12-Anderson-Abiding Salience

CAROLYN ANDERSON

The Abiding Salience of the Local in a Global Age The Case of Hawaiian History

On January 27, 1997, in his introduction of Hawaii’s Last Queen to a national PBS audience, historian David McCullough, host of The American Experience, labeled the 1893 overthrow of the hereditary monarchy of Hawaiì as “an unfamiliar story to most Americans today.”1 Then McCullough acknowledged another audience not only familiar with, but invested in, this story: “In Hawaiì, however, the subject is anything but old hat and interpretations of what ac- tually happened differ sharply, depending on who’s telling the story.” McCullough recognized—but located elsewhere— the pro- Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation, 1993 duction of history as an essentially political Hawaiì all of which share a focus on 1890s project; he linked an environment of contesta- Hawaiì. I follow public historians who tion to local politics and familiarity with “the recognize the signifi cance of the local in the story.” His allusion to Hawaiì recognizes the creation of public memory and of Cultural situated nature of public memory, of the im- Studies scholars who emphasize the impor- portance of not only who’s telling the story, tance of the formation, the dissemination, and but who’s hearing it, and where. the use of cultural products.3 I begin with an Inspired by Benedict Anderson’s seminal assumption that contexts, particulars of pro- work on imagined communities, scholars duction, and specifi c uses combine to shape across disciplines have rediscovered the understandings of media texts. I also begin centrality of place as site of memory and with Michael Roth’s penetrating questions: desire and locus of identity formation in a “What is the point of having a past, and why postmodern world characterized by intense try to recollect it? What desires are satisfi ed 2 and often disorienting fl ux. Although the na- by this recollection?”4 Two crucial fl ashpoints tion-state, or nation-ness to follow Anderson, in Hawaiian history—the overthrow of Queen remains the central ideational construct, the Liliùokalani and the Hawaiian nation in 1893 local and the global have become increasingly and the U.S. annexation of Hawaiì in 1898— salient in the imagining and materialization function as symbols of, and necessity for, a of communities. This essay considers how growing movement for native sovereignty in historical stories appeal to “imagined com- Hawaiì, a movement that deeply complicates munities” within local, national, and global the concept of nationhood. Where stories of formations through an examination of Ha- the overthrow and annexation fit in a Ha- waii’s Last Queen and fi ve productions from waiian centennial account, in a discourse of Oceania in the Age of Global Media 83 Peter Britos, editor, Special Issue of Spectator 23:1 (Spring 2003) 83-98. Hawaiian sovereignty, in an American narrative of expansionism and treatment of native peoples, in geopolitical struggles for inde- pendence or in global corporate marketing schemes are among the questions this essay addresses. The National Community: Hawaii’s Last Queen for The American Experience (1997) In the 1980s and 1990s, The American Expe- rience, produced at WGBH in Boston, was the only regularly scheduled prime-time television historical documentary series in Queen Liliùokalani, circa 1893 the United States. It is arguably the most backs up. I was an outsider getting national influential series and certainly the most funds to make a film about their story…I acclaimed. Created in 1987 by the late Peter had to gain their trust and I did that by do- McGee, the series takes an aggressive stance ing my homework.”7 That homework was in (re-)organizing the discourse of national partially assigned by the academic advisors memory, and in presenting itself as sensitive Ducat chose: Davianna Pomaikaì McGregor to the multicultural diversity contained with- (University of Hawaiì, Manoa) and Ten- in what is nonetheless a metanarrative labeled nant McWilliams (University of Alabama, “the American experience.” Birmingham). The American Experience urges In 1991, with an eye on the 1993 centennial producers to employ both a specialist and of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, generalist, and to consult them at all stages of independent producer Vivian Ducat submit- the process. McGregor became an important ted a proposal to The American Experience for local link. Ducat struggled with the expecta- a project that would consider the overthrow tions and suspicions of a community which as a factor in the debates in America around has often been misrepresented and whose “what it meant to be imperial.”5 Ducat met “judgment [she] felt on [her] shoulders the with (then) executive producer Judy Crichton entire time” and, simultaneously, her contrac- and senior producer Margaret Drain, who tual obligations to produce a fi lm that would expressed financial concerns and encour- be understandable and interesting to “people aged Ducat to seek additional funding, which in Nebraska, and the people in Miami and the she did, unsuccessfully. Several years later people in Seattle and the people on farms and Crichton indicated renewed interest in “the people who live in big cities.” 8 Hawaiian idea.” She cautioned that The Ameri- Ducat’s solution to this dilemma is a bio- can Experience thinks in terms of characters an graphical piece deeply admiring of the last audience could relate to, and suggested that Hawaiian queen. McCullough introduces the story be told through the life of the queen. Liliùokalani’s story as part of the drama of A start-up time of May 1995 was set. turn-of-the-century American expansionism. The American Experience front office Nevertheless, Ducat’s emphasis is on Hawai- encouraged Ducat to select a native Hawai- ian loss, rather than American conquest, on ian associate producer (Nicole Ebeo). On her Hawaiian isolation, rather than American fi rst scouting trip to Hawaiì and later when intervention. Hawaii’s Last Queen begins she returned to fi lm, Ducat’s association with with a prologue that swiftly accomplishes a well-known, well-funded national series several narrative and conceptual moves. The operated as both access and obstacle. 6 Ducat narrator opens with, “Just a century ago, described the situation: “People had their there was an isolated kingdom…a beloved ANDERSON

