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Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism
In 1897, as a white oligarchy made plans to allow the United States to annex Hawai'i, native Hawaiians organized a massive petition drive to protest. Ninety-five percent of the native population signed the petition, causing the annexation treaty to fail in the U.S. Senate. This event was unknown to many contemporary Hawaiians until Noenoe K. Silva rediscovered the petition in the process of researching this book. With few exceptions, histories of Hawai'i have been based exclusively on English-language sources. They have not taken into account the thousands of pages of newspapers, books, and letters written in the mother tongue of native Hawaiians. By rigorously analyzing many of these documents, Silva fills a crucial gap in the historical record. In so doing, she refutes the long-held idea that native Hawaiians passively accepted the erosion of their culture and loss of their nation, showing that they actively resisted political, economic, linguistic, and cultural domination. Drawing on Hawaiian-language texts, primarily newspapers produced in the nineteenth century and early twentieth, Silva demonstrates that print media was central to social communication, political organizing, and the perpetuation of Hawaiian language and culture. A powerful critique of colonial historiography, Aloha Betrayed provides a much-needed history of native Hawaiian resistance to American imperialism.
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
June 5, 2014
This is an excellent retelling of the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, annexation to the US, and the efforts of the Hawaiian people to retain their autonomy, from Hawaiian rather than English language sources. US missionaries in the 1820s became businessmen and land owners in the last half of the century, and they wanted annexation to the US to relieve tariffs on their products. They eventually took over the government through both legal and less-than-legal military means. Hawaiians fought back mostly within the law, through petitions and pleas to Washington DC. This might have worked had the Spanish American war not convinced the US that taking the fight to the Philippines was warranted and Hawaii was needed as a coaling station. Well written, I would have preferred that the presented timeline include details of resistance in the years after annexation, all the way up to present day.
October 6, 2010
Noenoe K. Silva, a professor of political science and Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaii, successfully unearths the veiled history of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) resistance to colonialism. Within Aloha Betrayed, critical interpretation of native Hawaiian newspapers, petitions, mele (chants), and poetry accurately deconstruct the myth that the Kanaka Maoli “passively accepted the erosion of their culture and the loss of their nation.” These sources, long overlooked or grossly misinterpreted, narrate a story of resistance while also contesting native Hawaiian misrepresentation by both colonists and colonial historians of Hawaii. Silva cites severe “gaps” and “erasures” in the current historiography of colonial Hawaii, which “justifies the continued occupation of Hawaii by the United States today.” Thus, in neglecting native Hawaiian sources, and misinterpreting the Hawaiian language, a one-sided sense of colonial Hawaii emerges.
Silva traces Kanaka Maoli resistance from Captain James Cook’s landing in 1778 to Hawaii’s official annexation to the United States in 1898. From mass death to the destabilizing forces of capitalism, Silva characterizes the pervasive nature of colonialism, and its effects on the indigenous population. In particular, this discursive struggle is highlighted in the print media, specifically within newspapers. Silva presents disregarded texts from the independent Hawaiian newspaper, the Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika, in order accentuate a key medium in Kanaka Maoli cultural preservation and colonial resistance. According to Silva, this colonial struggle was often “fought with paper and ink”, as indigenous Hawaiians sought to inform their peers and preserve their traditions through the printing press. Silva continues to detail the preservationist and resistance efforts of King Kalakaua, Queen Lili’uokalani, and key political organizations during the late nineteenth century. In preserving the genealogy of the kingdom and the heritage of the hula and mele, these key actors fostered a collective identity among native Hawaiians as independent from their colonizers. Additionally, as leaders from the ruling class, their authority directly challenged colonialism, racism, and the misrepresentation of their culture. Yet through these specific agents of resistance Silva neglects reference to the broader indigenous population. Apart from the petition signed by a substantial portion of the Kanaka Maoli, the opinions and opposition efforts of the lower indigenous classes are left in question.
Furthermore, in Silva’s endeavor to inject Kanaka voice within the narrative, the structural cohesion of Aloha Betrayed falls short. Long discourses in native Hawaiian, frequently interposed within the larger chronicle, are both indecipherable and impractical to the average reader who is illiterate in the language. Thus, in an attempt to reinforce the Kanaka voice and promote continued analysis of sources, Aloha Betrayed often makes for a disjointed read. Yet despite these criticisms, Silva successfully chronicles a history long distorted and ignored. Through thoughtful analysis of native Hawaiian sources, a nuanced understanding of Kanaka Maoli history as one of resistance emerges, while also providing substantial groundwork for future analysis and reinterpretation of colonial Hawaiian history.
Silva traces Kanaka Maoli resistance from Captain James Cook’s landing in 1778 to Hawaii’s official annexation to the United States in 1898. From mass death to the destabilizing forces of capitalism, Silva characterizes the pervasive nature of colonialism, and its effects on the indigenous population. In particular, this discursive struggle is highlighted in the print media, specifically within newspapers. Silva presents disregarded texts from the independent Hawaiian newspaper, the Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika, in order accentuate a key medium in Kanaka Maoli cultural preservation and colonial resistance. According to Silva, this colonial struggle was often “fought with paper and ink”, as indigenous Hawaiians sought to inform their peers and preserve their traditions through the printing press. Silva continues to detail the preservationist and resistance efforts of King Kalakaua, Queen Lili’uokalani, and key political organizations during the late nineteenth century. In preserving the genealogy of the kingdom and the heritage of the hula and mele, these key actors fostered a collective identity among native Hawaiians as independent from their colonizers. Additionally, as leaders from the ruling class, their authority directly challenged colonialism, racism, and the misrepresentation of their culture. Yet through these specific agents of resistance Silva neglects reference to the broader indigenous population. Apart from the petition signed by a substantial portion of the Kanaka Maoli, the opinions and opposition efforts of the lower indigenous classes are left in question.
Furthermore, in Silva’s endeavor to inject Kanaka voice within the narrative, the structural cohesion of Aloha Betrayed falls short. Long discourses in native Hawaiian, frequently interposed within the larger chronicle, are both indecipherable and impractical to the average reader who is illiterate in the language. Thus, in an attempt to reinforce the Kanaka voice and promote continued analysis of sources, Aloha Betrayed often makes for a disjointed read. Yet despite these criticisms, Silva successfully chronicles a history long distorted and ignored. Through thoughtful analysis of native Hawaiian sources, a nuanced understanding of Kanaka Maoli history as one of resistance emerges, while also providing substantial groundwork for future analysis and reinterpretation of colonial Hawaiian history.
March 19, 2022
it's taken me a year to get through this book - Silva uses Hawaiian language newspapers, mele (songs), and letters to challenge the Western imperialist version of history that erases kanaka resistance to US colonization and annexation. Silva translates songs and excerpts from the newspapers, and documents the efforts of Native Hawaiian community organizations. What was challenging about the book is that so much of it does integrate, or assume some knowledge of, the Hawaiian language, and so I found that I had a much easier time with it once I'd started studying Hawaiian. I imagine it was difficult to write this book given that there is both an effort to preserve the language and an acknowledgment that so many Native Hawaiian people no longer have access to it.
