02-12-2011, 05:25 AM
I consider the occupation of Hawaii to have begun when Kamehameha the Great completed his war of occupation and conquest across the Hawaiian chain, at the latest. Remember he had to kill lots of people to "unify" them. In fact there were numerous chieftainships across Hawaii, all based on the philosophy that might makes right. Is the US the latest? Yes. Is the US the first? Not by a long shot. Kamehameha was not even the first, so who ya gonna pick to give the land back to?
From the website Mythichawaii.com:
"After 28 years of campaigning, Kamehameha now ruled all the islands of Hawaii. Governing from Oahu, he issued the famous Mamalahoe Kanawai or Law of the Splintered Paddle, which decreed that old men and women and children should not be subjected to wanton attacks, and passed a series of laws against murder, theft and plundering. Conquered lands were divided among his high chieftains in widely dispersed parcels to minimize the risk of rebellion. In 1812, he took a final tour of his kingdom and then settled at Kailua-Kona, where he mixed avid sport fishing with statecraft until his death in 1819."
There were 17 paragraphs prior to this, each a stomach churning account of violent turf wars between the ali'i, many of whom were related to each other as they tried to kill each other. Ahh, the good old days....
From the website Mythichawaii.com:
"After 28 years of campaigning, Kamehameha now ruled all the islands of Hawaii. Governing from Oahu, he issued the famous Mamalahoe Kanawai or Law of the Splintered Paddle, which decreed that old men and women and children should not be subjected to wanton attacks, and passed a series of laws against murder, theft and plundering. Conquered lands were divided among his high chieftains in widely dispersed parcels to minimize the risk of rebellion. In 1812, he took a final tour of his kingdom and then settled at Kailua-Kona, where he mixed avid sport fishing with statecraft until his death in 1819."
There were 17 paragraphs prior to this, each a stomach churning account of violent turf wars between the ali'i, many of whom were related to each other as they tried to kill each other. Ahh, the good old days....