Ka Moʻolelo o Ka Nuha: the safety zone at the Kamehameha Schools didn’t happen by accident

Ōlelo Hoʻākāka (Introduction)

Wakea i noho ia Haumea, ia Papa, ia Haohokakalani, hanau o Haloa. O Haloa—no. (Beckwith, 1981, p. 231)

Patriotism: Ka imi ana i ka pono o ke aupuni. (Andrews, 1865, p. 540)

Haumana, a child, posed a question to Kaʻimi, a Hawaiian patriot. An idea was conceived. This writing was born. Written in a style inspired by moʻolelo (histories) published in nūpepa (Newspapers published in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, the Indigenous language of Hawaiʻi) in the 19th century, presented before you is a moʻolelo which documents the journey of the seemingly simple curiosity “When did our school stop celebrating Lā Kūʻokoʻa?” as it matures into the research question, “How did the Kamehameha Schools engage with ka ʻimi ana i ka pono o Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian patriotism) during tumultuous times of the Hawaiian Kingdom?”

A moʻolelo of Kapālama tells us of the hero Lepeamoa who transforms into an egg and is hidden away in the malo (loincloth) of Kakuhihewa to be brought out like a secret weapon to save the day and the island of Oʻahu. Dear readers, as you enjoy this exploration of history, I ask that like Kākuhihewa you carry the manaʻo (idea) of Raphael Lemkin tucked into the material wrapped about your waist and readily available. Lemkin, an international law expert and originator of the term “genocide,” stated that this violence has two phases; first, “the destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group” and second, “the imposition of the national patterns of the oppressor” (1944, p. 79).

Please understand that the purpose of this work is not to needlessly kaulaʻi i nā iwi o nā kūpuna (expose the bones of ancestors) or to “be an exhibitionist regarding one’s own racial struggle” (Lynn & Dixson, 2013, p. 42), but instead should be received and accepted through its moʻokūʻauhau (genealogy); a child’s inquiry which birthed the opportunity to provide a critique of mainstream educational histories of the Kamehameha Schools by including Indigenous voices into its narratives. This cognitive zygote is gestated in the Safety Zone Theory (SZT). The framework of the Safety Zone is a supportive space to develop an understanding of past and present policies and practices impacting overt demonstration of Hawaiian patriotism at the Kamehameha Schools. The SZT allows us to discern between acceptable and dangerous Indigeneity as perceived by the school’s policy makers and educators. Ultimately, this moʻolelo will allow readers to determine the viability of the Kamehameha Schools being complicit in genocide as described by Lemkin.

So now dear readers, we visit the warm space where this idea may develop, the framework which allows our curiosity to mature into research, e hoʻi hou i ke kumu (return to the source), the SZT:

Education has consistently been connected to issues of land, economy, and autonomy in indigenous settings throughout the hemisphere. Dispossession, dependency, and attacks on indigenous sovereignty have all been facilitated by educational policies and practices. (Klopotek, 2015, loc. 39)

In their book, To Remain an Indian: Lessons in Democracy from a Century of Native American Education (Lomawaima & McCarty, 2006), detailing the education policy of Native American schools, Lomawaima and McCarty (2014) propose the (SZT) to explain the “anomalies in the ideology of erase-and-replace assimilation” (p. 2). The authors found what seemed to be a pattern in policies implemented by the American government which attempted to regulate the amount of difference, in this case “Indian-ness,” tolerated from the target population of forced assimilation, the Indigenous people of North America. The policies encouraged “safe” difference through the promotion of curriculum and policy which limited Indigenous history and culture to surface levels of understanding. Based on their evidence, they concluded that “perpetuating safe Indian-ness as anti-modern, poverty-stricken, and communal serves as a constant reminder and ongoing justification for U.S. claims . . . to land” (Lomawaima & McCarty, 2014, pp. 5–6). It is important to clarify perspective when using the SZT, as “safety” is being defined by the settler. To the settler, a “safe” Indigenous person is one that has abandoned Indigenous ways of thinking and being. An Indigenous education in the “Safety Zone” is therefore one which promotes newcomer ownership and control of Indigenous spaces and voices. Education and practices which seek to invigorate Indigenous patriotism, emphasize Indigenous sovereignty, and empower Indigenous people to question settler claims to land, power, and superiority are therefore seen as “dangerous.” “Indigenous peoples and scholars and non-Indigenous allies must recognize the U.S. defined Safety Zone as a dangerous place for Native peoples” (Lomawaima & McCarty, 2014, p. 9).