January 11, 2022
Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism by Noenoe K. Silva details the struggle by the native population of Hawaii to remain an independent nation and not be annexed by the United States as a territory. In 1897, as a white oligarchy, owners of the sugar plantations etc, made plans to allow the United States to annex Hawai'i, native Hawaiians organized a massive petition drive to protest. Ninety-five percent of the native population signed the petition, causing the annexation treaty to fail in the U.S. Senate. This event was unknown to many contemporary Hawaiians until Noenoe K. Silva rediscovered the petition in the process of researching this book. With few exceptions, histories of Hawai'i have been based exclusively on English-language sources. They have not taken into account the thousands of pages of newspapers, books, and letters written in the mother tongue of native Hawaiians. By rigorously analyzing many of these documents, Silva fills in a crucial gap in the historical record. In so doing, she refutes the long-held idea that native Hawaiians passively accepted the erosion of their culture and loss of their nation, showing that they actively resisted political, economic, linguistic, and cultural domination. Drawing on Hawaiian-language texts, primarily newspapers produced in the nineteenth century and early twentieth, Silva demonstrates that print media was central to social communication, political organizing, and the perpetuation of Hawaiian language and culture. A powerful critique of colonial historiography, Aloha Betrayed provides a much-needed history of native Hawaiian resistance to American imperialism. A fascinating look behind the scenes in a major event of American and Hawaiian history.
August 3, 2011
Another must-read for those interested in Hawai'i. Much of the colonial history of the islands is built around the notion that the "bloodless revolution" was an indication of the passive consent of the Hawaiian people to the takeover of Hawai'i by white business interests. This book uses Hawaiian language resources to demonstrate that Hawaiian did in fact resist, and powerfully. Puts a whole new spin on an often-told story that has served to justify the evil of colonization to Hawaii children for generations.
did-not-finish
December 10, 2022I bit off more than I could chew with this. I need to start with a more basic history before I return and give this another try.
May 9, 2017
Historians and scholars have written much about the colonization and annexation of Hawaii. In this book, however, Silva considers the role of native resistance throughout the process by reading and including Hawaiian language poems and publications.
This book is not just about history, but about the historiography of colonization.
Things I learned:
1. The Hawaiian people suffered a huge population loss due to disease directly following first contact with Europeans. Although I knew this was the case, I hadn't considered just how massive the loss of life was and how it began the process of dissolving the native social structures.
2. Bisexuality was common among native Hawaiians before contact with missionaries.
3. The missionaries (and their children) did more than just dismantle the Hawaiian ways of life by enforcing the replacement of Hawaiian spirituality and language; they intentionally became plantation owners and politicians specifically to make a bunch of money and subjugate the native Hawaiians. Silva shows several examples of missionaries who came to Hawaii under the pretense of spreading Christianity only to realize they could make more money taking land and setting up sugar plantations.
This book is not just about history, but about the historiography of colonization.
Things I learned:
1. The Hawaiian people suffered a huge population loss due to disease directly following first contact with Europeans. Although I knew this was the case, I hadn't considered just how massive the loss of life was and how it began the process of dissolving the native social structures.
2. Bisexuality was common among native Hawaiians before contact with missionaries.
3. The missionaries (and their children) did more than just dismantle the Hawaiian ways of life by enforcing the replacement of Hawaiian spirituality and language; they intentionally became plantation owners and politicians specifically to make a bunch of money and subjugate the native Hawaiians. Silva shows several examples of missionaries who came to Hawaii under the pretense of spreading Christianity only to realize they could make more money taking land and setting up sugar plantations.
October 8, 2025
Another book to add to my “everything APUSH didn’t teach you about American colonialism” list. Exceptional piece of scholarship using Hawaiian language source material and an anticolonial methodology that centers Kanaka Maoli worldviews to tell the story of Kanaka Maoli resistance to American colonialism.
May 9, 2023
I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Noenoe Silva when I was in college. I don’t want to say this was a wasted opportunity, but I really wasn’t as dedicated to academia as I should have been and didn’t keep up with scholarship to the extent that I should have. I have read Hawaiian Antiquities, Hawai`i’s Story by Hawai’i’s Queen, quite a bit from the Trask sisters, Kamapua`a, Hi`iakaikapiopele (I know at least one translator in that one), textbooks, Unfamiliar Fishes, and probably several books I forgot I read. I’m hardly uninformed, just embarrassed that I haven’t read this one.
I listened to the book on Audible because I was somewhat shocked to see it pop up in my suggestions. I will admit that I was quite concerned. I was familiar enough with her scholarship to know she would be including quite a few Hawaiian terms. I’d just finished The Descendants, and the reader butchered every single word. Fortunately, Kaipo Schwab knew what he was doing — all the aunties and uncles who taught me the language would be very proud.
My only criticism is that Silva references several mele and Schwab recites the words rather than singing them. I would argue that tone, timbre, meter, dynamics, and other aspects of music add another dimension to the kaona of Hawaiian words. There are several preexisting recordings of these songs. I think everyone who went to elementary school in my era knows these songs by heart, but this isn’t the case for other readers. If you are unfamiliar, I recommend looking them up. It may help you to pronounce the words.
In my mind, the resistance had been ongoing since colonization began, and I fear it will go in forever. I had the good fortune of growing up after the “Hawaiian Renaissance,” which means Hawaiian history and culture were fairly integrated into the curriculum. I learned about Robert Wilcox when I was in fourth grade. Around this time, some films about the overthrow/annexation premiered on television, and 10,000 people marched on the anniversary of the overthrow.
As such, I didn’t realize that there was even a question as to whether Hawaiians protested the takeover. Of course they did! But I’m thrilled that Dr. Silva did such a deep dive into the nupepa to prove this. It is unfortunate in so many ways that an oral culture must present written proof for their legacy to be secured. Hawai`i became the most literate country on the planet, of course, but I truly grieve the ways in which this paradigm shift — and all others — fundamentally altered their culture and history.
Silvia draws from a number of sources I’d never heard of, and I will likely go through her cited sources to follow up. Hawaiian scholars are still translating nupepa, so I hope I can find something there, as I am not fluent myself.
I like that Silva says at some point that the ali`i were both complicit in or opposed to colonization. I really wish she’d discussed Ruth Ke`elikolani on this matter. In addition to being a prominent member of the Kamehameha dynasty, Ke`elikolani was a huge defender of traditional culture, particularly against Christianity.
I also REALLY wish she had discussed the ali`i who married haole businessmen and profited enormously off the sugarcane industry. She does mention it, but not in enough detail to address the gravity of the situation. The ali`i profited off the subjugation and slavery of their own people. `Iolani palace and other vestiges of the era are exercises in performative wealth. They looked “civilized” while Hawaiians with Hansen’s disease were torn from their families and dumped in the water off of Kalaupapa, where there wasn’t enough food or water to go around. I understand that this isn’t what the book is about, but it is so messed up that the people could vote only for ali`i monarchs. It would have been apropos, for that matter, to mention the Splintered Paddle incident and law. This is an underrated incident of protest against the ali`i, and I wish it were discussed more. I’m on the verge of writing something myself.
