ola newspaper had the following article in its Kēkēmapa (December) 2014 edition.

The continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent and sovereign state became the official position of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs during its 55th annual convention on Moku o Keawe (Hawai‘i Island) Oct. 26-Nov. 2.

Adopted on a vote of 126-92, Resolution 14-28 was one of nearly 50 resolutions adopted by the grassroots organization, whose foundation was laid in 1918 by Prince Jonah Kuhiō Kalaniana‘ole.

“These sort of acknowledgments, I think, really are good,” said Soulee Stroud, the association’s outgoing pelekikena (president), in a post convention interview.

The idea that the Hawaiian Kingdom continues to exist has been gaining followers throughout the Hawaiian community as modern scholarship and education shed more light on the illegal overthrow, so-called “annexation” of Hawai‘i via joint resolution of Congress, and a statehood ballot that, according to modern scholars of international law, failed to conform to the letter of international law.

Support for the resolution was immediately buoyed by a letter of congratulations from the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, for “taking the courageous step to publicly announce its position that the Kingdom of Hawai‘i continues to exist,” a position the Royal Order of Kamehameha I proclaimed in 1995.

The AHCC, an officially nonpartisan organization known historically for conservative leanings, has seen a shift in recent years with the adoption of a number of progressive resolutions, including a resolution supporting marriage equality in 2013.

Among the resolutions passed at this year’s convention, held at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, were:

• 14-18 – Strongly supporting the establishment of statewide, regulated medical marijuana dispensaries

• 14-19 – Strongly urging the state to fully implement and fund the Justice Reinvestment Initiative before planning for prison expansion

• 14-35 – Urging all Hawaiian civic club members, OHA and the larger Hawai‘i community “to honor and respect the strong political stance of our kupuna who signed their names” on the petition opposing annexation of Hawai‘i to the U.S. in 1897.

Among the most debated resolutions adopted was 14-34, urging creation of a task force, including civic club members, to be appointed by the governor and Legislature, to study the relocation of the Spirit of Lili‘uokalani statue of Queen Lili‘uokalani, from its location between ‘Iolani Palace and the state Capitol.

The idea of moving the statue – interchanging its location with the Eternal Flame memorial on Beretania Street, was debated at the state Legislature in February as Senate Bill 2505 as part of a plan to turn the walkway behind the Capitol into Memorial Mall. The bill also called for a working group to create a monument to former Hawaiian rulers to be placed with the statue. The majority of written testimony, including that of the AHCC, was strongly opposed and the bill was deferred. A companion House Bill did not advance.

New officers

In their biennial election of officers, delegates chose first vice president Annelle Amaral as their pelekikena.

Amaral, of the Waikīkī Hawaiian Civic Club, was elected by majority vote in a three-person race with Leimomi Khan, president of Kalihi- Pālama HCC and a past president of the AHCC, and Skippy Ioane, president of Hui Pū Laka HCC.

“Braddah Skippy” Ioane, whose nomination, like Khan’s, was made on the convention floor, energized the delegation with a populist speech calling for change delivered in pidgin.

“I tell you guys straight up. Us as a people, we no more respect,” said Ioane. “We gotta adjust da vehicle, because da Model T … cannot compete on da freeway. You know what I mean? You going get ticketed for impeding progress.”

Hailama Farden, of Kuini Pi‘olani HCC, was elected first vice president; Daniel Naho‘opi‘i, of Maunalua Hawaiian Civic Club, and president of AHCC’s O‘ahu Council, was elected second vice president; and Paul Richards, Hawaiian Civic Club of Waimānalo, was elected treasurer.

Meanwhile, the late H.K. Bruss Keppeler, a longtime member and past AHCC president, slack key master Rev. Dennis Kamakahi and master Hawaiian feather work artist Aunty Paulette Kahalepuna were among those lovingly remembered during a tearful Hali‘a Aloha ceremony as ‘ohana and fellow club members brought offerings of oli and lei that were draped upon an ‘ōhi‘a lehua tree.

