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Hawai'i is known as the fiftieth state of the United States, and a paradise or tourist destination for vacation getaways. Few understand, or are aware, of the complex political history of the former island nation that has led to the possession of its territory by the United States. Throughout the process of colonization and dispossession of the Hawaiian nation, the United States government has either obfuscated the illegality and history of the role it played or attempted to justify it. Utilizing some of the main charges leveled against the United States government, predominately by native Hawaiians known as the Kānaka Maoli, during an international tribunal held in 1993, one hundred years after the overthrow of the lawful government of Hawai'i, as its framework, this thesis will provide evidence that indicates the United States government was conspiring to, and carrying out, a slow, low-intensity invasion and occupation of the Hawaiian nation beginning as early as 1819 and that continues to the present. In addition, the four main claims utilized by the United States to justify title to the Islands and to extinguish any Kānaka Maoli claims of sovereignty will be analyzed and shown to be illegal and ill-founded. Those four claims being: (1) the coup of 1893 by American interests and U.S. military forces; (2) the annexation of the Islands by the Newlands resolution of 1898; (3) the 1959 statehood vote; and (4) the doctrine of acquisitive prescription. The conclusion will draw on international legal principles to show the illegality of United States government actions in Hawai'i along with providing a possible path towards the full expression of the right of self-determination by Hawai'i's Indigenous peoples, the Kānaka Maoli.
Advisor: | Morris, Glenn T. |
Commitee: | Everett, Jana, McGuffey, Lucy |
School: | University of Colorado at Denver |
Department: | Political Science |
School Location: | United States -- Colorado |
Source: | MAI 51/02M(E), Masters Abstracts International |
Source Type: | DISSERTATION |
Subjects: | Pacific Rim Studies, Political science, International law |
Keywords: | Colonialism, Colonization, Hawaii, Indigenous rights, Kanaka Maoli, Self-determination |
Publication Number: | 1516699 |
ISBN: | 978-1-267-55616-5 |