But that’s my wishlist, not an actual criticism. I was thrilled that she mentioned Hawaiian quilts and her description of the hula performed at Kalakaua’s coronation was absolutely phenomenal. I wish I had been there. I miss Ka Hula Piko and hope it comes back soon. It is a shame that acting in accordance with your own culture is a form of resistance.
My only actual quibble is that the book is redundant at times. She mentions so many times that Hawaiian is an etymologically complex, poetic language and that English speakers don’t readily understand the kaona. As this is the premise of the entire book, the repetition is unnecessary.
Highly recommended. I will likely review her other works at some point.
I listened to the book on Audible because I was somewhat shocked to see it pop up in my suggestions. I will admit that I was quite concerned. I was familiar enough with her scholarship to know she would be including quite a few Hawaiian terms. I’d just finished The Descendants, and the reader butchered every single word. Fortunately, Kaipo Schwab knew what he was doing — all the aunties and uncles who taught me the language would be very proud.
My only criticism is that Silva references several mele and Schwab recites the words rather than singing them. I would argue that tone, timbre, meter, dynamics, and other aspects of music add another dimension to the kaona of Hawaiian words. There are several preexisting recordings of these songs. I think everyone who went to elementary school in my era knows these songs by heart, but this isn’t the case for other readers. If you are unfamiliar, I recommend looking them up. It may help you to pronounce the words.
In my mind, the resistance had been ongoing since colonization began, and I fear it will go in forever. I had the good fortune of growing up after the “Hawaiian Renaissance,” which means Hawaiian history and culture were fairly integrated into the curriculum. I learned about Robert Wilcox when I was in fourth grade. Around this time, some films about the overthrow/annexation premiered on television, and 10,000 people marched on the anniversary of the overthrow.
As such, I didn’t realize that there was even a question as to whether Hawaiians protested the takeover. Of course they did! But I’m thrilled that Dr. Silva did such a deep dive into the nupepa to prove this. It is unfortunate in so many ways that an oral culture must present written proof for their legacy to be secured. Hawai`i became the most literate country on the planet, of course, but I truly grieve the ways in which this paradigm shift — and all others — fundamentally altered their culture and history.
Silvia draws from a number of sources I’d never heard of, and I will likely go through her cited sources to follow up. Hawaiian scholars are still translating nupepa, so I hope I can find something there, as I am not fluent myself.
I like that Silva says at some point that the ali`i were both complicit in or opposed to colonization. I really wish she’d discussed Ruth Ke`elikolani on this matter. In addition to being a prominent member of the Kamehameha dynasty, Ke`elikolani was a huge defender of traditional culture, particularly against Christianity.
I also REALLY wish she had discussed the ali`i who married haole businessmen and profited enormously off the sugarcane industry. She does mention it, but not in enough detail to address the gravity of the situation. The ali`i profited off the subjugation and slavery of their own people. `Iolani palace and other vestiges of the era are exercises in performative wealth. They looked “civilized” while Hawaiians with Hansen’s disease were torn from their families and dumped in the water off of Kalaupapa, where there wasn’t enough food or water to go around. I understand that this isn’t what the book is about, but it is so messed up that the people could vote only for ali`i monarchs. It would have been apropos, for that matter, to mention the Splintered Paddle incident and law. This is an underrated incident of protest against the ali`i, and I wish it were discussed more. I’m on the verge of writing something myself.
But that’s my wishlist, not an actual criticism. I was thrilled that she mentioned Hawaiian quilts and her description of the hula performed at Kalakaua’s coronation was absolutely phenomenal. I wish I had been there. I miss Ka Hula Piko and hope it comes back soon. It is a shame that acting in accordance with your own culture is a form of resistance.
My only actual quibble is that the book is redundant at times. She mentions so many times that Hawaiian is an etymologically complex, poetic language and that English speakers don’t readily understand the kaona. As this is the premise of the entire book, the repetition is unnecessary.
Highly recommended. I will likely review her other works at some point.
October 10, 2014
Book Sum: Hawaii is a prime example of how historian source bias (using only English language/the colonizers' language sources) can lead to a faulty picture of that society. Hawaiian language sources were ignored until very recently and this has led to the idea that native Hawaiians never fought annexation/colonization by the US when intact they mounted a very vigorous resistance movement.
March 3, 2022
Amazing. I need to buy my own copy so I can tab it up.
March 23, 2022
Aloha Betrayed by Noenoe K. Silva focuses on the “most persistent and pernicious myths of Hawaiian history” - that the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) passively accepted the erosion of their culture and the loss of their nation without fighting back. This narrative is due to a reliance on English language sources by past (mostly white) Hawaiian historians, without the attempt to use the Hawaiian language sources. “It is easier to not see a struggle if one reads accounts written by only one side.”
Silva, a native Hawaiian and fluent in the language, claims that Aloha Betrayed “refutes the myth of passivity through documentation and study of the many forms of resistance by the Kanaka Maoli to political, economic, linguistic, and cultural oppression, beginning with the arrival of Captain Cook until the struggle over the “annexation,” that is, the military occupation of Hawai’i by the United States in 1898. The basis for this study is the large archive of Kanaka writing contained in the microfilmed copies of over 75 newspapers in the Hawaiian language.”
This book was fantastic and drew me in. It is well researched and the author’s fluency and comprehension of the Hawaiian language allowed her to explain deeper meanings in the printed words. Silva explains the concept of kaona (hidden meanings, references to people/places/things that those with cultural literacy would understand, or double meanings) that exists with Hawaiian and creates writing styles that are layered and complex. Oftentimes, even foreigners who would learn Hawaiian would not grasp the deeper meanings and cultural references, allowing the Hawaiians to converse at a level unwatched by the Haole. “Songs, poems, and stories with the potential for kaona, or “hidden meanings”, presented even greater opportunities to express anticolonial sentiments.”
“The archives in English present a preponderance of material on one side of the struggle - that of the colonizers. When the Hawaiian-language materials are examined, it is immediately apparent that throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there was resistance to every aspect of colonialism, and that for every exertion of oppressive and colonizing power there was resistance.”
Silva goes through the annexation crisis and looks at how Kanaka Maoli attempted to reimpose the monarchy, both through violent and nonviolent means. She argues that the reasons there wasn’t a more forceful opposition was due both to the severe decline in native Hawaiian population, which would make any armed struggle costly, and on the insistence of leadership to work nonviolently. The Hawaiians completely understood that they would already be viewed as savages by the overtly racist United States, and that if there was bloodshed the American press would act vindicated in this view. The nonviolent petitions gave the process an air of civility, saved Kanaka lives, and actually worked - the annexation treaty was voted down. However soon after the Spanish-American War began and the empire builders used the war as an excuse to seize the islands, even without the treaty.
Silva, a native Hawaiian and fluent in the language, claims that Aloha Betrayed “refutes the myth of passivity through documentation and study of the many forms of resistance by the Kanaka Maoli to political, economic, linguistic, and cultural oppression, beginning with the arrival of Captain Cook until the struggle over the “annexation,” that is, the military occupation of Hawai’i by the United States in 1898. The basis for this study is the large archive of Kanaka writing contained in the microfilmed copies of over 75 newspapers in the Hawaiian language.”
