Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 35, Number 7, 1 July 2018 — Engaged Hawaiians effect change [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Engaged Hawaiians effect change

By Sterling Wong The arrival of this election season offers an opportunity for Native Hawaiians to reflect upon how the power of their vote has influenced the course of history in Hawai'i. A consistent theme over time is that Native Hawaiians launeh grassroots initiatives to address an injustice, and then they carry that momentum to the ballot box. When Native Hawaiians turn out in force to the polls, they have been able to tilt the political establishment to their needs. Native Hawaiians Wrest Back Control of the Kinqdom For mueh of the kingdom period, western and business interests sought ways to reign in the political inHuenee

of Native Hawaiians. In addition to controlling the throne, Native Hawaiians represented an overwhelming majority (about 70 percent) of the kingdom's registered voters. Frustrated with native governance, westerners forced a new constitution on the kingdom in 1887. In addition to reducing the king to a figurehead, the Bayonet Constitution established a property requirement for voters of one legislative ehamber and made other voter eligibility changes that strengthened the poliheal inHuenee of westerners at the expense of Native Hawaiians. The new constitution outraged Native Hawaiians. In response, they became politically active, holding mass meetings, publishing articles in Hawaiian newspapers and circulating petitions. A Native Hawaiian-led political entity, called Hui Kālai'āina, was established to help organize native opposition. When a native-led armed rebellion against the new constitution failed, Native Hawaiians turned to the polls. Hui Kālai'āina joined a coalition that resulted in a "landslide victory" for the party in the 1890 eleehon. With 14 of the 24 House seats and all nine O'ahu seats for Nobles, the coalition was able to organize the Legislature; elect its president and control its committees; and overhaul the King's cabinet, according to legal scholar and historian Jon M. Van Dyke. Van Dyke said that the 1 890 election represented Native Hawaiians "effectively wrest[ing] control of the Kingdom from those who foisted the Bayonet Constitution on the Kingdom." While the kingdom was overthrown three

years later, the 1890 election demonstrated the potency of the Native Hawaiian vote. Native Hawaiian Territory or "Native Hawaiians Dominate Territorial Politics" In the years following the overthrow of the kingdom, Native Hawaiians initiated an exhaustive effort to restore the monarchy. The native opposition is well documented and includes boycotting Republic of Hawai'i elections and affairs, the gathering of 38,000 signatures in opposition to annexation and another armed rebellion. These efforts helped to dissuade the U.S. Congress from passing a treaty of annexation. But the events of the next few years made it clear to even the staunchest of Native Hawaiian patriots that a new poliheal strategy was needed. In 1898, the U.S. laid elaim to the islands through a congressional resolution. However, over the next two years, Republic of Hawai'i leaders were unable to convince Congress that voters in the new territorial government should be subject to property requirements. This meant that while the territorial governor would be appointed by the U.S. President, the Native Hawaiian vote would determine the composition of Hawai'i's new legislature. Shortly after the passage of the Organic Act in 1900, whieh established the Territory of Hawai'i, Native Hawaiian political organizations gathered in Honolulu to discuss political strategy. The leaders of the convention were James Kaulia and David Kalauokalani, the

respective heads of Hui Aloha 'Āina and Hui Kālai'āina, the organizations that were at the forefront of the native opposition to annexation. The third prominent voice of the convention was Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, a former legislator who led the two previously-mentioned armed rebellions. The Native Hawaiians in attendance agreed to establish a new political party that would focus on loeal needs. The leaders of the eonvention then walked to Washington Plaee to speak to Queen Lili 'uokalani about their plans. After hearing them out, the Queen told them: We have no other direction left, except this unrestricted right [to vote], given by the United States to you the people. Grasp it and hold on to it; it is up to you to make things right for all of us in the future. With the approval of their queen.

the Native Hawaiian patriotic organizations turned seven years of grassroots activism into a comprehensive poliheal campaign. Hui Aloha 'Āina and Hui Kālai'āina joined to form a new party, called the Independent Home Rule Party. The rallying slogan for the party was "Hawai'i for Hawaiians," the same motto used by supporters of both Queen Emma and Kalākaua in their 1874 election for the throne. The first territorial election in Hawai'i was a decisive victory for Native Hawaiians. The Home Rule Party dominated the territorial legislature - winning 9 out of 15 Senate seats and 22 out of 30 House seats, and Wilcox became the territory's first delegate to Congress. Moreover, Native Hawaiians represented 33 of 45 legislators elected. The Native Hawaiian vote shaped politics for the first three decades of the territory, as Native Hawaiians held the majority of registered voters through 1920 and a plurality through the 1930s. As a result of exercising their vote and also by joining the Republican Party, many Native Hawaiians were able to secure government jobs as a form of political patronage, according to Native Hawaiian scholar Davianna McGregor. In 2018, it's easy to understand how Native Hawaiians may feel disenfranchised by the existing polkieal landscape. However, the Native Hawaiian vote continues to carry the power to shape Hawai'i's laws and policies. If we exercise that power now, Native Hawaiians ean have significant inHuenee on the future of Hawai'i, just as our kūpuna did. ■

Circa 1893, Hui Aloha 'Āina o Na Kane or the Hawaiian Patriotic League for Men, whieh petitioned against annexation. Captioned: Representative Committee of Delegates of the Hawaiian People to present a memorial to Hon. James H. Blount, praying for the restoration of the monarchy under Queen Liliuokalani. Included in the crowd are Sam M. Kaaukai, J. W. Bipikane, H. S. Swinton, J. K. Kaulia, L. W. P. Kanealii, Joseph Nawahi, John Sam Kikukahiko, S. K. Aki, J. A. Cummins, D. W. Pua, John K. Prendergast, A. K. Palekaluhi, John E. Bush, John Mahiai Kaneakua, F. S. Keiki, J. K. Kaunamano, J. Kekipi, John Lota Kaulukou, and J. K. Merseburg. ■ Source: United States tibrary of Congress