Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and other officials joined Hawaiian civic club members in celebrating the 170th anniversary of Hawaiian Flag Day, the day the Hawaiian monarchy was restored, and the founding of Thomas Square at the Honolulu park on Wednesday — with a backdrop of supporters of Hawaiian sovereignty and (de)Occupy Honolulu protesting behind them.
About 100 people attended the formal event under a tent at South Beretania and Victoria streets. University of Hawaii Hawaiian language professor Puakea Nogelmeier gave the keynote speech and described how, in February 1843, the Hawaiian kingdom was seized by British Capt. Lord George Paulet.
On July 31 of the same year, Rear Adm. Richard Thomas wrested control back and read a declaration at the park restoring sovereignty to the Hawaiian kingdom.
The major naval powers of the mid-1800s granted recognition of Hawaii as a sovereign country in the aftermath of the incident, although that move was already ongoing even before Paulet’s arrival, Nogelmeier said. Later, the square was named after Thomas and became Hawaii’s first official park, he said.
Retired U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka, Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui, City Council members and other key city officials were on hand to celebrate the festivities — as were about two dozen Honolulu Police Department officers, who kept a close watch on about a dozen supporters of Hawaiian sovereignty and (de)Occupy Honolulu.
Earlier, at about 4 a.m., city maintenance crews were at Thomas Square and used the new Sidewalk Nuisance Ordinance, formerly Bill 7, to clear the sidewalks fronting Beretania Street of a set of tents and other belongings of (de)Occupy Honolulu members and homeless people.
Michael Daly, an artist who supports (de)Occupy Honolulu, displayed a large sketch he had made of King Kamehameha III meeting with other government officials.
"It’s actually a statement of protest against the mayor and the mockery of this event," Daly said. "This is a mockery of the Kingdom of Hawaii."
Laulani Teale, a Hawaiian sovereignty activist and instructor, said that by removing several Hawaiian families from their homes and taking their belongings to put on the event, they did not respect the old Hawaiian law to "malama na kanaka iki," or care for those people in the lowest rung of society.
But Caldwell said the enforcement of the Sidewalk Nuisance Ordinance was not directly related to the later event.
"We came last week, and we’ll continue to come," the mayor said, adding that similar actions have taken place in recent weeks in other parts of Oahu. The point is to "make sure the sidewalks around the park are accessible to everyone and that the park itself is maintained and kept beautiful," he said.
