Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 9, 1 September 2011 — Letters to a King [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Letters to a King

By Kau'i Sai-Dudoit 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 heeame 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. In the following correspondence between Hawaiian historian Samuel M. Kamakau and Kamehameha III, submitted to Ka Elele newspaper by Keoni Ana on

Aug. 12, 1845, we are afforded a glimpse at Hawaiian agency in practice. Most of us share s i m i 1 a r 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 is an example of the clear and deliberate decisions made by Hawaiian leaders at the time. Here, we publish the English translations of two letters Kamakau wrote, on the same day, to the King. Next month, we will print the response of Kamehameha III to Kamakau. Taken together, these letters reflect the clear and deliberate decisions made by Hawaiian leaders at that time. ■ 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 moāem technology to preserve anel provide access to the voluminous writings in the Hawaiian-language newspapers for free aecess at nupepa.org. Kau'i Sai-Dudoit has been the Project Manager ofHo 'olaupa 'i since 2002.

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