No Aʻu

Hawaiʻi Aloha ʻĀina
Love of the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Patriotism

No Treaty of Cession: Exploding the Negationist History of Hawaiʻi

I am a proud descendant of Loke Kaʻilikea of Kaupō, Maui, Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina (Hawaiian Islands), who signed the Kūʻē Petition that defeated annexation in 1898, preserving the independence of the Hawaiian Islands to this day, including the continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom as a sovereign and independent State under international law. There exists no annexation treaty ceding the Hawaiian archipelago to the United States. Historically, there were two failed attempts to ratify such a treaty of cession in the U.S. Senate, in 1893 and 1897. If territorial annexation of the Hawaiian Islands could be accomplished unilaterally through a congressional joint resolution, it would have been pursued in the first place, without first seeking ratification of a bilateral treaty of annexation.

A joint resolution of U.S. Congress is a domestic statute--legislation which has no legal force to unilaterally acquire a foreign independent Country such as the Hawaiian Kingdom. The U.S. could no more pass a joint resolution today to annex Canada, than it has pretended to do with Hawaiʻi since 1898. The joint resolution of 1898 unilaterally seized the Hawaiian Islands as a tactical measure during the Spanish-American War, albeit in violation of the State neutrality of the Hawaiian Islands under international law. Thus, the Hawaiian Kingdom remains directly under belligerent occupation by the United States since August 12th, 1898. Hence, the U.S. is not the "Mainland" of Hawaiʻi and there is no such thing as "ceded" lands—the correct term is seized lands.

The illegal takeover of the Hawaiian Kingdom government in 1893 did not extinguish the Hawaiian Kingdom as a State, which remains in existence today under international law. There is a strong presumption of State continuity, a principle of international law which shifts the burden of proof to the United States. It is not the Hawaiian Kingdom which has to prove its existence, but the United States which must prove that it extinguished the Hawaiian Kingdom under international law. The Hawaiian Kingdom is a neutral Country which was never at war with the United States, and never declared war upon the United States. There is no treaty of conquest or voluntary cession by which the United States can claim annexation of the Hawaiian Islands by means other than the joint resolution of 1898, which is not capable of unilaterally acquiring a foreign State that is a member of the Family of Nations. Furthermore, an abundant history of protest against American takeover in the Hawaiian Islands negates any potential claim to Hawaiian sovereignty that the U.S. could hypothetically make based on acquiescence or prescriptive acquisition.

The Hawaiian Kingdom achieved international recognition of its independence beginning in 1843. Therefore, Hawaiʻi did not need statehood in 1959, because it was already achieved in 1843. In 1845, Texas was bilaterally admitted as a state of the American Union, prior to unequivocal annexation of its territory through the bilateral Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. In 1898, Hawaiʻi was purportedly annexed unilaterally as an unincorporated territory of the United States, which is not the same as bilateral statehood admission. Hence, the history of how Texas became part of the United States is not a valid precedent for the alleged annexation of Hawaiʻi through unilateral declaration via a domestic joint resolution of U.S. Congress.

The subsequent vote in 1959 was for statehood admission and not for territorial annexation. In fact, the so-called statehood admission vote of 1959 expressly disclaims that it annexed the Hawaiian Islands. The only official claim to the Hawaiian territory that has ever made by the United States is through the joint resolution of 1898. However, there is no enumerated power in the U.S. Constitution for annexation of a foreign country by a joint enactment of Congress. Domestic affairs are reserved for Congress, while foreign affairs are reserved for the President and Senate. Therefore, there is no constitutional basis or historical precedent for the alleged annexation of Hawaiʻi by a joint resolution in 1898. That year, only one of the 90 Senators in the 55th U.S. Congress claimed that annexation by joint resolution was constitutional. Additionally, the perceived annexation of Hawaiʻi in 1898 has no basis or precedent under international law. The so-called "50th State" may legally be part of the U.S.A., but like an empty container it is without a lawful territory. Hawaiʻi is an independent albeit belligerently occupied Country in Polynesia, Pacific Islands, Oceania.

Occupation Denial and Distortion

Hawaiian Islands - Occupied Never Annexed

Hawaiian Kingdom - Independent but Illegally Occupied

What is the Mainland of the Hawaiian Islands?

The mainland of the Hawaiian Islands is the island of Hawaiʻi in terms of geographical size; Oʻahu in terms of population and the seat of government of the Hawaiian Kingdom--a sovereign and independent nation-state illegally occupied since January, 17, 1893. There is no treaty of cession which makes another country the mainland of the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian Kingdom is the mainland of the Hawaiian Islands.