Dear readers, I ask for us to contemplate the ability to discriminate safe from dangerous, a skill necessary for survival, as we turn to learn about the sprouting of an educational institution, a place we plant our trust, a safe garden for our keiki (child) to grow their skills. While enrolling ourselves into the early Kamehameha Schools, please remember Lemkin’s egg and consider national patterns:

Imua e nā pōkiʻi a inu i ka wai ʻawaʻawa (Pukuʻi, 1983, loc. 5441)

Forward my younger siblings! Until we drink the bitter water of battle. Uttered by Kamehameha I to motivate his troops

Upon her death in 1884, the will of a princess of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (1883), called for the establishment of a school for “Hawaiians of pure or part aboriginal blood”. She asked that the school be named the Kamehameha Schools, after her great grandfather, Kamehameha I, the founder of the Hawaiian Kingdom (Bishop, 1883). Based on this history, one can reasonably speculate that the Princess intended for the Kamehameha Schools to be a bastion of Hawaiʻi, protecting the Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Indigenous people of Hawaiʻi) citizens of the Kingdom from foreign incursion, a wish for her people to rise through education. The current CEO of the trust, Jack Wong, confirms this by saying, “She [Princess Pauahi] wanted to use education to restore her people . . . That is our charge” (O’Connell, 2018).

When the founder of the school, Princess Pauahi, initially cast her hopes into her will in an effort to ensure a better future for her people, the line was quickly snagged, knotted, and tangled by haole (foreign) intentions. In the article “Domesticating Hawaiians: Kamehameha Schools and the ʻTender’ Violence of Marriage,” Kanaka ʻŌiwi scholar and Kamehameha Schools graduate, Noelani Goodyear-Ka’opua (2014) documents that upon opening in 1887

the trust and schools were run exclusively by White members of the business elite, many of whom were directly tied to, or at least politically aligned with, the overthrow of Hawaiian governance and the establishment of American imperial control. (loc. 510)

Prior to the overthrow of her kingdom, Princess Pauahi’s trustees as well as the first principal of the school helped to write a constitution which transferred authority for the Kingdom from the monarchy to haole businessmen. This constitution came to be called the Bayonet Constitution because King Kalakaua was forced to agree to the constitution when held by gunpoint. Samuel Damon, one of the initial trustees of the school and Vice President of the Provisional Government following the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, said, “If we are ever to have peace and annexation the first thing to do is to obliterate the past” (Beamer, 2014, loc. 3156). Retired Kamehameha Schools teacher, Kawika Eyre (2004), described a battleground “where teachers and staff of the young school purposely and relentlessly sought to stamp out the native language and all aspects of Hawaiian ways.”

With this in our minds and Lemkin’s egg warm and nestled at our hip, dear readers, we must temporarily take leave of the Kamehameha Schools in order to spend some time with a tree. In the next section, we will convene with a koa named Kanuha and perhaps ascertain the degree to which he is nuha (uncivil).

Nani ka ʻōiwi o ka lāʻau i ka luaiele ʻia e ka makani

Beautiful is the body of the tree even when swayed this way and that by the wind (Pukuʻi, 1983, loc. 9861)

Koa, Acacia Koa, a large tree endemic to Hawaiʻi, is admired for its strength and valued for its beauty. In ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, the word “koa” refers to this native tree; koa can also be translated as “warrior.” It is hoped that the documentation of the experience of this native koa from the past will help to support those in the present who dance in the ravaging winds of turbulent times.

The accomplishments and actions of David Kanuha attracted attention and were captured in nūpepa articles from 1888—until his death. David Kanuha attended Lahainaluna Seminary and upon graduation left the Hawaiian Kingdom for the USA to further his education by attending the Hampton Institute in Virginia. Going to the USA, attending Hampton, and participating in interactions with classmates, teachers, and the American community on foreign soil provided koa Aloha ʻĀina David Kanuha unique insight. As a mea ʻimi ana i ka pono o Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian patriot), Kanuha documented and shared his educative experiences with the people of his lāhui (nation).

