Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 35, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 2018 — JONAH KŪHIŌ [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

JONAH KŪHIŌ

HAWAIIAN ALI'I & CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATE prince

kalanianAole

By Sterling Wong

Native Hawaiians have always looked back to our kūpuna and their actions to inform our future polhieal strategies. So what period of our history should we focus on for poliheal guidance today?

Many Native Hawaiians study the ali'i who established brilliant resource management systems and social and religious structures that enabled our expansive Lāhui to thrive on a small island ehain in the middle of the Paeihe. For others, the kingdom leaders are the standard barriers for today as they blended western and traditional forms of governance and asserted a burgeoning nation's plaee within the international eommunity.

Still other Native Hawaiians look to the period after the overthrow as a source of inspiration for resisting American imperialism and the loeal white oligarchy. Perhaps less attention, however, is given to our ancestors during the complex territorial period. As I explained in my article in this July's issue of Ka Wai

Ola , Native Hawaiians exercised their strength at the polls to elect 'Ōiwi leaders to represent the lāhui's interest in the new territorial government. But towards the end of the territorial period, Native Hawaiians also saw their poliheal influenee wane as the voting block

of second generation immigrants began to marginalize the Native Hawaiian vote. It was also during the territorial period when western assimilation began to substantially erode the eonneetion between Native Hawaiians and their culture This summer, Congress released a book entitled Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress 1900-2017. The 600-page tome reminds us that despite these evolving social and polhieal realities, five of Hawai'i's first seven territorial delegates

to Congress were Native Hawaiian. As we head to the polls again this month, it's worthwhile to reexamine the stories of these Native

Hawaiian leaders to see what lessons ean be learned from their advocacy for our Lāhui during those quickly changing times. While Congress' new book includes biographies of Native Hawaiian territorial delegates Robert Wilcox, William Jarrett, Victor Kaleoaloha Houston and Samuel Wilder King, in the interest of space I focus on just one: Prince Jonah Kūhio Kalaniana'ole.

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole (Delegate, 1903-1922) Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole is the most prominent Native Hawaiian leader of the territorial era. A prince and heir to the throne, his high-ranking genealogy satisfied a traditional qualification for Hawaiian leadership. He was well educated and an exceptional athlete. He is said to be one of the first to bring surfing to the U.S. continent, nearly 30 years prior to Duke Kahanamoku introducing the sport around the world. Kūhiō's yearlong imprisonment for his participation in the 1895-armed rebellion to restore the monarchy cemented his legacy as a true aloha 'āina. A gifted statesman, Kūhiō's charm and politicking with Big

Five and D.C. powerbrokers helped him successfully navigate the loeal and national polhieal landscapes. But Kūhiō was also a fighter, who was known to get into physical altercations with individuals who leveled racial slurs at him. And he wasn't afraid to buck the loeal power structure on behalf of his people. Beginning in 1909, he led a public and bitter battle against Hawai'i's governor and his own Republican Party. He argued that the territorial government was managing public lands in favor of large plantations and ranches, thereby preventing homesteading opportunities for Native Hawaiians. His overwhelming victory in the 1914 primary eleetion over a challenger backed by the white elites of the Republican Party "reaffirmed that the Hawaiian people and their politicians were still a force to contend with and make concessions to," according to historian Davianna McGregor. Kūhiō helped establish the first Hawaiian Civic Club and the 'Ahahui Pu'uhonua o Nā Hawai'i to shore up his Native Hawaiian political base and ensure that Native Hawaiians remained civically engaged. The idea for what would become the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA) originated from these Native Hawaiian polhieal organizations and Kūhiō's criticisms of the territorial government's public land policy. The homesteading law, adopted in 1921, probably still stands as the single most significant pieee of congressional legislation enacted for Native Hawaiians. And Kūhiō secured it without a vote to trade. Kūhiō's legacy of fighting for our people should inspire Native Hawaiians today to remain civically engaged, and most importantly, to go vote. ■

Kūhiō helpeel establish the first Hawaiian Civic Club and the 'Ahahui Pu'uhonua o Nā Hawai'i to shore up his Native Hawaiian polūieal base and ensure that Native Hawaiians remained civically engaged.

The Territorial Period sets an example for civic engagement today. - Photo: Hawai'i State Archives

Congress has released a book on Asian and Pacific lslanders who served in Congress. ■ lmage: U.S. House — ;

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole, a congressional delegate from the Territory of Hawai'i. ■ Photo: Library ofCongress