III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 297 

Recognizing and commemorating Native Hawaiian Delegate Jonah Ku ̄hio ̄

Kalaniana‘ole’s lifelong advocacy on behalf of Hawai‘i and the Native 

Hawaiian people on the 100th anniversary of his paramount congressional achievement—the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2021 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Ms. HIRONO) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing and commemorating Native Hawaiian Delegate 

Jonah Ku ̄hio ̄ Kalaniana‘ole’s lifelong advocacy on behalf 

of Hawai‘i and the Native Hawaiian people on the 100th 

anniversary of his paramount congressional achievement—the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920. 

Whereas Jonah Ku ̄hio ̄ Kalaniana‘ole was born on March 26, 

1871, in Ko ̄loa, Kaua‘i in the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, the 

youngest of 3 sons to High Chief David Kahalepouli 

Pi‘ikoi and Princess Victoria Kinoiki Kekaulike; 

Whereas, in 1883, Ku ̄hio ̄ was named a Prince by royal proclamation of his uncle, King Kala ̄kaua; 

Whereas Prince Ku ̄hio ̄ attended St. Alban’s College and 

O‘ahu College in Honolulu, St. Matthew’s Military School 


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in San Mateo, California—where he and his brothers 

were the first to introduce the sport of surfing in the 

United States—and the Royal Agricultural College in 

Gloucestershire, England; 

Whereas Prince Ku ̄hio ̄ served in the Kingdom of Hawai‘i’s 

Ministry of Interior and Customs, and later became a 

close confidant and advisor to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i’s 

last reigning monarch, Queen Lili‘uokalani; 

Whereas, on January 17, 1893, a group of armed sugar 

planters, descendants of missionaries, and financiers, 

from the United States and Europe deposed the Hawaiian monarchy, and imprisoned Queen Lili‘uokalani; 

Whereas a United States Minister thereafter extended diplomatic recognition to the Provisional Government, without 

the consent of the Native Hawaiian people or the lawful 

Government of Hawai‘i, and in violation of international 

law and the treaties between the 2 nations; 

Whereas, on July 4, 1894, the Provisional Government reorganized as the Republic of Hawai‘i and adopted a constitution prohibiting many Native Hawaiians and citizens 

of Asian descent from voting, which frustrated Prince 

Ku ̄hio ̄; 

Whereas, after failing to annex Hawai‘i to the United States 

by treaty, the United States took the unprecedented step 

of annexing Hawai‘i by Joint Resolution on July 7, 1898; 

Whereas, on April 30, 1900, President McKinley signed the 

Act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat. 141, chapter 339) (commonly known as the ‘‘Hawaii Organic Act’’), formally establishing Hawai‘i as a territory of the United States, 

even though the Native Hawaiian people never directly 

relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as 


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a people or over their national lands to the United 

States, either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum; 

Whereas, in 1902, Prince Ku ̄hio ̄ won his first bid for Congress with considerable Native Hawaiian support, and 

continued to serve as Hawai‘i’s delegate from 1903 to 

1921; 

Whereas, upon arriving in Washington, DC, Prince Ku ̄hio ̄ encountered racial prejudice and a general lack of knowledge about Hawai‘i and the Hawaiian people on the continent, including in Congress and the executive branch; 

Whereas the Governor of the Territory of Hawai‘i proclaimed 

that Prince Ku ̄hio ̄ ‘‘engaged in the rough and tumble of 

public discussion and politics with a vigor, sincerity, and 

general spirit of good sportsmanship that established the 

merits of his leadership among all elements . . . [and] 

[h]e was loyal, courageous, sincere, and his personal integrity was never attacked even by inference’’; 

Whereas Prince Ku ̄hio ̄ worked tirelessly to protect and perpetuate the Native Hawaiian people and their culture by 

re-establishing the Royal Order of Kamehameha I in 

1903, founding the ‘Ahahui Pu‘uhonua O Na ̄ Hawai‘i 

(Hawaiian Protective Organization) in 1914 alongside 

other Native Hawaiian political leaders, and helping form 

the Hawaiian Civic Clubs in 1918; 

Whereas Prince Ku ̄hio ̄, as a Member of Congress, secured a 

$27,000,000 appropriation to improve and expand Pearl 

Harbor, facilitated construction of the Makapu‘u Point 

Lighthouse, established a Hawai‘i National Park covering 

land on Kı ̄lauea, Mauna Loa, and Haleakala ̄, shaped the 

foundation for Hawai‘i’s modern government structure by 


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instituting the county system still in place today, sponsored the first bill for Hawai‘i’s statehood in 1919, and 

lent his support to a territorial women’s suffrage bill; 

Whereas Prince Ku ̄hio ̄ established a homesteading program 

for Native Hawaiians through his historic legislative accomplishment, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 

1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42); 

Whereas Prince Ku ̄hio ̄ was appointed as the first member of 

the Hawaiian Homes Commission, which continues to 

manage certain public lands, known as Hawaiian home 

lands, for homesteading purposes, and served the Native 

Hawaiian people in that role until the time of his death; 

and 

Whereas the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 

Stat. 108, chapter 42) amended the Act of April 30, 

1900 (31 Stat. 141, chapter 339) (commonly known as 

the ‘‘Hawaii Organic Act’’) to set aside roughly 200,000 

acres across the Hawaiian Islands for exclusive homesteading by eligible Native Hawaiians and continues to 

guide the Federal Government’s fulfillment of its trust 

responsibilities to Native Hawaiians as a distinct and 

unique indigenous people with a historical continuity to 

the original inhabitants of the Hawaiian archipelago: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes and commemorates Prince Jonah 

3 Ku ̄hio ̄ Kalaniana‘ole, a Native Hawaiian Delegate 

4 from Hawai‘i and lifelong advocate for Hawai‘i and 

5 the Native Hawaiian people, including his work to 


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1 pass the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 

2 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42); 

3 (2) commits itself to affirming and upholding 

4 the special political and trust relationship that Con5 gress established between the United States and the 

6 Native Hawaiian people through more than 150 sep7 arate statutes; and 

8 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

9 to celebrate Prince Ku ̄hio ̄’s legacy and the 100th an10 niversary of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 

11 1920 (42 Stat. 108, chapter 42). 

Æ 


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