Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 2011 — The King responds [ARTICLE]

The King responds

By Kau'i Sai-Dudoit Second oftwo parts n 1844, after receiving recognition of Hawaiian Independence from Great Britain, France and the United States, Kamehameha III refocused his attention toward domestic affairs, and the internal organization and maintenance of the newly recognized Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1845, he addressed the land tenure system, by initiating the first phase of a massive land division, an event that would eome to be known as the Great Mahele. The King's next priority was the task of appointing eapahle Ministers to assist in the development of a constitutional form of government. The strain on the King was understandable when it beeame exceedingly clear that the most eapahle men were foreigners. The chiefs voiced their concerns regarding the placement of foreigners in such high offices of government and petitioned the King to rethink his decision. Most of us share similar concerns and have been led to believe that our King and chiefs were coerced by foreigners, in regards to foreigners participating in governmental affairs, but this article from 1845 is an example of the clear and deliberate decisions made by Hawaiian leaders at the time. After careful deliberation, evidenced by these letters and discussions with the chiefs, Kamehameha III asked his chiefs to trust his decisions. Additionally before any foreigner could assume a role in government, they were required to swear allegiance to the kingdom, after whieh they were granted patents of citizenship. Last month we shared two letters written by historian Samuel Kamakau to Kamehameha III, whieh were originally published in Hawaiian in Ka Elele newspaper in 1845. This month we conclude with the English translation of Kamehameha III's response to Kamakau. Taken together, these letters afford us a glimpse at Hawaiian agency in practice. ■ Ho'oīaupa'i: Hawaiian Language Newspaper Project is a collaborative partnership among the Bishop Museum, Awaiaulu Ine., Alu Like ine. anel Hale Kuamo 'o to utilize modern technology to preserve and provide access to the voluminous writings in the Hawaiian-lan-guage newspapers for free access at nupepa. org. Kau'i Sai-Dudoit has been the Project Manager ofHo 'olaupa 'i since 2002.