Sally-Jo Bowman

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SERVITUDE

A cloud of blue bus exhaust obscures my view for a
moment. Then, above the Hawaii capitol across Beretania
Street I see eight stripes with a corner Union Jack-the
flag of the Hawaiian Nation. For the first time in a centu-
ry, it flies alone.

John Waihe'e, the first state governor of Native ancestry,
struck the Stars and Stripes last Jan. 14-17 to mark the
centennial of the saddest time in Hawaiian hearts.

A hundred years ago a dozen mostly-American business-
men lusting for more profits colluded with the U.S.
minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii to overthrow the
Queen. To avoid bloodshed, Lili'uokalani yielded to U.S.
Minister John Stevens as 162 American troops rattled
their bayonets across from her palace. She expected the
U.S. to restore her to power as soon as Washington
learned the truth.

In fact, President Cleveland's investigator did find the
seizure of the kingdom illegal and ill-advised, but expan-
sionist William McKinley was elected before Cleveland
could do anything. Hawaiians, dispossessed and disen-
franchised, entered a hundred years of servitude.

I am Hawaiian. Like some, [ am Island-born but live in
the continental U.S. Like most, I am of mixed blood. Our
cordial ancestors married strangers from all shores. But
they were too trusting of those strangers who thought
aloha’aina—living in harmony with the land and the sea—
was a waste of resources that could be plundered for
profit and power.

132