Hawaiians have suffered since the first western contact in 1778.
Western diseases, to which they had no immunity, decimated their numbers.
At the time of western contact, some 800,000 people inhabited the Hawaiian Islands.
By 1805 that number had been halved.
By 1853 there were only 71,000 Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian people in the islands.
Within 100 years of western contact, the Hawaiian population had been reduced by nearly 90 percent.
According to the 2000 census, the numbers of people who claim some native Hawaiian ancestry have increased to over 400,000.
But only 239,000 live in Hawai`i and they are the poorest, most locked-up population in the state.
Although they only make up about 20 percent of the state's population, they make up 39 percent of the state's prison population, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
And they are 37 percent of the state's homeless population.
Ending The US Occupation & Restoring Independence To The Hawaiian Kingdom Is The Only Right To Correct These Wrongs.
Comments
Yep the Kanaka Maoli certainly benefited from Western contact and US occupation. Generosity paid back with greed, warmth and health rewarded with disease. Hospitality paid back with homelessness. What blessings did "statehood" confer upon our people ? We get to vote for someone to be our "president", instead of voting for our own true leaders. Instead of being invited into the great tent, we have been marginalised and used as trained circus dogs. We fight in their wars, and yet our lands are desecrated by that very same military. Our place names grace so many beautiful locales, yet find a kanaka maoli who can afford to live in that place. Thousands come to visit our beaches, yet our homeless, are chased away from that border between aina and kai. Yes, occupation has right kind to us, remember that this 4th July, when at least one country can celebrate IT'S independence.
The U.S. Takeover of Hawaii has been a Holocaust for most Hawaiian Nationals like with the passing of Princess Kaiulani.