The narrator provides a telling context: “Lead- ing the opposition was a young, hot-headed lawyer and journalist named Lorrin Thurston. He formed a secret society of white businessmen.” Twigg-Smith describes Kalakaua [who preceded Liliùokalani on the throne] as a man aching for absolute power. He then of- fers these motives: “He [Thurston] wanted, as did the other members of that group, to do what the colonists had done in 1776, which was to throw off the yoke of monarchy and take on the civil rights and other things of a democracy. And they believed that was in the best interests of the Hawaiians and I believe Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation, 1993 so, too.” Twigg-Smith invocation of American democracy is clearly an attempt to seize the queen…removed from her throne... It was a moral high ground as heir to and apologist for great loss to her people.” An elderly Hawai- his grandfather’s actions. Twigg-Smith’s po- ian woman, Thelma Bugbee, says, “If you can sition—one that dominated written history for imagine something within your own culture most of the twentieth century—seems includ- that is tremendously important to you . . . to- ed as a gesture toward “objectivity,” which is tally ripped out and gone. If you can imagine a goal of The American Experience, according to yourself relating to something like that, that’s Executive Producer Margaret Drain. what we went through.” The narrator men- By personal preference and following se- tions Liliùokalani’s background and training. ries guidelines, Ducat eschewed historical Aaron Mahi, Conductor, Royal Hawaiian re-enactments, but she employed a moving Band, comments, “Liliù…knew the values of camera perspective through various histori- both sides. Knew the inevitable of what was cal locations (which The American Experience going to happen to Hawaii.” encourages). In arranging a location shoot, This prologue promises a story of a Ducat encountered a diffi culty that illustrates great woman, whose life was filled with the resonance of history in contemporary accomplishment, drama, and intrigue. A Hawaiì: owners of Victorian homes were sympathetic local elder invites an audience of unwilling to have their residences photo- presumed outsiders to “relate to” a wrench- graphed as the meeting place where the ing loss. A respected member of the Hawaiian overthrow was planned. They presumed their community refers to the last queen familiarly homes would be recognizable and mark them while describing “what happened to Hawaiì” as sympathetic to the overthrow. Ducat did as “inevitable.” The rest of the documentary not need to fi nd local actors willing to express elaborates on a theme of tragic inevitability. unpopular opinions, for she shunned the now The off-screen narrator (Anna Deavere Smith) common style of voicing historical sources. and nine on-screen storytellers collaborate, Liliùokalani is quoted on eleven occasions, with one notable exception, to present the but the quotations are presented as quotations. biography of an honorable and wise leader, This strategy simultaneously draws listeners whose commitment to peace was used against into Liliùokalani`s thoughts, yet maintains a her and her people in an immoral and illegal sense of historical distance. overthrow, orchestrated by greedy business- The biography builds to the climax of men. Strongly opposing this interpretation the Queen’s abdication, then moves swiftly is Honolulu newspaper publisher Thurston to annexation. The last on-camera speaker Twigg-Smith, grandson of Lorrin Thurston. recalls the first in displaying the emotional

Oceania in the Age of Global Media 85 THE ABIDING SALIENCE OF THE LOCAL IN A GLOBAL AGE

Queen Liliùokalani, circa 1881 Queen Liliùokalani, circa 1893 dimensions of public memory. Malcolm Naea Hawaiì International Film Festival in Chun has spoken before, with conviction and Honolulu in October 1996 with a special from a [Hawaiian] nationalist perspective, “Governor’s screening,” after which Ducat but with restraint. In his final appearance, spoke briefly. Local reviews and responses Chun describes the lowering of the Hawai- were generally favorable, some strongly so; ian flag and the insult of its being cut into others were tempered in their praise, with two small ribbons, then given to the sons and reoccurring complaints: the absence of discus- daughters of missionary families as “tokens sion of the on-going sovereignty movement of remembrance…of their great victory over and the mispronunciation of Hawaiian words the Hawaiian kingdom and the end of the by the narrator. Since The American Experience tyranny of the Hawaiian monarchy.” While policy is to focus only on the past, Ducat had speaking, Chun lowers his eyes, and his voice followed the series template. The second criti- cracks; then, as he concludes, he suddenly cism struck a nerve, although here, too, Ducat looks up in sadness and proud resolution. had followed the series practice of utilizing The narrator briefly recalls Liliùokalani’s a “box office” narrator. After considering last years, as an American citizen, and her local performers, Ducat chose Anna Deavere death. The fi lm ends with off-screen chant- Smith, because of her vocal skills and her ing, images of the Hawaiian shore, and these national reputation. Audiotapes of all Hawai- words: “For weeks after her funeral, strange ian words in the narration were prepared by events were recorded in the islands. Volcanoes a Hawaiian speaker for Smith’s tutoring. Yet erupted and the seas turned an odd hue, from sometimes good intentions, hard work, and the sudden appearance of a multitude of red professional skill are not enough. Others from fi sh. It was as if the elements recognized that the resident community found quite different the kingdom was no more.” faults: Thurston Twigg-Smith considered the Hawaii’s Last Queen premiered at the documentary “biased and one-sided,” distort-

86 SPRING 2003 ANDERSON ing “major elements of Hawaiian history”; Experience programmed a national re-broad- a review from “The MAN” posted this warn- cast of Hawaii’s Last Queen and cleared the ing: “Viewers should look with a critical eye documentary for foreign broadcast and to see how much of this program is truth and satellite transmission world-wide. The docu- how much is misleading propaganda de- mentary is marketed vigorously through PBS signed to infl uence local politics.”9 video catalogs in three formats. PBS handles In January 1997, PBS broadcast Hawaii’s video sales, with the series receiving 50% of Last Queen nationwide. Almost seven million the profi ts. In 2003, PBS continued to maintain viewers—more than typical for the series and a web site on Hawaii’s Last Queen, providing far more than American Experience executives a transcript, bibliography, information on anticipated—saw the documentary. Original Liliùokalani’s 160 musical compositions reviews responded positively to the fresh- (with Aloha Òe performed by The Galliard ness of an unfamiliar historical tale. With an String Quartet in RealAudio), a quiz on array of headlines, hundreds of newspapers Hawaiì, and a teacher’s guide on “cultural ran a complimentary Associated Press piece values, expansionism, politics, racism, exploi- written by Honolulu-based Ron Staton that tation.”11 demarcates audience expectations: “Beyond Hawaiì, Queen Liliùokalani, the islands’ The Local Hawaiian Community: last monarch, probably is best known as the Telling the Story of the Overthrow composer of Aloha Òe. But to native Hawai- of 1893 ians, Liliùokalani is the revered symbol of For a decade before the 1997 broadcast of their loss of sovereignty.” Staton later quotes Hawaii’s Last Queen to a nation-wide audi- Ducat as saying, “This is not a film about ence, producers in Hawaiì, operating from sovereignty. I tried to stay out of local a variety of funding bases and political agen- politics.”10 In March 1998, The American das, had told the story of Queen Liliùokalani and the overthrow of 1893.

