LIHU‘E — “By an act of war committed with the participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without the authority of Congress, the government of a feeble but friendly and confiding people has been overthrown.”

The year was 1893, and these words came from then United Sates President Grover Cleveland in a message addressed to the U.S. Congress.

One hundred years the U.S. formally apologized for the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani. Today, thousands of Hawaiians say they still dream of reinstating Hawai‘i’s sovereignty. Some are actively working to achieve it.

The Reinstated Hawaiian Government, headed by Prime Minister Henry Noa, invited several Hawaiian sovereignty movement groups from different islands to gather Sunday on Kaua‘i to discuss progress. (Noa was the only leader of a sovereignty group to attend the meeting.)

“How is it possible for us to reclaim what rightfully belongs to our people?” Noa asked the nearly 50 people attending the event at the War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e.

The Reinstated Hawaiian Government came to life on March 13, 1999. It has a prime minister, who serves four-year terms and is elected by Hawaiian nationals. Candidates are appointed by the 28 members of the House of Nobles, and the 28 members of the House of Representatives. The government also has an Attorney General, and ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Interior.

Noa said by officially apologizing in 1993 for the 1893 overthrown, the U.S. has legally allowed the Hawaiians to reinstate the deposed monarchy.

Dan Hempey, attorney for the Reinstated Hawaiian Government, said the law, under Act 359, protects the rights of native Hawaiians to organize for their common welfare. Those rights include claiming land, a necessary step toward forming a nation, he said, adding that the State of Hawai‘i admits that the right to form a nation is protected by law.

One member of the audience, who has lived in the Islands for three years, said that historically, oppressors want the resistance to be divided. She had one question for the prime minister. “How can I help?”

Anyone with a one-year residency in Hawai‘i can apply for a Hawaiian national citizenship, Noa said. The group’s new constitution, drafted in 2000, is molded on past Hawaiian constitutions and allows, just as the old ones, for non-Hawaiians to become citizens of Hawai‘i.

The new government has already over 300 members, and it keeps growing. There are reportedly some 4,500 applicants in the process of becoming Hawaiian nationals.

Noa, who was elected in 2008 for his third consecutive term, said it was not until he understood the “rules of the game” that he realized that if Hawaiians wanted sovereignty back, they should be focusing on reinstating Hawai‘i’s last government and then appealing to international law.

The new government faces many challenges. Perhaps the biggest one is to unify all the Hawaiian sovereignty groups.

Kekane Pa, member of the House of Nobles, sent at least seven certified letters to leaders of different Hawaiian groups from other islands, inviting them to attend the event. Each leader would have a 15-minute period to share his or her process. No one showed up.

Noa said each group has its own views of sovereignty and that was the reason they were invited for a panel discussion.

Several members of the audience spoke in support of the Reinstated Nation of Hawai‘i, but a few fiercely questioned the new government’s legality and Noa’s leadership.

Pa saw the opposition as a positive thing, saying people are participating in the process and sharing their ideas.

Some in the audience asked for concrete help. One lady said that soon the county will start digging up Wailua Beach to build a bike path, a project that has been approved under the late Mayor Bryan Baptiste. She said she and others relentlessly pleaded with Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. to halt the project that would displace an apparently large and significantly important cultural deposit in the area.

“They’re going to dig up the last remains of what ties us to our Polynesian ancestors,” she said, almost in tears.

“How can we get help from the Reinstated Hawaiian Government?” she asked Noa, reminding him that he mentioned that he had attorneys.

She said the battle now has to be fought at the federal level because all else has been unsuccessful.

Noa said a legal battle would be too costly. He urged the members of the audience to band together to help out.

Another member of the audience said people expect a powerful Hawaiian government, and that Noa is seen by some as a reactionary who has no intention of changing the status quo.

Noa said the Reinstated Government has accomplished many goals during its short years. Several Polynesian nations have already recognized the Reinstated Hawaiian Government, he said.

“A nation does not appear overnight; it takes time,” Noa repeated throughout the event, reminding the audience of the Reinstated Government achievements, such as redesigning a constitution, putting together a structured body of government, gaining international recognition, drafting a set of Hawaiian laws and claiming lands.

President Cleveland, a Democrat, reportedly believed Queen Liliuokalani’s overthrow was not the result of a popular insurgence, but the work of a few U.S. citizens, representatives and U.S. clothed officers. But Cleveland, despite being sympathetic to Liliuokalani’s plea for reinstating her government, washed his hands and gave the Congress power to end what he called a “substantial wrong” that the U.S. “should endeavor to repair.”

In 1893 the Congress leaned toward annexation, and the new provisional Hawaiian government was officially recognized. The next president, Republican William McKinley, took office in March 1897, and Hawai‘i was annexed as a U.S. territory the following year. The Islands gained statehood status in 1959. At that time, statehood brought economic growth to Hawai‘i, but is was also seen as one last nail on attempts of restoring the Hawaiian monarchy.

Reinstated Hawaiian Government meetings are held every first and third Thursday in Anahola Homesteads Clubhouse, and every first and third Monday in Kalaheo’s Harvey’s Flooring building behind Brick Oven Pizza.

Those interested in joining the meetings should contact Pa at (808) 645-1838 or Nelson Armitage at (808) 344-4233.