Activities during the week included trips to sacred sites, like Mauna Kea, the piko of the firstborn island of Wäkea and Papa according to Hawaiian cosmology, and Ahu a ‘Umi Heiau, the shrine of the island’s 16th-century ruler ‘Umi a Liloa.

Stroud, whose membership spans more than two decades, says he’ll remain involved in the AHCC as immediate past president and anticipates being involved in the nation-building process, possibly as a delegate to a Hawaiian convention in 2015.

A longtime supporter of the civic clubs, OHA was a sponsor of AHCC’s 55th annual convention. In the days leading up to the November general election, the convention also served as the site of a debate of OHA trustee candidates. Hosted by AHCC in partnership with OHA, the debate was streamed live on oha.org.

Mary Alice Ka‘iulani Milham is a freelance kanaka writer. A former newspaper reporter and columnist from California’s Central Coast, she lives in Mākaha, O‘ahu.

Hōlualoa, Kona, Hawaiʻi
For Immediate Release
November 12, 2014

NAUE I KE ALOHA ʻĀINA!

A march in celebration of Lā Kūʻokoʻa, Hawaiian Independence Day

November 28, 2014
8:00am
Old Airport to Keauhou Small Boat Harbor

Hawaiians and supporters across the islands will march on Lā Kūʻokoʻa (Hawaiian Independence Day) on Friday November 28, 2014 in an effort to enhance awareness in our communities and throughout the world about one of the longest standing National Holidays of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Marchers will gather at the Old Kona Airport across from Makala Blvd at 7:30am for opening thoughts and pule. The march will begin at 8:00am and will cover approximately eight miles starting from the Old Airport in the ahupuaʻa of Keahuolū and ending in the ahupuaʻa of Keauhou at the birth site of Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III).

In Hawaiian, naue means to march. It also means to move, to shake, to tremble, to vibrate and to quake, as the earth. Aloha ʻāina means love of oneʻs land or of oneʻs country. It means patriot, a patriot who illustrates a deep love for the land. On this day of national independence, we hope that our lāhui will naue. That is, this march is meant to illustrate a true and deep love that will shake, vibrate, tremble and move our land and people towards our true patriotism.

“This is a march of aloha. This is a march of love for our land and love for our country. We march together as one with the hope that our claim to national independence may be seen and heard by our local communities and throughout the world. Aloha ʻ āina is alive and it will never die,” says Hawaiian medium preschool teacher and march organizer, Kahoʻokahi Kanuha.

On July 8, 1842 King Kauikeaouli dispatched three delegates to America and Europe to ultimately secure recognition of Hawaiian independence by the major powers of the world. The Hawaiian Delegation, led by Timoteo Haʻalilio, was assured independence by the heads of state of the United States, Great Britain and France and on November 28, 1843 the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was officially recognized as an independent country by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland along with King Louis-Philippe of France through the signing of the Anglo-Franco proclamation at the Court of London, thereby making Hawaiʻi the first non-European nation in the world to be recognized as an independent country. Lā Kūʻokoʻa was celebrated throughout the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi from 1843 until 1893, when Queen Liliʻuokalani was illegally overthrown on January 17th with the assistance of the US Minister to Hawaiʻi, John L. Stevens.

The United States of America’s only claim to acquiring Hawaiʻi is the Newland’s resolution, a joint resolution passed by Congress and signed by President McKinley on July 7, 1898. A joint resolution, though, is limited to United States territory, which Hawaiʻi obviously was not and is not a part of. Because a treaty was never ratified between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi has been and continues to be an independent country under an illegal and prolonged military occupation by the United States of America.

Building off of the momentum of the Department of Interior hearings held across the archipelago this summer, unity marches will also be held on the islands of Maui, Molokaʻi and Oʻahu to raise awareness in communities about Hawaiian history, our national heritage and of the ever-growing support for a free and independent Hawaiʻi.

