Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 9, 1 September 2023 — The Courage to Lead [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Courage to Lead

Our ōhui petitioned Oueen Lili'uokoloni to reploce the Kingdom's 1887 "Boyonet Constitution" with o new constitution thot would return leodership of the notion to the Howoiion people. Pictured here is o petition from the kupo of Lohoino, Moui. - Photos: Hawai'i State Archives

By Dr. Ronald Williams, Jr.

To have ignored or disregarded so general a request I must have heen deaf to the voice of the people, whieh tradition tells us is the voice of God. - Her Majesty Queen Lili'uokalani On 23 March 1891, the Honolulu newspaper Ka Leo o Ka Lāhui published a well-defined appeal to the nations' newest sovereign: "Na Kumuhana a ka Lahui e Panee aku nei Imua ou e ka Moiwahine Liliuokalani" (The Matters of the Nation put forward in front of Queen Lili'uokalani). The request announced the principal desire of the lāhui; a "Kumukanawai Hou" (New Constitution). The constitutional monarchy of the Hawaiian Kingdom had been disrupted three years earlier when a clandestined

group of white businessmen and missionary descendants - through a militia-led eoup - forced the 1887 "Bayonet Constitution" upon Mō7 Kalākaua. This imposed document disenfranchised many Kānaka 'Ōiwi and all Asian subjects, shifting power to the white minority in the islands. It was despised by a majority of the populaee and the lāhui wanted it replaced. The goal of a new constitution eluded the lāhui over the final years of MōT Kalākaua's reign, but now, in 1891, with a new head-of-state, the campaign intensified. Over the 24 months of Mō7wahine Lili'uokalani's reign, Hawaiian Kingdom subjects and their supporters, continually, in various ways and at various sites, reiterated their demand for a governing document that would return leadership of the lāhui to its native people. The Queen explained, "Petitions poured in from every part of the Islands for a new constitution. These were addressed to myself as reigning sovereign." Indeed, thousands of the Queen's subjects from all over the kingdom signed petitions addressed "Ia Liliuokalani" (To Lili'uokalani) from "i kupono i Koho Balota" (qualified voters) "me ka iini nui" (with intense desire)..."e loaa koke mai he Kumukanawai hou no ko kakou Aina a me ko kakou lahui (to obtain soon a new Constitution for our land and nation/people.) Concurrently, Her subjects petitioned the Hawaiian Kingdom legislature to convene a constitutional eonvention that could enact their wishes. Representatives White [Lāhainā], Nāwahī [Hilo], Bipikāne [Pauoa], Akina [Kaua'i], Pua [Kalaupapa], and many others delivered petitions from their districts. Soon after, White and Nāwahī delivered the people's message to the Queen in person. She recalled, "until these conversations, it had not oecurred to me as possible to take such a step in the interest of the native people: but after these parties had spoken to me, I began to give the subject my careful consideration." After several meetings and a gathering at Mu'olaulani Palaee to kūkā with diverse leaders, the Queen agreed. Despite the evident dangers involved, Her subjects' wishes were clear. The decision to act upon the voice of the people would end up costing Queen Lili'uokalani Her throne, Her 'āina - nearly one million acres of Crown Lands - and for nearly a century, Her rightful plaee in history as a exceptional leader. In a false-hearted twist, the truth of her determined stand for representaive government was omitted from the record in order to shape a master narrative that sought to justify the theft of a nation. The insurgent's narrative described a "power-hungry" queen who had attempted to seize control by thrusting a new constitution on her people, and the "long-suffering whites" of the Islands. This false history garnered institutional support. The 1931 edition of the University of Hawai'i's yearbook Ka Palapala offers a history of Hawai'i that describes the 1893 eoup and subsequent seizure of the Islands by the

United States as "THE TRANSITION," and explains, "This period reveals the Islands on the verge of dramatic changes. Queen Lili'uokalani was on the throne and had ruled despotically, bringing about changes without eonsulting the will of her people. Revolution followed and her throne was seized from her." Princess Lili'uokalani took the throne begrudgingly, saddened by the death of Her brother, and saddled with a deep responsibility that several other royals over the previous years had turned down. Amidst the treacherous turmoil of the day, the easiest thing would have been to simply occupy the throne and carry on as normal. Yet, Her nation needed her. The remarkable constitutional monarchy crafted by Mōī Kauikeaouli and shaped by other ali'i nui before her was broken. Under Bayonet, it was no longer a representation of the will of the people and those people had called out to her. Learning of the truth of her brave actions, offers hope, inspiration, and courage to the lāhui today - the courage to listen, the courage to act, and most of all, the courage to lead. ■ Historian Ronald Williams,Jr., Ph.D., is an archivist at the Hawai'i State Archives, owner ofKa 'Elele Research and Writing, and ho'opa'a kuauhaufor 'Ahahui Hawai'i Aloha 'Āina.

W Her Majesty Queen Lili'uokalani.