David Kanuha documented his journey to and across North America in a series of letters published in the nūpepa, Ko Hawaii Paeaina, from 11 August through 22 September 1888. In the final letter of the series published on 22 September 1888, Kanuha offered important practical advice for those thinking of going to America which are as follows:

Where these “safety rules” proffered by Kanuha are commonly practiced by most 21st-century travelers, his purposeful and careful documentation suggests that this level of caution was not inherently ingrained in the everyday Kanaka ‘Ōiwi of 19th century.

After safely arriving in Virginia, David Kanuha’s education continued at the Hampton Institute. The Hampton Institute was initially established by White Americans to educate freed slaves following the American Civil War. The end of the American Indian Wars inspired Hampton to expand its enrollment to include the Indigenous people. The Hampton Institute (1888) aimed to provide

the essentials for the Negro race and equally for the Indians . . . a thorough English education and the training of hand and eye to skillful, intelligent labor . . . for races so little removed from the childhood of servitude and the rudeness of savagery. (p. 43)

Graduates from the Institute, like David Kanuha were encouraged “[T]o go back to his own race, to teach them that a people which will not learn to rise, will surely sink lower and lower into extinction” (Hampton Institute, 1888, p. 43). In his first year at Hampton, the school’s annual report stated that “David Kanuha a Hawaiian student, as head tailor has done very well in his trade and has instructed the boys in draughting from Butterick’s scale” (Hampton Institute, 1888, p. 46).

It is important for readers of this moʻolelo to know that David Kanuha is not the only link between Hawaiʻi and Hampton. The Hampton Institute was led by Samuel Chapman Armstrong, a person very familiar with Hawaiʻi. Samuel, the son of White American missionaries was born and raised on the island of Maui, the island of Kanuha’s alma mater, Lahainaluna. Perhaps, because of his connection to Hawaiʻi as well as his success educating “savages” at Hampton, Samuel Chapman Armstong carried the Hampton method and philosophy of educating non-White students to the Kamehameha Schools (Beyer, 2007).

Dear readers. like Kanuha, we too have traveled far and learned much. We have become familiar with the SZT where our seed formed, the early days of the Kamehameha Schools where this seed was planted, and introduced to David Kanuha, our koa, in Virginia, now it is time that we all return home to Hawaiʻi.

Hoʻi hou i ka iwi kuamoʻo (Return to the source)

The November 1889 issue of Handicraft, a periodical published by the Kamehameha Schools stated that for Native students “a native teacher is better fitted . . . than the teacher from abroad” (p. 2). This is especially interesting because although the majority of teachers in the Hawaiian Kingdom were Kanaka ʻŌiwi at the time that the school was established (Benham & Heck, 2013), the faculty of the Kamehameha Schools was completely made up of White Americans. On 17 January 1893, assisted by the American military a group of White businessmen, including some of the Trustees of the Kamehameha Schools (Beamer, 2014), stole control of Hawaiʻi from the Kanaka ʻŌiwi by forcing Queen Liliʻuokalani, the sister of the school’s founder Princess Pauahi, under the threat of violence to yield her authority. Just a few months after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, David Kanuha returned home. Within a few days of returning to Hawaiian soil, our koa Aloha ʻĀina, David Kanuha, took root as the first Kanaka ʻŌiwi teacher at the Kamehameha Schools. It is interesting that it was only following a shift in government did the school empower a Kanaka ʻŌiwi kumu (teacher, tree, source) with a classroom, perhaps it was because Kanuha was a Hampton Institute certified Native.

In addition to teaching in Kamehameha Schools classrooms, David Kanuha began providing a series of public talks, to share experience-based reasons to align politically with those fighting American annexation:

Ua hai aku au ia moolelo a me na kulana o ka poe Ilikini a me ka poe Negero, iwaena o na kanaka ilikeokeo o Amerika Huipuia. I mai la kekahi o lakou, he moolelo kupono loa kaʻu e lohe ai na kanaka o Nawaieha nei; a e lawe mai oe i na manao pili no ke kue ikaika ana i ka Hoohui Aina elike me kaʻu i ike ai ma ka Aina E i ke kulana o ka poe Ilikini me na Negero. (Mai ka Makani Kololio o Waikapu, 1893)

I presented a history of the position of the Indian and the Negro amongst the Whites of the United States of America. I was able to relay this true and honest account, based on what they themselves have told me, to the people of Maui; and deliver a reason to strongly reject Annexation based on our shared knowledge of how the Indian and the Negro are treated in America.

