Confusing "cession" for "occupation" is tantamount to confusing "adoption" for "kidnapping." This is not a case of semantics, but ignorance of the legal and political history of Hawai'i.

Where annexation connotes legality by mutual agreement, the act was not mutual and therefore not legal. Since by definition of international law there was no annexation, we are left with the word occupation.

In making this change, I have embraced the logical conclusion of my research into the events of 1893 and 1898 in Honolulu and Washington, D.C. I am prompted to take this step by a growing body of historical work by a new generation of Native Hawaiian scholars.

Edwin "Ed" Lindsey Jr., "a steadfast champion and leader in protecting Maui's aina and its important cultural landscapes," died Wednesday morning at his family residence in Lahaina. He was 70.

The Maui County Council honored Lindsey in May with a ceremonial resolution as a "beloved Maui treasure" who served in numerous roles, including kumu, kupuna, uncle, tutu, brother, dad and husband.

Auntie Patty Nishiyama of Na Kapuna O Maui, an organization of Hawaiian elders she actively participated in with Lindsey, described him as "a warrior, a strong warrior."

"He will be missed," Nishiyama said.

Lindsey was a founding member of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua, an organization with activities including the building of a sailing canoe, Mo'olele. He also was president of the Ohana Coalition, organizer of Kilakila O Haleakala, co-founder of the Maui Nui Marine Resources Council, member of Na Kupuna O Maui and a participant in the Kaanapali 2020 planning process.

Lindsey spearheaded ongoing native habitat restoration projects such as Malama Honokowai Valley, Malama Ukumehame and Malama Kaheawa-Hanaula.

It was through his work with Kaanapali 2020 that Lindsey saw a need to develop a formal mechanism that would perpetuate the protection of important cultural landscapes, and thus Maui Cultural Lands Inc. was founded as a Maui-based, grass-roots land trust organization aimed at stabilizing, protecting and restoring Hawaiian cultural resources.

“Hawaii A Voice for Sovereignty” premiered on Sunday, June 21st at the Maui Film festival at the beautiful Wailea Beach under the stars and had a supportive local Hawaiian audience of approximately 400 people attend. The film was preceded by the short film "Power" which comes from Al Gores organization "The Climate Project" which complimented the themes of renewable energy in Hawaii. The audience was touched by many emotions and treated to a sense of revelation about how the Hawaiians lived and were able to understand the history of Hawaiians since the takeover and what their struggles are today to avoid extinction. The film garnered a favorable review in the Maui Weekly and writer Paul Janes Brown said “I think “Hawaii A Voice for Sovereignty” Hawaiian should be required viewing for every school child in Hawaii and every tourist should see it on the plane” Currently “Hawaii A Voice for Sovereignty” is in talks for a theatrical release in Los Angeles, New York and Hawaii and is touring the film circuit.

Maui Film Festival has announced that it will host the public world premiere of “Hawaii A Voice for Sovereignty”, a documentary by award winning photojournalist Catherine Bauknight. This epic documentary will be showing as a Special Sunday Surprise film at 8:00pm on Father's Day Sunday, June 21st at the Solar powered SandDance Theater on Wailea Beach (below the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea).

While the newspaper speculated the Taepodong-2 could fly over Japan and toward Hawaii, it said the missile would not be able to hit Hawaii's main islands, which are about 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) from the Korean peninsula.

University of Hawai'i-Manoa Hawaiian Studies Professor Jonathan K. Osorio will continue the legal fight to block the state from selling ceded lands, even as the Lingle administration, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and three other plaintiffs in the case appear to be close to a settlement.

When the US Supreme Court’s opinion remanded the case back to Hawaiʻi, I concluded that we needed to fight this case again, arguing even more strenuously than ever that the Crown and Government lands are the property of the Hawaiian Nation and that the US permanent control over it is unlawful. OHA and the other plaintiffs chose to dismiss the suit in exchange for state legislation which, in my opinion, simply emphasizes the State’s possession of these lands and maintains the fiction that our national claim is limited or unobtainable. It is my belief that we should attempt to secure this injunction once more in the Hawaiʻi courts and require the United States to call forth or create the law that dispossesses us. That, at least, would clarify our relationship with America and bring forth the patriots who will lead us home.

A deal on the sale of ceded lands was reached yesterday.

The state Office of Hawaiian Affairs and three of four Native Hawaiian plaintiffs agreed to settle their 15-year-old lawsuit with the state over ceded lands in the wake of the Legislature's passage yesterday of a bill requiring Hawai'i governors to get approval from lawmakers before selling ceded lands.

OHA and the other plaintiffs had sued to block the state from selling portions of ceded lands — 1.2 million acres held in trust by the state — until claims by Native Hawaiians to those lands are resolved.

