Over a decade ago I got off a plane in Maui and stepped into a different world. Not the world of palm trees, vast beaches, gentle waves and tropical beauty, but a political, historical and cultural world of frustration and remorse. I was walking into the world of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement.
Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele met me at the airport. He was, and still is, a big man who stood with pride; the way only people to whom respect is paramount can stand. He looked me in the eye, extended his giant hand to shake mine, and offered me a ride to a conference room a few miles from the airport. There we met with other men and women involved in the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement. Once we were all gathered around a table, Bumpy called for prayer. Before I fully comprehended the situation I was holding hands with the people beside me and listening to Bumpy share a prayer of love, hope and faithfulness, concluding with, “In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Amen.” Definitely not what I was expecting from a group of people dedicated to secession from the United States!
My friend Ian, who had set up this meeting, smiled knowingly. He knew I was about to receive an education about Hawaiian history, culture and society that few haoles ever hear. Though much of the meeting was about strategy and brainstorming, I picked up on the passion the group had. And there was something more … a rootedness, a sense of history, and a sense of place that permeated their conversation.
Bumpy became a friend that I treasured (ask me sometime about playing golf with Bumpy, John Ortberg, and Rick Blackmon….geesh). I seldom see Bumpy these days because my work in Hawaii is in the past. But he’s on my short list of people I would want to visit if I return to the islands.
Years later we have a President who was born in Hawaii and a renewed interest on the historical context of the 50th State. There has lately been a host of books about the way the islands became part of the United States. It is not a happy story, amounting to the overthrow of a Queen by the offspring of missionaries who wanted to protect their sugar interests. Combine that with a newly imperialistic United States, flush from its first imperial adventures in the Spanish-American War, and you have a recipe for cultural abuse.
Capturing this story is not easy. The people involved had a wide variety of motivations, personalities, fears and hopes. No matter how much we might want simplistic answers or story lines, few involved were truly villains and few were truly heroic. Julia Flynn Siler captures this in her brilliant book Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America’s First Imperial Adventure
This is a wonderful book. Julia is a great writer (her book The House of Mondavi was my favorite of 2009) and she does great research. You can sense it on every page, as she explains not only the history correctly but also the nuances of Hawaiian culture. The book walks us through the history of Hawaii, with special emphasis on the years after Captain Cook’s arrival in 1778. It speeds through the 100-years after that and then settles into a nice pace, up to the abdication of Queen Liliuokalani in 1895 and the years following.
What makes this book particularly good is how the people come alive through Julia’s writing. You sense the personality of the individuals: their expressions, their emotions and their thinking. A lot of history books are biased and thus paint people into corners, creating a story that seems more like a Hollywood movie with characters representing either good or bad. Julia doesn’t let that happen and instead lets the people be fully human, filled with all of their strengths and weaknesses. The book shines as a result.
Definitely a thumbs up on this book. If you read one book about Hawaiian history … shoot, if you read just one book about history … I highly recommend this one.