###

For more information, please contact:

Kaho‘okahi Kanuha
Tel: 808-936-4249
Fax: 1-866-908-4619
naueikealohaaina@gmail.com

Twitter: @nauekealohaaina
#naueikealohaaina
#lakuokoa
#alohaainaoiaio

The first Hawaiian Civic Club was established in 1918 by Prince Kuhio Kalaniana‘ole. The Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs (AHCC) is a confederacy of 67 clubs that advocates “for improved welfare of native Hawaiians in culture, health, economic development, education, social welfare, and nationhood,” that was established in 1959. According to Dot Uchima, Recording Secretary, the AHCC “has established a reputation of serious consideration on community issues and mana‘o of the membership as it convenes annually at locations where clubs are represented,” and that “many resolutions adopted by the Association’s delegation at convention have served as the basis for proposed state and federal legislation.”

The AHCC is a very influential civic body that is comprised of many leaders in the community, business community and government. All resolutions adopted by the Association are also given to the Governor of Hawai‘i, State Senate President, State Speaker of the House, State Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, State House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Chair of the Board of Trustees, and all County Mayors. The President of the AHCC is Soulee L. K. O. Stroud.

From October 26 through November 2, 2014, Hawaiian Civic Clubs from across the Hawaiian Islands and the United States met at its annual convention held at the Waikoloa Beach Resort Marriot hotel on the Island of Hawai‘i. Ka Lei Maile Ali‘i Hawaiian Civic Club introduced resolution 14-28, acknowledging the continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom. After a lively debate by the delegates of the many clubs in its plenary session, the resolution was passed on November 1, 2014.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE CONTINUITY OF THE HAWAIIAN KINGDOM AS AN INDEPENDENT AND SOVEREIGN STATE

WHEREAS, on November 28, 1843, both Great Britain and France jointly recognized the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent and sovereign State and admittance into the Great Family of Nations; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Kingdom maintained over 90 embassies and consulates throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, November 28th is a national holiday throughout the country called La Ku‘oko‘a (independence day); and

WHEREAS, fifty years after independence, the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom was illegally overthrown by United States forces on January 17, 1893; and

WHEREAS, negotiations for reinstatement of the Hawaiian government took place between Queen Lili‘uokalani and President Grover Cleveland, represented by U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary Albert Willis, at the United States Legation in Honolulu on November 13, 1893; and

WHEREAS, settlement and an agreement was reached on December 18, 1893, whereby the President would reinstate the Hawaiian government and thereafter the Queen would grant a pardon to all those who committed treason; and

WHEREAS, this agreement is called a sole executive agreement under U.S. constitutional law and a treaty under international law; and

WHEREAS, President Cleveland and his successor in office have not carried out this treaty in violation of international law; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress purportedly annexed the Hawaiian Islands by a joint resolution of Congress on July 7, 1898; and

WHEREAS, neither a joint resolution or a statute enacted by the Congress can have any legal effect beyond the borders of the United States and affect the sovereignty of a foreign State; and

WHEREAS, the 1898 joint resolution of annexation is not a treaty whereby the Hawaiian Kingdom ceded its sovereignty to the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, on August 12, 1898 at 12 noon, during the Spanish-American War, the United States began the illegal and prolonged occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, in Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom, acknowledged in its arbitral award that “in the nineteenth century the Hawaiian Kingdom existed as an independent State recognized as such by the United States of America, the United Kingdom and various other States, including by exchanges of diplomatic or consular representatives and the conclusion of treaties”; and

WHEREAS, under international law all States have sovereign equality, and have equal rights and duties as co-equal members of the international community regardless of their economic, social and political differences; and

WHEREAS, according to international law there is a legal presumption that occupation does not affect the continuity of the State even when there is no government claiming to represent the occupied State.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 55th annual convention at Waikoloa, Hawai‘i, this 1st day of November, 2014, that it acknowledges the continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent and sovereign State.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this resolution be given to the Governor of Hawaii, State Senate President, State Speaker of the House, State Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, State House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Chair of the Board of Trustees, and all County Mayors.

