 Aloha, I'm Joshua Cooper. Welcome to Cooper Union. What's happening with human rights around our world on Think Tech Live, broadcasting from our downtown studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Moana, New Ikea. Today's episode I'm hosting is looking at E'oni Pa'a'i Kakao. Let's forge our common future in Hawaii together. And joining me today are four advocates, activists, and artists of Aloha Aina. Aloha, it's an honor to be here with the four amazing advocates, activists, and artists. And I'd like to begin with Lynette. Lynette, could you share with us why January 17th is so important in our islands and in the international community? January 17th, of course, we commemorate the overthrow, illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. And so over the years, I think, maybe beginning with Kikuni Blaisdell, we have been looking at how we commemorate our own history. So this is about us. And then everybody has written all kinds of histories about us, but this is our history written by us, about us. And so we're here. Whenever we can, we're here at the palace because this is a place, it's a point of contention. And so, yeah, we're gathered here today and waiting for a bunch of thousands of marches to head down the road to where we are. Mahalo, Lynette. And it really brings up the point that people have been saying in the indigenous world nothing about us without us. Kohio, can you share with us a little bit about why January 17th is so important? Sure. Well, I think of it in terms of commemorating two different dates. So there's what happened 130 years ago, which is, as far as Hawaiian history, that's so significant because that's when the troops landed the day before. And the queen felt that she was under duress and signed the documents that temporarily yielded to the US. So there's that 130 years ago. And that's just so significant. But also it's 30 years from the only commemoration that took place in 1993. And I mentioned that because my mom was everyone there. Everybody here was everyone there back in 1993. And what I've noticed in, well, a year and a half ago, my brother asked me to do a biography on our mom. And she directed the reenactment back in 1993. And so in researching that, I realized most people don't know what happened 30 years ago down there at the palace, you know, at what is it, over at Elitio Lanihale, over at Mission Houses, also with Governor Waihei. He didn't raise the American flag during those days. And the numbers of people, he had 50,000 people over these days. So to me, it's commemorating both what happened 130 years ago, but also just 30 years ago, this phenomenal event took place. And most people don't even know about it. They know just bits and pieces, but the size and the scope, it was covered live on CNN. It was covered, you know, it was broadcast to 48 countries, you know, over the radio. So to me, it's a commemoration of both. And there's so much that can be learned from what took place back in 1993. It is 30 years ago, and all of us were there. And it was so powerful. And it also was the anniversary of the Apology Bill as well, 103-150. And this year will also be the commemorate 185th birthday of our Queen Liliu Lanihale. Hey, Koa, what do you think of and why it's so important to January 17? Well, I was with the Honolulu Star Bulletin in 1993. And my understanding is I was the first journalist to use the word sovereignty, at least in the Honolulu Star Bulletin. And this, when the story was being edited, the staff rose up and they're like, does this mean we have to give up our lands in Hawaii? I mean, the idea of sovereignty was so foreign to all of us. And I think that that date was important because it reintroduced the concept of sovereignty, of Native Hawaiian sovereignty. And today, I am still, as a homeland's leader on the Hawaiian homelands, trying to instill in our fellow Native Hawaiians that we never lost our sovereignty. We are still sovereign. We don't have to wait for the state government, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, to give us our land. These are our lands. And so that's why I feel it was important. Mahalo, thank you so much, Koa. Coming back to Lynette. Lynette, as Kuhio pointed out, 30 years of amazing advocacy and events down there, you brought up Kekuni Blaisdell. And even today, I miss not taking those pictures at the end of all the events where we'd always get everybody together to take a picture. What are some of your highlights from January 17 experiences at Yolani Palace and different places that we've commemorated and coordinated campaigns? Certainly 30 years ago, on any case, we are not American. I mean, that's been memorialized. I mean, so 30 years later, people are still saying that. So she picked up on it and said, that's just bold. That was awesome. The other thing that comes to mind is Kuhio's mom and these reenactments that were held all around downtown Honolulu, which were like fabulous, fabulous. And I know Kuhio told me a story once about the drama. Reenactments are like the real thing. And he told me one time that I think they were at Palace Square and the audience was really angry. When drama was being performed, it's no longer drama. You are there and the audience is really angry. And I think he said that they had to form a kind of security perimeter around the actors to keep them safe. And then later on, I think a lot of the actors didn't want to do that. I don't want to do those parts anymore because nobody wanted to be the missionary, the bad guy. Thank you so much. And really, it does. I know it is significant for Kuhio. Maybe you can share a bit as well. And you did bring up the point of Haunani K. And I remember last year, there was this beautiful memorial to Haunani K. Trask. And of course, her quote of, we are not American. We are not American. Say