Hawaiian History, Sovereignty, and Culture, and the Effects of U.S. Imperialism

The environmental disaster in Hawaii and why it should matter to you.

Beach vacations. Hula. Ukuleles. Lilo and Stitch, Moana, Lost. Elvis, hell maybe Jerry? These are the types of things most in our community may know and associate with Hawaii. We may have taken in a family vacation at a resort, been to a friend’s wedding, or seen movies and television shows. Few however know the over 100+ year history of exploitation and suffering at the hands of the US Occupation, especially through the actions of the military. Fewer still may know the massive contributions to American Music, to Blues, Country, and Rock and Roll, that the Hawaiian people have given to the US and the world as a whole.

History of Hawaii’s Relations with the United States

Before it was a US State and a Territory, Hawaii was a sovereign nation, with embassies and treaties with every major naval power, and over 100 countries. Organized in a parliamentary system with a constitutional monarchy, the Kingdom of Hawai’i was a multicultural society with Native Hawaiian Kings and Queens as heads of State. US imperial interests would use the Hawaiian Kingdom’s desire for cross-cultural cohabitation and cooperation, and with the help of the US Navy, supplant and overthrow the democratic and sovereign governments and subjugate the Hawaiian people.

• In 1893, US and other foreign business interests, as well as US Navy and Marines forces overthrew the last Hawaiian constitutional monarch, Queen Liliʻuokalani.

• In 1896, the US government made the teaching and use of Native Hawaiian language and cultural practices in schools illegal.

• US business interests also exploited Native Hawaiian workers, as well as migrant workers from all over the world in sugar and fruit plantations.

  • The influx of Japanese workers, along with the Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Portuguese, and African American laborers that the plantation owners recruited, permanently changed the face of Hawaii. In 1853, indigenous Hawaiians made up 97% of the islands' population. By 1923, their numbers had dwindled to 16%, and the largest percentage of Hawaii's population was Japanese.

• In almost 100 years of Western contact and relations, the Native Hawaiian population decimated by 90%.

US Military in Hawaii

• -US Military illegally occupied much of Hawaii following annexation. The largest percentage of the military's land holdings are made up of so-called "ceded lands." In 1898, nearly 1.8 million acres of former national and crown lands of the Kingdom of Hawai'i were illegally taken by the United States

• During the WWII period, the US military placed Hawaii under 7-year martial law and confiscated hundreds of thousands of acres of land. In 1959, when Hawai'i was admitted as a state, the military retained control of approximately 180,000 acres of ceded lands, while the rest reverted to the state.

• Hawaii was further militarized as its strategic importance for Western Imperialism only grew during the cold war, with the military continuing to steal land granted to Native Hawaiians by the U.S. Govt.

• The U.S. military controls 22% of the land on the most populated island of Oahu and 5% of the islands in total (205,925 acres), including many of the most sacred and bountiful sites for Native Hawaiians.

• Today, Pearl Harbor is one of the most contaminated military installations in the nation, with six Superfund sites, and contaminants that include lead, TCE, mercury, and petroleum.

• As of today, Hawaii is one of the most militarized island chains in the world.

The Recent Red Hill Environmental Crisis

In 1943, the Red Hill Fuel Facility was built upon sacred, stolen Indigenous land, storing over 200 million gallons of fuel 100 feet above the Southern Oʻahu basal aquifer, the main drinking-water source for Hawaiʻi’s most populous island, which includes Honolulu. 

As these tanks have fallen into disrepair, over 180,000 gallons have since leaked out of these tanks. This has been covered up by the Navy. 

TIMELINE

• 2014: 27,000 gallons of fuel leaked from Red Hill

• January 2020: an oil sheen was reported in Pearl Harbor. 

• March 2020: Navy officials became aware that this is from an active leak.

• January 2021: The US Navy was still not admitting to the active leak, despite visible oil sheen, multiple failed pipeline tests, and the assessment of a third-party inspection company.

• May 2021: Red Hill Fuel Facility experienced another petroleum leak, initially reported as 1,600 gallons. However, in Dec 2021, this spill was confirmed to be 19,000 gallons.

• June 2021: The US Navy received water tests reports confirming the presence of petroleum in the Navy’s water supply, which it did not share with the Department of Health or make public until Dec 2021.