The measure, Senate Bill 1677, requires a two-thirds vote by both chambers of the Legislature before most ceded lands can be sold.

OHA and three of the four individual plaintiffs reached "an agreement on a set of steps that will resolve all or almost all of the lawsuit filed by OHA and the private plaintiffs in 1994," OHA said in a statement.

Yet to be resolved is the issue of how much OHA should receive from revenues derived from ceded lands. A bill to address this issue failed last Friday.

University of Hawai'i professor Jonathan Osorio, one of the plaintiffs, did not join in the settlement.

In Texas, 48 percent of Republicans (and 35 percent overall) would prefer Texas to be an Independent nation. In Georgia, 43 percent of Republicans (and 27 percent overall) want independence.

Do you think the state that you live in would be better off as an independent nation or as part of the United States of America?

Would you approve or disapprove of the state that you live in leaving the United States?

Hawaii A Voice for Sovereignty, the first of its kind documentary about the native Hawaiians plight to preserve their culture and its connection to the land and their spirituality will have its world premiere on June 4th, 2009 on Capitol Hill in the stunning new Capitol Visitor Center ( CVC) .This epic documentary contains rare interviews, 2005-2009 with Native Hawaiians such as Professor Haunani-Kay Trask, one of Hawaii’s Native leaders and scholars, Senator J. Kalani English, Willie K, Grammy nominee and award-winning musician Na Hoku Hanohan, and grass roots voices of the people throughout the islands.

In a state that once was its own nation, a Republican governor who talked about secession without completely dismissing the idea has Democratic lawmakers in an uproar. Gov. Rick Perry, in comments following an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday, never did advocate Texas breaking away from the United States but suggested that Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to leave the union.

KAHULUI - A man who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and educator at the University of Hawaii-Hilo will appear Monday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center to discuss how the global economy affects residents in local communities.

Sulak Sivaraksa and Manulani Aluli Meyer will speak at the event, sponsored by Ala Kukui and the MACC, and titled "The Wisdom of Sustainability: A Dialogue on Global Economics and Island Culture."

Sivaraksa is one of Asia's leading social thinkers and activists, who twice has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to an event news release. He founded the International Network of Engaged Buddhists and dozens of other grass-roots organizations and authored more than 100 books in Thai and English, including "The Wisdom of Sustainability: Buddhist Economics for the 21st Century."

In 1995, Sivaraksa received the Right Livelihood Award.

"Sulak Sivaraksa and I share a conviction that if we are to solve human problems, economic and technological development must be accompanied by an inner spiritual growth," the Dalai Lama has said about the speaker.

Joining Sulak at the gathering is Meyer, an associate professor of education at UH-Hilo, specializing in Hawaiian cultural views of intelligence. She is the author of "Ho'oulu: Our Time of Becoming" and the forthcoming "Hawaiian Knowing."

"A far-reaching visionary, Manu Aluli Meyer captures an essence of what it means to be Hawaiian," according to Luana Palapala Busby-Neff, a fellow Hawaiian cultural practitioner.

The event begins at 6 p.m. at the McCoy Studio Theater. Admission is $15, and tickets may be obtained by calling 242-SHOW. For information, call 875-7995 or see the Web site www.alakukui.com.

Other sponsors of the gathering are the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the County of Maui.

In the recent ceded lands hearing at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, Attorney General Mark Bennett repeatedly asserted that the State of Hawai'i has perfect title to more than 1 million acres of land that were transferred to the United States government upon annexation in 1898 and then transferred to the State of Hawai'i in 1959. This is an incorrect statement. ...
[...]
If there is no record of a deed from the Hawaiian Kingdom government and the Queen to the provisional government transferring government and crown lands, there is a break in the chain of title and therefore the State of Hawai'i cannot claim to have a perfect title, which is a "requirement for the sale of real estate." As far as the term "ceded lands," there is no such thing because the government and crown lands were never "yielded or given up by treaty" to the United States in the first place.

Confusing "cession" for "occupation" is tantamount to confusing "adoption" for "kidnapping." This is not a case of semantics, but ignorance of the legal and political history of Hawai'i.

The spirit of giving has long been a fundamental part of Hawaii’s culture. Today, Hawaii residents can continue in this tradition of generosity by choosing to help the hundreds of local residents who are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. Donate Life Hawaii is an online registry that allows Hawaii residents to declare their choice to donate life by being an organ and/or tissue donor. Donate Life Hawaii offers a new opportunity to make your decision known. Your selfless decision to donate organs and/or tissues may help end the needless suffering of the nearly 100,000 patients currently waiting for a life-saving transplant, as well as their families and loved ones.

Once you register on Donate Life Hawaii, you have documented your legal decision to be an organ and/or tissue donor. This information will only be released upon your death and will only be shared with your family by medical professionals and hospital staff. Participation in this registry is voluntary; you may change your mind at any time.