National Guard of the Provisional Government of Hawai`i in front of ‘Iolani Palace, 1893

Oceania in the Age of Global Media 87 THE ABIDING SALIENCE OF THE LOCAL IN A GLOBAL AGE

1. Hawaiì Public Television in direct address. Here juxtaposition drives Production: Hawaiians (1987) the editing strategy whereby the words of a Like many public television stations, KHET historical person will be challenged by the in Honolulu carries a small permanent staff, comments that follow, sometimes from anoth- and often recruits from the local production er “historical person,” at other times from a community for specific projects. That was contemporary expert, thereby creating a rheto- the case for an ambitious three-part history ric of rebuttal against the words and actions of of Hawaiì produced by the Hawaiì Public the colonizers and the once-standard histories Broadcasting Authority (with corporate back- of Hawaiì. This representational style drives ing from Bank of Hawaiì) in 1987. Hawaiians the first two acts; then, when the chronicle was produced by Lynn Waters of the KHET reaches the 1870s the re-enactments disappear, staff and directed by Roland Yamamoto. By with one notable exception: Luliuòkalani, the the mid-1980s, the Islands had experienced last monarch, directly addresses the camera a full decade of “Hawaiian Renaissance,” a three times. These appearances—ghostly, and period of renewed interest in and admira- visually jarring—have an intriguing perfor- tion for Hawaiian culture. Hawaiians taps mative quality. Although her comments range and extends such interest and admiration in from 1887 to 1893, her dress and physical ap- a sweeping, three-hour series, promoted as pearance do not change. The result suggests “the definitive historical account of the na- memory embodied; her personal memory tive people of the most famous islands in the and also a public memory. First, she describes world.” her 1887 return to Hawaiì from England and Part Two, Innocence Betrayed, presents the her subsequent realization of “a conspiracy 1800s as a century of loss, dramatized as a against the peace of the Hawaiian kingdom”; tragedy in three acts, as the losses accumulate then, she recounts the circumstances by which and deepen: first, of a uniquely Hawaiian she was “compelled to take the oath to the culture, then, of the people’s land, and, fi nally, Constitution which had led to the death of of the Hawaiian kingdom. A typical off-screen [her] brother.” Finally, she reads the letter in narrator guides understandings of the visual which, under protest, and to avoid bloodshed, material, displayed as evidence. Also typical- with the hope of reinstatement by the United ly, a chain of “experts” appear and reappear, States government, she yielded her authority their comments linked, sometimes one to as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawai- another, but more commonly to a narration ian Islands. presented as conclusive. All nine commenta- The narrator’s omniscient voice resumes, tors are Island residents; most of them are providing more historical information paired Hawaiian.12 They selected their own self- with early twentieth-century moving images. labels. Kekuni Blaisdell, who has the most The narrator sadly concludes: speaking turns, presents himself as “M.D., Liliùokalani, a singular woman, on whom the Citizen of the Hawaiian Nation.” Many locals tragedy of the Hawaiian race fell, lived 77 years. would recognize Blaisdell, a founder of Ka On her death in 1917, 139 years after the arrival Pakaukau, a coalition of sovereignty groups, of Cook, fewer than 40,000 Hawaiians survived. The people were gone; the heroes were gone; the and a University of Hawaiì Medical School religion was gone; the land was gone; the spoken professor instrumental in establishing clin- history of 2,000 years was gone; and, with her ics for Hawaiians. For all viewers, Blaisdell passing, the last Hawaiian hope was gone, too. introduces a subtext of political action with his forceful self-description. According to historical researcher and co- What is atypical stylistically in Innocence writer, Ellen Pelissero, a central goal of the Betrayed is the use of actors impersonating series was to educate young Hawaiians and historical personages, literary characters and to make them proud of their history. The historical types, quoting from written sources producers wanted Hawaiians “to definitely

88 SPRING 2003 ANDERSON be from the Hawaiian perspective.”13 Conse- For reasons that ranged from the stylistic (the quently, Waters, Yamamoto and Pelissero—all one-person format was too constrictive), to the from Hawaiì, but not Native Hawaiian—ap- personal (Sai and the playwright had a falling proached their task with considerable out), to the scholarly (the screenwriter found trepidation and consultation. Many ap- the earlier play “grossly inaccurate”), Kukui plauded their work. Pelissero tells of a young Foundation decided to produce an original Hawaiian man who, after watching the televi- docudrama with a large cast. sion series, told Yamamoto “My aunties and To create dramatic situations and dialogue my grandmother told me I should be proud for Betrayal, Pelissero consulted the Queen’s I’m Hawaiian, but until last night, I didn’t autobiography and diaries and the published know why.” Some challenged the limits of memoirs of Lorrin Thurston and Sanford empathy, criticizing the series for not having Dole who became central antagonists in the been written by a Hawaiian, or a person fl uent docudrama. There were limits to the elasticity in the Hawaiian language.14 of this technique; consequently, dialogue and The producers of Hawaiians expected to composite characters were created. To add broadcast (and rebroadcast) only in the Is- action, location shooting, and some levity, a lands, but the series has enjoyed a far wider sub-plot about the failed counter-revolution of reach over a considerably longer period of 1895 was added and local comedy writer Tre- time than anticipated. KHET broadcasts the maine Tamyose joined Pelissero as co-writer three-part series annually and public televi- and Joy Chong as co-director. sion stations on the continent continue to A $350,000 grant for the production of rebroadcast it. Video rental copies are avail- Betrayal was secured from the Hawaiì Leg- able at commercial outlets in the Islands; the islature in 1991, but a series of complications series is sold at national chain stores. The caused delays. Nevertheless, the production Mountain Apple Company, owned by local moved ahead. Kukui Foundation negotiated composer-performer Jon de Mello distributes generous agreements with KHET for its sound the series. Because de Mello had a distribution stages and the services of its union crew; local system, Hawaiians has a commercial life that actors worked for scale. The shooting sched- is rare, but probably not unique, for a local ule was tight and began with a traditional public television series. Frequent classroom Hawaiian blessing of the set. The state leg- use and cable casting in the Islands extend the islature appropriated a $100,000 completion series’ reach and credibility. grant and several local foundations provided fi nancial support for post-production costs. 2. Hawaiì Public Television What had been a minority historical perspec- Co-Production: Betrayal (1993) tive in the Islands regarding the overthrow Even before the series Hawaiians was only several years before was becoming a produced, Marlene Sai, who portrays mainstream local perspective. Liliùokalani, was linked in the local imagina- Betrayal was fi nished by summer of 1992, but tion with the Queen. In the 1960s, Sai recorded Kuki and KHET decided to delay broadcast some of Liliùokalani’s compositions. She until January 1993 to position the docudrama appeared as the Queen in Hear Me, Oh My as an important part of the observance of the People, a one-person play written by Don centennial of the overthrow. According to Berrigan presented in Hawaiì in 1984 and in Pelissero, Kukui imagined a local audience of Washington, D.C. in 1987, adding momentum three sub-groups: 1) native Hawaiians, eager to a growing interest in Hawaiian history. In to know “their own” history; 2) all students in 1988 the recently elected (and fi rst native Ha- the state (presumably incorrectly taught that waiian) governor, John Waiheè, encouraged Hawaiians had supported annexation); and 3) Sai to fi lm her performance.15 With this goal the local non-Hawaiian audience, especially in mind, Sai formed the Kukui Foundation. the kamaàina haole (white, long-time resident)