David Kanuha disseminated the knowledge he acquired in the USA among the Kanaka ʻŌiwi, the people of his nation, Hawaiʻi, so that they may truly rise.

Now that we have spent some time in the malu (cover, shade, protection) of our koa David Kanuha, we take temporary leave so that we may bask in the glow of Lā Kūʻokoʻa, a sunny holiday established to invigorate growth and shine light upon the accomplishments of the Hawaiian nation and its people.

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono

The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness (Pukuʻi, 1983, loc. 12167)

The national holiday, Lā Kūʻokoʻa, was established in 1843 by the Hawaiian Kingdom to provide an opportunity for all Hawaiian citizens to rise and commemorate our sovereignty and recognition as an independent nation:

La Kuokoa o ke Aupuni, he la makamae ia no na puuwai Hawaii oiaio a pau, a he la hoi e hoike ai ka Lahui Hawaii i ko lakou makee i ka la hanau o ka aina oiwi; ma ka hooi ana aku i na hana hookelakela hoohiwahiwa i ko na makahiki i hala. E liuliu e na Hawaii. (24 November 1892 Ka Leo o ka Lahui—Nu Hou Kuloko)

Hawaiian Independence Day is a special day in the hearts of all true Hawaiians. A day when the Hawaiian Nation demonstrates its affection for the anniversary of the ancestral homeland by celebrating proudly the magnificent works accomplished over the past year

It should be obvious then that the princess of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the founder of the Kamehameha Schools Princess Pauahi celebrated the holiday with the people of her nation:

Ua hoohiehieia ka hele ana o ka huakai me ke kani ana o na ohe a ka poe puhi ohe o ka Moi. Ua kauia ma na papale o kanaka na pepa i paiia me na hua olelo “La Kuokoa,” a ma ka umauma hoi na hua olelo “Hawaii mau loa.” Ua puka mai ka hui mai ka pa mai o Pohukaina, iho ma ke alanui Moi, haawi aloha ma na huro ekolu i ke alii wahine Pauahi, a me ke kani ana o na Pila (12 February 1873 Ka Nuhou Hawaii—Ka Huakai o ka Po o ka La 27)

The parade was made even more majestic with the sounding of the royal horns. People placed pieces of paper with the words “Independence Day” on their hats and the words “Hawaiʻi Forever” upon their chests. The group entered from Pohukaina and proceeded down Moi Street where they gave aloha to Princess Pauahi with three shouts of “Hooray!” and music by the band.

The newspaper of Pauahi’s school testified to the importance of patriotism:

Schools for the children of foreigners as well as schools for the children of the aborigines, must inculcate loyalty to government, obedience to laws of the land, and allegiance to the flag, that is the national symbol of our autonomy (November 1891 Handicraft p. 2).

Dear readers, while both Pauahi and the school recognized the importance of patriotism, did they share a common understanding of pono for all people of a nation? If so, for which nation? In an effort to better understand the patriotism inculcated; the school newspaper Handicraft, the minutes from Kamehameha School’s teacher meetings, and school correspondence were reviewed paying particular attention to the documents written on dates surrounding this holiday encouraging ka ʻimi ana i ka pono o Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian patriotism).

