Churchill, Ward, and Venne, Sharon H., eds. Islands in Captivity: The International Tribunal on the Rights of Indigenous Hawaiians

International Social Science Review, Fall-Winter, 2006 by Cheryl Crozier Garcia

Churchill, Ward, and Venne, Sharon H., eds. Islands in Captivity: The International Tribunal on the Rights of Indigenous Hawaiians. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2004. 783 pages. Cloth, $40.00.

In 1893, a group of white business people, with the unauthorized assistance of a U.S. Navy warship, overthrew the lawful sovereign of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and created the Republic of Hawaii. In 1898, the Republic was annexed as a territory to the United States, and in 1959 Hawaii became the fiftieth state. The effect of these events on the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands was nothing short of disastrous; Hawaiians were evicted from their traditional homelands and stripped of their language, religion, and culture. The effects of these actions continue to be felt among present-day Native Hawaiians, who, like other indigenous peoples, are now pushing for the restoration of their sovereignty, the return of their land base, and the rebirth of their inherent dignity.

In 1993, the centennial anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, a group of Native Hawaiian sovereignty activists gathered before an internationally recognized panel of experts on indigenous rights and international law to document the history of the Native Hawaiian people from their own perspective, to publicize the wrongs they allege were perpetrated against them by the U.S. government, and to elucidate their needs for redress.

Churchill and Venne, who served as judges on the people's tribunal, compiled numerous background essays submitted to the tribunal, and edited hundreds of hours of testimony and exhibits. The result is Islands in Captivity, a comprehensive history of Hawaii from the perspective of its native children, which documents the almost universally negative impact of Western contact on Native Hawaiians and their demands for redress for the wrongs done to them.

The scope of the collection is broad and deep. Volume I contains a number of essays chronicling life in pre-contact Hawaii. The essays discuss estimations of population density; religious practice; culture and lifestyle; agriculture, aquaculture, and industry; gender and age roles; traditional forms of government; and, the relationship of pre-contact Native Hawaiians to the land and to nature. Volume II delineates the charges against the U.S. government and contains the transcripts of testimonies from witnesses for the complainants. These testimonies were taken on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Kauai, and Hawaii from August 12 to 20, 1993. Volume II concludes with the judges' opinions, summations, findings of fact, and recommendations.

The argument against the U.S. government consists of nine very serious charges, including aggression against a lawful, sovereign government; theft of land, water, and mineral rights; criminal trespass; squatting; genocide and ethnocide; religious persecution; and, grand larceny. As remedies, Native Hawaiians want the U.S. government to acknowledge and apologize for unlawfully supporting the overthrow of the sovereign Hawaiian government; annexing Hawaii, and later making it a state without the consent of its citizens; contributing to the decimation and demise of the Native Hawaiian population starting with the arrival of the first U.S. missionaries in 1820 and continuing through 1993; and, failing to honor its fiduciary responsibilities to the beneficiaries of the various Native Hawaiian trusts. The complainants further demand that they be recognized by the U.S. government as a sovereign nation, entitled to self-determination; that there be an end to their wardship under the U.S. government; and, that the U.S. government return to the Native Hawaiian nation all lands designated under the Hawaiian Home Lands and Ceded Land Trusts.

Volume I features essays submitted as background testimony that document the lifestyle, religion, and culture of Native Hawaiians prior to Western contact. These essays paint a portrait of Native Hawaiians as a law-abiding, industrious, peaceful, and deeply spiritual people, who were willing to extend hospitality to newcomers and gladly share what they had. Their graciousness was taken advantage of and exploited by missionaries, merchants, and others who sought to capitalize upon and exploit Hawaii's people and natural resources, including their labor and culture. As a result, within roughly seventy years, Hawaiian language and culture were virtually extinct and the Native Hawaiian population has dwindled from nearly one million souls to fewer than 100,000. Many of those who died succumbed to diseases brought by Westerners to which Hawaiians had no natural immunity such as measles, influenza, diarrhea, and venereal disease. Others perished from the ravages of poverty, homelessness, and dispossession, problems which continue to stalk present-day Native Hawaiians.

In Volume II, the testimony of average Hawaiians tell of the challenges they face in preserving their cultural and spiritual practices; accessing traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering lands; and, simply surviving in their own land. These testimonies, on their face, verify the assertion that the suppression of Hawaiian culture is intentional and pervasive. Further, there is evidence to support the contention of the complainants that the missionaries who first came to the islands in 1820 were, to some degree, agents of colonialization. The evidence against the U.S. government is convincing, especially because it sent no representative to this tribunal to answer the charges. (1)