Title: Who are Native Hawaiians? | Mana‘o Ulu Wale - Random Musings
Headings: 
Who are Native Hawaiians?
The Creation
Kaulana Na Pua
A Long Time Coming
Ceded Lands
Hawaiians Today
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Content: In order to cope with increasing foreign contacts, the Hawaiian Kingdom began adopting western legal systems such as a parliament, a constitution and treaties with other nations. As the world discovered the riches of Hawaiian waters and forests, as well as the fertility of Hawaiian soil, the children of American missionaries stationed in the islands began their fight to own Hawaiian lands. Like many native peoples, Hawaiians did not believe one could possess land, but rather that land was to be held communally for the good of the entire society. With great pressure from the United States, a new system of land tenure was established in which ostensibly anyone, but more importantly – foreigners, could own the land. U.S. Involvement and the Overthrow
At the end of the 19th century, the United States’ interest in Hawai‘i was at a feverish pitch. American merchants and plantation owners had a stranglehold on the islands’ rich economy, and Hawai‘i’s strategic location in the Pacific made it an invaluable military base. It was therefore with great trepidation that the U.S. watched as the Hawaiian government strengthened its ties with European nations, as well as worked to reestablish control of Hawaiian lands and wealth. In response, American merchants called upon the U.S. military to aid in the overthrow of the Kingdom, a nation which had been allied by treaty to the United States for more than seventy years. In 1893, U.S. Marines forced Queen Lili‘uokalani to abdicate, disbanded Parliament, and installed a group of American businessmen as the leaders of the new Provisional Government. Two years later, the deposed queen was imprisoned.