I want to talk a little bit about Hawai‘i, because I have been thinking a lot about my people, and our lives.
The year 2023 marks 130 years since the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
On January 17th 1893, American businessman used their connections and military influence to dethrone Queen Liliuokalani by threat of force.
This annexation still impacts my people 130 years later. It still hurts us, it still haunts us,
For the last 130 years my people have suffered under America’s cruelty and indifference.
Unsustainable Tourism haunts us, causing a cost of living crisis, which turns into a rise in poverty, which turns into a rise in individuals experiencing homelessness. This cost crisis disproportionately effects my people, Kānaka Maoli. We cannot even afford to live on our on land. Our ancestral home.
And in turn, tourism then provides the most jobs. This industry pushes us off our land and into poverty, and then it turns around and sells us back our culture as a walking joke.
Our very identity is turned into entertainment. Our very culture is turned into entertainment.
And many of my people have no choice but to sell their culture so they can eat, so they can survive.
We have been put in a never ending cycle of misery and cultural destruction.
In addition, Military Involvement on our islands causes repeated incidents of ecological violence, and land disputes. The military take claim to land that belongs to my people, and they spill chemicals over and over, and poison the water we drink.
My people are suffering. Our culture is suffering.
And everyday more tourists come. Everyday more land is taken to build hotels. Everyday more culture is stripped and bastardized. Everyday more land is taken for military use.
I’m so tired of living this way. I’m so tired of waking up and watching the slow and agonizing death of my people.
I want us to live. I want us to thrive.
I want my people to survive.
I want to survive.
So please read up on the current issues that face Kānaka Maoli. Please educate yourself on my people’s history and current affairs.
Speak up and speak out. Talk about unsustainable tourism, and speak up about how harmful a “vacation” to Hawai‘i can be. Talk about the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and it’s injustice.
Hawai‘i is Hawaiians. Hawai‘i is our history. Hawai‘i is our home. Hawai‘i is the very blood that runs through our veins.
So please do not forget us, and please speak up with us.
Support Hawaiian Sovereignty. Restore Hawai‘i to Hawaiians.
Resources & Education:
HOME | Hui Aloha ʻĀina Momona
The Illegal Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government | NEA
Hawaii's reliance on tourism has resulted in Native Hawaiians getting priced out of their homes and havoc on the natural landscape. Activist
Red Hill: One Year Later
The Army wants an extension of a 65-year lease to operate a military training site on the Big Island, a proposition Hawaii state officials q
