Sonny Kaniho: A Profile in Hawaiian Courage chronicles Sonnys labor of aloha (love) to bring about change and reform within the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), an institution created by the US Congress in 1920 to return Hawaiians to the aina (land), aina stolen from us when our beloved Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown by a coup instigated by US Minister Stevens and thirteen American businessmen with support from armed marines stationed aboard the USS Boston.
DHHL (past) rather than serve its primary beneficiaries on a burgeoning waiting list for homesteads instead served large, well-financed, politically connected corporations. And Sonny was a victim of that practice. Through his courageous protest, Sonny brought that practice to an end. DHHL (present) is a better institution because of Sonnys efforts.
This is a story about how this quiet, soft-spoken, peaceful, unassuming, gentle Hawaiian brought about the change he desired for the good of thousands. May we always remember Sonny Alohalani Kaniho.
A propos de l’auteur
Robert K. Lindsey, Jr. was raised on Hawaii’s biggest island, Moku O Keawe, in a picturesque cattle town nestled at the foothills (2600’ elevation) of the Kohala Mountain. Sonny Kaniho, a Profile in Hawaiian Courage, is his fourth book (written in play format) about an early activist in the Hawaiian movement (birthed in the 1970’s, blossoming in the 21st century).
Robert (aka Bob) and Kathy (wife of fifty years) have three sons and three grandsons. Bob, is currently a Trustee with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (appointed initially in 2007, three times elected since). Being of native Hawaiian ancestry, it is no surprise he has always had an active interest in Na Mea Hawai’I (things Hawaiian). Kathy, through Bob shares that common interest. She is a Kamehameha Schools preschool teacher (a school established for Hawaiians in 1887 by.