Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 1985 — A Proper Tribute to Kalakaua [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A Proper Tribute to Kalakaua

By Hayden Burgess Oahu Trustee

King David Kalakaua of the house of Iwikauikawa, whose sign, the powerful noon day sun was symboiized by the burning of kukui torches in the daylight, is truly someone we Hawaiians have mueh to revere and remember in gratitude. He became our national leader at a time when Hawaii was threatened by many

powertul torces. ne designed a grand motit ot racial, cultural and national programs whieh would perpetuate Hawaii. He saw the numbers of indigenous Hawaiian people dwindle rapidly, victims of foreign diseases and lifestyle. So, in a campaign to increase the Hawaiian race, he urged the people to "ho'oulu i ka lahui Hawaii" (increase the Hawaiian race.) He pronounced that there would be no taxes for parents of large Hawaiian families. He called upon the Board of Health to increase its effort to preserve the lives of babies and encouraged the births of more Hawaiian children and even called for bounties to be awarded. He understood that the greatest threat Hawaii faced was the dwindling percentage in Hawaii of the Hawaiian race as well as the decline in pure numbers of our people. He saw the rigid loss of Hawaii's oral traditions and eulture. So, in the face of great criticism of "reviving heathenism" and "pandering to vice", he gathered the remaining specialists

of history, healing, weather forecasting and the many other arts of old Hawaii for meetings on the sacred grounds of Iolani Palaee and elsewhere, in an effort to pool these ancient wisdoms and record them for posterity , resulting in, among other works, the recording of the Kumulipo, the epie poem of Creation of the earth and the gods and all other living things, whieh has been called "the greatest human document known to mankind." He brought Hula back into the forefront of Hawaii's public life as part of the proud heritage of the people. He formed the Royal Geneological Society and the Board of Geneologist of the Hawaiian Chiefs as well as other societies in whieh he himself played a very active role. He understood that Hawaii could never go back in Time; but as we moved forward with Time and all its modern changes, we must move ahead knowledgeable of our cultural and traditional treasures and be able to integrate these treasures with the contemporary things of the society. He understood the continuing threat to Hawaii's independence by the United States whieh had always wanted to colonize Hawaii and convert her into its military fortress in the Pacific. He embarked on a massive program of international alliances. He increased Hawaii's diplomatic and counselor posts to almost a hundred across the world. During his reign, he saw to it that Hawaii had treaties or executive agreements calling for the respect of Hawaii's sovereignty, with almost every major power in the world. He had Hawaii join the first "United Nations", the Universal Postal Union, soon after that international body was created. He personally circled the globe in a campaign to assure Hawaii's sovereignty into perpetuity and was welcomed with honors in every country he visited, including the United States.

However, thievery was brewing behind him. The Secretary of the U.S. Navy, in 1882, was engaged in a plot with Lorrin Thurston to take Hawaii. The U.S. Secretary assured Thurston that the U.S. would look with great favor in the event of an overthrow of Hawaii and a turnover of Hawaii to the United States. A year after Kalakaua had passed away and his sister Queen Liliuokalani had taken his plaee, another U.S. Navy Secretary, B.F. Tracy, plotted with Lorrin Thurston, assuring him that the President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison, favored the overthrow and the turnover of Hawaii to the United States. We all know what happened after that . The plot was carried out: the U.S. Navy's battleship Boston landed its troops in Hawaii and by force of arms, overthrew our Queen: the U.S. Navy helped established Thurston's group as the puppet government in Hawaii whieh a few years later handed Hawaii over to the United States. And as we commernorate the life and traditions of our ancestors and especially of Kalakaua through that very popular MERRY MONARCH Hula Festiva! in Hilo, we cannot allow ourselves to ignore our own history and the part the U.S. Navy played in that history. The MERRY MONARCH festivities is not simply another tourist attraction or hula show for curious visitors to Hawaii nei. Rather, it is a serious display of the power of hula as a receptacle of our history and prehistory — our values and our interpretation of the world. It is an important cultural and historical event whieh demonstrates dignity of our indigenous tradition of Hawaii. It is a celebration of our cultural past and present, commemorating Kalakaua's efforts in the preservation of Hawaii's race, eulture and national life. Yet, amazingly, the U.S. Navy has a standing weleome to be officially present as guests to these festivities! The contradiction is obvious — the solution, simple. The U.S. Navy and those responsible for their "standing" invitation should be historically and culturally sensitive enough to understand that the Navy should not be invited to attend the MERRY MONARCH Hula Festival. Only by withdrawing the invitation will the MERRY MONARCH be a proper tribute of gratitude of Hawaii's peop!es to a great man, a King, our Moi, DAVID LAAMEA KAMANAKAPUU MAHINULANI NALOIAEHUOKALANI LUMIALANI KALAKAUA.