On November 1, 2014 at the AHCC Convention Annelle Amaral was elected to succeed Stroud as President.

After the defeat of the Spanish Pacific Squadron in the Philippines on May 1, 1898, just one month into the Spanish-American War, Congressman Francis Newlands (D-Nevada), submitted House resolution no. 259 for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on May 4, 1898. Six days later, hearings were held on the Newlands resolution, and on May 17, 1898, Chairman Robert Hitt (R-Illinois) reported the Newlands resolution out of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and debates ensued in the House of Representatives until the resolution was passed on June 15, 1898.

On June 11, 1898, Congressman Hitt began the debate by giving a lengthy testimony calling for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands as a military necessity. One of the opponents to the scheme of annexation was Congressman Charles Nelson Clark (R-Missouri). He too gave a lengthy testimony on the floor of the House during the debate and one of his key points centered on the lack of support the so-called Republic of Hawai‘i had from the people of the Hawaiian Islands. He was making specific reference to the signature petition against the treaty of annexation by the Hawaiian Patriotic League that was submitted by Senator George Hoar (R-Massachusetts) after meeting with the officers of the league in Washington, D.C. This signature petition was a major reason why the Senate failed to acquire the necessary two-thirds vote to ratify a treaty of annexation that was signed by the McKinley administration and the so-called Republic of Hawai‘i. The treaty failed.

Here follows Congressman Clark’s testimony during the debate on June 11, 1898 (vol. 31, Congressional Record, p. 5793):

*******************************************************

AGAINST THE WILL OF THE HAWAIIAN PEOPLE

The cornerstone of this Republic is the proposition enunciated by Thomas Jefferson, the chief priest, apostle, and prophet of constitutional liberty—“Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

If that proposition is not true, then the American Revolution was a monstrous crime; Washington, Warren, Montgomery, Greene, Marion, and all that band of heroes were turbulent traitors to King George III; John Hancock, Old John Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and their Congressional compeers pestilent disturbers of the peace; and all the blood shed in our two wars with Great Britain was wanton and wicked waste. If that proposition is not true, William McKinley is this day exercising functions usurped from Victoria Guelph, and this body is composed of mouthy brawlers doing unlawfully those things which the English House of Commons has the sole right to do.

If that proposition is not true, you, Mr. Speaker, are not Speaker de jure, but only Speaker de facto, interfering pro tanto with the prerogatives of the speaker of the English House of Commons, Mr. Gully, who is the grandson of a professional pugilist. [Laughter and applause.]

This annexation scheme is in flagrant violation of that basic principle of our Republic, for many thousand Hawaiians—more than the entire male adult population—have solemnly protested against the sale and delivery of their country to us by a little gang of adventurers who, claiming to be the whole thing, are offering to us a property of which they have robbed the rightful owners. And now America, which has been solemnly declared by the Supreme Court to be a Christian land, is to be made the receiver of these stolen Hawaiian goods.

If an ordinary citizen receives stolen goods, he commits a penitentiary offense. Wherein, I beg leave to inquire, is the difference of principle between in stealing ordinary property and in stealing an island or a group of islands, or in receiving them after they are stolen? The only justification lies in the thievish theory that if the theft is big enough, it ceases to be a crime and takes on the character and complexion of a virtue, and the perpetrators thereof, instead of being consigned to the striped uniforms, cramped quarters, meager diet, and hard labor of felons, are to be hailed as statesmen and rewarded with the plaudits of a grateful people—a theory which, I regret to say, is growing in this country.

But the jingoes tell us that this protest of the Hawaiians is all bogus, gotten up by designing knaves, and that the Hawaiians are falling over each other in their eagerness for annexation. If this is true, why not submit this annexation scheme to a popular vote in Hawaii, as was done in the case of Texas, and which was provided for in the treaty once negotiated with Santo Domingo, but which happily was never ratified, or have a plebiscite, as Napoleon III was in the habit of doing whenever he felt like it or wished to cure himself of ennui produced by wearing his uncle’s heavy crown, which was too large for him? That would be fair and would remove one difficulty. Certainly Mr. Sanford B. Dole could guarantee that every vote in favor of annexation would be counted at least once.

