| HAWAII:
BLACK ROYALTY IN THE PACIFIC
White Southerners, who settled the Hawaiian islands during the 19th
Century had a song about the native people which ran, "You may call
them Hawaiian, but they look like niggers to me."
Setting aside their bigotry, the Southern settlers hit upon a fact which
is studiously ignored by modern anthropologists and historians: the natives
of Hawaii, America's 50th State, were Black people whose ancestral roots
extend back to the continent of Africa.
The story of the Black Hawaiians is one of the most tragic of modern
times. It is a tale of adventure and gaiety in paradise that turned into
a cultural nightmare. It is America's best kept secret.
We must venture into antiquity to learn of the roots of the Black Hawaiians,
whose glorious star, now vanished from the Heavens, once brightened the
Pacific for two thousand years.
Most anthropologists, paleontologists and archaeologists around the
world generally believe that human beings evolved on the continent of Africa,
from 3 to 5 million years ago, and that they eventually spread from Africa
into Europe, Asia the Pacific Islands and finally the Americas.
In time, these Black settlers developed very advanced societies that
sent navigators to explore and settle various islands of the Pacific Ocean.
They reached such places as New Guinea, Fiji, New Hebrides, New Zealand,
the Society Islands, Tahiti, Easter Island and thousands more.
The first people to reach what is now Hawaii were Blacks from Polynesia
- a name which means "many islands" - in the central Pacific.
They sailed to Hawaii in giant canoes about 2,000 years ago.
The Hawaiians and their neighbors in the Pacific have long been the
subject of controversy among scientists. The people in this part of the
world are generally divided into three groups: Melanesians (the word means
black islands), who are unmixed Black people; Micronesians (which means
small islands), an ancient Black people who are now largely mixed with
Asians; and Polynesians, a people who were also originally Black but have
mixed historically with Asian Mongoloids and White Europeans.
BLACK ROOTS A PUZZLE
The Black people themselves are an ethnological puzzle. Many like the
Tasmanians, who were exterminated by English settlers were "pure"
Blacks. The Australian Aborigines were also very dark with African features
and curly hair.
"The basic strain of the original Hawaiians, as seen in their color
and their faces," writes historian J.A. Rogers in Sex and Race:
Negro-Caucasian Mixing In All Ages and All Lands, "was undoubtedly
Negro, with an admixture of mongolian."
These people were of black and brown complexions with wavy or close-curled
hair, broad facial features and fine physiques. In short, they had the
same physical characteristics as millions of other people who now live
in the Pacific Islands.
According to one early legend, these early settlers named their new
home Hawaii in honor of a chief named Hawaii-Loa, who is said to have led
the Polynesians to the islands. But the name Hawaii is also recognized
as a form of Hawaiki, the legendary name of the Polynesian homeland
to the west.
The ancient land of Hawaii was much like an African society. It was
a series of islands ruled by strong-willed chiefs or kings who believed
that they had descended from gods.
No written records of the islands were maintained, so a court genealogist,
similar to the African griot, recited names, family exploits, battles and
past glories of a proud people and their royal leaders.
Hawaiian life revolved around religious ceremonies. The heiau
stone platforms, generally enclosed by stone walls, served the Hawaiians
as temples. Inside these centers of worship were a number of objects for
ceremonial use in various rituals.
They were used on numerous occasions, for to the Hawaiian people any
new undertaking in life was cause for religious celebration. The principal
Hawaiian gods were Kane (life), Lono (harvest) and Ku (war).
Closely linked to Hawaiian religious traditions was the kapu or law
administered by the king. It was a rigid system of "rules and guides,
do's and dont's, what's and what-not's" governing events from love-making
and marriage to the season for catching certain fish.
It separated kings from commoners, men from women, and Hawaiians from
foreigners. It was probably one of the most complex legal systems of the
ancient world.
HEAVEN ON EARTH
If ever there was a paradise on earth, the Hawaiians appear to have
had it. Blessed by a glorious climate, the people basked in the sun, swam
in clear water and participated in competitive games and sports.
They worked, to be sure, in order to live; but there was a fine line
between work and play. Fishing, for example, was probably as much a water
sport as a source of obtaining food.
The people shared their harvest so that no one was without food; and
everyone found shelter in the marvelous huts built mainly from the leaves
of palm and hala trees.
