On the National Mall near the Smithsonian Metro stop, there were rows and rows of names. The 2,200 names on the Mall represents only a fraction of the people from all over the Hawaii Islands that signed a petition against the annexation of Hawaii to the United States in 1897. Queen Lili`uokanlani went to the United States with petitions in hand to show that she and her people wanted independence. With the perseverance of the Queen, the Treaty of Annexation failed because of the overwhelming number of signed petitions. However, a municipal law titled “The Newlands Resolution” did them in and eventually Hawaii was overthrown.
In 1997 the petitions were brought back to light when Dr. Noenoe Silva took them from the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C. back to Hawaii. It wasn’t until January 17, 1998, that Dr. Silva went around the Islands making them known to their descendants.
Today the Kaleimailealii Civic Club is using ku`e name signs to bring awareness and keep moving in the direction of justice for their descendants.
the blog hating photog 
Mahalo a nui loa, thank you very much, Leah! Great photos and great story! Let’s keep in touch!
Puanani Rogers