This book was fantastic and drew me in. It is well researched and the author’s fluency and comprehension of the Hawaiian language allowed her to explain deeper meanings in the printed words. Silva explains the concept of kaona (hidden meanings, references to people/places/things that those with cultural literacy would understand, or double meanings) that exists with Hawaiian and creates writing styles that are layered and complex. Oftentimes, even foreigners who would learn Hawaiian would not grasp the deeper meanings and cultural references, allowing the Hawaiians to converse at a level unwatched by the Haole. “Songs, poems, and stories with the potential for kaona, or “hidden meanings”, presented even greater opportunities to express anticolonial sentiments.”
“The archives in English present a preponderance of material on one side of the struggle - that of the colonizers. When the Hawaiian-language materials are examined, it is immediately apparent that throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there was resistance to every aspect of colonialism, and that for every exertion of oppressive and colonizing power there was resistance.”
Silva goes through the annexation crisis and looks at how Kanaka Maoli attempted to reimpose the monarchy, both through violent and nonviolent means. She argues that the reasons there wasn’t a more forceful opposition was due both to the severe decline in native Hawaiian population, which would make any armed struggle costly, and on the insistence of leadership to work nonviolently. The Hawaiians completely understood that they would already be viewed as savages by the overtly racist United States, and that if there was bloodshed the American press would act vindicated in this view. The nonviolent petitions gave the process an air of civility, saved Kanaka lives, and actually worked - the annexation treaty was voted down. However soon after the Spanish-American War began and the empire builders used the war as an excuse to seize the islands, even without the treaty.
January 19, 2022
Over the summer I read Hawaii’s Story, the memoir by the last monarch of Hawaii, Liliʻuokalani, and learned so much. However, that book was written as an attempt to appeal to westerners to show that Hawaiians were well-educated Christians, and that they therefore should be able to stay independent. Also, Liliʻuokalani lived a much different life from most Hawaiians of her time, so I wanted to read Aloha Betrayed to get an understanding of the experience for common citizens.
Aloha Betrayed is an extremely well-researched text. Silva argues that previous scholars who don’t speak Hawaiian have missed out on the hidden meanings and nuances in a lot of resistance writing from the 19th century. Silva quotes endlessly in Hawaiian from local newspapers to show that both men and women were actively working to oppose annexation. Missionaries were a huge part of the American presence in Hawaii (shocking no one), and they constantly worked to undermine Native practices and language. Native customs were not capitalist and okay with homosexuality (one of the kings had a male lover), which bothered the missionaries a lot. Hula took time away from the sugar plantations, which the missionaries also didn’t like.
Additionally, Silva stresses that Liliʻuokalani tried to the very end to oppose annexation by following the laws and constitution that had been established just years prior- the Native Hawaiians didn’t even like that constitution, and argued about its validity, but it was the only way she could think to oppose an illegal annexation, by fighting within the established bounds of a legal document. This is heartbreaking to read, as it echoes so many of the Indigenous treaties the U.S. decided to suddenly stop honoring, ignoring that it is illegal.
Extremely thought-provoking, well argued and well researched, this is an excellent read for anyone interested in the illegal annexation of Hawaii.
Aloha Betrayed is an extremely well-researched text. Silva argues that previous scholars who don’t speak Hawaiian have missed out on the hidden meanings and nuances in a lot of resistance writing from the 19th century. Silva quotes endlessly in Hawaiian from local newspapers to show that both men and women were actively working to oppose annexation. Missionaries were a huge part of the American presence in Hawaii (shocking no one), and they constantly worked to undermine Native practices and language. Native customs were not capitalist and okay with homosexuality (one of the kings had a male lover), which bothered the missionaries a lot. Hula took time away from the sugar plantations, which the missionaries also didn’t like.
Additionally, Silva stresses that Liliʻuokalani tried to the very end to oppose annexation by following the laws and constitution that had been established just years prior- the Native Hawaiians didn’t even like that constitution, and argued about its validity, but it was the only way she could think to oppose an illegal annexation, by fighting within the established bounds of a legal document. This is heartbreaking to read, as it echoes so many of the Indigenous treaties the U.S. decided to suddenly stop honoring, ignoring that it is illegal.
Extremely thought-provoking, well argued and well researched, this is an excellent read for anyone interested in the illegal annexation of Hawaii.
November 9, 2022
More like 3.5 because it’s not the most easy to listen to/follow book… very academic and it’s unbearable listening to Native Hawaiians rights being chipped away slowly over centuries, i found myself tearing up on multiple occasions…. In sum, literally everything has been taken from the Hawaiian people by the United States, Missionaries, English Colonialists, business owners, etc. I know this sounds harsh but if you can avoid going you should, tourism hurts Hawaiians for many reasons and if you want to understand why you should read this!!
May 5, 2022
And to think Hawaii is now a research site for Monsanto... tangled, tangled legacies of technology, global marketplaces, extractive economies, environmental degradation, and coercive labor...
May 29, 2022
*actual rating is 3.5 stars*
I have conflicting feelings about this book (and not because of the content itself but the way the information is presented). I was glad to get a better understand of the nation of Hawaii’s history and especially from the translated text from native Hawaiian from the time of the events.
On the one hand, it is nice that this is presented in a really approachable way. The verbiage used is not going to get in your way of understanding the history (unlike in some history books). However, it does read like a doctoral dissertation and not so much like the narrative non-fiction that I would typically gravitate towards. There isn’t so much of a story of the history of Hawaii in this book; it is little snapshots throughout its history of the American takeover that feel like long newspaper articles.
The other thing that I have conflicting feeling with is the *large* passages of Hawaiian. I love that they were included because they are integral to why this book exists. If I had read a hard copy of this book, I likely would have skimmed them because I wouldn’t have understood them. I am happy that I read the audiobook of this instead as I got to listen to the beautiful pronunciation of the language (move aside French!). But, I did find my mind drifting while listening to these passages, too, because unlike reading them in a hard copy, I didn’t know how long the passage would be before the English translation would start. I really just wanted to enjoy listening to the language without trying to pick up on when I would need to start using by brain to understand the information being presented again. I think I might have enjoyed this more if all of the Hawaiian passages were read either at the beginning or at the end so that I could just focus on the history when I could understand the language and then listen to the gorgeous language and enjoy that on its own?
Overall, this is a really good overview of the American takeover of Hawaii (and really sad - I don’t have a wonderful opinion of the American government, so that wasn’t a stumbling block for me, but I was still appalled to hear about how diminished the Hawaiian culture and voice was made during this time, and honestly, how that has extended ever since). It also makes me hopeful that the culture and its language can bounce back if (and when) the American occupation of Hawaii is ceased.
I have conflicting feelings about this book (and not because of the content itself but the way the information is presented). I was glad to get a better understand of the nation of Hawaii’s history and especially from the translated text from native Hawaiian from the time of the events.