"The people worked, swam, sang and danced, isolated from most of
the scourges of the rest of the world," writes Maxine Mrantz in Hawaiian
Monarchy, The Romantic Years. "But that was soon to be changed.
The 'Garden' would be discovered.
"Gone would be the sunny static days of peace and order. Disease,
decadence and cultural shock were to take a terrible toll of the Hawaiian
people, decreasing their numbers alarmingly."
This great change, however, was still far off in 1758, which was about
the time of the birth of Kamehameha, nephew of King Kalaniopuu who ruled
the island of Hawaii and the Hana district of the island of Maui.
At this time Hawaii was not ruled by a single king, but was a chain
of islands (Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Hawaii, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau and Kahoolawe),
each ruled by a different monarch.
In 1780, before a council of chiefs, King Kalaniopuu officially named
his older son, Kiwalao successor to his throne. But this was not to be.
Kamehameha coveted the throne and set out to do all in his power to become
king.
Following the death of King Kalaniopuu, Kamehameha aligned himself with
a number of chiefs in battle against his cousin Kiwalao. Kamehameha defeated
Kiwalao and thereafter proceeded to battle against the chiefs of Maui,
Lanai and Molokai.
By 1810, King Kamehameha was the first to rule all the islands. Six
other kings and a queen would succeed him to the throne.
Generally described as very dark and "extremely handsome,"
Kamehameha (or Kamehameha, The Great, as he is often called) was a very
capable ruler. He encouraged industry, promoted international trade, checked
oppression and suppressed crime. His greatest drawback, however, turned
out to be the faith he had in Europeans.
Captain James Cook was the first white man to reach Hawaii. He visited
the islands in January of 1778, traded with the natives and was well treated.
After returning to Hawaii in November of 1778 and remaining into the next
year, he was killed when a quarrel arose between his traveling companions
and the Hawaiians.
GUN CONTROL
Kamehameha I had gained control of Hawaii because of his use of firearms,
obtained from white traders; and during his reign, he relied on the advice
of two captured British sailors, John Young and Issac Davis. They served
as his political and military intermediaries, dealing with rival chiefs
and a growing number of foreigners.
It was probably because of the influence of his advisors that Kamehameha
did not readily detect what was happening to his country. Honolulu Harbor
began receiving many foreign ships. Trade flourished as foreigners brought
goats, geese, horses and turkeys, as well as trees and fruits.
Hawaii gradually became one of the major trading centers of the Pacific;
but the Black masses, who had never known disease, were rapidly being destroyed
by venereal disease; and those who escaped this affliction, generally fell
prey to liquor and firearms.
To the rescue came hundreds of White missionaries following the death
of Kamehameha I. In a misguided frenzy, these foreigners began an assault
on the Hawaiian culture that ultimately led to a complete demoralization
of the native people and paved the way for the loss of their land.
King Kamehameha II (1797-1824) followed his father to the throne. His
reign was short and tragic.
He was weak of character, yielding largely to the demands of local chiefs
and foreigners and following the general dictates of his mother, the fearless
dowager queen, Kaahumanu, whom he permitted to share the throne with him.
Despite the fact that the young king could not match his father's greatness,
he and Queen Kaahumanu did manage to overthrow the Kapu system, which had
for centuries caused problems between the various classes of Hawaiian people.
King Kamehameha II and his young wife died of the measles, a disease
totally alien to them, while on a tour of England in 1824. Their unexpected
deaths may well have been an omen, for soon thereafter the near-death of
Hawaiian culture came during the 30-year reign of Kamehameha III (1814-1854),
Hawaii's third ruler.
At the outset the king, highly disturbed by the general drift away from
Hawaiian traditions, attempted to revive many of the ancient pastimes,
including the hula, in an effort to restore the original power of the king
and to return Hawaii to what it was under Kamehameha I.
This did not work. So successful had the missionaries become in Hawaii
that both Queen Kaahumanu, the widow of Kamehameha I, and Kinau, the queen's
successor, would not tolerate the new king's attempted revisions. They
supported a code based on the Ten Commandments and encouraged the general
westernizing of Hawaiian culture.
FOREIGN TAKEOVER
Kamehameha III was very sensitive to the needs of the Hawaiian people.
While he resented the encroachment of foreign missionaries and traders,
the king gradually came to realize the permanence of their presence and
thereafter sought their guidance in improving the status of his people.