Does he or do his sponsors here shrink from the test of Hawaiian manhood suffrage on that proposition?

If a fair election on that proposition can not be had, what assurance have we that fair elections can be had hereafter, if we annex these islands? If the Hawaiians are not fit to vote on a proposition of vital interest to themselves, who will have the effrontery to say that they are fit to vote for all coming time on propositions of vital interest to us and to our posterity?

If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, how does it happen that the Hawaiians are to have no voice in a performance which transforms their country from an independent nation into a mere outpost of this Republic?

Let him answer who can.

This submission to a vote of the Hawaiian male adults of a proposition decisive of their destiny ought to be insisted on by Congress as a condition precedent to even considering annexation.

This is the American method of procedure—a method bottomed on the eternal principles of wisdom, justice, and liberty.

We should demand a free ballot and a fair count for the Hawaiians, whose patrimony has been appropriated by President Dole and his partners in the oligarchy.

The annexation shouters claim that the Hawaiian names appended to the remonstrance are largely fictitious, and chiefly secured as signers under false pretenses. We deny it. Issue is squarely joined on an important matter of fact. It can be settled by a vote of the Hawaiian males over 21 years of age. Who can deny that that is a fair test?

All the machinery of elections is in the hands of the little coterie of oligarchists. They are able, resolute, ambitious men. They can be relied upon to see to it that every annexation voter votes and that his vote is counted. They can also be relied on to see to it that not an unlawful vote is cast against the scheme of annexation, for their fortunes depend upon annexation. Can anything be more clearly just? Is President Dole afraid of the verdict of his own people? I pause for a reply.

None of his friends answer, so I will answer myself. He can not be induced to submit this scheme to a popular manhood suffrage vote, for the very good reason that he knows that he and his friends hold office through usurpation and that the vast majority of the Hawaiian people are bitterly opposed to him and all his works. He the friend of liberty, is he? How does it happen, then, that while under the monarchy 14,000 persons were permitted to vote, only 2,800 are given the elective franchise under the oligarchy?

Let it be remembered also that a large percentage of these 2,800 voters have been colonized in Hawaii by Dole & Co. since they have been conducting the Government. What a misleading misnomer is it to dignify this little handful of close-corporation oligarchists with the name of a republic! What a burlesque upon truth, what a travesty upon justice, what an affront to intelligence to assert that Dole and his gang have any claims upon us or upon any other friends of representative government and human freedom!

Oh, yes, but we are told that all male citizens of the Sandwich Islands can vote who will swear that they will support the present Republic and the present constitution of Hawaii. Now, at first blush that seems perfectly fair; but it is a delusion and a snare, as will readily appear from this fact: The constitution, which the Hawaiian people never had any hand in adopting, provides for this very scheme of annexation, which the Hawaiian people detest. That condition for voting is a very skillful contrivance. It exhausted human ingenuity to invent it as is worthy of Machiavelli himself. In order to vote at all a citizen of the Sandwich Islands must solemnly swear to support a constitution which deprives his country of its nationality. What man who has any reputation to lose indorses such a swindle on a feeble people? Under it only about 2,800 persons to vote, and that is about the number in favor of annexation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb56Gjc2p5Y&feature=youtu.be

Since the Hawaiian Kingdom blog was launched in August 2012 there has been nearly half a million hits from 176 countries, which includes non-self-governing territories, e.g. French Polynesia, Guam, American Samoa, Macao, Hong Kong and the Northern Mariana Islands. The largest number of visits come from the United States at 427,227, followed by Germany at 1,932, and the United Kingdom at 1,255.

The highest number of visits on a single day was 5,709 on May 11, 2014, and the blog has averaged 2,500 visits per day. For the past 30 days there has been a total of 57,776 visits from the following countries.