Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 10, 1 October 2013 — HEROINE OF FORGIVENESS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HEROINE

FORGIVENESS

By Mary Aliee Ka'iulani Milham

nueen Lili ' uokalani was honored as a Heroine of

V M Lorgiveness at Hawai'i International Forgiveness Day observance at the Hawai'i state Capitol. The Aug. 4 recognition by the mostly non-Hawai-ian nonprofit group Hawai'i Forgiveness Project reflects the spirit of the times and the coming together of Native Hawaiians and non-Hawai-ians to heal the injuries of historv

"This group knows our history and they want to try to do something about it, and with us - versus to us, or for us. There's a

ditterence there, says Meleanna Aluli Meyer, a Native Hawaiian filmmaker and member of the Hawai'i Forgiveness Day group.

History tells us that under the greatest adversity, Queen Lili'uokalani had an even greater capacity to forgive. Ascending the throne in January 1891, she bore the brunt of a political storm that had been brewing for decades between the monarchy and the American missionary descendants seeking to control the government. In 1887, her brother King David Kalākaua had been forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, stripping him of his right as monarch to appoint nobles and dismiss cabinet ministers and imposing property qualifications that deprived the majority of Native Hawaiians of the right to vote. It was Queen Lili'uokalani's attempt to restore those rights with a new constitution that brought the conflict to its head on Jan. 16, 1893, when, with the unauthorized support of U.S. Marines, the same men took the govemment by force. Despite such extreme injustice, Queen Lili'uokalani called for peaee. And with a moral force strong enough to quell the rising tide of anger among her native people, she urged ealm and nonviolence while pursuing a peaceful resolution and the restoration of her government through diplomatic means. Attacks on the queen continued nonetheless, from threats of assassination to

racist poliheal cartoons depicting her as a savage. In 1895, when loyalists mounted a counter-revolution in a failed bid to regain their country's independence, she endured the ultimate indignity of being arrested, charged with treason, put on trial and imprisoned in a sparely furnished bedroom of her former palaee. It was there, isolated from her people under constant guard, that she wrote her famous anthem of forgiveness, "Ke Aloha O Ka Haku, The Queen's Prayer," beseeching God to look not on the "sins of men" but to forgive with loving kindness. Speaking at the state Capitol, Meyer hailed the queen's triumphant forgiveness. "Through imprisonment, trial, attempted assassination and long, lonely nights, she wrestled with this treason and betrayal. She met the demons of violence and hatred, and she vanquished them in herself. She made a ehoiee for life, for love, for tolerance and compassion. And what followed is forgiveness, I believe," said Meyer, whose current film project, Ku'u 'ĀinaAloha (Beloved Land, Beloved Country) honors Queen Lili'uokalani. "She showed us that we ean do it, too. Her example stands proudly, as a lesson for Hawai'i, for America and for the world."

Launched in 2002, the Hawai'i Forgiveness Project is one of the largest Interna-

tional Forgiveness Day events in the world. "People eome here looking for answers and they know the depth of this plaee," says Meyer. The Heroine of Forgiveness Recognition Award was presented to Claire Asam of Queen Lili'uokalani Trust, who accepted it on the queen's behalf. In addition to Meyer, the event included presentations and speeches by several luminaries

ot the JNative Hawauan community, including Poka Laenui, executive director of Hale Na'au Pono and longtime sovereignty activist;

George Kahumoku Jr., who performed mele and oli dedicated to the queen from his eolleehon E Lili'u; Puanani Burgess, the respected mediator, poet and storyteller; and Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award-winning musician Ku'uipo Kumukahi. Laenui implored the crowd to adopt Queen Lili'uokalani's values of 'onipa'a (steadfastness) andpono (righteousness) and to "forgive and cleanse." Echoing the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Laenui urged his listeners to practice forgiveness. "Hatred never ceased by hatred. Hatred only ceases by love," said Laenui. "The Hawai'i of tomorrow will not prosper if we continue to carry this burden of hatred." The past, he said, cannot be undone and so we must join together to lift the burden of what has happened in Hawai'i and address the issues we face together. "That's why Lili'uokalani's teachings are so important," said Laenui. "The point is, it's an energy that will change. It's an energy that heals," concluded Meyers. "What it does is, it focuses our energy. That's the important part. This is a beginning." ■ Marv Ali.ce Ka'iulani Milham, a Portland, Oregon-based freelance journalist, is aformer newspaper reporter and colunmist from California 's Central Coast.

i EA i G0VERNANCE

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