In 1889, to celebrate Hawaiian patriotism, the school invited an American military officer General JFB Marshall who spent the, “last 20 years connected with General S C Armstrong in his work for the Indians and negroes in Hampton Institute” (October 1889 Handicraft p. 2) to speak to the young Kanaka ʻŌiwi. He advised the students:

You need have no fears of foreign invasion. The great naval powers are your friends, and will not again interfere in your affairs, so long as you are able wisely to govern yourselves, and protect the rights of their citizens who live among you. (Handicraft November 1889 Vol 1 no 8 p. 3—Hawaiian Independence Day)

On this day, to celebrate Hawaiʻi instead of enumerating the myriad reasons to be proud of Hawaiʻi, the school chose to emphasize that the safety and sovereignty of the Kingdom depended heavily upon appeasing foreigners, “their citizens that live among you.” The overt imposition of American priorities into the school can be seen in the Kamehameha Schools Teachers’ Meeting Minutes, in both 1893 and 1894, where the haole holiday Thanksgiving commemorating European incursion into Indigenous nations is given equal import to Lā Kūʻokoʻa, the holiday which celebrates Indigenous strength and resistance:

November 28, 1893

Extra session at 8:15 to consider a holiday on the fiftieth anniversary of Hawaiian Independence. It was voted to leave it to the boys. They could have one holiday this week and could have a choice whether it was a whole day on Independence Day, a whole day on the American Thanksgiving or a half holiday on the 28th and a half holiday on the 30th. (Kamehameha Schools Teacher Meeting Minutes, 1893, p. 36)

Nov 23, 1894

Thanksgiving would probably be a whole holiday though the boys might have a choice of two afternoons on Independence and Thanksgiving. (Kamehameha Schools Teacher Meeting Minutes, 1894, p. 176)

To evaluate the magnanimity of giving the students a choice between holidays, we must also consider community perception at the time. Following the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom some Kanaka ʻŌiwi did not openly celebrate Lā Kūʻokoʻa fearing the response of the Provisional Government. In a statement published on 4 December 1893, the author expressed gratitude that the American holiday fell so close to our Hawaiian holiday, as it allowed people to celebrate, “aohe na Pi Gi i hoomaopopo ae” (without the Provisional Government knowing; No Title, 1893, p. 2). The holidays reinforce diametrically opposed ideals; Lā Kūʻokoʻa emphasizes Hawaiian patriotism and Kanaka ʻŌiwi pride, while Thanksgiving is a foreign celebration of White hegemony. Dear readers, did you feel it too? The egg at our waist stirs. Among overt American political aggression, a uniquely American holiday is given somewhat equal reverence on the campus for Kanaka ʻŌiwi youth founded and funded by a princess of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the target of aggression:

Indigenous teachers are often marginalised within schools, rarely hold senior positions, experience institutional and individual racism, are susceptible to burnout and are at risk of resigning prematurely. (Santoro et al., 2011, p. 72)

Ua ʻeha ka ʻili i ka maka o ka ihe

The skin has been hurt by the point of the spear. Said with pride and affection for a warrior who has been wounded in war, for it meant he had been faithful to his chief (Pukuʻi, 1983, loc. 11960)

Dear readers, after having just learned how the school reacted to the celebration of a holiday, a relatively passive demonstration of Hawaiian patriotism, we now investigate how the Kamehameha Schools leadership reacted when the citizens of Hawaiʻi demonstrated patriotism more actively by attempting to forcefully return the Queen to power. In an effort to reinstate the monarchy and remove the Provisional Government, the Kaua Kuloko (civil war), took place from 6 January through 9 January 1895. The first meeting of Kamehameha teachers following this unsuccessful attempt to take back control of Hawaiʻi from White pro-American usurpers including some of the Kamehameha Schools Trustees occurred on 11 January 1895. A “trying ordeal” was recorded in the minutes. However, in the following meeting held on 19 January 1895, a teacher, Mr Dumas, rejected those minutes and requested that a more thorough documentation of the “ordeal” be recorded. Mr Dumas asked specifically for clarification of the school’s position and policy. Mr Dumas was fully prepared and somewhat eager to take up arms against the young citizens of the Hawaiian nation because of their support for the sister of the school’s benefactor, for their Queen Liliʻuokalani. The minutes recorded that Mr Dumas “had been down to assist the (Provisional) government and if the occasion again arose he should go again”. In response to this statement by Mr Dumas, the principal of the school felt it necessary to clarify “that any attitude here that took upon itself to fight with the Hawaiian and at the same time to teach them was incompatible”. Although the principal was opposed to physically harming the students and Kanaka ʻŌiwi directly, he did provide direction for teachers to focus their efforts:

He thought individuals would do more for the government by taking care of the boys here then to go outside and so give the boys a chance to take sides. It was for the best interest of the Hawaiian youth to take care of them here rather than to let them go . . . The feeling of partisanship should be kept out of the boys.