On the one hand, it is nice that this is presented in a really approachable way. The verbiage used is not going to get in your way of understanding the history (unlike in some history books). However, it does read like a doctoral dissertation and not so much like the narrative non-fiction that I would typically gravitate towards. There isn’t so much of a story of the history of Hawaii in this book; it is little snapshots throughout its history of the American takeover that feel like long newspaper articles.
The other thing that I have conflicting feeling with is the *large* passages of Hawaiian. I love that they were included because they are integral to why this book exists. If I had read a hard copy of this book, I likely would have skimmed them because I wouldn’t have understood them. I am happy that I read the audiobook of this instead as I got to listen to the beautiful pronunciation of the language (move aside French!). But, I did find my mind drifting while listening to these passages, too, because unlike reading them in a hard copy, I didn’t know how long the passage would be before the English translation would start. I really just wanted to enjoy listening to the language without trying to pick up on when I would need to start using by brain to understand the information being presented again. I think I might have enjoyed this more if all of the Hawaiian passages were read either at the beginning or at the end so that I could just focus on the history when I could understand the language and then listen to the gorgeous language and enjoy that on its own?
Overall, this is a really good overview of the American takeover of Hawaii (and really sad - I don’t have a wonderful opinion of the American government, so that wasn’t a stumbling block for me, but I was still appalled to hear about how diminished the Hawaiian culture and voice was made during this time, and honestly, how that has extended ever since). It also makes me hopeful that the culture and its language can bounce back if (and when) the American occupation of Hawaii is ceased.
October 23, 2025
This was very well researched, organized, and presented. I enjoyed the audiobook version, which enabled me to hear the beautiful spoken language of the Kanaka Maoli. once again, frustrated by westerners and their way of suppressing history :/ I learned so much from this that i never learned in my history classes!!!
June 26, 2024
Very academically written, I may have been better served by reading the physical book rather than listening to the audiobook or some combination of the two. There is a plethora of Hawaiian spread throughout which was a pro for the audio but the density of the chapters would have better served me by utilizing the hard copy. Even now I have a hard time remembering a bulk of the material.
3.5
3.5
July 16, 2025
hey if you want to be so angry and sad read this! a dense read and for sure something you are going to want to have some experience with reading academic historical accounts before jumping in but worth it. also cancel your trip, dont go. you are making things worse.
January 28, 2025
great narrative arc, very clearly written, absolutely groundbreaking for its time. very complex but also accessible enough to teach, which is very rare for academic books.
August 17, 2020
This is another history-history book, so unfortunately, I know a lot of people wouldn't read it if I recommended it. The community read committee I'm on thinks even most popular nonfiction is "too dense" and "too dry," and they wouldn't even try this. But sometimes the tools of "drier" history is what you need to do to relate important information in an objective way.
So, I just learned from "How to Hide an Empire" that Alaska and Hawai'i only became states five years before I was born, which was kind of shocking, and also that their statehoods were opposed on racist grounds. This book gives a lot of information about the previous government, the process by which the U.S. took over the islands, and the massive organized resistance to each stage. A few very relevant points are made along the way. First, that this resistance has been completely written out of the history by the victors, but a huge amount of documentation exists in the Hawaiian-language press, along with letters and records of the organizations involved.
Secondly, there's an ongoing thread about the different forms resistance can take. When a colonized group works to preserve its culture and traditions, there is sometimes a sense that it isn't enough. It's not the kind of legal autonomy that can spur real change. What Silva points out here is that sometimes it's not possible for a group to do more, and that whatever survives is a victory against incredible odds in itself. In Hawai'i's case, population numbers were devastated by disease, and the government was surrounded and wildly outgunned. Although there were pockets of armed resistance, for the most part, that was seen as blatantly suicidal. Plus, the book points out that the Hawaiians knew about the U.S.'s history with the Black and mainland Indigenous populations, as seen in newspaper reports. So the work to preserve, and sometimes restore, arts and culture for future generations was a huge battle in itself. Both hula and the telling of traditional legends were outlawed, and later revived. This work around culture, language, and genealogy is seen as an act of resistance, hanging onto their own identity while living to fight another day.
One really eye-opening aspect is that the Hawaiians used the tools of modern politics, protests and petitions and the existing legal framework, in their efforts to fight annexation. They appealed to international law, and pointed out the contradictions and hypocrisy of the U.S. in their dealings with them as an illegally occupied sovereign nation. All of this sounds a lot like the tools of modern resistance politics, and since the Hawaiians got steam-rollered ... yikes.
Even though the subject and focus of the book is very specific, I underlined a ton, and found a lot that's relevant to connect up to other issues. So I definitely recommend it if you're not scared away by the density of dates and facts.
So, I just learned from "How to Hide an Empire" that Alaska and Hawai'i only became states five years before I was born, which was kind of shocking, and also that their statehoods were opposed on racist grounds. This book gives a lot of information about the previous government, the process by which the U.S. took over the islands, and the massive organized resistance to each stage. A few very relevant points are made along the way. First, that this resistance has been completely written out of the history by the victors, but a huge amount of documentation exists in the Hawaiian-language press, along with letters and records of the organizations involved.
Secondly, there's an ongoing thread about the different forms resistance can take. When a colonized group works to preserve its culture and traditions, there is sometimes a sense that it isn't enough. It's not the kind of legal autonomy that can spur real change. What Silva points out here is that sometimes it's not possible for a group to do more, and that whatever survives is a victory against incredible odds in itself. In Hawai'i's case, population numbers were devastated by disease, and the government was surrounded and wildly outgunned. Although there were pockets of armed resistance, for the most part, that was seen as blatantly suicidal. Plus, the book points out that the Hawaiians knew about the U.S.'s history with the Black and mainland Indigenous populations, as seen in newspaper reports. So the work to preserve, and sometimes restore, arts and culture for future generations was a huge battle in itself. Both hula and the telling of traditional legends were outlawed, and later revived. This work around culture, language, and genealogy is seen as an act of resistance, hanging onto their own identity while living to fight another day.
One really eye-opening aspect is that the Hawaiians used the tools of modern politics, protests and petitions and the existing legal framework, in their efforts to fight annexation. They appealed to international law, and pointed out the contradictions and hypocrisy of the U.S. in their dealings with them as an illegally occupied sovereign nation. All of this sounds a lot like the tools of modern resistance politics, and since the Hawaiians got steam-rollered ... yikes.
Even though the subject and focus of the book is very specific, I underlined a ton, and found a lot that's relevant to connect up to other issues. So I definitely recommend it if you're not scared away by the density of dates and facts.
August 15, 2020
Dr. Noenoe Silva’s research provides an analysis of the ever-changing narrative of settler logic that exposes that one can do all the right things and play fairly by the rules and still get screwed over. This book is a celebration of the agency provided by Aliʻi of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and it’s constituents, to fight for the sovereignty of their land and people. She drops the RECEIPTS that previous historians are remiss to not include in their accounts of the dissolution of monarchy and the events preceding in mid to late 1800’s Hawai’i. This read is the very definition of “two sides to every story,” and she uncovers that elegantly, in an easy to follow structure. Anybody interested in understanding Hawai’i should use this as their ‘start line’ in their journey for truth.