it in your heart. Say when you sleep, we are Hawaiian. We will die as Hawaiians. That was so memorable. And to see all the photos of the exhibit down there last year really brought back many of those memories to honor her. But Kuhio, please share some of your amazing experiences as well. Well, the experiences that took place back then, like I was saying before, most people don't even really believe that it actually happened. It's kind of like when you talk about Martin Luther King speeches or that summer of soul documentary that was made, people kind of go, oh, yeah. And I have had the opportunity to see about 200 hours of video footage that they have over at Ulu Ulu and from other folks, and also audio from Polka and other folks, mainly from Polka, of the events that took place. And you're right that we had people that went with the actors and we made announcements beforehand, before the actors that were playing the Committee of Safety. We had people that Glenn Grant made announcements that these are actors. And it's important to have those feelings. But it's also important to remember that these people are up here because they feel the same way that you do. And they feel that this needs to be told. And so there's so much that took place back in 1993 that we can learn from today. And as time goes by, 30 years has gone by, people are just kind of starting to forget. I remember someone was telling me, oh, in 2018, the events that took place at the palace in 2018, that was just, wow. And I was there in 2018. And there was maybe 2000, maybe 3000 folks in 2018, which is great. But back in 1993, there was over the five days, there was like 50,000 people. There was every little bit of the palace grounds was filled with people waiting for the queen to come out of the palace and make her final speech there. So, yeah, so those are some of the memories that I have. Well, hello, Cuyo. And Keiko, can you share with us some of your memories from January 17th? So I was pretty busy. I didn't really get away from the news desk much during that period. But two memories I have are, of course, of Cuyo's mother, Dallas Fogler, who was the producer and director of that three day reenactment of the overthrow. And what she did was recruit one of the star bulletin reporters to be a marine. And he was this rather cynical military person. And so he dressed up in his marine thing and he went through the reenactment and he had a complete transformation of attitude toward indigenous rights after that experience. So that was really a vivid memory for me. The other memory is a Dallas came to my home in Kailua and we were sitting on the learning eye and I asked her what her Hawaiian name was. And if my memory serves me correct, she said, Ke li i ho one enu. I'm not sure. Is that correct? Ke li i ho one aina. Oh, ho one aina. Okay. And I asked her what it means and she didn't know. So I brought my Hawaiian dictionary and I said it means the ali ii, the royalty who walks the earth with the sound of thunder. And I said, and Dallas is what you are doing. By directing this reenactment play, you are creating thunder on the earth. And I bring up this story because now I live on Maui and I try to use people's Hawaiian names as often as I can. And it goes back to that time on my line with Dallas. And it is a way that I have a repatriating my culture. That is what has come out of 1893. 1993 for me is the desire to repatriate my culture to utilize people's Hawaiian names. And I myself am a practitioner of Oli, Chan, Hula, and paddling here on Maui. And getting away from the frenetic activity on Oahu has allowed me to do this and I'm thankful for that. We're glad that as there is the only peace march happening that you are able to find more peace on Maui. I agree as well with my time teaching there. And maybe we can shift now because everyone here today, this isn't just something that you do to commemorate January 17th. You're the most dedicated, dynamic people really in the islands dedicated to indigenous peoples rights here in Hawaii but around the world. Could you share with people what you do on a daily basis and how you dedicate your time for sovereignty and restoring the nation, Lynette, before the marchers come there? No, but I can hear the sound that's picking up. You know, the background noise is picking up. They're not here yet but people are beginning to like line up on the street. So they'll be here pretty soon. What do I do on a daily basis to continue the work that we do? I know there's Makua. Ask me again. Maybe you could share a bit about Makua or other projects that you're working on. I could. So several projects. Malama Makua has a booth here at the palace and we're handing out things like bumper stickers but also asking people to sign a petition that says no lease extensions for any military base in Hawaii. People only hear about Pohakulua and Makua and maybe Pohamoho but there are so many that are actually up pretty soon, 2029. So we're trying to figure out, you know, whether or not people support the idea of getting the military to kind of grow up. By that I mean they have not been the best neighbors and we see that happening certainly with the, you know, contaminated water coming out of making its way to us in Waianae and so even though it's not the army that's doing that, for us it's all basically the same thing. They're all connected and they have a particular kind of sense of entitlement and privilege that basically they can do anything they want and that's something that we know is part of our idea of how we express sovereignty is that it's ours. We have Kuliana for everything and for the well-being of our Aina. Excellent and that really brings up two amazing points because one the UN expert mechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples will be doing a study on militarization of