The 1993 film, The Act of War – The Overthrow of the
Hawaiian Nation, I thought was definitely a compelling yet devastating
documentary about the annexation of Hawaii from the Hawaiian’s point of view. The
documentary told the story of Hawaii’s history from pre-Western contact up
until the annexation through many old photographs, voice-overs (as if Queen
Lili’oukalani, King Kalakaua, etc. were speaking), interviews by well-educated scholars,
stage reenactments of the event, etc. This documentary was definitely important
especially for the Hawaiians to know the genealogy and make sense of what
Hawaii had loss many years ago. I thought it also impacted people more
especially since it came out on the anniversary when this tragic event
happened.
Up until now, I never actually learned much about the
overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy simply because they never taught about
Hawaii’s history in my secondary school. Watching this documentary, The Act of
War, and learning what happened 120 so years ago is very fascinating to know
the history of Hawaii considering HPU is so close to where this whole event
took place. I never really noticed how much history surrounds me until I saw
this documentary. In the beginning of the documentary, a woman speaking to a
crowd says, “We are not American. We are not American. We are not American. We will
die as Hawaiians. We will never be American” was a very powerful start to go
into the history of Hawaii’s annexation. The overthrow of Queen Lili’oukalani
was definitely a great tragedy for her and for her people. I felt that it was
unethical that the US American troops trespassed on Hawaiian soil prepared to
threaten to take down the monarchy when they had no right to do so (violation
of international law). It was
disappointing to know that they took away everything from the Hawaiian nation –
their land, their monarchy, their culture, their language, and their
independence. To have all those things stripped from you – not being able to
speak your native tongue, being taught to be ashamed of your culture, and letting
America do what they want with their land completely sucks. Due respect for
Queen Lili’oukalani though for keeping her composure to ensure that her and her
people were safe from bloodshed and still fighting and hoping for the US to
restore her back to her throne.
All in all, for what Hawaii is now, I think that the
Hawaiian culture (learning the language, the history, etc) should be more
emphasized in elementary, middle, and high schools not just an option to take
classes learning about it in college. Also, what’s left of Hawaii’s sacred land
should be left untouched to still keep the beauty of Hawaii for what there’s
left of it. There’s so much Hawaiian history and Hawaiian culture that
surrounds us and people should learn and know about it.
