remember (never forget, never stop resisting)
by Koa Luke
I remember... I remember when my ancestors could fish in Puʻuloa and be nourished by the fresh water wai it was famous for.
I remember... I remember Kaʻahupāhau and Kahiʻukā the manō who would swim mauka to be fed by the people who had aloha for their ʻaumakua, who in turn protected them.
I remember... I remember a time when Puʻuloa wasn't filled with toxic sludge from america's weapons of mass destruction, and it flourished with loʻi kalo and loko iʻa: Hawaiian technology that is the antithesis of technology that poisons the ʻāina and causes problems like climate change.
I remember... I remember my ancestors being sustained by this ʻāina over multiple generations. They reciprocated this relationship by taking care of the land, which is the elder sibling, only to have it ripped away from them like a child being pulled from her mother's embrace.
I remember... I remember our kūpuna enacting wester style government infused with Hawaiian ways of knowing and values at the center. Adapting to world changes; to fight off imperialism.
And then I remember years later after traitors to the Hawaiian government took power and enacted laws disenfranchising Hawaiians; americans landing on our shores usurping our goverment and imprisoning our Queen because she heeded the call of her people and attempted to put forward a new kanaka centered constitution.
I remember the name of my kupuna, Josiah Keaweikekini, who at the age of 45, signed the Kūʻē petitions which stopped the 1897 annexation attempt by the u.s.; nonetheless our country was illegally annexed in 1898.
I remember... "I remember what my dear Queen Liliʻuokalani had said once: ' my people would rather eat pōhaku the stone than accept your money for our land'"
And I still remember the sorrow our kūpuna felt and the tears that fell from their faces raised the stars and stripes above our ʻāina.
And I know that our land and our people still exist, and we continue to fight for freedom.
never forget, never stop resisting.
* please click on underlined title for the link*
by Koa Luke
I remember... I remember when my ancestors could fish in Puʻuloa and be nourished by the fresh water wai it was famous for.
I remember... I remember Kaʻahupāhau and Kahiʻukā the manō who would swim mauka to be fed by the people who had aloha for their ʻaumakua, who in turn protected them.
I remember... I remember a time when Puʻuloa wasn't filled with toxic sludge from america's weapons of mass destruction, and it flourished with loʻi kalo and loko iʻa: Hawaiian technology that is the antithesis of technology that poisons the ʻāina and causes problems like climate change.
I remember... I remember my ancestors being sustained by this ʻāina over multiple generations. They reciprocated this relationship by taking care of the land, which is the elder sibling, only to have it ripped away from them like a child being pulled from her mother's embrace.
I remember... I remember our kūpuna enacting wester style government infused with Hawaiian ways of knowing and values at the center. Adapting to world changes; to fight off imperialism.
And then I remember years later after traitors to the Hawaiian government took power and enacted laws disenfranchising Hawaiians; americans landing on our shores usurping our goverment and imprisoning our Queen because she heeded the call of her people and attempted to put forward a new kanaka centered constitution.
I remember the name of my kupuna, Josiah Keaweikekini, who at the age of 45, signed the Kūʻē petitions which stopped the 1897 annexation attempt by the u.s.; nonetheless our country was illegally annexed in 1898.
I remember... "I remember what my dear Queen Liliʻuokalani had said once: ' my people would rather eat pōhaku the stone than accept your money for our land'"
And I still remember the sorrow our kūpuna felt and the tears that fell from their faces raised the stars and stripes above our ʻāina.
And I know that our land and our people still exist, and we continue to fight for freedom.
never forget, never stop resisting.
* please click on underlined title for the link*