• October 2021: The Department of Health fined the Navy for ongoing maintenance and operational failings at Red Hill, and for not knowing the actual size of the May 2021 spill or the presence of petroleum currently in water.

• November 2021: The Navy reported a leak of 14,000 gallons of oil and water, a week after the leak occurred, and not until initial reports of people visiting the emergency room began to emerge

• Dec 2021: Hawaii State Department of Health issues an emergency order demanding Navy defuel Red Hill Fuel Facility. Navy fights Department of Health, Hawaii state legislators and governor and activists to hold on to Red Hill, despite poisoning their own staff, their families, and the community as a whole. 

• Jan 2022: Honolulu Board of Water Supply warns of water shortages and water rationing to happen in summer of 2022 as a result of Halawa well being shut for the foreseeable future as a result of the petroleum contamination at Red Hill well. 

• Feb 2022: Department of Defense sues Hawaii over order to defuel Red Hill Facility, arguing that Hawaii can’t use the recent fuel leak at the center of a water contamination crisis as a justification to order the draining Red Hill.

• March 2022: Through the efforts of indigenous activists, environmental organizers, affected local families, and the Hawaii DoH, the Navy has decided to shut down the Red Hill facility.  This is a massive victory, and the efforts of these groups should be celebrated! The water table for much of Oahu may be poisoned, and the local government is calling for water rationing. One does wonder who will be held responsible and what real consequences they will face. Millions of acres of land are still in military hands, in Hawaii, on indigenous lands, US “territories'', and in countries all around the world where local communities want nothing to do with the effects of hosting the US Military on their land. We should be listening to these groups and communities and using our power as US citizens to end our Military Industrial Complex’s grip on the world’s resources. 

Hawaii and Music

Despite being a rightfully sovereign and independent land for its Indigenous peoples, Hawaii has greatly impacted American music for over 100 years- from the success of Hawaiian instruments and musical styles, to its influence on Rock and Roll figures from Elvis to our beloved Jerry Garcia (who wrote many of his songs in Hawaii), to the Big Cypress festival originally to be played there on Y2K, Hawaii is vital to the development of American live music. 

-Joseph Kekuko invented the Steel Guitar and brought his slide style of playing to the west coast and south. Steel guitar was invented in Hawaii before Blues slide guitar.

-More and more over time, Native Hawaiian musicians immigrated to escape the imperialist plantation economic system of US occupation, and to have the ability to practice native culture. They began touring their music across the US mainland.

-In 1915, Hawaiian music was the most popular in the US, and by 1920, made up 25% of popular music content. 

-Blues slide patriarch, Son House, is shown the Hawaiian slide techniques for the first time (what he called “the Hawaiian way”) leading to it’s fusion in his music and beyond. 

-In 1935, the first electric guitar sold- Elektra A 25 Hawaiian Lap Steel.

-The Pedal steel guitar is invented from the lap steel, bringing deep twang into hillbilly music.

-Godfather of Country, Jimmie Rodgers, toured with Native Hawiian guitarists including, Joseph Kaipo

-Blues legend Son House learned slide steel guitar from Hawaiians, called it the “Hawaiian way of playing”.

-Blues Rock legend and Phish covered artist Taj Mahal moves to Hawaii in the 80s and creates Taj Mahal and the Hula Blues Band, a tribute to the music of the islands giving him so much inspiration and peace. 

-Jerry Garcia said Hawaii helped him get clean for years, and Billy Kruetzmann still does live on Kawaii and in the tradition of Taj Mahal, he formed Billy and the Kids there. 

-On Y2K, Phish planned to hold the world’s largest concert in Hawaii,  but was forced to move it to Big Cypress, Seminole Nation in Florida. 

-Gabby Pahinui acknowledged as being "the greatest slack-key player of all time." In 1946, Gabby made his first recording, "Hi'ilawe," for the Bell Records label. This may be the first record of a Hawaiian song with slack-key guitar. The Hawaiian Renaissance of the '70s launched a cultural reawakening of all things Hawaiian, as well as a surge in inidignous and environmental activism. Gabby played a very important part in the rise of this Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole: Gabby was mentioned in Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's famous performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" on his 1993 Facing Future album. In the opening moments of the song, Kamakawiwo'ole can be heard saying, "'Kay, this one's for Gabby."