The Queen and I A Story of Dispossessions and Reconnections in Hawai'i [Paperback]

In this expos? Sydney L. Iaukea ties personal memories to newly procured political information about Hawai`is crucial Territorial era. Spurred by questions surrounding intergenerational property disputes in her immediate family, she delves into Hawai`is historical archives. There she discovers the central role played by her great-great-grandfather in the politics of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Hawai`iin particular, Curtis P. Iaukeas trusted position with the Hawaiian Kingdoms last ruling monarch, Queen Lili`uokalani. As Iaukea charts her ancestors efforts to defend a culture under siege, she reveals astonishing legal and legislative maneuvers that show us how capitalism reshaped cultural relationships. She finds resonant parallels and connections between her own upbringing in Mauis housing projects, her familys penchant for hiding property, and the Hawaiian peoples loss of their country and lands.

Sydney L. Iaukeaholds a Ph.D. in political science with a specialty in Hawai?i politics. She is a dedicated community member, instructor, and avid surfer.

The Queen and Iwill be a very important contribution to historical and political literature on early twentieth century Hawai'i. But through its intensely personal narrative, it could have an even greater impact on the way people look at history. Sydney Iaukea weaves archival information into a story about a well-known historical figure while demonstrating the impact of these archival voices on herself. In this way she binds herself to her ancestor and allows him to speak through her, showing how an ancient value can be a new methodology for Native writers in indigenous studies.

Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoole Osorio, author ofDismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887



Raised in Mauis housing projects, Sydney Iaukea discovers as an adult that she is the direct descendent of Curtis P. Iaukea, a promil“K