SOURCE: Ray Catania (may11nineteen71@gmail.com)
SUBHEAD: Free Documentary Sunday January 17th at Kapaa Neighborhood Center.
Image above: Book cover graphics for "Nation Within" by Tom Coffman.
From http://www.hawaiiankingdom.info/C1126750129/index.html
[IB Editor's Note: The following is a portion of the book review of "Nation Within", upon which the movie was based: "Nation Within" Review A Gripping tale of Hawaii's illegal overthrow]
By Jeanne Cooper on 19 September 2009 in San Francisco Chronicle -
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/hawaii/det)
Given everything else the Obama administration has to deal with -- from health care to war in Iraq -- it's hard to imagine that a a political injustice that took place more than a century ago, thousands of miles from Washington, D.C., is going to rise to the top of the list.
But this particular injustice involves the American-led takeover of President Barack Obama's boyhood home of Hawaii, leading to high hopes that he may pick up the hot potato dropped by President Clinton 16 years ago, just after formally apologizing for the events of 1893. Raising the sovereignty issue is a sure-fire way to get some right-wing knickers in a twist, and even relatively liberal folk may wonder why revisit "ancient history."
But that's where Coffman's expertise as a journalist, historian and gifted writer come in handy. At the very beginning of his painstakingly researched, grippingly told narrative, he lays out how the dominant Western view of time and national identity eventually submerged the very question of Hawaiian sovereignty -- without claiming any easy answers for resolving the issue in the present day.
A chance find in an antiques bookstore revealed to him how Hawaii's history began to be rewritten at the very point most Americans think it started. But, as Coffman definitively shows, the loss of Hawai'i isn't ancient history, especially not in a culture with "a hundred generations of history."
The Native Hawaiian grandparents of people still alive today (like Prof. Meyer) signed petitions by the thousands protesting the annexation of their country, while constitutionally elected but forcibly deposed Queen Lili'uokalani made numerous appeals, as did other Hawaiian delegates, to Washington. Initially the queen had some sway with the White House, and Coffman writes that experiences earlier in the 19th century would have taught her that distant regimes (including Russia, England and France) always backed away from the impulsive imperialism of individuals. But in this case, he expalins, the manifest destiny/social Darwinist fever had taken hold of many American politicians, and the entrance of California into the Union fixed their eyes even farther west.
Coffman's cast of American (born or descended) characters -- a young and ambitious Theodore Roosevelt, the prime instigator Lorrin Thurston and the missionary scion Sanford B. Dole, among others -- are vividly but not unfairly drawn, placed in the cultural context of their time, as are their Hawaiian counterparts:
King Kalākaua, his sister Lili'uokalani, the hapa insurrectionist Robert Wilcox, nationalist Joseph Nāwahī and more. Their personalities, as much as political views, played key roles in the events that unfolded -- and continue to unfold today. The plunging number of Native Hawaiians was also critical, but Coffman is also careful to note how very few people (nearly all American-descended men) were involved in the takeover, perhaps 2 percent of Hawaii's total population at the time.
The "revolution," as Thurston styled it, was virtually bloodless (though not completely, as Coffman details) but in some ways that makes it more difficult for a modern government to redress. After all, everyone knows an apology won't bring the dead back to life, so there's no risk in expressing contrition there.
But Native Hawaiians are very much alive today, as is their concept of a sovereign Hawaiian nation, though they might not agree on exactly what a restored version would look like. (There were differences of opinion before the annexation, too, Coffman relates, but republicans and monarchists were united in opposing absorption by the States.)
Coffman draws on the research of Native Hawaiian scholars to explore the historical Hawaiian perspective of the loss of nationhood and the contemporary challenges they cause, without pretending to assume their voice.
His final words explain his position, and implicitly reveal why we travelers to Hawaii -- and all Americans -- should care about the real history of the islands: "I ... attempted to stay centered in my experience as an American and to write about annexation as an American event, believing that America will soon be dealing with the rising demand by Hawaiians for a renewal of national sovereignty. ... Obviously we in Hawai'i today are in transition.
We are variously living inside of -- or in proximity to -- an indigenous nation that has been submerged by the American nation. To see and sense the revival of this Hawaiian lāhui, to feel it thumping on the interior of the womb, is a thing of awe. Yet if destiny is not manifest, then outcomes are not inevitable.
Our relative success in developing a more real and honest history will have something to do with determining the future -- not only of Hawai'i, but perhaps of America as well."
WHAT:
Free movie showing of "Nation Within" by Tom Coffman, author of the book by the same name. The film details how the US annexing Hawaii was part of it's expansionist plans in the Pacific and it's drive for fulling it's "Manifest Destiny". But also portrayed in detail is the resistance of the Kanaka Maoli to the US plans. Also featured are Native Hawaiian scholars Noenoe Silva and Jon Osorio. A discusssion will follow the movie. Light refreshments will also be served.
WHEN: Sunday, January 17th, at 12:15 PM
WHERE:
Kapaa Neighborhood Center Auditorium
WHO:
Sponsored by Manaoha. For more information about the event please call Ben Nihi at 634-0469. For more information about the movie, go to http://www.hawaiinationwithin.com/dvd.php
SUBHEAD: Free Documentary Sunday January 17th at Kapaa Neighborhood Center.