Read
May 20, 2014I found Silva's work a helpful corrective to Hawaiian historiography which only considers the English language sources. Silva should follow this work up with an anthology of Hawaiian writings, perhaps a parallel English-Hawaiian text, or the sources translated into English in order to open these remote sources to a wider readership.
Read
September 28, 2015A pathbreaking work that relies on Hawaiian-language sources to reveal the forgotten history of Native Hawaiian resistance to colonialism.
August 6, 2024
Aloha Betrayed is a turn-of-the-century, ranging from the 20th to the 21st, look at the past. It begins with the late 18th century arrival of Captain James Cook, to Hawai’i’s illegal military occupation by the U.S. government in 1898. This work, viewed through the lens of a contemporary scholar, covers pivotal events in the history of Hawai’i focusing on ʻōiwi (indigenous) resistance. It takes a fresh look at written history utilizing Hawaiian-language newspapers penned by luminaries of indigenous journalism. Many of these journalists interacted with Hawaiian monarchs and their advisers. It also takes a closer look at the linguistic component of translation, key phrases and the definitions of words in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian language, in its appropriate context.
Noenoe Silva is an assistant professor of Political Science and Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaii at Mänoa. Through her years of dedicated research on Hawaiian language newspapers and documents, she helped u earth the Kūʻē Petitions. These petitions date back to the year 1897, when Native Hawaiians collectively and formally expressed their vehement resistance to Hawaii’s annexation to the United States. Subsequently, her involvement in an exhibition at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, asked on Kūʻē, coincided with the commemoration of its centenary, firing a canon ball of enlightenment and further resistance at the forthcoming centennial commemoration of the annexation in 1998.
The fruits of her labor on this project have resulted in a seminal work entitled “Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism”.
Silva writes, “One of my goals in this work is to denaturalize these notions and practices of consulting English-only sources for research on Hawaiian history.”
Silva sets out to show how Native Hawaiians were able to
Reserve their inner domain of cultural identity. Does she succeed?
Erosion vs. Preservation
Although we have to ‘auamo kuleana’ (carry on the responsibility) to rewrite what was written by both missionary-trained and well-meaning, more liberal-minded historians who live in the times about which they wrote, are we also contributing to “eroding native forms” of thought by writing about the indigenous past?
Did the luminaries of indigenous Hawaiian history of the 19th century also contribute to the erosion of native forms by inevitably moving away from traditional storytelling to printing stories in the newspapers? Were the majority of Native Hawaiian journalists “on the payroll” of missionaries and their direct descendants and how did this influence their writing?
Silva states, “For the Kanaka ʻŌiwi of Hawaiʻi nei, however, who observed the passing away of their relatives and friends in genocidal numbers, writing, especially newspapers, was a way of ensuring that their knowledge was passed on to future generations.”
This statement, in 2024 still holds weight. Since Silva began her research on this book, around the late 1990s, the data base of Hawaiian language newspapers has grown in leaps and bounds. Knowledge passed on in writing by Native Hawaiian scholars covers an even broader spectrum of knowledge as well as its relevance to history and the changing political climate since the first Hawaiian language newspaper in 1834 was preserved on microfilm.
Mai Ka Waha i Ka Lima
In Chapter Two, Ka Hōkū o Ka Pākīpika, Silva states that Hawaiian language newspapers were overlooked and political content was undervalued. She includes a clearly illustrated table of newspapers revealing periods of publication, political tendencies and editors. Just a cursory glance over this table helps the reader gain a more accurate perspective of who, when and what was involved in each publication.
An interesting point though, is of the seven listed, only two were written in English. The target was the reader of the Native Hawaiian, who was by far and wide, educated by the missionaries. It was only fitting, therefore, that the Native Hawaiian read news written by those who were approved by those who were approved by missionaries, to write news for the Native Hawaiian in their mother tongue. Furthermore, only one of the seven, Ka Hōkū o Ka Pākīpika, which ran for less than two years, was classified as a “resistance” paper. One pastor’s reaction to Ka Hōkū was that it was a “wicked and bad” paper.
COPY THIS
Does this suggest the majority of the nūpepa included in this table, were
purchased, read and supported by the makaʻāinana? They clearly survived the
chopping block. Bearing in mind the numbers provided in the table, even by
consulting nūpepa sources written in ʻōlelo, would it be wise and prudent to
accept that the majority of what is available today is missionary cum sugar
baron-centric? Perhaps not.
One component in defense of ʻōlelo, is kaona, the multifaceted component in
ʻōlelo, which Silva covers in appropriate sections throughout the book. Kaona in
prayers, mele and even in addressing a letter to the editor, do include kaona that,
for the most part, flew well over the heads of the editor. Perhaps Silva’s point is
that regardless of the political tendencies of the nūpepa, kanaka journalists were
able to preserve the mana of kupuna language and culture via kaona in what they
wrote
Does this suggest the majority of the nūpepa included in this table, were
purchased, read and supported by the makaʻāinana? They clearly survived the
chopping block. Bearing in mind the numbers provided in the table, even by
consulting nūpepa sources written in ʻōlelo, would it be wise and prudent to
accept that the majority of what is available today is missionary cum sugar
baron-centric? Perhaps not.
One component in defense of ʻōlelo, is kaona, the multifaceted component in
ʻōlelo, which Silva covers in appropriate sections throughout the book. Kaona in
prayers, mele and even in addressing a letter to the editor, do include kaona that,
for the most part, flew well over the heads of the editor. Perhaps Silva’s point is
that regardless of the political tendencies of the nūpepa, kanaka journalists were
able to preserve the mana of kupuna language and culture via kaona in what they
wrote.
Noenoe Silva is an assistant professor of Political Science and Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaii at Mänoa. Through her years of dedicated research on Hawaiian language newspapers and documents, she helped u earth the Kūʻē Petitions. These petitions date back to the year 1897, when Native Hawaiians collectively and formally expressed their vehement resistance to Hawaii’s annexation to the United States. Subsequently, her involvement in an exhibition at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, asked on Kūʻē, coincided with the commemoration of its centenary, firing a canon ball of enlightenment and further resistance at the forthcoming centennial commemoration of the annexation in 1998.
The fruits of her labor on this project have resulted in a seminal work entitled “Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism”.
Silva writes, “One of my goals in this work is to denaturalize these notions and practices of consulting English-only sources for research on Hawaiian history.”
Silva sets out to show how Native Hawaiians were able to
Reserve their inner domain of cultural identity. Does she succeed?
Erosion vs. Preservation
Although we have to ‘auamo kuleana’ (carry on the responsibility) to rewrite what was written by both missionary-trained and well-meaning, more liberal-minded historians who live in the times about which they wrote, are we also contributing to “eroding native forms” of thought by writing about the indigenous past?
Did the luminaries of indigenous Hawaiian history of the 19th century also contribute to the erosion of native forms by inevitably moving away from traditional storytelling to printing stories in the newspapers? Were the majority of Native Hawaiian journalists “on the payroll” of missionaries and their direct descendants and how did this influence their writing?
