Growing Up Kanaka Revisited

Now for some straight-up facts. Queen Liliuokalani (Lydia Kamekeha) who died in 1917 was the last kanaka who stood her ground. She was deposed by Sanford Dole and his haoles and, overwhelmed by their United States Marines backing, reluctantly abdicated and, at the point of a gun, surrendered the Hawaiian Islands to the haoles. Aloha Oe (Farewell) was her swan song to the remaining kanakas. Bottom line, Sanford Dole and company stole the Islands as the United States Supreme Court later in the 50s affirmed and ordered reparations. After that, the hawaiians (small h) gave up and became Christians, afraid to offend the haoles. They became "good natives" like the "good indians" on the Mainland and the Islands were never the same. Some kama-aina (native born) play the role, catering to the tourist dollar. However, kanaka as an attitude lived on. It was adopted by some who migrated to the Islands and retained by the real Hawaiians (capital H) who adopted them. My father's family, who migrated to the Island in the early 1800s and received land grants from the king, small plots to farm and raise their children, belonged to these.