Oceania in the Age of Global Media 89 THE ABIDING SALIENCE OF THE LOCAL IN A GLOBAL AGE

Marlene Sai as Liliùokalani in Betrayal, 1993 culture who “have their view of history” showed the docudrama in 1993 and later. The (which needs correcting). Certainly Betrayal western region of public stations awarded takes the historical view that the Queen was Marlene Sai an honorable mention for her betrayed and her subjects were wronged, but memorable performance. Betrayal is not dis- the docudrama ends in 1917 on an optimistic tributed commercially, but like Hawaiians, note regarding the possibilities for American it moved easily into the state educational justice: Liliùokalani tells her loyal assistant system. In “The Making of Betrayal,” Sai that she has fl own the American fl ag, an un- describes the docudrama as the most expected act provoked by her wish to honor ambitious local television production ever the “Hawaiian boys” who died representing mounted in Hawaiì, and one that employed America in World War I. She speaks with “99% local people.” In this way, Betrayal hope, speculating that since Hawaiians have functioned as creative outlet and training the vote, they may “be able to vote our lands ground for the production of local history. back.” In contrast to her male friend who can- not, a feminist Liliùokalani can imagine that 3. Hawaiì Independent Production: women, too, will some day vote in America. Act of War: The Overthrow of the Since Kukui Foundation had been turned Hawaiian Nation (1993) down, quite unequivocally, for funding from Na Maka o ka Àina (Eyes of the Land) is national organizations, there was little ex- a two-person video production company pectation of broadcast outside the Islands. established and operated by Puhipau and However, once Betrayal was completed, Ku- Joan Lander.16 Puhipau (also known as kui successfully negotiated with the American Abraham Ahmad, Jr.) was born of a Hawaiian Program Service of PBS. Many PBS stations mother and Palestinian father and has lived

90 SPRING 2003 ANDERSON

Joan Lander and Puhipau during production. in the Islands most of his life; Lander came to for a documentary on the overthrow to the Hawaiì in 1970. In 1980 Puhipau and Lander recently formed Independent Television Ser- formed a political, personal, and professional vice (ITVS). 17 Their $290,000 proposal was alliance. Since 1981 Na Maka o ka Àina has approved; later they received $20,000 from produced more than one hundred videos. the Native American Public Broadcasting In some respects, Na Maka operates as guer- Consortium. For the fi rst time, Na Maka had rilla television, but Na Maka’s crucial links an operating budget that allowed produc- to state and federal support mark it as a suc- tion fl exibility and the opportunity to repay a cessful grassroots company with considerable decade of favors. Also for the first time, influence in its own community and an they had a contractual obligation to create a impressive reach beyond it. documentary for a national audience. Made with extremely modest budgets, Act of War was a joint project, with Uni- sometimes in Hawaiian, and often supported versity of Hawaiì Professors Haunani-Kay by the Hawaiì Department of Education, Na Trask and Lilikala Kameèleihiwa control- Maka productions were regularly screened on ling the script and Puhipau and Lander public access channels throughout the 1980s. making production decisions. The documen- In 1991, realizing that the centennial of the tary opens with a bold prologue of striking overthrow was approaching, and provoked contrasts: a female narrator begins a Hawai- by learning that a non-Hawaiian had plans ian creation legend; her voice and that story (which never materialized) for a historical of idyllic island life are ruptured by images film, Na Maka and colleagues decided they and synchronized sound from news footage had “better do one that has the Hawaiians’ of protests. Images of Hawaiian land and point of view.” They submitted a proposal sea and Hawaiian activism are juxtaposed

