THE "PAIN" TO BE A KANAKA MAOLI IN MODERN HAWAI'I
The Maui News
Commentary
Sunday, August 7, 2005
Living in present day Hawai'i as a Kanaka Maoli (aboriginal native), is a very painful experience. Knowing our past history and the wisdom of our KŸpuna that the base of our culture is the land, which of course we do not own or control. We at this point can only "spiritually" connect too, and this is a sin. Our ancestors came here over two thousand years ago, with double hulled canoes and knew that these islands existed from chants and legends. They came here with their families, gods, goddess, plants, and animals and populated these lands for 13 hundred years. Capt. Cook stumbled on these islands looking for a passage around the Americas and that was the down fall of our race. He and others that arrived brought the common cold and all the other diseases known to man. Our people died by the hundreds of thousands and genocide were the result of being "kind and loving people".
Today we are being assaulted by the "New Missionaries", Goemans, Burgess, Konklin, Freddy Rice and others who calls the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaiian Home Land, Kamehameha Schools and all Hawaiian programs, "race based" and illegal under the American Constitution. Our ancestors opened their arms and welcomed everyone that came to these Isles and shared what they had. In turn the missionaries (some of them came here to do good, instead did well) spread the word of the lord and some of these families (like Freddy Rice's ancestors) left the ministry and acquired lands by using American Laws to steal from the unknowing Hawaiian people The missionaries descendants today are the large land owners of Hawaii.
With this new attack on Kamehameha Schools admission policy which was dictated by Princess Keali'i Pauahi's Will and interpreted by husband Charles R. Bishop to mean that aboriginal Hawaiian boys and girls will attend the school called Kamehameha.
We as native people of this land must stand united to combat this onslaught from foreigners to our land with their American Laws that interpret wishes of Princess Pauahi's made over a hundred years ago; this is the price we are paying for being illegally occupied by America. Who are these Haole Judges that have no clue about our culture and make such a racist ruling? Imagine, using the Civil Rights Act indicating that we are prejudiced! !Hila hila! A hundred years ago our people were oppressed and Princes Pauahi saw the need to educate our people because they were displaced from their land by the greedy Americans and other business men. Today the same situation is occurring but our people need education more than they did before because they are at the bottom of the social ills in Hawaii, poverty, homelessness, suicide, prisons health, education, landless and much more. Whenever people throughout the world were colonized, the native population suffers and they are oppressed.
We must educate the tourist that are coming to Hawai'i in large numbers that there is "trouble in Paradise" and that we are not happy here in our homeland. We have to discourage them from staying here after their vacations and go home, don't by the million dollar homes being sold on Maui. It is time that the visitors bureau stop painting us a fun loving "natives in the sun" and "hula-hula girls under the coconut Trees." Let is hope that we do not have to take to the streets and yell, "Yankee go home"
This is the time for us to Ku'e (resist) and fight for the legacy which is ours. We have to learn from the famous words uttered by Kamehameha the Great as he was about to conquer Maui "inu I ka wai awaawa" drink of the bitter water. Imua Kamehameha
Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell Sr.
Pukalani