indigenous lands and that's due January 31st so maybe we could include some of that information and coordinate that campaign as well but then you also bring up the points about what's happening today with water and how water is life and how that's just an understatement that haven't been good neighbors. There's been drastic human rights violations and contamination of the most sacred sites. Kuhio, could you maybe share some of the work that you do as well and your time that you spend dedicated for sovereignty and restoring the nation? Sure, well these days I'm trying to to collect as much footage, as much audio, as many documents as I can related to 1993. I did my research and everything on international laws that applies to Hawaii but more recently it's trying to tell that story, to bring these things together because you know back in 1992 what happened is that at a certain point people saw that that everyone was going to be down at the palace like what I say everybody was like everyone you know because there's so much being planned there are things on TV there's you know I think Bumpy did like a telethon thing in the evening so there's just so much going on and so at a certain point when people saw that it was going to happen then they you know they wanted to see you know there's more participation and in that same sense I'm just trying to gather all of the documentation all of the any footage that anybody has because that story needs to be told and I believe that at this point it not only it will happen that story will get told because it needs to be told it's 30 years and it's time. So it is important to gather that information and we remember the land occupations as well that were taking place it also was the struggle at the UN indigenous peoples move for 1992 to be the year of indigenous peoples but Spain fought against that so they had to move it to 1993 but Rigoberto Menchutum did become the youngest woman at the time to win the Nobel Peace Prize so these struggles are not that long ago and still exist today and I think documenting and sharing that story is absolutely an important role. Okay Koa can you share some of what you oh but Koheo did you want to continue? Just real quickly and you mentioned the the apology resolution that came directly out of the events that took place at Iolani Palace because you had the you know you had the the meetings that took here that led directly to that apology resolution which was passed in November of the same year and it does bring up a good point of we need to do more action to actually actualize the articles of that resolution and to do action with those. Okay Koa can you share with us some of the work that you do you share with us a little bit about being more of a cultural practitioner and doing the work on Maui I know you're actually amazing and are even doing canoeing and we're over in London recently so you're an amazing activist living the culture on a daily basis but share with us in your own words some of the exciting ways that you're dedicating your time for sovereignty and restoring the nation. Thank you Joshua so I founded a nonprofit on Maui in Paupana Community Development Corporation some the co-chair I'm the chairwoman of the board of that entity it's a 501c3 located a headquartered reappearance of country and our mission is to provide training resources and advocacy to empower fellow Hawaiian homes beneficiaries to build homes and self-sufficient communities and I'm also the president of the Maui-Lena-I-Mokopuni Council which is a consortium of 18 homesteads and homestead associations and we meet monthly on Zoom all the leaders of the associations and we try to inform our commissioner what our priorities are and I'm also on the executive council of the statewide sovereign council of Hawaiian homestead associations it's an umbrella group of 42 associations archipelago wide and we try to do policy for instance with the 600 million dollar appropriation that's come down for the homelands and I think the backdrop of my activism is repatriating Aina so there are 203,000 acres in this federal trust the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act federal trust that Prince Kofio established in 1920 and only 40,000 of those acres are being homesteaded whereas 60,000 of those acres are being used by non-Hawaiian non-beneficiary entities and so I'm just trying to repatriate those lands and and get our people onto those lands we have almost 50,000 applications of waitlisters who are waiting for homestead awards and so that's how I spend every day all right now I'm writing a grant I broke away from that to come on with you folks today and so that's my everyday life thank you thank you reminds me of the article also I believe the wall street journal broke that as well and too little has been done on that important issue and as we look at and we look at forging our common future in Hawaii maybe we could look and share together a bit about what future we see and we know this year on the commemoration of November 27th to look at independence and interdependence with indigenous peoples around the world Pele really did erupt in Mauna Loa and there are some signs even with the lava flowing towards Waakaloa but what future do you see Lynette and you might see the future approaching you right now with the people marching towards you but share some ideas of the future you see for Hawaii. Well very recently on the west side because I live in Waianae now very recently we even we've begun to focus on the people who are without homes homeless houseless living all up and down the west side coastline because they're being actually directed to us by the city by the state and by other states that are sending their homeless to us which we find kind of really interesting because we we look at this as a global issue capitalism globalism