Oceania in the Age of Global Media 91 THE ABIDING SALIENCE OF THE LOCAL IN A GLOBAL AGE with the song “Blue Hawaii.” This musical dicted it would be important to Hawaiians sign of Hollywood Hawaiìthen pairs with and Osorio thinks it has been.18 visuals of tourism and (sub)urban sprawl. J. Kehaulani Kauanui argues that Act of War Under footage of a march, the narrator “recreates an indigenous genealogy…and of- summarizes Hawaiian history and announces fers a new way [for Hawaiians] to make sense a community perspective: of the loss.”19 But the producers also had an We are the Hawaiian people. These islands have obligation to make Act of War accessible to a always been our home. We were sovereign over broad audience, so the hour-long documenta- this land before there was an England, long be- ry is packed with details of Hawaiian history. fore there was a United States. By the nineteenth Periods are punctuated with grim statistics of century, our independent nation was recognized catastrophic declines in the native Hawaiian by the dominant powers of the world. And in population. More than 100 quotations are 1893, in an act of war, in an armed invasion, and incorporated into the audio track. Authors’ in violation of international law, our nation was names (or publications) and dates appear taken. And we have been compelled, against our on screen, but the historical figures are not right to self-determination, to become United States citizens. “enacted.” Instead, drawings, archival photo- graphs, political cartoons, and contemporary The news footage continues; a woman in photography of historic locations present a traditional Hawaiian clothing tells a cheer- visual equivalent of the historicity of the quo- ing crowd: “We are not American. We are tations. The commentators extend, analyze, not American. We are not American. We will and sometimes contradict these fragments of die as Hawaiians. We will never be Ameri- a historical record that is presented as often can.” Cut to title: Act of War: The Overthrow of untrustworthy or incomplete. the Hawaiian Nation. Approximately a third of the documen- Most viewers from Hawaiì would recog- tary focuses on four crucial days—January nize the events and individuals pictured in 14-17, 1893—which are recalled by Trask, the news clips from January 1993; the images Kameèleihiwa and Osorio. Each speaks of 15,000 marchers and of spokesperson Hau- directly to the camera, often in the present nani-Kay Trask would operate as reminders of tense. As elsewhere, quotations are voiced, the challenge to public memory mounted by here edited in an especially rapid tempo. Hawaiian activists. Viewers completely unfa- The most obvious rupture in presentational miliar with Hawaiì could still recognize the style and mode of argument comes when the iconography of protest and the documentary’s source of the title is revealed to be President unambiguous rhetorical position. Grover Cleveland, who said: “By an act of The fi lm’s strategy is persuasion through war, the government of a friendly and confi d- historical elaboration. Four scholars—Trask, ing people has been overthrown. A substantial Kameèleihiwa, Kekuni Blaisdell, and Jon wrong has thus been done which we should Kamakawiwoòle Osorio—all Hawaiians, all endeavor to repair.”20 The film then shifts identifi ed with their academic credentials, join to a mele (traditional Hawaiian song) on the the off-screen narrator in telling the story of soundtrack and archival footage of turn-of- the overthrow of the Hawaiian nation. Trask the-century life in Hawaiì on the visual track. is the primary storyteller, with almost fifty Superimposed on these vintage moving im- turns. Blaisdell is not identifi ed as “Citizen ages is an English translation of the Hawaiian of the Hawaiian Nation” as he had been in song lyrics, alternating with captions describ- Hawaiians, but that citizenship is implied ing historical events of 1894-96, including the through an attitude of righteous indignation declaration of the Republic of Hawaiì in 1894, that characterizes the comments of all four the (failed) counter-revolution of 1895 and the speakers. According to Osorio, Act of War is imprisonment and subsequent pardoning “Native history, revisionist history.” When of the Queen. In a dramatic gesture, English the historian joined the project, Puhipau pre- 92 SPRING 2003 ANDERSON narration is silenced. from the Hawaiì House of Representatives After recalling how “the taking of the in recognition of their work, with particular Hawaiian Islands” was pivotal in establishing mention of the international success of Act of the United States as a global military power, War. the narrator concludes with recognizing the Na¯ Maka also operates as a distribution tragedy of post-annexation Hawaiian life, company for its productions. They have sold not as something that happened in the past to over 1,000 copies of Act of War, mostly to “them,” but as a present, lived experience for American universities (splitting profi ts with “us.” Act of War ends with a call to action: ITVS), and have donated an equal number. And what has been the result of becoming part The documentary is used in many classrooms, of America? Our children were punished for often in combination with other Na¯ Maka speaking our native language; taught to be productions.24 Sporadic screenings at inter- ashamed of our culture, our names, our skin. national festivals continue. In 2002-2003 the Our home became America’s playground, their documentary played on World Link, a global battleground, their 50th state, their real estate. satellite network, on the Aboriginal Peoples And in our own homeland, we are the homeless, Television Network throughout Canada, and we are the poor, we have the shortest life expec- on Free Speech TV, another satellite network. tancy, we are the uneducated, we fi ll the prisons. For Hawaiians living off-islands, Act of War But, after more than a century of dispossession, we are still here. Today we are discovering our functions as an important organizing tool for 25 history, learning our language and asserting the sovereignty movement. our right to the land and to self-determination. The time has come for us, the Kanaka Maoli, to Local Hawaiian Community: Telling once again take our place among the family of the Story of the Annexation of 1898 nations. In anticipation of the August 12, 1998 cen- In May 1993 public screenings of Act of War tennial observance of the U.S. annexation began in Honolulu; in June it was broadcast of Hawaiì and propelled by recent archival on Hawaiì Public Television with little pub- fi ndings by a Hawaiian researcher of native licity; in September with far more. In 1994, petitions against annexation, Na¯ Maka o ka it screened broadly in the international fes- Àina and Hawaiì Public Television both tival circuit and aired on public television co-produced historical documentaries that stations on the continent through the Pacifi c extended and deepened the revisionism Mountain Network Satellite feed.21 Reviews, of earlier productions. locally and globally, were mainly positive, 1. Hawaiì Independent Production: many strongly so; most reviewers considered We Are Who We Were: From Resistance the documentary historically credible, politi- to Affi rmation (1998) cally persuasive, and morally necessary.22 In June 1993, while visiting a Hawaiian health Co-produced by The Hawaiian Patriotic ¯ clinic, Hillary Rodham Clinton met a friend League and Na Maka, this fi fteen-minute video of the producers of Act of War, who gave her makes a startling claim: there was no annexa- a video copy and asked her to show it to the tion of Hawaiì. Through a combination of president. By the end of the year Na¯ Maka narration and voiced quotations of historical was able to add a postscript to Act of War that fi gures, the documentary summarizes recent announced that [then] President Bill Clinton fi ndings of historian Noenoe Silva that dem- had signed a congressional joint resolution onstrate widespread resistance to annexation. that acknowledged the illegal overthrow of It outlines the requisites for a legal treaty and the Kingdom of Hawaiì and apologized to then argues that Joint Resolution 55, passed Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people by a simple congressional majority in 1898, of the United States.23 In 1994, Lander and did not have the effect of a treaty and, thus, Puhipau received an offi cial commendation American sovereignty has never existed in the

Oceania in the Age of Global Media 93 THE ABIDING SALIENCE OF THE LOCAL IN A GLOBAL AGE

