On the eve of an old holiday. What have we learned? What do we unlearn? As we approach July 31, I briefly want to emphasize the historical importance of the date to Hawaiians. It was traditionally a holiday of the Hawaiian Kingdom known as Ka La Hoihoi Ea or Sovereignty Restoration Day. In 1843, there was an incident involving a Lord George Paulet (a British Commander) and he took over, by occupation, the Hawaiian Islands. The occupation was ended on July 31, 1843 by British Admiral Richard Thomas, who restored Kamehameha III as the Sovereign of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Instrumental to the restoration of the Hawaiian Kingdoms sovereign status were two haole, Dr. Gerrit P. Judd (Hawaiian citizen) who wrote an important dispatch and prepared other necessary documents while hiding in the royal tomb with the coffin of Queen Kaahumanu as a writing desk and James F.B. Marshall (American citizen) who delivered that dispatch and provided the other documents that led to the eventual restoration of the sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom. In the afternoon [of July 31, 1843] a thanksgiving service was held in the Stone Church (Kawaihao), during which the king stated that, in accordance with the hope expressed by him at the time of the cession, the life of the land had been restored, and the country would henceforth be governed according to the constitution and laws. This is where the current state motto comes from, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono. translation = The life/sovereignty of the land is perpetuated by righteousness.
Hooulu Lâhui
What is Hooulu Lâhui? I have been told by Iolani Palace docents and have heard University Professors say that (in the Hawaiian Kingdom era) Hooulu Lâhui meant increase the race. This assertion was often supported by the fact that the aboriginal Hawaiian population had drastically declined, mostly in part, by introduced illnesses for which the aboriginal Hawaiians had no immunity to. It made sense, perfect sense. This assertion has been made for years and ingrained into the minds of many aboriginal Hawaiians young and old.
The emphasis of Hawaiians as a racial group has had the result of excluding non-aboriginal Hawaiians. The assertion that Hooulu Lâhui means increase the race helps to further that exclusionary ideology because race, as one type of identity, is being promoted over all other types of identity.
But, what if the fact of the population decline was accurate while the translation of Houlu Lâhui was inaccurate? How, if at all, does that change the way aboriginal Hawaiians identify ourselves? What happens to the academic scholarship that has depended on race for Hawaiian identity? What would happen if we found out that our ancestors in the 19th century identified themselves differently than many of us identify ourselves today?
I believe what happens is, we have to do what John Singleton asks us to do at the very end of his 1995 film, Higher Learning. We must UNLEARN.
So again, what is Hooulu Lâhui? People have believed, for a long time, that it means increase the race. I believed that as well. But, I no longer can. In the Hawaii State Archives there is a Report of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the [Hawaiian Kingdom] Legislative Assembly of 1884. It is dated April 24, 1884. On the 14th page, under FOREIGN IMMIGRATION, it reads,
Perhaps the most vital question for this Kingdom is increase of population which is absolutely necessary in order to maintain the rank of an independent State. Unfavorable conditions of living . . . having affected the native race, the sovereign constituent of the Kingdom, so as to cause a gradual decline, it behooved an enlightened statesmanship, anxious for the preservation of national independence, and for the promotion of national welfare, to take steps for the supply of people as recruits for the up-building of the nation. His Majesty King Kalakaua . . . early gave expression to his appreciation of this important measure, and, in a public speech, declared his royal purpose to favor the increase of the nation (Hooulu Lahui) . . . the introduction of new people to mingle with them [aboriginal Hawaiians] has been appreciated by the native race . . . of whose members [in the Legislative Assembly] fully three-fourths have been native Hawaiians, [ ] voted successively for immigration in 1868 . . . 1874 . . . 1878 . . . 1880 . . . and 1882.
Hawaiian Kingdom law reads as follows:
Every foreigner so naturalized, shall be deemed to all intents and purposes a native of the Hawaiian Islands . . . . And every foreigner so naturalized, shall be entitled to all the rights, privileges and immunities of an Hawaiian subject.
I think it can be easily understood and recognized now that Hooulu Lâhui didnt mean, in the 19th century, to increase the race. Hooulu Lâhui apparently was a policy of the Hawaiian Kingdom that favored foreign immigration. Foreign immigration, followed with naturalization for citizenship, was a practice designed to maintain the Hawaiian Kingdoms independence. But also, it allowed others the privilege of becoming Hawaiian by national identity, enlarging an inclusive and collective identity recognized and respected under international law.
Today, how should we, as Hawaiians identify ourselves?