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Tane's Testimony at DLNR 8-13-08To whom it may concern:'Iolani Palace is not a monument but a living legacy.An older cousin and Aunty Ida Naone and a few other women were guides at the palace before the Friends of "Iolani Palace took over. I used to play around there when I visited them. I've been throughout the palace and am familiar with it.I remember when the barracks was located across the street next to the armory where the Capitol building now stands. They took the barracks brick by brick and rebuilt it where it now stands and didn't know where the leftover brick was supposed to go.I recall all the air-conditioner units throughout the palace that marred its beauty. So, I appreciate what the Friends of 'Iolani Palace are doing to restore the splendor of the palace after the Haole trashed it. 'Iolani Palace and grounds are part of our home and we revere it.In the 1980s, Jim Bartel was a guest on our 'Ohana talk show where I did a bit of history of the palace. He was impressed in what I knew about it. After the program, we discussed it at greater length. We shared the pride we had of it, it's history, and our concern of preserving it.Do not for a moment think we are thugs or an unruly mob that we would show disrespect for the palace or its grounds which is part of our home. To picture us as such destructive people is to promote the character-assassination propagated by the racist WASP missionaries and U.S. Americans to feel righteous about their stealing our country.As a Hawai'i national of the Kingdom of Hawai'i, I take umbrage at your insinuations that we would behave as in the manner of the haole and destroy our living symbol of independence and nationhood.We are still an independent nation-state and you are subject to the laws of occupation which U.S. Americans and their ipso facto levels of government constantly violate.How dare you attempt to bar us from being there on the palace grounds. We have every right to be there as Hawai'i nationals of the Kingdom of Hawai'i who never relinquished our inherent rights. I suggest you familiarize yourselves with the laws of occupation. You don't alienate us from our living cultural heritage and symbol of our island home.Mahalo,Tane