The question of the moment is how to proceed on the path to Hawaiian sovereignty. The answer lies in what made Hawaiians a great people. The answer lies in what makes Hawaii a place of beauty, power and grace. Namely, Hawaiians and Hawaii should proceed based on the values that make Hawaii what it is: Hawaiian values of pono, kuleana, lokahi and aloha.
Pono or righteousness starts with the truth. We have heard much truth-telling lately. There will be more to come. Yet truth comes with kuleana or responsibility. As Nelson Mandela taught, truth must be followed by reconciliation. Truth is not a sword for retribution, but a vessel for the common good.
Hawaii is occupied. That is a legal fact. Yet, how many people alive today know that? I once asked former Chief Justice William S. Richardson if he knew the Joint Resolution had no power to acquire Hawaii. Even he did not know this fact — even though his grandfather sat as counsel to the queen during the 1898 debates on the Joint Resolution.
Hawaiians and Americans are just beginning to learn of the unlawful taking of Hawaii. Everyone today begins with a presumption of innocence. Those who knew, who are really guilty are long gone.
One element of reconciliation is lokahi — many hands. It will take many hands, perhaps all of us, to usher in the new nation. Hawaiian nationals may lead, but American citizens who call Hawaii home, have their place as well — as they did in the kingdom.
Who is to say that one cannot remain an American citizen yet love both America and Hawaii? Or, who is to say that one cannot be a Hawaiian national and love both America and Hawaii. The new nation will need all — everyone working together to succeed.
Hawaii can be a better place as a new nation if we work together. It is a chance to start anew. Hawaii can choose the best of all worlds, the best of Hawaiian values, and the best of American laws. We can design a state that controls its immigration and thus its population. We can pass laws that discourage speculative real estate investments that lead to outrageous housing costs. We can invite in international shipping and air traffic — lowering fares and the cost of goods. We can pass laws uniquely suited for an island nation.
At present we are subject to the laws of a United States in which we are the exception as an island state. American laws are made for contiguous states, not fragile islands isolated in the Pacific Ocean. Pono means protecting the future of our children in Hawaii, providing them housing, jobs that they are trained for, water and open spaces. We can’t do that easily under American law. It is time to break out on our own.
Moreover we should have hope in this journey — hope that the American people will support Hawaii as they have in the past. We must remember that when the Kue petitions were brought to America, its people supported Hawaiians and told their senators to veto the Treaty of Annexation. American senators did not even want a vote on the Treaty.
Hawaiians must be mindful of the examples of their past leaders. Kamehameha III and Liliuokalani both had hope and patience. They had hope and patience as to the British in 1843 and the Americans in 1893. Kamehameha III was right, in 1843 the British restored Hawaiian rule. Queen Liliuokalani’s faith was vindicated when President Grover Cleveland promised restoration. America can still fulfill that promise.
Last of all, I believe Hawaii has a destiny. Its destiny is as a place of peace, a place of aloha to solve worldly problems. We can be the one shining example in the world of an occupation, long and bitter, that was resolved peacefully and amicably. We could become the Geneva of the Pacific: A place of healing and peace where other nations and people can come to resolve their differences.
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Williamson Chang is a law professor at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
