Native Hawaiians blockade historic palace to restore "Hawaiian nation"

Thursday, May 1, 2008

According to reports, a group of Hawaiian natives, referring to themselves as the "Hawaiian Kingdom Government" under leader Mahealani Kahau, entered the historic 'Iolani Palace Wednesday to allegedly restore the former self-governing nation, overthrown over a century ago.

At about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, an estimated 70 members of the organization padlocked the eight entrances of the palace, once the home of the Hawaiian monarchy, and peacefully occupied the property for about eight hours. Several dozen employees, volunteers and tourists were prevented from entering.

The protest ended peacefully by 2 p.m. following negotiations with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. No arrests were made, though the group vowed to return in the morning. "We will not resist, we won't fight, we won't be aggressive. But we'll be back for sure," Kahau said. "The Hawaiian Kingdom Government is here and it doesn't plan to leave. This is a continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom of 1892 to today."

The palace was constructed for King Kalakaua and later his sister, Queen Liliuokalani. The monarchy ended in 1893 and, in 1959, Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

"Native Group Locks Gate of Historic Palace In Bid To Restore Hawaii Nation" — All Headline News, May 1, 2008
"Hawaiian sovereignty seekers take over palace in Honolulu" — Associated Press, May 1, 2008
Mark Niesse,. "Native Hawaiians occupy Iolani Palace grounds" — Associated Press, May 1, 2008
Gordon Y.K. Pang. "Group occupies Hawaii palace" — The Honolulu Advertiser, May 1, 2008
Gene Park. "Group of Hawaiians occupies Iolani Palace, vows to return" — Star Bulletin, May 1, 2008

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.