| Between
Thanksgiving and Christmas, during the season of Makahiki,
are the anniversaries of two events that highlight Pearl Harbor's
significance in Hawaii's history.
The date
which will live in infamy is the best known. December
7 marks the anniversary of the Japanese
attack on the U.S.
fleet and ground installations at Hickam Air Force Base
and Schofield Barracks that brought the U.S. into World War
II.
Hawaii's
connection to the second event is not as widely known, but
is arguably the more important. December 10 is the anniversary
of the signing of the Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish
American War. We have to go back more than 100 years
to find the link.
Perspectives
The harbor
was important to Hawaiians long before the arrival of westerners
as a plentiful source of fish and pearl producing oysters.
Caves in the coral reef at the harbor's entrance were
believed to be the home of the shark goddess, Ka'ahupahau,
who protected the harbor from other sharks, giving the harbor
spiritual significance, as well.
After
western contact with the islands, the United States increasingly
recognized the strategic importance of the harbor during the
1800s and obtained exclusive rights in 1875, when sugar planters
seeking tariff free markets in the U.S. pressed for a reciprocity
treaty.
The rights
to use the harbor might have been enough, but for the war
with Spain in 1898. It appears the U.S. had every intention
of acquiring Spain's remaining possessions in "the
new world", which included Guam, the Philippines
and a few smaller islands in the Pacific. Faced with
having to control (and subdue) these possessions, the central
Pacific base in Honolulu increased in importance.
Since
American interests in the islands had long been pressing for
annexation, and had overthrown the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1893,
setting up a provisional government, then a republic, the
way was clear to make Hawai'i a territory and not have to
worry about renewing treaties to control Pearl Harbor.
Many will
argue that for Hawai'i, the date that will live in infamy
is actually August 12, 1898, when the independent nation of
Hawai'i, recognized as a sovereign in treaties with other
foreign powers, was illegally annexed to the United States
against the will of a majority of its citizens by birth.
There are those in Hawai'i and elsewhere who strongly criticize
statements like this as revising history. There seem
to be several versions of what happened, but there is no record
of a vote of the people in Hawai'i either to accept the new
government or to be annexed, and there was no treaty.
What is perhaps being revised is the perception of what happened.
We can't
undo either of these events, or their consequences.
But we can learn from them. We can begin to understand
that there's more than one perspective in the world.
And when "We Remember Pearl Harbor", we can remember the significance
of this small piece of real estate over time.
We have
many reminders of World War II on O'ahu. The one that
may bring it into perspective for those of us who live in
Honolulu today is the simple pagoda in front of Honolulu Hale
(City Hall), a gift from Honolulu's
sister city Hiroshima in 1968, commemorating 100 years
of Japanese immigration
to Hawai'i. The other connection, each bombed by
the other's country, is overshadowed by that which we should
perpetuate.
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