Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 8, 1 August 2021 — Let's Celebrate on Admission Day! [ARTICLE]

Let's Celebrate on Admission Day!

V HA'I MANA'O V ^ OPINION *

By Kaleikoa Ka'eo On Aug. 21, 1959, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared that "the procedural requirements imposed by the Congress on the State of Hawai'i to entitle that state to admission to the Union have been complied with in all respects and that the admission of the State of Hawai'i into the Union on an equal footing with other states of the Union is now accomplished." The above declaration purports to provide a legal rendering on how Hawai'i was made into the 50th State. However, does the evidence and actual political history substantiate Eisenhower s words? This declaration births the State of Hawai'i, granting them the self-recognized power to exercise military and governmental rule over our homeland. Yet, every day, the legality of this power is being questioned. More and more, Hawaiians and others are examining and analyzing the historical record and legal precedents. The research is overwhelming, and we should all recognize: • That the Hawaiian Kingdom was internationally recognized as a neutral independent nation state. • That the Hawaiian Islands were never incorporated as a U.S. territory because the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the Treaty of Annexation of Hawai'i of 1897. • That the Newlands Resolution of 1898 was a simple joint resolution passed by the U.S. Congress whose legislative powers were limited to U.S. territory and so it did not have extraterritorial force to unilaterally annex and incorporate the sovereign territory of another recognized nation-state. When we know this history, it is obvious that the Hawai'i Admission Act lacked a juridical foundation and is the by-prod-uct of legal fiction. Notably, there is no evidence that the

U.S. Congress possessed supreme extraterritorial powers over the territory of other recognized nation-states. In comparison, could China simply pass its own legislative act with extraterritorial force whereby China could unilaterally annex, say, Tonga, and make it Chinese territory? That would be nonsense. Our people are awakening and will eventually know that Admission Day represents the same nonsense. What should we do? We should repurpose Admission Day as a holiday for our lāhui kanaka. Since Admission Day is already an "official" day off, why not commandeer this holiday and transform it into a day of celebration for Hawaiian nationals? Let's establish Lā Aloha 'Āina as a holiday to honor our people's patriotism towards our own nation. Lā Aloha Aina should beeome a day of conscious resistance to the U.S. military occupation and miseducation programs of deculturation and denationalization. A day to celebrate and recognize all who are engaged in struggles to protect our homeland, to restore our cultural integrity, and to reinstate the re-recognition of our true national consciousness. Let's take our power and create an alternative. Let's boycott all Hawai'i Admission Day festivities and organize our own aetivities dedicated to the re-education and re-culturation_of our people. Lā Aloha 'Aina will disempower and counter the false narrative of Hawai'i's Admission Day. Wouldn't this day be worthy of support ff om the Office of Hawaiian Affairs whereby they ean set aside resources and commit to providing Lā Aloha 'Āina celebrations across Hawai'i? Let's make it a day to honor the highest expressions of aloha aina. ■ Kaleikoa Ka'eo was born and raised on the island ofMaui where he lives with his wife and three keiki in Waiohuli Hawaiian Homestead. Ka'eo is a graduate of Baldwin High School and UH Mānoa, and is an associate professor at UHMaui College.