While Mr. Dumas sought to violently chop down the koa Aloha ʻĀina, the Principal Theodore Richards instead sought to eradicate Hawaiian patriotism through smothering. In contrast tailoring teacher, David Kanuha, neatly dressed himself in the “partisanship” that the pro-American principal and teachers wished to suppress. Suspected of participation in the Kaua Kuloko “ordeal,” David Kanuha was arrested by the Provisional Government. After being released from prison, he wrote the following letter to the Trustees of the Kamehameha Schools:

Gentlemen: During the time I had charge of the Tailoring Department I have learned to appreciate your friendship and moreover I have placed my greatest confidence in the sincerity of your regard for me. Two weeks after the uprising, I was arrested and three days after that my case was brought before the Court Martial. Through a fair trial and just judgement of the Commission I was discharged. I came up here and stayed till now with a willing heart and hands to do the same work again. After I got home I found the majority of teachers against me. It seems as though they’d rather see me in prison. It might be that the same feeling was among some people in town and perhaps also in you—ʻTrustees of the School’—As regards my work I can say that it is excellent and Mr. Richards can prove it. The troubles that have come to me and everything that has happened on me I will have them all to your judgment. Dr. Hyde and Prof. Theodore Richards will tell more about me.

I remain

Your obedient servant

David Kanuha (1895)

Dear readers, keeping an egg safely in its shell is an arduous task as despite the best of efforts, eggs must hatch in order for life to thrive. The principal’s statement regarding Hawaiian “partisanship” and the school’s response to David Kanuha’s patriotism allow us to establish the outer shell of the Safety Zone at Kamehameha, as we also imagine the embryo within which hopes to 1 day be free. In these entries, we witness the school codify the suppression of dangerous Indigeneity. To establish a pattern of “safe” Natives, the school enacted a policy of purposefully privileging haole perspectives and suppressing “partisanship” defined as Hawaiian patriotism.

Allurements that your race will overwhelm (Oleson, 1886)

Dear readers, at this point, the perspective of the Kamehameha Schools leadership has been well-established but what about students?. Mr Dumas’ testimony suggests that at least one student was ka ʻimi ana i ka pono o Hawaiʻi (seeking justice for Hawaiʻi). Searching further, we find that Kaʻimi (the seeker) was not alone.

In 1896, the discussion regarding the contrasting and competing holidays continued. It was noted in the minutes for the meeting held on 20 November 1896, that the “boys would resent discrimination in favor of the American holiday” and so the motion to celebrate both holidays was carried. Knowing that the boys would be upset if Lā Kūʻokoʻa was not celebrated suggests that the faculty of the school understood that Hawaiian patriotism remained in the hearts of students on campus. This statement also intimates that the school was persistent in its effort to terminate this celebration of Hawaiʻi and impose the national pattern of America upon the children in their care.

Dear readers, we are reminded of the incubator of the SZT that suggests that a “safe” education is one which perpetuates “safe Indian-ness as anti-modern” as we look at the minutes recorded a week later on 27 November 1896:

In regard to the holiday Saturday 28 Nov., it was said that Friday’s papers contained no reference to the holiday and therefore it was doubted that Saturday was a government holiday. If it is not a government holiday, it was said, whose holiday is it? Hawaiians ought to grow up in the modern views; there is no point in changing the order of government institutions. M&S [moved and seconded] that if the government did not recognize the holiday, we do not. Carried.

(Note: It was afterward found that the government did recognize Independence Day and a holiday was declared)

It is interesting that the teachers leveraged their “modern views” to argue that “there is no point in changing the order of government institutions” when the discussion regarding the holiday is occurring because of the White pro-American oligarchy’s violent efforts to change government institutions. The teachers can be seen as more aggressive in suppressing Hawaiian patriotism than the Provisional Government as they moved to officially extinguish the holiday before the usurpers.

Dear readers, were the kids alone in holding on to silly allurements that our race would overwhelm? Were their parents and the larger Kanaka ʻŌiwi community more aligned with the teachers? The Teachers’ Minutes suggested that the holiday was not written about in the papers. Did the teachers read the same papers as the Kanaka ʻŌiwi? Through this inquiry, we learn the limits of being restricted to one perspective, to one language when examining a multilingual and multicultural environment.

