Ku'e Petitions

Book excerpt: In 1897-98, the Hui Hawai'i Aloha '?ina mounted a massive political drive, collecting more than 21,000 signatures for the Palapala Hoopii Kue Hoohuiaina, a petition against the annexation of the Kingdom of Hawai'i by the United States. Submitted to the U.S. Congress, the K?'? Petitions (as they are now commonly known) were successful in defeating the treaty of annexation. They fell into obscurity before re-entering the consciousness of the l?hui in 1998, when scholar Noenoe K. Silva found them at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.Today, the K?'? Petitions are as important to the l?hui as when they were originally signed. K?'? Petitions: A Mau Loa Aku N? features all of the petitions in brilliant full-color; compelling essays by Kanaka Maoli authors Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, N?lani Minton, and Noenoe K. Silva; and a location-based index to help readers look up their ancestors.