It was with the help of foreigners that the king established free schools
throughout the islands, introduced Hawaiian language newspapers, and drafted
the first Hawaiian constitution.
Kamehameha III's greatest achievement, however, can be found in his
institution of land reform, called "The Great Mahele," or land
division, which permitted commoners to share in land that had previously
been the exclusive property of the king and his clients.
In 1855, Alexander Liholiho, the adopted son of Kamehameha III, succeeded
him to become Kamehameha IV. A brilliant monarch, his court was run with
elegance and style. The king and his wife, Queen Emma, frequently entertained
foreign dignitaries; yet he discouraged the participation of missionaries
and foreigners in his government.
Deeply concerned about the mounting death rate of Hawaiians due to the
influx of foreigners carrying strange diseases, Kamehameha IV and his wife
collected enough pledges and subscriptions from their friends to finance
a hospital in 1859. But the king was unable to complete his work because
of his untimely death at the young age of 29.
His brother Lot Kamehameha (Kamehameha V: 1830-1972), then came to the
throne. He was the true spiritual son of Kamehameha I. A man of broad background,
boundless energy and remarkable ability, he favored an aristocratic monarchy
over the constitutional monarchy that had prevailed from the time of Kamehameha
III.
During the reign of Kamehameha V, Hawaiian ties with America-- whose
missionaries and businessmen were becoming more and more prominent in Hawaiian
affairs - were loosened and the islands experienced a radical change of
their economy as whaling, the prime industry, lost its place to sugar.
Kamehameha V died on December 11, 1872. He was succeeded by King Lunalilo
(1835-1874). Known to all as the "People's King," he was the
first elected king in Hawaiian history and enjoyed the love and respect
of his people.
His short reign of a little more than a year was marked by an effort
to liberalize the constitution, attempts to curb the spread of leprosy,
the appointment of a new board of health and an unsuccessful plan to cede
Pearl Harbor to the United States. The young king died of tuberculosis
on February 3, 1874.
King Kalakaua (1836-1891) succeeded King Lunalilo. While somewhat capricious
and given to frequent drinking, this, the seventh ruler of Hawaii, was
a scholar, poet and musician. He also traveled extensively. During his
reign, the king reserved the leading administrative posts in his government
for native Hawaiians.
LAST BLACK QUEEN
The last native ruler of Hawaii was the celebrated Queen Liliuokalani.
Following the queen's ascension to the throne on January 29, 1891, a Chicago
newspaper woman, Mary H. Krout, described Liliuokalani as "strong
and resolute. The features were strong and irregular. The complexion quite
dark; the hair streaked with gray, and she had the large dark eyes of her
race."
The queen was a brilliant writer, poet and composer who worked tirelessly
for the welfare of her people. While she sought to strengthen the monarchy
and to literally return "Hawaii to the Hawaiians," the queen
was years too late.
American businessmen and missionaries now had strongholds in every corner
of Hawaiian culture and were redoubling their efforts to overthrow the
monarchy and to place Hawaii under a provisional protectorate.
By the last part of 1892, these plans were carried out and the U.S.
Marines were placed around the royal palace.
The queen stood steadfastly against the U.S. forces but finally, on
January 17, 1893, she yielded under protest, as was recorded in the "Pacific
Commercial Advisor" of January 18:
I, LILIUOKALANI, by the Grace of God and under the Constitution of
The Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and
all acts done against myself and the Constitutional Government of the Hawaiian
Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a Provisional Government
of and for this Kingdom.
Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss
of life, I do under this protest and impelled by said force yield my authority
until such time as the Government of the United States shall upon the facts
being presented to it undo the action of its representative and reinstate
me in the authority which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the
Hawaiian Islands.
STATEHOOD
The United States never chose to "undo the action of its representative."
In fact, by 1900 Hawaii had become a territory of the United States and
a state by 1959.
From King Kamehameha to Queen Liliuokalani, each Hawaiian ruler was
very dark-skinned with Negroid features. It is one of the incredible ironies
of history that few Americans are aware that the original Hawaiians were
black people; and that their royal family was one of the greatest of the
19th Century.
The destruction of this people and their culture and the forceful annexation
of their land were tragedies of staggering proportions, and a sad chapter
in the history of the United States.
This probably explains why the true story of Hawaii remains until this
day America's best-kept secret.
|