it's not going to go away so we're trying to figure how we as a Lahui can keep ourselves afloat when we realize that there are more and more people coming in because we do not control the borders of our country we no longer control and so we can't keep people from coming but since we only have you know basically one season everybody wants to come here that is a problem for us because it's really hard to care for yourselves for your Aina when there are hordes hordes of people pouring in all the time I think that's that's something we need to pay attention to because we have limited resources we live on an island and what I see happening more recently is that communities are realizing that governments don't help they're not helpful and so looking at issues and actions that might be community led and government supported so trying to shift the paradigm and flip it because reality is with the world government sanction we're going to move and I think that's what all Native people are doing they cannot wait so they're going to move and that means that it is going to be kind of dangerous at some point but you know everybody's willing to take a risk it's dangerous like right now so excellent point and it seems like it's getting busier down there right now and it really does bring up an important point of globalization you're connected with the same time that the world economic forum is happening in Davos and it isn't going to end and you also then bring up how King Kalakawa was trying to navigate as well at that time to show the independence but also be part of the global community. Kohia what do you see as some visions and possible paths for the future? Well you know first off I wanted to thank you Josh for for for having this discussion because one of the things that I that I noticed from looking at this you know 200 plus hours is like the you know the speech that how Nani gave the speech that that Skippy Yone gave just fantastic you know all of these speeches but one of the things that I remember from being there because I was you know I was in charge of the peacekeepers you know and you know the you know basically the the aunties that said you know that told everybody you know where to sit and not to get in the way and whatever but but one of the things I remember back then and from watching this is that you know back in 1993 people disagreed didn't see things the same you know I remember being at meetings where you know where sometimes it would get you know a bit heated you know and uh someone say you're an American as meaning that as an insult or something like this you know and uh and uh but the thing is is that those people at that same meeting would go and you know uh you know they would do a honi or whatever after the meeting and having these discussions it's so important because because uh since 1993 there seems to be have been slowly over time the shift people don't have as much discussions together you know to to talk these things through so uh so I you know um there was a real sense of hope back in in 1993 and there's still a sense of hope today but it's in a different way and I and I I hope to have more of these discussions like what you're doing right here Josh you know because it's important it's it's so important to to not to agree not to see everything exactly the same as everybody else but to be able to to have a discussion where there's nuance and and where there's you know perhaps disagreement but but that's okay it's it's okay to work those through you know so so I I see it hopeful and I see the multiple paths that many people forge through direct action through diplomacy and in these 30 years it hasn't been static at all it's not guava jam in a in a jar it's so vibrant with so many different ways the culture is being expressed and the exercising of sovereignty okay ko how about you a little bit of a vision as well for what you see going forward so I feel like I'm living the future now the vision that I would like to see uh you mentioned that I was in England paddling you know I I think it's a quiet revolution that's happening Hawaii is colonizing the world with our music our hula our culture the fact that there were 2000 outrigger canoe paddlers gathered together in London for this traditional sport it was wonderful and of course I would wish that in the future that also our ethic of aloha spreads I mean capitalism the culture of money has sort of swept the world and I would like to see the ethic of aloha the ethic of sharing of caring of respect for our kupuna all of these values that we hold dear I would like to see that happen in the future and we can't definitely see that I remind me of being at the UN on World Oceans Day with Hokulea on her world navigation and the message of Malama Honua that was so vital to take care of each other and our island earth and as we look today on the 130 years of the illegal overthrow commemoration but more importantly looking at the organizing now we really want to thank everyone for joining us but everyone for what you do on a daily basis and I know we have just a brief second so mahalo everyone and Lynette if there's any final words from the palace uh we'll let you close it out the marches are are coming down the road so I'm gonna like you won't be able to hear me in a minute anyway the sound system is very loud um so thank you for having me and if I'm off it's because you won't be able to hear me anyway thank you thank you for broadcasting live from Iolani Palace and thank you also Kuhio Enkekoa mahalo Nui and consider just the first of many conversations thank you so much for watching think tech hawaii if you like what we do please like us and click the subscribe button on youtube and the follow button on vimeo you can also follow us on facebook instagram and linked in and donate to us at think tech hawaii dot com mahalo