Customer Reviews

Conquest of Hawaii

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The hostess is Kelly Hu and the narrator is Al Harrington. Also several historians join in to show us a most extensive history of Hawaii. There are woodcuts, illustrations, old photos, and old film of Hawaii. Captain Cook's visits. King Kamehameha. This includes explanations of battles that were fought during the unification of the islands and the introduction of Christianity. (I never knew about the cession of Pearl Harbor to the United States in 1887 before I saw this.) King Kamahamaha II and Co-Regent Ka'ahumanu ended the kapu - that is - the guidelines for conduct based in the ancient Hawaiian religion. There is also a comprehensive explanation of how Queen Liliuokalani was coerced to give up the kingdom. Then came statehood. Lastly the people of Hawaii rediscover their heritage and seek Hawaiian sovereignty.

I didn't want to tell too much of the story contained in documentary, but instead just mention some names and events to pique your curiosity. I have seen two other documentaries and this is the most thorough and objective of the three. I strongly feel that everyone should see this, especially every American.

My wife and I found this an excellent report of how Hawaii was taken over. Having visited the islands many rimes we can see the resentment the people have toward the take over. The Hawaiians at one time before the takeover had wanted to become part of the British Empire. Some Hawaiians feltvthey would have fared better there. It is unfortunate what has happened to them.

This was a very illuminating and graphically pointent program told through a number of experts and native culture historians. It shows, in the end, how grand and ultimately sad Hawaiian history is. As a History major and a person in favor of native rights, I felt a lament for the peoples there, and how they are often interchanged for brown native peoples as a whole. It was like studying the fate of the great Iroquois Confederacy in my own state of New York. Like that group, the native people of Hawaii barely survive today as a barley cohesive, yet great nation of smaller nations.

People need to get more educated, and just enough for one Native American ethnic group and tribe to be decerned from another. The native peoples of this epic island chain were and are a great people, bisset by circumstances and, thankfully, a distinctly brave society. I am not native myself, but this show can help a person to understand how an entire people and it's culture can be brought under heel under a religion, founded many miles away, and by a series of imperialist businesses. Like the program, We Shall Remain, this was well-made.

A good show about Hawaii's past, the monarchy, Captain James Cook, and America and other's ambitions over the years. I recommend this program for the classroom too.

The real story of how Hawaii became a part of the United States and the way we took advantage of these wonderful people.