Famous are the flowers / Kaulana Na Pua

This piece takes its name from a Hawaiian protest song written in 1893 called, Kaulana Nā Pua, (Famous Are The Flowers). Each paper flower represents a name signed to the Kū‘e Anti-Annexation Petitions of 1898. These petitions, representing the vast majority of the Native Hawaiian population at the time, were presented to the U.S. Senate and effectively stopped the proposed treaty from passing. The surfacing of the Kū‘e Petitions has helped reconnect the Hawaiian people to their rich history of Aloha ʻĀina (love for the land) and to their legacy of organized resistance, linking them to their brave kupuna (ancestors) who stood in opposition to U.S. annexation. These historic petitions reveal the truth about Hawai'i; that Native Hawaiians never relinquished their national sovereignty and continue to protest to this day, working on state, national and international levels resisting every encroachment upon their inherent rights to the land, natural resources and sacred sites like Mauna Kea.