Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 2006 — Record of Resistance [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Record of Resistance

Plans are mhe works for a puone memorial honoring the signers of the Kū'ē Anti-Annexation Petitions

By Sterling Kini Weng Publicatiūns Editor ror years, Hawaiians have been told that their kūpuna resisted the 1898 annexation of Hawai'i by the United States. But for many, it's been difficult to find a personal connection to that resistance. Now, the Native Hawaiian group Ke Kia'i, recently funded with a $25,000 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, is trying to make finding that eonneetion a little easier. Ke Kia'i is planning the development of a memorial wall to honor the more than 21,000 Native Hawaiians who signed their names to the Kū'ē Anti-Annexation Petitions of 1897-1898. Kūnani Nihipali, one of the project's coordinators, said that the Kū'ē Memorial Wall is long overdue. "In Hawai'i, there are memorials for everybody, every group, every cause - but none for Hawaiians," he said. "I want people to be able to go to the memorial, see their kūpuna's signature and feel that eonneehon and understand that their ancestors didn't want their nation to be

annexed. It's an idea that will stay in your mind all the time." Possible designs There are several concepts for the memorial wall, but the main goal is to inscribe the actual signatures from the petition onto some sort of surface, possibly rock. Two designs have been proposed for a freestanding memorial with walls situated in a circular pattern. Both concepts could include benches and a water feature in the middle, Nihipali said. Another proposal is to have the signatures placed on an existing wall, perhaps at 'Iolani Palaee or the state Capitol, both of whieh are near the statue of Queen Lili'uokalani. The kaona, or hidden meaning, is that the queen is facing the present govermnent with her subjects close to her in support, "reminding those today of the desire then [to oppose] the illegal annexation of Hawai'i," according to Ke Kia'i's website. "We have not acquiesced then, and remain steadfast in our stance of kū'ē, calling for the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy by the American government. 'Onipa'a!"

History of the petitions On June 16, 1897, President William McKinely submitted to the U.S. Senate a treaty to annex Hawai'i. The treaty had been signed by leaders of the Republic of Hawai'i, whieh four years earlier had orchestrated the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. In response, two Hawaiian political groups, Hui Aloha 'Āina and Hui Kālai'āina, began collecting signatures to use as testimony to Congress that Hawaiians opposed annexation. Hui Aloha 'Āina alone gathered more than 21,000 signatures, whieh represented more than half of the Hawaiian populalion at the time. Hui Kālai'āina accumulated another 17,000

signatures. Only the Hui Aloha 'Āina petitions, however, were presented to the Senate. The Kū'ē Petitions helped defeat the treaty of annexation in the Senate, but within seven months Congress passed the Newlands Resolution, whieh effected the annexation of Hawai'i without any vote by island residents. Native Hawaiian scholar Noenoe Silva said that ever since then, Hui Aloha 'Āina's petitions remained in the National Archives and were nearly forgotten, relegated to a footnote in Hawai'i's history. In 1996, she discovered the almost 600 pages of signatures while doing research for her doctorate. She had them printed and displayed in a 1998

exhibit, whieh later toured the islands. Silva said that the petitions have shifted the way people look at Hawai'i's annexation. "It seems ridiculous to think it now, but it was said quite a bit that Hawaiians passively let their country be taken. Hawaiians didn't agree with it, but they never had the petitions in hand" to prove otherwise, she said. "[The petitions] changed people's ideas, and it's become a point of pride." Ke Kia'i is continuing to hold workshops around the islands to gather ideas and is seeking financial contributions for the project. For more information, visit www.kekiai.org/ kue, or eall Kūnani Nihipali at 721-5369. Ē

— HO'OH ANOH ANO • H0N0RING 00R PAST

An aerial perspective of fwo conceptual designs for the Kū'ē Memorial Wall created by Native Hawaiian artist Ipō Nihipali. Photos: courtesy ofKe Kia'i.