Silva states, “For the Kanaka ʻŌiwi of Hawaiʻi nei, however, who observed the passing away of their relatives and friends in genocidal numbers, writing, especially newspapers, was a way of ensuring that their knowledge was passed on to future generations.”
This statement, in 2024 still holds weight. Since Silva began her research on this book, around the late 1990s, the data base of Hawaiian language newspapers has grown in leaps and bounds. Knowledge passed on in writing by Native Hawaiian scholars covers an even broader spectrum of knowledge as well as its relevance to history and the changing political climate since the first Hawaiian language newspaper in 1834 was preserved on microfilm.
Mai Ka Waha i Ka Lima
In Chapter Two, Ka Hōkū o Ka Pākīpika, Silva states that Hawaiian language newspapers were overlooked and political content was undervalued. She includes a clearly illustrated table of newspapers revealing periods of publication, political tendencies and editors. Just a cursory glance over this table helps the reader gain a more accurate perspective of who, when and what was involved in each publication.
An interesting point though, is of the seven listed, only two were written in English. The target was the reader of the Native Hawaiian, who was by far and wide, educated by the missionaries. It was only fitting, therefore, that the Native Hawaiian read news written by those who were approved by those who were approved by missionaries, to write news for the Native Hawaiian in their mother tongue. Furthermore, only one of the seven, Ka Hōkū o Ka Pākīpika, which ran for less than two years, was classified as a “resistance” paper. One pastor’s reaction to Ka Hōkū was that it was a “wicked and bad” paper.
COPY THIS
Does this suggest the majority of the nūpepa included in this table, were
purchased, read and supported by the makaʻāinana? They clearly survived the
chopping block. Bearing in mind the numbers provided in the table, even by
consulting nūpepa sources written in ʻōlelo, would it be wise and prudent to
accept that the majority of what is available today is missionary cum sugar
baron-centric? Perhaps not.
One component in defense of ʻōlelo, is kaona, the multifaceted component in
ʻōlelo, which Silva covers in appropriate sections throughout the book. Kaona in
prayers, mele and even in addressing a letter to the editor, do include kaona that,
for the most part, flew well over the heads of the editor. Perhaps Silva’s point is
that regardless of the political tendencies of the nūpepa, kanaka journalists were
able to preserve the mana of kupuna language and culture via kaona in what they
wrote
Does this suggest the majority of the nūpepa included in this table, were
purchased, read and supported by the makaʻāinana? They clearly survived the
chopping block. Bearing in mind the numbers provided in the table, even by
consulting nūpepa sources written in ʻōlelo, would it be wise and prudent to
accept that the majority of what is available today is missionary cum sugar
baron-centric? Perhaps not.
One component in defense of ʻōlelo, is kaona, the multifaceted component in
ʻōlelo, which Silva covers in appropriate sections throughout the book. Kaona in
prayers, mele and even in addressing a letter to the editor, do include kaona that,
for the most part, flew well over the heads of the editor. Perhaps Silva’s point is
that regardless of the political tendencies of the nūpepa, kanaka journalists were
able to preserve the mana of kupuna language and culture via kaona in what they
wrote.
September 12, 2023
First, read the book, don't listen to it, unless you speak Hawaiian, 'cause there's a lot of spoken Hawaiian in the book. Second, and more importantly, read the book, no matter how you read it, because Silva does all the things I complained about Immerwahr NOT doing and she does it with just remarkable, fastidious scholarship (hence the 5-stars, out of sheer admiration for the work she did collecting and reading - and reading all the nuances in - all the sources in the Hawaiian language). Silva's book is precisely about the people Immerwahr leaves out - Indigenous people and women. She's writing about colonization, but she's writing about it from the perspective of the colonized, going into detail into how they sought to defend themselves against the simultaneously insidious and overwhelming onslaught against their own culture, language, values, beliefs, narratives, mythologies, hierarchies, power structures, and gender roles. In the face of colonizers' efforts to subordinate women into domestic creatures in service of their husbands who, in turn were being turned into laborers in service of the colonizers, Hawaiians pushed back through the sharing of their stories, using a newspaper, hula, and other means to resist the Whites' self-serving characterizations of them as lazy, uncivilized, childlike, corrupted, sexually perverse, and so on. They remembered and told of brave and powerful women; they remembered and told of homosexual relationships and gender-fluidity; they remembered and told of a time on the island before White people came, when Hawaiians were free to live by their own rules in their own ways, not squeezed between the requirements of the evolving global economy, the greed of British and American missionaries and industrialists, the military might of "great powers" who came to take everything from them, to chain them to work, to impose new rules for living. And because indigenous islanders learned to write and wrote all this down, there is a record for Silva to mine; she is not searching in the spotlight of the English language, not constrained to colonizers' stories, and in her work she uncovers where those White folks' tales and histories diverge from the locals' own stories and narratives in important ways. The book is full of the same racism Immerwahr describes, but as seen through the eyes of those who experienced it, not just those who wielded it. And Silva ensures that we see Hawaiians' agency, see how they preserved their ways and stories and histories despite all the colonizers' efforts to erase them.
October 22, 2019
Already set to read again! A pivotal read in Hawaiian history (and US history for that matter, bc wow, the US has really sucked). I had no idea how adamently and actively the Hawaiian people fought back against colonization USING THE VERY TOOLS OF THE COLONIZER like if that isn’t genius idk what is. Most of the primary sources researched were written by Hawaiians in Hawaiian, so this book really turns the “history is written by the victor” complex on its head. SO empowering and enlightening. I am in awe of our people.
This book follows two streams of Kānaka Maoli colonial resistance in Hawai‘i. The first stream is the brief artistic and cultural resurgence that took place under Kalākaua’s rule, in which Kānaka validated their own right of self-governance through traditional methods of mele, hula, ‘oli, and mo‘olelo. Here, Kānaka asserted their ancient life ways during a time when those life ways were at serious risk of eradication by colonizing powers.
The second stream was by using hāole methods of indoctrination and colonization to their own advantage. Kānaka published newspapers in ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i, written by and for their own people. These newspapers supported Hawaiian sovereignty and promoted lāhui consciousness, uniting the people with a source of collective identity and historic legitimacy. The written word was also turned against the hāole when several rounds of petitions were collected and presented in Washington, DC to oppose illegal overthrow of the monarchy as well as annexation. Ke Ali‘i Ai Moku Lili‘uokalani wrote letters and appeals to foreign heads of state and American newspapers and mastered the kind of political strategy fitting for a High Queen, yet undermined by her opponents because of her status as a Hawaiian woman. Her ability to flex between hāole currencies of power (written word, diplomacy, mastery of English language) and the office of her birthright (genealogy, akua, cultural and historical wisdom, support of the people) made her an incredible leader who advocated for her people in both Western and Kānaka worlds. What a woman.
Mostly I’m just really thankful I finished this book and will definitely have to read it again!
This book follows two streams of Kānaka Maoli colonial resistance in Hawai‘i. The first stream is the brief artistic and cultural resurgence that took place under Kalākaua’s rule, in which Kānaka validated their own right of self-governance through traditional methods of mele, hula, ‘oli, and mo‘olelo. Here, Kānaka asserted their ancient life ways during a time when those life ways were at serious risk of eradication by colonizing powers.
