Turtle Talk

Central to the issues in this case are statutes passed in 1993 by both the Hawaii State Legislature and the U.S. Congress recognizing the 100th anniversary of the monarchy’s overthrow. On the state level, three related statutes recounted the story of the monarchy’s overthrow and annexation of Hawaii, acknowledged that neither Native Hawaiians or their government had consented to the cessation of land, declared the U.S.’s actions “illegal and immoral,” and resolved to support efforts by Native Hawaiians to vindicate their rights and to establish their own sovereign government. Congress subsequently issued an Apology Resolution that described the monarchy’s overthrow and apologized to Native Hawaiians. And in 1997, the Hawaii Legislature passed another statute clarifying the proper management of lands held in trust for the benefit of Native Hawaiians and embracing the facts laid out in the federal Apology Resolution.