Islands. The documentary addresses a Hawai- of August 1998, the centennial of annexation. ian community with its assertion that “It is an Throughout Nation Within, Coffman and illusion that we went from being Hawaiian Chong-Stannard blend national and local subjects to American citizens.” Before the perspectives. Their documentary begins centennial, the video mobilized this constitu- and ends in Washington, D.C., grounding ency with its mention, after the credit roll, of a its history in that site of American decision- planned anti-annexation march for August 12, making, but the fi gures within that ground 1998. The copyright indicates rights reserved are two Hawaiian researchers (at the National under “Hawaiian Kingdom Law.”26 Archives, in the opening scene) and a statue During the summer of 1998 Na¯ Maka of King Kamehameha (in the statuary hall of distributed copies of We Are Who We Were to the Capital, in the fi nal scene). Nation Within all the Hawaiian organizations that comprised is refl exive about the historical project. The the Annexation Centennial Committee. It work of historical research is shown and the played repeatedly on public access channels; issue of historical revisionism is recognized, the Hawaiian Patriotic League purchased in references to events and people labeled airtime for its broadcast several days before as either forgotten or misrepresented. This the centennial on the local FOX affiliate. rhetorical strategy culminates in naming two Predictably, the video provoked strong feel- infl uential—and, to the documentarians, dis- ings. “The annexation that never was” was reputable—publications: Belle M. Brain’s 1898 debated on local talk radio, as was the docu- book The Transformation of Hawaii, is labeled mentary’s presentation of a controversial legal “the fi rst volume of what became a vast lit- claim that, by July of 1998, had resulted in a erature of denial” and Lorrin Thurston’s 1936 United Nations Report that recommended that memoirs are characterized as “setting the Hawaiì be included in a United Nations list tone for the written history of Hawaii in the of “non self-governing territories” and thus twentieth century.” become eligible for decolonization and a U.N.- Nation Within seeks to end a century sponsored plebiscite. of denial of the widespread, organized, and sustained resistance by Hawaiians to 2. Hawaiì Public Television Co- American intervention in, and control of, Production: Nation Within: The Story their nation. The fi rst words heard in Nation of America’s Annexation of the Nation Within are in Hawaiian (then translated into of Hawaii (1998) English); these words quote a petition against In early 1997, Tom Coffman, the former chief annexation, which, along with another, political reporter for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, carried the signatures of almost the entire began to write a documentary treatment and Hawaiian population. Six historians and writ- a book-length manuscript on the annexation ers collaborate on-screen to tell an American period. Coffman, who has lived in Hawaiì for story of expansionism, personified in the almost forty years, was committed to taking figure of Theodore Roosevelt. They also the concept of Hawaiian nationhood seriously provide an account of Hawaiian resolve that while simultaneously understanding annexa- pictures Queen Liliùokalani as a steadfast tion as an American event.27 He obtained champion of the Hawaiian nation, but she is funding support from a variety of founda- not alone in her courage. The Hawaiian nations and formed a crucial collaboration with tionalist leader Joseph Nawahi emerges as an KHET, which provided staff, facilities, and infl uential presence; male and female mem- broadcast potential. KHET producer-director bers of the Hawaiian Patriotic Leagues appear Joy Chong-Stannard, whose credits include as staunch opponents to an American destiny co-direction of Betrayal and whose family has whose inevitability was—and through the lived in the Islands for fi ve generations, joined onscreen comments, continues to be—chal- the project as director. They set a target date lenged. Nation Within is the tragic story of a

94 SPRING 2003 ANDERSON nation, not a single, heroic individual. It tracks heritage of a 2,000-year-old society.” The doc- the complicated relationships of American pol- umentary ends with Hawaiì`s part, as a U.S. iticians and businessmen with the missionary territory, in setting the stage for America’s descendants who orchestrated the overthrow emergence as a great naval power in what and then controlled the territorial government became known as “the American century.” of Hawaiì. This fact-driven, eighty-fi ve-min- Hawaiì Public Television broadcast Na- ute documentary also explores the global tion Within twice in the week preceding the politics of the 1890s, building on Coffman’s August 12, 1998 centennial of the annexation original historical research to demonstrate and again in October. The day after the fi rst how pro-annexationists in Hawaiì exploited broadcast, producer Tom Coffman responded American fears of a Japanese empire. to Thurston Twigg-Smith and others on a By opening with the quotation “To under- special live radio show; local newspapers fea- stand today, you have to search yesterday,” tured debate on the documentary during the Nation Within announces its concern with centennial week.28 Although 76 public televi- current political realities, but the local sov- sion stations broadcast a 60-minute version of ereignty movement is never mentioned. It Nation Within in 1999 and American Public is certainly referenced visually (for a local Television has re-licensed the documentary audience) when television news footage of a for a second four-year period, Coffman’s early 1993 demonstration supporting sovereignty attempt to place Nation Within on The American pairs with the narrator’s recognition that the Experience was unsuccessful. He was told that centennial of the overthrow was an occasion the series had already covered a related topic for retelling stories of Hawaiì’s last queen. with Hawaii’s Last Queen; moreover, his use of By implication, the 1998 centennial of the an- multiple narrators would not be acceptable, nexation (with its anticipated atmosphere of since “we [at The American Experience] have protest) should be an occasion for “unearthing one narrative voice of history.”29 the strange fi ve years” between the overthrow and the annexation. And the title supports the Conclusion: Producing Locally, contention that a Hawaiian nation exists with- Reaching Globally in America. Two Hawaiian scholars—Noenoe What might be learned to foster a general un- Silva and Jon Kamakawiwoòle Osorio—are derstanding of the salience of the local in an pivotal in telling the story of native protest. age of global media from these six particular Silva and Osorio speak with force, convic- production histories? First and foremost, lo- tion, even outrage, but always as scholars, cal productions demonstrate a variety, vitality never using the fi rst person to claim personal and an impact on local audiences—and be- identifi cation. It is to voiced quotations that yond—that should not be overlooked. At both the documentary turns for personal recollec- local and national levels, public funds and tions, as expressed by Hawaiian, American, corporate underwriting anticipate, infl uence, and Japanese writers/speakers. Three narra- and reinforce production agendas. In many tors bring different perspectives to a climatic respects, local public television in Hawaiì point of joint agreement: this annexation story operates as a mirror, on different economies is a tale of injustice. One of the narrators notes of scale, of the national public television that treaties “should have” a two-thirds vote agenda to appeal to and represent diverse, of the Senate and implies moving to a joint but ultimately united, communities. There are resolution (passed by a simple majority vote) ongoing challenges to the notion that any mi- was dishonorable. The legality of annexation nority community and its viewpoint(s) can be is not explicitly challenged, but a narrator fairly represented by skilled and sympathetic claims that, with annexation, “A small band of professionals, even if that group’s represen- white men, supported by the government of tatives are included in some participatory the United States, had given away the national capacities. General resentments often fi nd ex-