The second stream was by using hāole methods of indoctrination and colonization to their own advantage. Kānaka published newspapers in ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i, written by and for their own people. These newspapers supported Hawaiian sovereignty and promoted lāhui consciousness, uniting the people with a source of collective identity and historic legitimacy. The written word was also turned against the hāole when several rounds of petitions were collected and presented in Washington, DC to oppose illegal overthrow of the monarchy as well as annexation. Ke Ali‘i Ai Moku Lili‘uokalani wrote letters and appeals to foreign heads of state and American newspapers and mastered the kind of political strategy fitting for a High Queen, yet undermined by her opponents because of her status as a Hawaiian woman. Her ability to flex between hāole currencies of power (written word, diplomacy, mastery of English language) and the office of her birthright (genealogy, akua, cultural and historical wisdom, support of the people) made her an incredible leader who advocated for her people in both Western and Kānaka worlds. What a woman.
Mostly I’m just really thankful I finished this book and will definitely have to read it again!
March 14, 2023
I listened to this on the Libby app, but I have added the print version to my wish list because this is definitely one of those books that should be on every historian/academic/Hawaiian bookshelf. While this book might be better appreciated by someone with some knowledge of Hawaii's history I still believe this book's value can't be overstated, even for those who have very little knowledge of Hawaii and our culture and history. Much of what we have been taught about our past and especially in relation to contact and ultimately the illegal overthrow of our Queen has been filtered through an English-language, missionary-centric lens. Silva presents Hawaiian-languag evidence that what we have been taught has almost always been inaccurate. It's impossible to understand Hawaiian culture without understanding the language, as it is not just a means of communication but also embodies the origins, genealogies, relationships to each other, the land, and spiritual world, and our innermost feelings. This deep connection is exactly why Christian missionaries and European and American businessmen were so threatened by the language and knew that in order to destroy Hawaiian power and stability the easiest method would be to demonize our language and cultural practices and convince us of our savagery. For so many generations, this self-loathing ruled and our story was fabricated by English speakers and given back to us in English. Fortunately enough people saw what was happening and saved the language and stories secretly preserving our culture. Silva has gathered these histories in our own language and compiled a more truthful representation of how we ended up Americans against our will. This is a vital piece of anthropology that everyone - Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian alike - should read.
Very strongly recommend
Very strongly recommend
September 6, 2021
Noenoe Silva continues adding to the important body of Hawaiian scholarship with this much-needed work. Her findings demonstrate that Kanaka Maoli came out in droves against the illegal annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. By consulting original documents, she shows that nearly 95% of Native Hawaiians signed petitions against the annexation. Yet these petitions were cast aside by the U.S. government, choosing to side with the white businessmen that staged this coup from the beginning.
Traditionally, historians have drawn from colonizer sources (missionaries, businessmen, explorers) when writing histories of Hawaiʻi. And many of them have accepted at face value these false notions that Hawaiians are lazy, sexually indulgent, etc. They've never thought to interrogate these ideas or wonder what purpose they could be serving.
One especially important implication of Silva's work is the legal case that Hawaiians have for self-determination under international law. She soundly demonstrates that Kanaka Maoli did not engage in violence, but rather adhered to the rule of law every step of the way. They signed petitions, sent state leaders to the US to advocate on behalf of the Kingdom. These actions demonstrated to the world the regency and dignity of the Hawaiian People and their ability to self-govern. And today, it gives them the legal foundation to petition for independence under international law regarding indigenous sovereignty.
I should also make note that while I acknowledge the value in the author's use of Hawaiian language in the text and the choice to not italicize it, it did hurt the readability of the text when there were large blocks citing original source documents.
Traditionally, historians have drawn from colonizer sources (missionaries, businessmen, explorers) when writing histories of Hawaiʻi. And many of them have accepted at face value these false notions that Hawaiians are lazy, sexually indulgent, etc. They've never thought to interrogate these ideas or wonder what purpose they could be serving.
One especially important implication of Silva's work is the legal case that Hawaiians have for self-determination under international law. She soundly demonstrates that Kanaka Maoli did not engage in violence, but rather adhered to the rule of law every step of the way. They signed petitions, sent state leaders to the US to advocate on behalf of the Kingdom. These actions demonstrated to the world the regency and dignity of the Hawaiian People and their ability to self-govern. And today, it gives them the legal foundation to petition for independence under international law regarding indigenous sovereignty.
I should also make note that while I acknowledge the value in the author's use of Hawaiian language in the text and the choice to not italicize it, it did hurt the readability of the text when there were large blocks citing original source documents.
January 20, 2025
Incredible and should be considered required reading for all tourists wanting to visit Hawai'i / non-indigenous people seeking to buy property on the islands.
I really loved that the original Hawaiian of the mentioned articles was preserved in this text. It only exemplifies the concept of words lost in translation further and that the colonizing mind will always be incapable of comprehending the depth and complexity of another people's culture and language.
I also didn't know that hula was banned by the colonizers for a period, which just goes to show how greatly joy is as a mode of resistance.
Something that really struck me towards the end was the diary entry of rightful Queen Liliuokalani when the US annexed Hawai'i. What she wrote translates to: My love for my birth land and my beloved people, bones of my bones, blood of my blood.
When reading this, I can't help but think of the Palestinian martyr, Khaled Nabhan holding his granddaughter who was killed from an air strike repeating, "She was the soul of my soul." Like Hawai'i, Palestine is yet another nation whose destruction and erasure of its people is made possible by the US.
History persists on an incessant cycle and the US makes certain of it. As the US bans books that record their perpetration, I feel grateful to have a book like this that memorializes not only the heinous acts of missionaries, but also the continuing perseverance of the Hawaiian people.
To have your homeland stolen from underneath you is cruelty beyond belief. May all stolen and occupied lands be liberated from the tyranny of imperialism and colonialism.
I really loved that the original Hawaiian of the mentioned articles was preserved in this text. It only exemplifies the concept of words lost in translation further and that the colonizing mind will always be incapable of comprehending the depth and complexity of another people's culture and language.
I also didn't know that hula was banned by the colonizers for a period, which just goes to show how greatly joy is as a mode of resistance.
Something that really struck me towards the end was the diary entry of rightful Queen Liliuokalani when the US annexed Hawai'i. What she wrote translates to: My love for my birth land and my beloved people, bones of my bones, blood of my blood.
When reading this, I can't help but think of the Palestinian martyr, Khaled Nabhan holding his granddaughter who was killed from an air strike repeating, "She was the soul of my soul." Like Hawai'i, Palestine is yet another nation whose destruction and erasure of its people is made possible by the US.
History persists on an incessant cycle and the US makes certain of it. As the US bans books that record their perpetration, I feel grateful to have a book like this that memorializes not only the heinous acts of missionaries, but also the continuing perseverance of the Hawaiian people.
To have your homeland stolen from underneath you is cruelty beyond belief. May all stolen and occupied lands be liberated from the tyranny of imperialism and colonialism.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews