The Color of Nationality: Continuities and Discontinuities of Citizenship in Hawaiʻi A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE DECEMBER 2014 By WILLY DANIEL KAIPO KAUAI Dissertation Committee: Neal Milner, Chairperson David Keanu Sai Deborah Halbert Charles Lawrence III Melody MacKenzie Puakea Nogelmeier Copyright ii iii Acknowledgements The year before I began my doctoral program there were less than fifty PhD holders in the world that were of aboriginal Hawaiian descent. At the time I didn’t realize the ramifications of such a grimacing statistic in part because I really didn’t understand what a PhD was. None of my family members held such a degree, and I didn’t know any PhD’s while I was growing up. The only doctors I knew were the ones that you go to when you were sick. I learned much later that the “Ph” in “PhD” referred to “philosophy,” which in Greek means “Love of Wisdom.” The Hawaiian equivalent of which, could be “aloha naʻauao.” While many of my family members were not PhD’s in the Greek sense, many of them were experts in the Hawaiian sense. I never had the opportunity to grow up next to a loko iʻa, or a lo’i, but I did grow up amidst paniolo, who knew as much about makai as they did mauka. Their deep knowledge and aloha for their wahi pana represented an unparalleled intellectual capacity for understanding the interdependency between land and life. It was through the relatively modern, and unique cultural innovation of paniolo, from which I came to understand a Hawaiian identity. This PhD is dedicated to those paniolo such as my father, Andrew Kauai Sr., whose wisdom continues beyond their physical lifetime and now resides in the hearts and minds of those in which that knowledge was passed on. Mahalo to those that have preserved paniolo culture, and to those that have shared some of that knowledge with me. My education would not have been possible without the enduring love and support of my mother, Susan F. Kauai. Through your love, I learned compassion, patience, courage, and most of all, perseverance—qualities that were essential to a iv college education. The other extraordinary person in my life for which this dissertation belongs, is my life partner, Maile Au-Kauai. You not only taught me how to kulia i ka nu’u, but you were my source of inspiration and a model for my success. To my children, Mākena Poepoe and Kaʻimi Kai Mākua, thank you for your unconditional love, laughter, and playfulness. You are a constant reminder of why this project is important. To mom Cindy and dad Tom, thank you for taking me into your family and for the unconditional support you gave me. Like any dissertation of this kind, this project was not developed in isolation. It was born out of, and evolved from, an expansive network of people committed to social, political, and legal justice in the islands. In this regard, I must acknowledge the numerous faculty, colleagues, and students of the University that contributed to this project. Among them, my doctoral committee: Neal Milner, Deborah Halbert, Keanu Sai, Melody MacKenzie, Charles Lawrence, and Puakea Nogelmeier. Thank you for sharing your expertise, time, and aloha, to help expand and grow my ideas. My appreciation also goes out to the faculty and staff of the Political Science Department for helping me to learn about power and the importance of political analysis. I am equally appreciative to the Ethnic Studies faculty and staff for graciously expanding my understanding of race. I also have great aloha for Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies for inspiring me to learn about my identity, and for sparking my academic and professional growth. I am especially grateful to Kanalu Young, the late Professor of Hawaiian Studies, who provided the academic space for projects such as mine to grow. In addition to many organizations, I’m also deeply grateful to my colleagues who through the PhD process became great friends. Among them, Keanu Sai, Donovan Preza, v Lorenz Gonschor, Keao NeSmith, Ron Williams, Kau’i Sai-Dudoit, Blaise Bissen, Mary Lindsey Correa, Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar, and Lisa Uyehara. Your intellectual and practical contributions to this project were tremendous. Only through our many conversations, exchange of thoughts, sharing of ideas, heated disagreements and debates, was this dissertation possible. Finally, this PhD is dedicated to every Hawaiian, of every color, who worked to establish the country we now aim to rebuild today. vi ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the evolution of citizenship in the Hawaiian Islands from the late 18th century to present day. Until 1887, race was not used as a basis to determine citizenship in the Hawaiian Kingdom. During the Hawaiian constitutional era (1840- 1887), people of all origins were extended rights, privileges, and protections. Acquiring Hawaiian citizenship was based on allegiance, not skin color. This tradition of political inclusion was disrupted by the 1887 Bayonet Constitution, which for the first time introduced racially exclusive policies aligned with American racial standards of citizenship. The term “Hawaiian” became codified under the Bayonet Constitution as a racial or ethnic marker rather than an indicator of nationality or citizenship. Hawaiian nationality was further complicated in 1898 by the United States’ illegal occupation of the Islands. Considering, however, that the US never legally acquired the Islands, the history of citizenship brings forward many political and legal implications today. Recent, and current, legal proceedings in international courts and U.S. courts are now challenging and re-conceptualizing U.S. sovereignty in Hawai‘i. Such challenges to U.S. jurisdiction in Hawaiian territory presume a continuity of Hawaiian sovereignty. Given the legal bond between citizenship and sovereignty, this also presumes a continuity of Hawaiian nationality. This begs the question: In light of the United States’ illegal occupation, who comprises the “Hawaiian” citizenry today? This dissertation answers this question through an analysis of the origin, evolution, and present condition of Hawaiian citizenship. It also provides a recommendation to address some of the many complications of citizenship that has resulted from the on-going illegal occupation now in its 121st -year. vii Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ iv Prologue............................................................................................................................ 14 Chapter 1: An Introduction to Hawaiian Citizenship................................. 21 Race or Citizenship?................................................................................................... 21 Central Claim............................................................................................................ 30 Research Questions................................................................................................... 33 Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 34 Colonial Paradigm .................................................................................................... 35 Color-Blinders........................................................................................................... 40 Problems with a colonial discourse analysis: Aboriginal Agency Marginalized ..... 41 False Racial Binary..................................................................................................... 44 The Other Side of Hawaiian Kingdom Law ............................................................. 46 Problems with a color blind argument...................................................................... 49 Hawaiian Society of Law and Politics...................................................................... 50 Chapter 2: The Origins of Hawaiian Citizenship .......................................... 55 Feudal Allegiance........................................................................................................ 56 Early Statecraft.......................................................................................................... 58 Four Kingdoms Become One.................................................................................... 59 Mamalahoa: Protection of Individuals...................................................................... 60 viii Foreign Power on Display .......................................................................................... 62 Napoleon of the Pacific............................................................................................. 66 Asserting British Nationality: Protecting the Kingdom............................................ 73 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 3: Domestic Evolution of Hawaiian Citizenship .......................... 81 Nationality, Citizenship, and the Hawaiian State .................................................... 81 Nationality................................................................................................................. 82 Citizenship ................................................................................................................ 84 Hawaiian-British