Oceania in the Age of Global Media 95 THE ABIDING SALIENCE OF THE LOCAL IN A GLOBAL AGE pression in specifi cs, presumed emblematic of of history matters to communities. Viewers ignorance, disregard, or bias. Special funding obviously respond to texts, but they are also sources seem necessary to break the loop receptive to the conditions of production and put under-represented communities in and exhibition. Local projects have pride of control of their own representations; yet, place to local audiences. In contemporary even in situations of ideal internal harmony, Hawaiì, the debates about sovereignty are so there remains another power struggle for intense, and the consequences so great, that credibility that extends beyond the confi nes any production dealing with the events of of “point of view.”30 Assumptions of a unifi ed 1893-1898 automatically becomes part of a community perspective (of history, of public recognized struggle over historical repre- memory, of current political agenda) based sentation and public memory. The work of on race, ethnicity, or cultural identification Na¯ Maka o ka Àina has been at the center of are as problematic at the local level as they that struggle.31 In the last generation, his- are at the national level. In many discourses torical opinions and ways of “doing history” surrounding these productions “the Hawai- considered mainstream have changed signifi - ian perspective” is an unstable referent, more cantly, but contestation remains, on both sides clear in its rejection of past historical writing of the stream. and attitudes than in its embrace of a current At the national level, attitudinal shifts are political agenda. less drastic and more diffuse, but still refl ect Second, although national funds rarely a spirit of revisionism. For many Americans, fl ow to local projects, distribution patterns are Vivian Ducat’s admiring portrait of Hawaii’s increasingly fl exible, while remaining tied to Last Queen (which has the endorsement of an resources and sponsorship. The international honorable mention for the 1998 Erik Barnouw festival circuit, desktop publishing, web sites, Award from the Organization of American Internet streaming, satellite transmission, and Historians) has become the official and links to various distribution sites facilitate the complete history of the overthrow and its (pe- ability for local productions to reach national ripheral) place in the American imagination; and even global audiences and to reach be- it may occupy that position for some time. yond television screens through home and Ironically, the documentary most determined educational video markets. Nevertheless, to present the overthrow and annexation as a access to broad reaching well established, not-at-all-peripheral in American history— and well-maintained distribution channels Nation Within—was produced in Hawaiì. is neither guaranteed nor easily available The signifi cance of this documentary, along to many local productions. Local history with the others discussed, will be refocused usually remains local. Still, projects designed and their opportunities to intensify, solidify, for local audiences partially, and perhaps and challenge various senses of community ironically, often measure their success by the will be renewed and expanded in Spring 2003 breadth of audience reach. when the 108th Congress considers a resolu- Third, context shapes expectations and tion supporting Hawaiian Sovereignty. understandings of audiences. The production

96 SPRING 2003 ANDERSON

NOTES This essay revises “Contested Public Memories: Hawaiian History as Hawaiian or American Experience,” 143- 168 in Television Histories: Shaping Collective Memory in the Media Age, eds. Gary R. Edgerton and Peter C. Rollins (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2001). Both essays grew from the author’s participation in a 1997 NEH Summer Seminar at the East-West Center, University of Hawaiì. 1. Hawaiì is the traditional Hawaiian language form of the word. Native activists re-introduced Hawaiian pronunciation markings a generation ago. By the 1990s, the state was incorporating traditional accents and diacritical marks in all Hawaiian words printed at state offi ces. In 2003, such usage is widespread, although not universal, in the Islands. I adopt traditional usage in this essay; however, in the title Hawaii’s Last Queen and in the transcript provided by The American Experience, the American English formation “Hawaii” is employed, so I replicate that form in quotations from and references to the documentary. The resulting inconsistency in these markings/spellings reminds us that history is written, and revised, and communities are assembled, and split, through language. 2. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Refl ections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, rev. and extended 2nd ed. New York: Verso, 1991. 3. See David Glassberg, “Public History and the Study of Memory,” The Public Historian, 18: 2 (Spring 1996): (pp. 7- 23) and Raymond Williams, “The Future of Cultural Studies,” (pp. 151-162), in The Politics of Modernism. London: Verso, 1989. 4. Michael S. Roth, “Hiroshima, Mon Amour: You Must Remember This,” 91. In Revisioning History: Film and the Con- struction of a New Past, ed. Robert A. Rosenstone. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. 5. Information on Ducat and Hawaii’s Last Queen was obtained from an interview with Ducat, March 7, 1998, New York and from personal correspondence in 1998, 1999 and 2003. 6. Interview with Margaret Drain, Executive Producer, February 17, 1998, Boston. According to Drain, a producer re- ceives $8,000- $15,000 for research and development, which is then deducted from the production budget. Drain took exception to the average cost per hour for FY 97—$740,500—that Daniel Golden claimed in his four-part series on WGBH; she put costs at $400,000-$500,000. See “Local Programming Doesn’t Rate,” Boston Globe, June 23, 1997, p. A9. Golden’s estimate includes station overhead and educational outreach; he lists his source as WGBH. 7. Ducat, as quoted by Tim Ryan, “Portraits of the Past,” Honolulu Star Bulletin, November 2, 1994, D1. 8. This description of the audience is from Drain, personal interview. Drain was surprised at the “heat” surrounding Queen Liliùokalani and said she did not think the series had “done [any other] fi lm that has so many current- day political ramifi cations as Hawaii’s Last Queen.” 9. Twigg-Smith, “Overthrow Documentary Left Out Important Details,” Honolulu Star Bulletin, January 29, 1997, p. A1; ”The American Experience: Hawaii’s Last Queen Needs Critical View,” Molokai Advertiser-News, January 15, 1997. 10. For example, “Last Hawaiian Monarch Still Revered,” Rocky Mountain News [Denver], January 27, 1997. 11. See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/Hawaii/ 12. In its most common Hawaiì use, “Hawaiian” is a classifi cation of indigeneity, not residency. See J. Kehaulani Kauanui, “Off-Island Hawaiians ‘Making’ Ourselves at ‘Home’: A (Gendered) Contradiction in Terms?” Women’s Studies International Forum 21:6 (1998): 681-693 on the complications of identifi cation. Until fairly recently, the term “local” was a non-problematic term for those, especially non-Caucasians, born and raised in Hawaii. The Hawaiian words kamaàina (old resident) and malahini (newcomer) also indicate residency distinctions. Hawaii state and U.S. federal defi nitions of “native Hawaiian” impose a 50 percent plus blood quantum rule. This rule is resented and often ignored by many Kanaka Maoli who identify as “Hawaiian.” Yet, as Blaisdell and Makuau report, this rule simultaneously leads 96 percent of Hawaiians to describe themselves as “racially mixed,” Kekuni Blaisdell and Noreen Mokuau, “Kanaka Maoli, Indigenous Hawaiians,” in Hawaiì Return to Nationhood, 49-67, ed. Jonathan Freidman and Ulla Hasager, IWGIA Document 75. (Copenhagen: The International Working Group for Indigenous Affi ars, 1993). 13. Telephone interview with Ellen Pelissero, March 8, 1998. All subsequent quotations from Pelissero are based on this interview and personal correspondence. For example, Haunani-Kay Trask, a faculty member at the Univer- sity of Hawaiì, who, along with her sister, attorney Mililani Trask, founded Ka Lahui Hawaiì, a native initiative for self-government. Pelissero has studied Hawaiian, but does not consider herself fl uent. 15. See Jeff Nicolay, “Betrayal,” Honolulu Star Bulletin and Advertiser, TV Week, January 17-23, 1993, 1, and Stu Glauber- man, “Overthrow Documentary Funded by the State,” Honolulu Advertiser, August 17,1992, A4. Nicolay quotes Sai as saying “sovereignty is inevitable. I think [Betrayal] will only help direct the people of Hawaii with a positive understanding of the basis for sovereignty. This can only come about if we all understand what happened in history and why.” Background information on Betrayal and related projects provided by Ellen Pelissero. 16. Information on Na Maka comes from a personal interview with the producers, July 27, 1997, Naàlehu, Hawaiì, various ¯profi les in the Act of War press kit, including Catherine Kekoa Enomoto, “The Fallen Reign,” Honolulu Star Bulletin, March 22, 1992, F1, and personal correspondence. For further information, access www.namaka.com 17. ITVS was created by U.S. Congressional action in 1988 obligating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

