LETTERS
ALOHA FROM HAWAI'I!

To the editor:

Great article on the history of Hawai'i's whaling industry and her relationship to your island.

But how do you all honor our Hawaiian national holiday? I hope its not treated like St. Patrick's Day, or ever worse like Cinco De Mayo?

For the average and aware Hawaiian person of aboriginal blood and to those who support our cause not of the blood, it is more of a day to reflect. We reflect on King Kamehameha's accomplishments and how his leadership relates to us today as we struggle with the U.S. and its illegal occupation of Hawai'i for over a hundred in our quest for our inherent right to sovereignty.

And I'm not talking about secession from the U.S. because one cannot secede from that which was never ceded in the first place. I'm talking about total independence - to rejoin the family of nations as it once was and to control our own destiny. After all, we are not Americans!

So as you celebrate our National holiday in your own way (t-shirts, surfboards, Hawaiianthemed parties, etc.) please know that there is a struggle going on in Hawai'i and we need all the help we can get from you on the "continent" (notice we do not refer to the U.S. continent as the "mainland" as you do - we're 2,400 miles away)! Hawai'i is our "mainland."

Mahalo (Thank you) for your time.

Sincerely,

Malcolm K. Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i

Nation State

P.S. To all of the kupuna (ancestors) who went to that far and distant land and never returned to their beloved kulaiwi, their homeland, and suffered

horrible deaths and burials. I