Image above: Book cover graphics for "Nation Within" by Tom Coffman.
From http://www.hawaiiankingdom.info/C1126750129/index.html
[IB Editor's Note: The following is a portion of the book review of "Nation Within", upon which the movie was based: "Nation Within" Review A Gripping tale of Hawaii's illegal overthrow]
By Jeanne Cooper on 19 September 2009 in San Francisco Chronicle -
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/hawaii/det)
Given everything else the Obama administration has to deal with -- from health care to war in Iraq -- it's hard to imagine that a a political injustice that took place more than a century ago, thousands of miles from Washington, D.C., is going to rise to the top of the list.
But this particular injustice involves the American-led takeover of President Barack Obama's boyhood home of Hawaii, leading to high hopes that he may pick up the hot potato dropped by President Clinton 16 years ago, just after formally apologizing for the events of 1893. Raising the sovereignty issue is a sure-fire way to get some right-wing knickers in a twist, and even relatively liberal folk may wonder why revisit "ancient history."
But that's where Coffman's expertise as a journalist, historian and gifted writer come in handy. At the very beginning of his painstakingly researched, grippingly told narrative, he lays out how the dominant Western view of time and national identity eventually submerged the very question of Hawaiian sovereignty -- without claiming any easy answers for resolving the issue in the present day.
A chance find in an antiques bookstore revealed to him how Hawaii's history began to be rewritten at the very point most Americans think it started. But, as Coffman definitively shows, the loss of Hawai'i isn't ancient history, especially not in a culture with "a hundred generations of history."
The Native Hawaiian grandparents of people still alive today (like Prof. Meyer) signed petitions by the thousands protesting the annexation of their country, while constitutionally elected but forcibly deposed Queen Lili'uokalani made numerous appeals, as did other Hawaiian delegates, to Washington. Initially the queen had some sway with the White House, and Coffman writes that experiences earlier in the 19th century would have taught her that distant regimes (including Russia, England and France) always backed away from the impulsive imperialism of individuals. But in this case, he expalins, the manifest destiny/social Darwinist fever had taken hold of many American politicians, and the entrance of California into the Union fixed their eyes even farther west.
Coffman's cast of American (born or descended) characters -- a young and ambitious Theodore Roosevelt, the prime instigator Lorrin Thurston and the missionary scion Sanford B. Dole, among others -- are vividly but not unfairly drawn, placed in the cultural context of their time, as are their Hawaiian counterparts:
King Kalākaua, his sister Lili'uokalani, the hapa insurrectionist Robert Wilcox, nationalist Joseph Nāwahī and more. Their personalities, as much as political views, played key roles in the events that unfolded -- and continue to unfold today. The plunging number of Native Hawaiians was also critical, but Coffman is also careful to note how very few people (nearly all American-descended men) were involved in the takeover, perhaps 2 percent of Hawaii's total population at the time.
The "revolution," as Thurston styled it, was virtually bloodless (though not completely, as Coffman details) but in some ways that makes it more difficult for a modern government to redress. After all, everyone knows an apology won't bring the dead back to life, so there's no risk in expressing contrition there.
But Native Hawaiians are very much alive today, as is their concept of a sovereign Hawaiian nation, though they might not agree on exactly what a restored version would look like. (There were differences of opinion before the annexation, too, Coffman relates, but republicans and monarchists were united in opposing absorption by the States.)
Coffman draws on the research of Native Hawaiian scholars to explore the historical Hawaiian perspective of the loss of nationhood and the contemporary challenges they cause, without pretending to assume their voice.
His final words explain his position, and implicitly reveal why we travelers to Hawaii -- and all Americans -- should care about the real history of the islands: "I ... attempted to stay centered in my experience as an American and to write about annexation as an American event, believing that America will soon be dealing with the rising demand by Hawaiians for a renewal of national sovereignty. ... Obviously we in Hawai'i today are in transition.
We are variously living inside of -- or in proximity to -- an indigenous nation that has been submerged by the American nation. To see and sense the revival of this Hawaiian lāhui, to feel it thumping on the interior of the womb, is a thing of awe. Yet if destiny is not manifest, then outcomes are not inevitable.
Our relative success in developing a more real and honest history will have something to do with determining the future -- not only of Hawai'i, but perhaps of America as well."
WHAT:
Free movie showing of "Nation Within" by Tom Coffman, author of the book by the same name. The film details how the US annexing Hawaii was part of it's expansionist plans in the Pacific and it's drive for fulling it's "Manifest Destiny". But also portrayed in detail is the resistance of the Kanaka Maoli to the US plans. Also featured are Native Hawaiian scholars Noenoe Silva and Jon Osorio. A discusssion will follow the movie. Light refreshments will also be served.
WHEN: Sunday, January 17th, at 12:15 PM
WHERE:
Kapaa Neighborhood Center Auditorium
WHO:
Sponsored by Manaoha. For more information about the event please call Ben Nihi at 634-0469. For more information about the movie, go to http://www.hawaiinationwithin.com/dvd.php
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