Free Hawai’i
January 11th, 2009 | 8 Comments »
Going back to Hawaii is always bittersweet. On one hand, I revisit familiar places from childhood, eat food I can’t find stateside, all surrounded by folks who look like me amidst breathtaking backdrops. On the other hand, I see more and more how the ongoing “development” of this settler colony is fucking up the lives and livelihood of those who call it home, particularly native Hawaiians. In this video clip from Voices of Truth (above), Hawai’i Island activist and Hui Pu founder Skippy Ioane breaks down the illegal US occupation and looks towards Hawai’i's future.
On January 17, 1893, the last Hawai’ian monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, was deposed by a group of American and European capitalists with the help of the US military. This coming weekend marks that anniversary, which arrives at a pivotal moment in Hawai’i's history. The Akaka Bill threatens to further marginalize native Hawai’ians and sign away their rights for redress and compensation. Check Free Hawai’i for info on the march and gathering popping off on Saturday and Sunday (1/17-1/18).
Voices of Truth: One-on-One With Hawai’i's Future
Free Hawai’i Blog
Google Books: From a Native Daughter by Haunani-Kay Trask
For realz bro, Im born, raised, and still am on the island and keep finding myself asking what happened. Im actually at the point of moving to Vegas in march to get away from all the bull happening here.
January 12th, 2009 at 4:48 amwhats crazy is that its also our fellow asian brethren colonizing the islands, i.e. Japanese capital, retirement colonies. For Pacific Islanders it seems that the colonization is coming from at least two fronts, U.S. and Asian capitalism. That really complicates identity/alliance politics.
January 12th, 2009 at 10:34 amOMG
January 12th, 2009 at 1:55 pmThat’s my uncle Skippy!
I’ve learned so much about Hawaiian Sovereignty the past several years and being apart of the Ioane ohana has heavily influenced my understanding. For many that argue this topic, it’s really a matter of education & understanding. Such as one thing that I could never get over was the “Treaty of Annexation”. Hawaii IS NOT the 50th state.
Next time, we are sooo getting together with the fam and Professor Williams!
Many mainlanders don’t understand what this place is. Pearl Harbor has signs reading “What’s your America?” or some shit like that while they make you watch films about how the bombing affected the Japanese and Americans but not about how Pearl Harbor was the Trojan Horse into Hawaii and how this affected the Native Hawaiians in Hawaii!! This is the paradise that people vacation in? Yup.
Thank you for posting this.
There once was irrigation on these lands, now there’s a canal where they push all the pilau water in and if fallen into, you die, it’s called the Ala Wai.
OH yeah and Uncle Skippy one nuts kanak, yeah?? Check out some of his music from Big Island Conspiracy. dakinebrokedaearlid’at!
geo you should do an interview or something man.
i mean i can infer stuff about you from your songs, but im sure a lot of fans, including me, want to know more
oh and when you guys coming to california?
January 12th, 2009 at 7:15 pmYaotzu: I keep hearing that Vegas has the fastest growing island community. It was crazy to see how much had changed between when I left (91) and when I returned for the first time (03), and even from then and now.
MV: No doubt – the whole “Asian American” framework finds many holes in Hawaii. The more centered around “identity” the discussion is, the more complicated it gets. Not so complicated when broken down to its essence: class and self-determination (nationhood).
Carol, you have any Big Island Conspiracy tracks? I’m coming up empty on the internets. Can’t wait to gather with some of the folks you’ve hipped me to. Next trip, maybe (late spring/early summer)?
January 13th, 2009 at 1:21 pmI was in Honolulu last Spring (just visiting), and my emotional reaction paralleled your words above:
I’m mixed Chinese/white (most often thought to be native Hawaiian), so I got a rush hanging out in a place where a large number of folks actually LOOKED LIKE ME, and I blended in, instead of having folks assume I was from somewhere else.
But then I’d fill up with rage that those that looked like me were still a minority – and notably worse-off than the colonizers from the mainland (and across the Pacific), and the fact that NOBODY EVER TALKED ABOUT IT outside of the islands.
So I thank you for bringing it up. Because people need to realize how the U.S. got its wealth (and continues to do so).
I’ve got a lot more to say about it all, but I already did it, so I’ll just link you up to my own words from a while back and see what you think:
http://choptensils.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-freeing-tibet.html
January 14th, 2009 at 8:12 pmMy aunt and uncle moved to vegas about 5 years ago. Pops kept telling em to move up here cause the price of life is a little cheaper, but they liked Vegas. Must be the desert climate? I dunno.
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