U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Native Hawaiians

Indian Country Today reports that on March 31, the U.S. Supreme Court "ruled that Congress’ apology for overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 bears no moral, political or legal weight in stopping the State of Hawaii from selling 1.2 million acres of land seized during the illegal regime change before resolving land claims by Native Hawaiians." J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, author of Hawaiian Blood, is quoted in the article, saying "This (ruling) is a legal fiction to cover up the fact that the U.S. government accepted the stolen lands from the Republic of Hawaii government that confiscated these lands after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Republic of Hawaii could not have ceded these lands in 'absolute fee' to the United States because they were stolen. The U.S. government accepted the stolen goods and cannot prove title because they were stolen without Hawaiian people’s consent and without compensation."