Category Archives: Hawaiian issues

University of Hawaii policy recognizes bogus Kingdom of Hawaii ID

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When did state agencies gain the authority to accept documents for official business purposes issued by the self-styled and clearly bogus Kingdom of Hawaii?

That’s the question raised by the policy of the University of Hawaii libraries regarding issuance of library cards to interested community members.

According to the library policy, posted online (emphasis added):

7. Community Borrowers

To apply for a library card, applicants must have a:

Hawai’i Driver’s License, Hawai’i State ID, Kingdom of Hawai’i ID, or a US Military ID

Be 18 years of age or older.

One Year: $60 ($30 for individuals 60 years of age or older)

Six Months: $30 ($20 for individuals 60 years of age or older)

Yup. It looks like a government ID card is required, but they’ll also take a Kingdom of Hawaii ID.

There are, of course, several groups vying for unofficial recognition as the Kingdom of Hawaii, and it’s not clear which one has been singled out for recognition by the university.

I’m guessing UH refers to the Maui group formed around Edmund K. Silva, Jr., who wants to be addressed as “His Majesty” and claims the title of Alii Nui.

They’ve been known to issue license plates and passports under their claimed authority. None have been officially recognized.

I stumbled across this university policy while trying to follow-up on Bob Jones’ interesting suggestion that I track down and republish items from the Hawaii Journalism Review, which put out several issues in the 1971-1973 period.

And that’s what eventually led me to the website of the UH libraries, and their policy accepting Kingdom of Hawaii IDs as valid official identification.

There’s so much wrong with this policy. I wonder whether it has been authorized by the Board of Regents? And what process was followed in singling out the Kingdom of Hawaii’s identification, rather than those of other competing claimants to represent the kingdom?

Obviously, there’s more to come on this story.

Why so little reporting from the Native Hawaiian Convention?

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My column at Civil Beat today asked a straightforward question: “Why Did News Media Ignore Native Hawaiian Convention?”

Supporters and opponents of the Na‘i Aupuni convention seem to agree that it could have widespread ramifications for Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians alike.

It was my impression that the proceedings received almost zero media coverage. So I tried to quantify that impression.

For perspective, I looked back at the news coverage of the state’s 1978 Constitutional Convention. The constitution had been written in 1950, revised at a Con Con in 1968, and so the 1978 convention was generally expected to generate incremental changes.

But there was broad and deep coverage of that convention, before, during, and after.

I went to the printed indexes to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser, what were then Honolulu’s competing daily newspapers. I didn’t count the each of the stories, but based on a count of the average number of stories listed in each column of the index, and the number of printed columns, there were roughly 500-600 news stories about the Con Con, its issues, and its personalities in these two publications alone. Add to that Honolulu’s three broadcast stations, and neighbor island newspapers, and there was just a lot of news.

By contrast, the surviving daily newspaper, along with television stations, invested very little reporting time in covering this convention.

Do your own news search. There were just a handful of news stories about the proceedings themselves. Most news coverage was focused on those protesting the convention rather than reporting on the actual convention proceedings.

And in online comments, I’m already being pummeled for suggesting that the convention deserved more reporting.

So it goes.

‘Olelo live streaming the Native Hawaiian convention

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Interested in seeing what’s going on inside the Native Hawaiian constitutional convention, or ‘Aha, currently underway? A press release from ‘Olelo has announced that it is providing streaming and web coverage of the event live and “on demand.”

Honolulu, HI (Feb. 18, 2016) – ‘Olelo Community Media is providing live cablecasts of the Native Hawaiian Governance Convention (‘Aha 2016), which is taking place at the Royal Hawaiian Golf Club. The ‘Aha is scheduled to run through Friday, Feb. 26.

‘Olelo is the only media representative allowed to cover the convention.

‘Olelo will air an estimated 124 full hours of live coverage on Channel 53 on both Oceanic Time Warner and Hawaiian Telcom cable on O‘ahu.

‘Olelo is also providing live statewide streaming coverage on the web at www.youtube.com/olelocm and through its web site at www.olelo.org/olelonet. Channel 53 coverage on ‘Oahu may be pre-empted because of previous live programming commitments, in which case live streaming coverage will continue on the OleloCM YouTube channel.

Each live cablecast session will be made available for viewing on demand within 48 hours of its airing at www.youtube.com/olelocm and on olelo.org/olelonet. Programs will also be available on ‘?lelo digital channel 52, a statewide public access Video on Demand Channel on Oceanic Time Warner Cable.

For more information, visit www.olelo.org.

Another bit of history: An “Open Letter” from “The Hawaiians”

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I just ran into this scanned image while going through files on a misplaced flash drive that I unexpectedly found.

It’s a large ad that appeared in the Hawaii Free People’s Press, an underground newspaper published several issues between mid-1969 and the end of 1970.

The open letter is signed by Pae Galdeira, leader of a very early activist group of Hawaiians. Galdeira died in May 2015.

It reflects one of the roots of today’s Hawaiian movement.

Click on the image to view a larger version.

December 1970