There is no greater gift you can share than the gift of life. Register your decision to be an organ donor today.

Under a settlement proposal, the lawsuit over the sale of ceded lands would be dropped in exchange for an agreement by the Lingle administration to obtain a two-thirds vote of approval in both houses of the Legislature before it could move forward with any sale of the lands.

The proposal, being crafted by attorneys for the state, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and four individual Native Hawaiians, would allow the dispute over the sale of ceded lands to go away — at least for now.

But the parties, as well as state lawmakers, must still agree to the plan.

Three members of a Native Hawaiian sovereignty group were each ordered to perform 25 hours of community service after being found guilty Friday of illegally entering the Kahoolawe Island Reserve in 2006.

But Wailuku District Judge Simone C. Polak stayed the sentences, which included payment of court fees and costs, for 30 days pending an appeal.

Henry Noa, 53, of Honolulu, and Maui residents Russell Kaho'okele, 46, and Nelson Armitage, 50, were arrested after Reinstated Hawaiian Kingdom members sailed in two boats to Kahoolawe to plant a flag laying claim to the uninhabited island on Sept. 30, 2006.

At the time, the group's prime minister, Noa, said that the group was reclaiming lands "that lawfully belong to our Hawaiian nation."

About 50 people showed up for the hearing Friday morning, which followed earlier hearings on whether the state has jurisdiction over the island. Polak found the three defendants guilty of the petty misdemeanor charge.

Kaho'okele said an appeal is planned.

"We realize that this case is not going to end here," he said, speaking for himself after the decision. "We may not have gotten the ruling we were hoping for, but the fact that we're in the fight is all that matters to us. It's a spiritual fight. We want to have our rights respected under the law."

The Supreme Court ruled today that a congressional resolution apologizing for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 did not strip the state of its authority to sell or transfer about 1.2 million acres of land.

The court's unanimous decision overturns a ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court that blocked the sale of land conveyed to Hawaii when it became the 50th state.

After years of legal wrangling, the state court last year halted sales of the "ceded lands" until Native Hawaiian claims to those lands are put to rest. The acreage represents more than a quarter of the islands.

The ruling can be downloaded at the following site: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08slipopinion.html.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs Administrator Clyde Namu'o said he is confident that the Hawaii court, when it gets the case back, "will issue the same kind of rulilng" barring the state from selling ceded lands except relying not on the Apology resolution, but state laws that echoed the language of the resolution.

Felony charges against six of seven defendants charged in last year's takeover of Iolani Palace were thrown out of court this morning.

Circuit Judge Richard Pollack ruled the state had insufficient evidence to sustain second-degree burglary charges against any of the defendants except James Akahi, leader of the group Free Hawaii.

Pollack dismissed burglary charges against the remaining defendants, although the six still face petty misdemeanor trespassing charges.

HONOLULU — The Hawaii Superferry made its final interisland voyage last week, capping a period marked by lawsuits, low ridership and suspicion that its ultimate purpose had more to do with military contracts than with connecting the Hawaiian islands.

On Monday, the State Supreme Court effectively grounded the vessel, the Alakai, when it struck down an act passed by the Legislature last year that exempted its operator, Hawaii Superferry Inc., from carrying out an environmental impact study. The company said it would not appeal the decision.

“We’re going to have to go out and find other employment for Alakai,” said the president of Hawaii Superferry, Thomas B. Fargo, a retired Navy admiral who once commanded American forces in the Pacific. “Certainly the military may very well want to lease this particular ship.”

The Marine Corps already leases a similar transport catamaran, the Westpac Express, in Okinawa, Japan.

A shipbuilding analyst in Florida, Tim Colton, said the company’s owner and chairman, John F. Lehman, a former Navy secretary, was well positioned to lease the Alakai and a just-finished sister ship to the Navy.
[...]
Why the company chose to risk operating without an environmental review, which would have taken the better part of a year, has been the matter of debate across the state, with Mr. Lehman’s background leading to speculation that Hawaii Superferry was primarily hoping to prove itself to the United States military.
[...]
In November, Austal USA was awarded a contract to build up to 10 military versions of the ferry.

Austal’s Australian unit had built scores of giant aluminum catamarans used as fast ferries around the world, but the United States requires that all ships sold to its armed forces must be domestically built.

Austal USA, with a shipyard in Mobile, Ala., was created in 2001. “They have managed to become a major player in a very short time,” said Robert Button, a naval analyst with the RAND Corporation.

Austal USA’s vice president for external affairs, Bill Pfister, said that while the company had built several smaller ships in Mobile, the construction of the two Hawaii ferries had helped it develop the work force and demonstrate the construction processes to bid credibly for a similar military version.