The teachers recorded, “Friday’s papers contained no reference to the holiday”. While perhaps Lā Kūʻokoʻa was not mentioned in the English newspapers, three different nūpepa published near that date emphasized and exalted the holiday. In the 21 November 1896 issue of Ke Aloha Aina, an article reminded the Kanaka ʻŌiwi of the importance to celebrate the holiday even in troubling times. The following sentence from the article seems to directly contrast the words and wishes of the Kamehameha teachers:

Aka, o ka noho hoomalu ana o ka poe nana i lawe ae, aole e hiki ia lakou ke anainai a hoonalowale i kela mau huaolelo kumu i kahakaha ia e kela moi puuwai lokomaikai Kauikeaoulu Kamehameha III, “Ua mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono” a oia mau mamala olelo kumu, eia no ia ke ku kilakila nei iloko o na umauma o ka lahui Hawaii a hiki i keia la. (Ka La Kuokoa o Hawaii, 1896)

Although the current government would attempt to take it away, they can neither erase nor obliterate those words that were etched unto all of us by the kind hearted King Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III, “The sovereignty of the nation is fixed firmly in righteousness/justice” those foundational words are the source of the extreme pride which exists in the chests of all Hawaiian citizens to this very day.

A year later, the teachers’ minutes on 26 November 1897, again stated that the newspapers are not covering the holiday. Just as in the previous year, the nūpepa did cover the holiday in Ke Aloha Aina on 27 November 1897 it was written,

o ka hoomanao ana aku ia la kamahao he mea nui ia, a he mea hiipoi ia no hoi iloko o na kanaka ponoi o ka aina. (No Title, 1897)

Commemorating this special day is important for it nourishes the spirit of the people who truly belong to this land.

The teacher meeting notes continue, “It was said that the day is losing its importance and interest owing to changing political conditions. Tomorrow there will be luaus all over town with liquor everywhere” (Kamehameha Schools Teacher Meeting Minutes, 1897, p. 85). In addition to inaccurate documentation of what was published in newspapers, the teachers seem to contradict themselves. If Lā Kūʻokoʻa was truly losing its importance then there would not be lūʻau (parties) “everywhere.”

E uhi wale no ʻaʻole e nalo, he imu puhi

No matter how much one covers a steaming imu, the smoke will rise. The secret will get out. (Pukuʻi, 1983, loc 402)

Dear readers, I want to thank you for accompanying me on this journey. It is time now to examine our question fully grown, to recall and reveal the egg which we have incubated; how did the Kamehameha Schools engage with ka ʻimi ana i ka pono o Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian patriotism) during tumultuous times of the Hawaiian Kingdom. While “too often the genocide analytic is limited to direct physical killing” (Altman, 2018, p. 339), according to Raphael Lemkin (2008), genocide actually has two phases, “The destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group” and “the imposition of the national patterns of the oppressor” (p. 339) which appeared at the Kamehameha Schools as the suppression of Hawaiian patriotism and subsequent Americanization.

The Kamehameha Schools actively sought to divorce the Kanaka ʻŌiwi students from our national identity. By suppressing “partisanship,” the Kamehameha Schools made great progress toward Trustee Damon’s goal of obliterating our past. The leaders of the school purposely worked to destroy the legacy of Princess Pauahi’s family, dismember her nation, and disenfranchise her people by promoting an education which advanced the suppression of the national pattern of Hawaiʻi, the imposition of American assimilation, and subsequently, facilitating American annexation.

