UNITED STATES

Native Hawaiian sovereignty dream still alive 60 years after U.S. statehood

August 21, 2019

Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States in 1959. Sixty years on some Native Hawaiians nurse sovereignty dreams. Others aspire to self-government, but struggle to find agreement on how it might work.

People of Native Hawaiian descent make up some 21 per cent of the residents of the islands. They are the descendants of the original Polynesians who built a society on the islands more than 1,000 years ago, arriving on double-hulled voyaging canoes they navigated by following the stars. The United States played a role in tearing down the Hawaiian monarchy, overthrowing the kingdom and forcing Queen Lili'uokalani to abdicate the throne in Jan 1893. Congress voted to annex Hawaii in 1898, and admission to the Union followed in 1959.

Advocates for total independence regard the United States as an occupying power. They want international help to force the U.S. out of Hawaii, a quest that has nowhere to go. The Boston Globe pointed out in Jun 2018 that Hawaii is militarized, and all American military activity in the Pacific – where tensions seem certain to rise in the coming years – is directed from a base in Oahu.

For the self-governance movement, the challenge is deciding how the government would operate and form relationships with others once it is achieved. The Washington Post noted in Nov 2017 that the groups hosting workshops across the islands are pro-federal recognition, which has made many in the total independence camp wary of participating in the nation-building process.

Ballotpedia reports that a Hawaii Constitutional Convention Question was on the ballot in in the state on Nov 6, 2018, and it was defeated. A Yes vote supported holding a constitutional convention to explore proposals for changes to the state constitution. A No vote opposed holding a constitutional convention to explore proposals for changes to the state constitution.

#22814 Published: November 8, 2018