Oceania in the Age of Global Media 97 THE ABIDING SALIENCE OF THE LOCAL IN A GLOBAL AGE

to set aside monies for productions of independent producers with the stated purpose of increasing diversity of programming and addressing the needs of unserved and underserved audiences. See “Friends of Public Television,” Wall Street Journal, February 7, 1992, p. A14, for complaints lodged in Congress by Senator Robert Dole, and by the editorial writer, regarding the “radical” productions funded by ITVS, among them Act of War. Between 1974 and 1981, fi ve minority consortia—including the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium and the Pacifi c Islander Educational Network—were established to add diversity to public television. Hawaiians are inconsistently included in various federal mandates that address Native American concerns. 18. Interview with Jon Kamakawiwoòle Osorio, July 22, 1997, Honolulu and subsequent personal correspondence. 19. J. Kehaulani Kauanui, “Images of Struggle/Imagining Nations: An Act of War for Off-Island Education on Hawai- ian Sovereignty.” Unpublished manuscript, presented at the ASAO Meeting, February 1997. 20. Cleveland, “Message to the Senate and House of Representatives,” December 18, 1893, Affairs in Hawaii, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1894, (p. 456). 21. An ITVS report issued July 3, 1997 indicated that 93 public television stations (out of 300) had broadcast Act of War, some stations multiple times. Not all stations respond. 22. The day of a local rebroadcast of Act of War on KHET, Vicki Viotti wrote “The video’s view of history is open to criticism.” The Honolulu Advertiser, September 17, 1993. Reviewers outside of Hawaiì often linked the documentary to other native rights struggles. 23. Joint Resolution Senate Resolution, #19 of the 103rd Congress, introduced by Senator Daniel K. Akaka of Hawaiì, was signed on November 23, 1993. United States Public Law 103-150, 1993 states that “the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States, either through their monarchy or through plebiscite or referendum.” 24. One of many signs of Na Maka’s identifi cation with and allegiance to a local constituency is the substantial differ- ence in price for local buyers compared to others. In early 2003, the Na Maka web site lists the price for a video copy of Act of War for “Hawaiì¯ Institutions” at $65 and “Non-Hawaiì Institutions” at $165. (For any home use, a video is $35. ¯ 25. Kauanui, passim. At the symposia “Native Pacifi c Cultural Studies: On the Edge,” University of California at Santa Cruz, February 11-12, 2000 and “Pacifi c Islands, Atlantic Worlds,” New York University, October 25-27, 2001, participants (including members of the Hawaiian diaspora) noted the importance of Act of War and other historical videos in both teaching and organizing. See The Contemporary Pacifi c: A Journal of Island Affairs (13:2, Fall 2001). 26. According to Joan Lander, as of January 2003, the most comprehensive web sites containing current information on these issues are: http://www.Hawaii-nation.org/ index.html; http://www.hookele.com/ kuhikuhi/ea.html; http://www.Hawaiiankingdom.org/; http://www.AlohaQuest.com and http:// libweb.Hawaii.edu/libdept/Hawaiian/annexation/petition.html. 27. Information from telephone interviews with Tom Coffman, October 12, 1998 and February 1, 2003 and personal correspondence. Additional information on Nation Within came from telephone conversations and personal correspondence with Joy Chong-Stannard, March, April, and October, 1998. Video and book versions of Nation Within are available through Amazon.com. 28. See Twigg-Smith, Hawaiian Sovereignty: Do the Facts Matter? Honolulu: Goodale Publishing, 1998. 29. The account is from Coffman, of his meeting with Senior Producer Mark Samels, at WGBH, Boston. 30. The fi rst publicity materials carried the subtitle: “Hawaiian history through Hawaiian eyes.” Before its premiere festival screening Puhipau stated, “Act of War is a historical account of what went down 100 years ago. It’s not merely a point of view” (Gary C. W. Chun, “Reely Big Show,” Honolulu Advertiser, November 7, 1993, G1). 31. Na Maka has forged ties with many native communities. The organization participates in world indigenous media arts festivals and conferences and their work is programmed on multiple satellite networks for aboriginal¯ peoples. Puhipau is included in Living Voices, a compilation of audio interviews with Native Americans and Pacifi c Islanders sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. (See http: //www.nmai.si.edu/livingvoices/html/eng_vol3.html)

98 SPRING 2003