That was then this is now

After over a century of consistent provision of a “safe” American assimilationist education, in 2015, the trustees of the school released Kūhanauna—A Generation on the Rise, the Kamehameha Schools Strategic Plan 2015-2020 to the general public. This document inspired by Princess “Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s original intentions” (Kamehameha Schools, 2015, p. 5) is being used as a guide for the complete reworking of the educational institution’s policies and practices. Kūhanauna calls on teachers and students to,

E hoʻoulu ʻia ka ʻike Hawaiʻi o nā haumāna i paʻa pono ka naʻau e ikaika ai a e mohala ai. Ma kēia hui Kamehameha nei, na ka naʻau Hawaiʻi e aʻoaʻo mai ma nā koho a me nā hana kūpono e pono ai ka lāhui. (Kamehameha Schools, 2015, p. 19)

Cultivate a strong Native Hawaiian identity to instill confidence and resiliency in our learners and to inform decision making and actions within our organization, for the improvement of the well-being of the lāhui. (Kamehameha Schools, 2015, p. 19)

Using the Kūhanauna framework as a guideline, the school released “E Ola! Learner Outcomes at Kamehameha” in 2016. The first learner outcome that the school aims to develop is “ʻIke Kupuna—ancestral experiences, insights, perspectives, knowledge, and practices” and the second is “Aloha ʻĀina—Hawaiian patriotism” (Kamehameha Schools, 2016). These policies make it seem that the current trustees of the school are determined to untangle the knots of American assimilation originated by the initial leaders of the school, the haole who hijacked Pauahi’s dream in order to satisfy their pro-American agenda. At the same time, over 130 years of Kamehameha Schools’ existence has allowed the school to establish a unique reputation and tradition. Many Kanaka ʻŌiwi alumni look back at their experience with nostalgia, but as T. D. Williams (2018) wrote, “nostalgia is history without moral reckoning.” This historical writing asks the Kamehameha Schools community to reflect critically.

As recently as 2016, a handful of Kamehameha students demonstrated Aloha ‘Āina, Hawaiian patriotism by refusing to stand during the performance of the American national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, at their graduation ceremony. The acting principal of the school took that opportunity to write a letter to all employees of the school, admonishing the students and reminding the faculty that “we should not ignore the fact that the ceremony was blemished by the poor choice of a few” (Lindsey, 2016). She continued,

The behavior of that small group of students was disrespectful to our school and our country, not in all in alignment with our guiding principle of Home Hoʻonaʻauao o Pauahi, which emphasizes our school as Pauahi’s home of learning—a place of honor, respect and pride. (Lindsey, 2016)

Home Hoʻonaʻauao o Pauahi can be translated as Pauahi’s home of enlightenment. Enlightened people know that Pauahi’s home is Hawaiʻi.

Dear readers, we have come to the end of this moʻolelo. Our egg has hatched and now we need to do something with this freshly fleshed information. We Indigenous teachers, non-Indigenous allies, students, and parents must work together to push the institution to knock down the boundaries of the Safety Zone. Outside of this Safety Zone is not danger, it is clarity, it is truth. The Safety Zone “constitutes violence . . . sweetened by false generosity, because it interferes with the individual’s ontological and historical vocation to be more fully human” (Freire, 2000, loc. 705). The current policies of the school, Kū Hanauna and E Ola! suggest that neglecting to implement significant change would leave egg on all of our faces. The steps to change begin with sharing this moʻolelo and the conversations which follow:

[Y]our life is before you-it will be what you choose to make it. Times will come when you will feel you are being pushed into the background. Never allow this to happen-stand always on your own foundation. But you will have to make that foundation. There will come times when to make this stand will be difficult, especially to you of Hawaiian birth; but conquer you can-if you will. (Princess Bishop, n.d.)

Aole i pau

I have always been a great admirer of Grace Lee Boggs whose life was a testament to the ability to cause great social change through conversation. In a conversation with a group of 5th grade teachers in 2017, an act of respectful disruption was birthed as we began an effort to celebrate Lā Kūʻokoʻa, Hawaiian Independence Day, at Kamehameha Elementary School. Although many of their ancestors celebrated Lā Kūʻokoʻa, most of the Kanaka ʻŌiwi students had never heard of the holiday, so it was necessary for the holiday to be reintroduced to this generation. The Kanaka ʻŌiwi 5th graders were lead through a discussion of the purpose of holidays and exposed to nūpepa articles describing the grand celebrations of Aloha ʻĀina that were held prior to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. Knowing that they attend a school founded in 1887 by a monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, an astute student inquired, “ . . . so when did our school stop celebrating the holiday?” This question took me to the school’s archives where I was introduced to David Kanuha. This child’s question is the inspiration for this quest. It is my sincere hope that the research it inspired will spark conversations and change.