Meet the native Hawaiians fighting U.S. occupation | AJ+

[Music] this is the Hawaii most visitors never see an hour from the luxury hotels and shops in the farthest corner away from Honolulu it's the Hawaiian Hawaii working class and proudly natives where locals will tell you Hawaii is occupied by the u.s. that it has been for 124 years and that it will one day be free we came here to see the native sovereignty movement in action we are driving through Waimanalo which is a stronghold of the sovereignty movement here in Hawaii and we're headed to a village in the hills that was established by a sovereignty group called the nation of Hawaii the village is called refuge of Waimanalo with a population of roughly 80 the state handed the group 45 acres of land in the 90s after it occupied a popular beach for over a year bumpy kanahele is a group leader and head of the village do you have your own passport here in the nation of Hawaii we have things ready to turn on for the passport can I apply for when they are banning with ones under us we take any citizenship application boozled any of you disrupted Americans want to come on by come to awaken visit us in a wall and we'll be more than happy to accommodate then learn about US history and for Native Hawaiians it's a painful history in 1893 armed u.s. naval forces helped American sugar plantation owners overthrow Hawaii's Queen the provisional government that was set up after ceded Hawaii sovereignty to the US then it embarked on a campaign to squash native culture what's one word you would use to describe what happened here in 1893 channel said there was their intent to make life hard for us in such a way would cause our own destruction and that's what happened it's still happening it's more passive like genocide in paradise it's made official at the White House President Eisenhower congratulate the new congressional representatives of Hawaii adding the 50th and southernmost state Hawaii officially became America's 50th state in 1959 in 1993 the u.s. formally apologized for its involvement in the illegal overgrow of the sovereign Hawaiian Kingdom 100 years after the fact that's where the story of how bumpy wrangled these lush foothills begin in that apology resolution the u.s. admitted that Native Hawaiian had never relinquished their sovereignty armed with that fact bumpy and 300 others occupied Makoku Beach they set up tents and block the area for 15 months Hawaii's governor asked bumpy to end the occupation in exchange for a 55 year lease on this land part of the agreement was that if and when the sovereign Hawaiian nation is established this land would become part of it along with the renewed fight for independence came a cultural shift throughout Hawaii Native Hawaiians began reclaiming traditions that were once actively suppressed that meant teaching youth language and dance getting traditional tattoos using ancient techniques and fostering traditional farming and food making but in reality not much has changed everyone we talked to during our week there repeatedly stressed that Hawaii continues to be occupied illegally it's very complex gave up our company yes that easily consequences on but we have [Music] at a gathering of musicians and activists in Honolulu the inherited pain with palpable y'all come from very deep earth the crime has been committed still being committed that is part of our struggle to maintain life but more importantly one of those rights rooted in and those rights are rooted in a country that had its AMA teeth and recognition stolen by the back they wanted to stop the pain plumpy sees his village as a model for self-determination but for now it's still partially on the grid the village runs off 200 amp boxes with houses sharing power nobody can like have a hot coal going you know like 100 potli yeah or like a blow dryer you got to watch all of it because you guys are off the grid yeah so what does it mean for running water we're currently working on getting water from the molecule Brandon is bumpy's nephew and one of the village leaders not politicians we're not lawyers we're not like you know these highly schooled individuals were just Hawaiians exercising our right foot 20 year old beautiful was born and raised here yeah I went to so I have to leave the classical school had to get an education because that's the law required law I could have been home school but I rather go out make friends when people ask you where you live what do you say to blast me where I live I tell my living on poor new alumni or we just call it salty you call this this offices for some Native Hawaiians on the outside sovereignty movement like bumpy's are beyond symbolic they have a real impact overall you need those type of people if we don't shake up things Hawaiian language would have never been approved to be part of the foreign language we wouldn't have Native Hawaiian agencies to provide us with better health and wellness nutrition education we fought for a lot to receive a lot but their message to Americans in the United States who might not know much about Hawaii's history or what you're doing here I know if I want to talk to the people of America they like battling with each other and all right and so all I can say is we've been there you know keeping the America and we still have a lot to settle with the United States it's not done hey guys it's Tina be sure to check out the last video in this series where I take you back to the studio and reflect on what I've seen and learned in my weeks here in Hawaii and let us know what you think

Channel: AJ+

Views: 569,528

Keywords: hawaii sovereignty, u.s. occupation hawaii, hawaii independent, hawaii freedom, is hawaii occupied, queen of hawaii, hawaii sugar, hawaii occupation, hawaii self-determination, hawaii sugar plantations, hawaii history, history of hawaii and the united states, native hawaiins, zuckerberg hawaii, zuckerberg land, facebook hawaii, AJ+ with dena takruri, dena takruri ajplus, dena takruri al jazeera, dena takruri, news, ajplus, aj+, al jazeera

Id: QBokfBwYJo0

Length: 6min 26sec (386 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 03 2017