Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 2, 1 February 2012 — Kūʻē Petitions outreach [ARTICLE]

Kūʻē Petitions outreach

By Kau'i Sai-Dudoit

Many of us are now familiar with the Kū'ē Petitions of the Hui Aloha 'Āina in 1897 to protest against the annexation of Hawai'i by the United States. Through the research of many Hawaiian scholars like Dr. Noenoe Silva, Jon Osorio and others, we have learned that the people of Hawai'i worked together to present a unified voice to the 55th Congress of the United States of America where they submitted the Kū'ē Petitions as evidence of their strong remonstration. How were they able to gather nearly 40,000 signatures? How long did it take them and how did they eommunicate their efforts to the people of Hawai'i under the watchful eyes of the Republic of Hawai'i and the Annexation Committee?

E nihi ka hele o ala na manu. Tread softly lest the birds awaken. We searched through the Hawaiian-language newspapers to find an article that would gives us some indication of the outreach efforts of the Hui Aloha 'Āina in order to successfully gather the petitions. The following is an article from the Hawaiian-language newspaper Ke Alolia Aina printed on Saturday, Sept. 4, 1897. The article is couched in traditional Hawaiian metaphors, utilizing kaona and the distinctive styling of Hawaiian writers to shroud the real intent of their message, and if one were not lluent in this particular style of writing, one would miss it completely on cursory eheek. This article is reporting that they have visited every island and eaeh island has answered reaffirming their patriotism and support of this effort. The achievements of the Hui Aloha 'Āina revives in us the belief that through the diligent organizational efforts of a dedicated few, many ean prosper. That for those of us who have conunitted some measure to this great undertaking, we accept the invitation of our ancestors to follow in their storied footsteps. To hope, to dream, for hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible. Mahalo to models left us by those dedicated organizations like the Hui Aloha 'Āina and the Hui Kālai'āina for leaving these footprints for us to follow. ■ Ho'olaupa'i: Hawaiian Language Newspaper Project is a coUaborative partnership among the Bishop Museum, Awaiaulu Ina, Alu Like Ine. and Hale Kuamo'o to utilize modern technology to preser\>e and provide access to the voluminous writings in the Hawaiian-language new>spapersforfree access at nupepa.org. Kau'i Sai-Dudoit has been the Project Manager ofHo 'olaupa 'i since 2002.

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