Ayase Leilani's Blog

James Cook landed on Kauaʻi in 1778, 240 years ago.  Although people debate whether Ruy López de Villalobos from Spain set foot on the Hawaiian Islands in 1542, 236 years before Cook, evidence proving this one way or the other is scant and therefore, Cook is considered to be the first white man to set foot on the islands.  Cook was English and his tenure on the islands was both infamous and short-lived; he was killed in 1779, just one year later, while attempting to kidnap Kalaniʻōpuʻu, a monarch from the Big Island.  And why was Kalaniʻōpuʻu being kidnapped in the first place?  As it turns out, someone had stolen a cutter boat from one of Cook’s ships and he wanted some leverage to have it returned to him.

There does not exist a more classic tale of villainy than the one of kidnapping for ransom.  And yet today, Cook is revered as an adventerous man who sailed bravely and managed his crew well; this beloved reputation follows him the world over.

I guess it’s true what they say:  history is written by the winners.

In 1785, the first trading ship landed on the islands from England, with a trade route circling the Pacific and then travelling through China to return to England.  This established trade between the Hawaiian Islands and the Western world for the first time.  In 1792, George Vancouver, an officer in England’s Royal Navy, went to the Big Island and became personal advisor to the famous King Kamehameha, providing resources and a ready ally to his cause.  With establishment of relations with England, Kamehameha quickly established reign over the Big Island and set his sights on neighbouring islands.  Using English resources and weapons, he did eventually conquer all the islands outside of Kauaʻi by 1795.

While King Kamehameha fought to unite the islands under his rule with the help of the English, America made its first landing on the island with their ships in 1789, sailing in the Columbia Reviva.  This brought even more presence of white men into Hawaii and furthered outreach by the rest of the world to obtain further trade, alliances and control of the Hawaiian Islands.

And of course, the turn of the century was just around the corner and thus began the final phases of the White Man’s colonising efforts.  The first sugarcane plantation was established–intriguingly–by a Chinese man in 1802 on the island of Lanaʻi.  Tragically, by 1804, half of the Hawaiians were killed off by diseases imported by the English and Americans:  the Black Plague and Cholera.  This set things back for a while, but by 1835, the first major plantation was established by Ladd & Co.  It would take only five years for more and more white people to begin coming to the islands in order to establish sugarcane plantations, which took off in 1840 and quickly snagged up the remaining Hawaiians, using them for what amounted to slave labour.

Is any of this sounding familiar yet?  It should be, given that the way the Indigenous Americans were treated by European settlers in America at the time was just as heinous and just as riddled with diseases imported by the white people.  And as the plantations grew and took up immigrant labour from the Philippines and other Pacific Islands in addition to the Hawaiians already working the fields, so too did the power of the White Man grow and grow.

The White Man would–indeed–have the last laugh.  With the death of the Kamehameha line in 1872 after King Kamehameha V died and left no heir, a committe of white men who managed the businesses (read: plantations) and law of the islands began showing influence over the monarchs.  In 1887, a new law of the land, known as the “1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii,” was drafted by these people, who subsequently forced their chosen monarch,  King Kalākaua, to sign it.  This legislation stripped the monarchy of almost all of its power, disenfranchised the native Hawaiians and subsequently deposited all the power into the hands of white landowners and politicians who–by this point–ran the entire show.  By 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani was–under much duress from white businessmen and lawmakers–forced to abdicate, ceding all power to the American government.

Game.  Set.  Match.  The White Man now had control of the Hawaiian Islands, including all the governing power and all the economic power.

With the slow death of the sugarcane plantations, which lasted during the next 123 years, the Islands began to paint themselves as a tourist destination for Americans and Japanese and eagerly drank the White Man’s Kool-Aid, slowly beginning to believe that they truly were the “Melting Pot of the Pacific.”  The final sugarcane plantation–on the island of Maui–closed in 2016, with colonialism still running strong in the minds and hearts of Hawaiians.  And of course, this suits the white people and Asian populations of the Hawaiian Islands fine, as they benefit the most from this horrific affair.

And this mindset is winning, because apparently people are somehow unaware of the real impact that 238 years of colonisation had on the populace.  An eye-opening study has been released, showing that Asians and White people have the most wealth, power and stability on the islands; they own a majority of the land, maintain a majority of the power in government, hold a majority of the employment and enjoy the majority of wealth, which–of course–contributes to gentrification and all the problems that make things difficult for the marginalised populations.

And who are the marginalised populations?  You guessed it:  Hawaiians, Micronesians and new immigrant groups such as the Marshallese, Tongans and Samoans are the poorest, own the least land, make up the most homeless and are easily the least represented and most disenfranchised.

I now wish to speak out to all of my Hawaiian siblings, who have let this carry on over all these scores of years.

Explain to me again why this is acceptable in a modern Hawaii, my siblings.  And please also explain to me again why it’s okay to believe in fallacious ideals such as “Melting Pots” when people have to squat on the beaches because they can’t find housing or work.  Because I’d really like to know why this is okay.

Helpful hint:  it’s not okay.

And by continuing to believe in this mindset, you are only perpetuating the harmful colonialism that has left all of us disenfranchised since 1778.  For 240 years now, we have been disenfranchised by the ideals of colonialism perpetuated by the White Man.  And now we sit here, drinking the Kool-Aid and letting everyone continue to march all over us?

Why?

We are descendants of the proud and mighty Demigod, Māui.   This is the national hero who snared the sun to give us our future.  Where is our passion?  Where is our love of home, of country, of people and of our way of life?  It would seem we’ve all forgotten how to snare the sun.  We’re better than this and it’s about time we all were woke to this fact.

We must end the march of colonialism; I do not wish to live in a 241st year of darkness and lack of future for all of us.   Get up and march, lest we lose everything that truly matters to each and every one of us.