To have ignored or disregarded so general a request I must have been deaf to the voice of the people, which tradition tells us is the voice of God. —Liliʻuokalani
By Dr. Ronald Williams, Jr.
In the spring of 1931, the 16th edition of the University of Hawaiʻi’s yearbook, Ka Palapala, was published. In addition to hosting the ubiquitous student photos and sports team pages, the volume sought to capture “not only the salient features of the past year, but also the outstanding events of many years past.”
Sections highlighted “outstanding” episodes in Hawaiian history. The 1893 minority-led coup that overthrew the native monarchy is found within a unit titled, “The Transition,” where explanatory text declares: “This period reveals the Islands on the verge of dynamic changes. Queen Liliuokalani was on the throne and had ruled despotically, bringing about changes without consulting the will of her people. Revolution soon followed and her throne was seized from her.”
The charge that Hawaiʻi’s sovereign selfishly pursued an expansion of power through a new constitution “without consulting the will of her people” is a demonstrably provable lie rejected by the primary-source record.
The institutional repetition of this false narrative was meant to distance the public from an uncomfortable truth. The islands of Hawaiʻi were an internationally recognized nation, led by Kānaka ʻŌiwi, when, in 1898, they were illegally seized by the United States for use as a strategic port to support that country’s ongoing war in the Philippines.
The hypocrisy of a country with an asserted devotion to government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” seizing an independent nation against the stated wishes of a great majority of its citizens, demanded an attempt at justification.
From the first days of her reign, Queen Liliʻuokalani encountered an engaged and passionate populace that repeatedly demanded the removal of the widely despised Bayonet Constitution of 1887 – a document that disenfranchised many while shifting power to a White minority.
Hui Kālaiʻāina Hawaiʻi – a native-led political party founded in 1888 with the central purpose of seeing a new constitution adopted – organized a nation-wide petition drive. Her majesty later wrote, in recalling the event, “Petitions poured in from every part of the Islands for a new constitution. To have ignored or disregarded so general a request I must have been deaf to the voice of the people, which tradition tells us is the voice of God.”
These petitions, today preserved in the public archives, state in part: “Ke nonoi aku nei me ka iini nui, e hookoia e Kou Kuleana he Moiwahine no ke Aupuni Hawaii, ka hoohana ana aku e hiki ai e loaa koke mai he Kumukanawai hou no ko kakou Aina a me ko kakou Lahui.” (We petition you with an immense desire, to use the authority granted you as Queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom, to execute the endeavor of obtaining soon a new Constitution for our country and our people).
Employing another venue to voice their wishes, voters drafted, signed, and delivered numerous Palapala Hoʻopiʻi (petitions) to the Hawaiian Kingdom Legislature.
On the opening day of the 1892 session, Rep. Iosepa Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu submitted a petition from voters of “Hilo Hema” (South Hilo), demanding a “Kumukanawai Hou” (new constitution). Subsequently, 58 similar petitions, containing a total of 2,898 signatures, were submitted by 11 different legislators representing districts across the Hawaiian nation.
The voice of the people was, once more, loud and clear.
On 29 December 1892, a writer to the Daily Bulletin, in a piece titled by the editors, “The Popular Desire,” explained, “It has been shown clearly and satisfactorily that the present Constitution is obnoxious to the majority of the voting population. Petition after petition has come into the House praying for a revision or replacement of the present document. Speech after speech, writing after writing, meeting after meeting, all tended toward the same object.”
Editors at Ka Leo o ka Lahui reminded their readers, “Vox Populi! Vox Dei!! O ka Leo o ka lahui; ka leo ia o ke Akua.”
On 14 January 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani was presented a new constitution by officers of Hui Kalāiʻāina in front of thousands who had gathered on the lawn at ʻIolani Palace. She delivered the document to Her cabinet for their approval.
Three days later She was overthrown in a previously planned coup. Liliʻuokalani could have maintained the status quo, deflecting the wishes of her people and maintaining Her crown. But that’s not the woman she was. That’s not the leader she was.
Amidst the swirl of politics, the dangers of sworn enemies, and a unsettled time, Her Majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani did one of the most difficult things that a sovereign is asked to do. She turned to the voices of her people – and listened.
He Inoa No Liliʻuokalani.
