Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 3, 1 March 2008 — Ceded lands [ARTICLE]

Ceded lands

In an article regarding ceded lands published in a recent edition of the Hawaii TribuneHerald, R. Rowland, identified as president of something called Grassroots Institute of Hawai'i, implies that Hawaiians have no elaim to ceded lands. He had used the word 'balderdash.' Balderdash? Weleome back to the 19th century! Rowland makes a pathetic attempt to ignore the Polynesian discoverers and settlers of these Islands; an invisible entity - unknown, unseen, unrelated to the land. His rhetoric merely echoes those of others of his kind. To insist that land is not the true realm of a free and independent nation is to deny England to the English, China to the Chinese, Norway to the Norwegians, etc. An act of military terrorism does not offer true elaim to another nation's homeland, and no amount of spin or exaggeration to the contrary will provide that elaim. Yield? Balderdash! WalterAkimo Hilo