Collection: Kūʻē Petitions Design Collection

A Hiki I Ke Aloha ‘Āina Hope Loa.
It took two solid years to get this design done. Why did it take so long? Because the placement was everything! The design is placed on three silk screens.
KŪ’Ē- to oppose, resist.
The Kū'ē Petitions, also known as the Anti-Annexation Petitions, were a collection of signatures of Hawaiian men and women who were opposed to the Annexation of Hawaiʻi to the United States of America. The signatures were collected island by island by three Hui: the Hui Aloha Aina for Women, the Hui Aloha Aina for Men, and the Hui Kalaiaina. These three groups went island by island holding mass town meetings about annexation and obtaining signatures from those who opposed annexation.
The majority of the population of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the late 1890s was vociferously opposed to annexation. In a single weeklong petition drive in 1897, 21,269 signatures — representing well 95% of the native adult population of Hawaii at the time — were procured by horseback, boat and foot travel by members of Hui Aloha ʻĀina (Hawaiian Patriotic League). Names on the petition were from loyal subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom many of which were Asian because of the Chinese exclusion acts of 1882 that threatened the voting rights of the Asian population in the Hawaiian Kingdom. These petitions were hand-carried to Washington and delivered to the United States Senate by a commission of Native Hawaiian delegates consisting of James Keauiluna Kaulia (president of Hui Aloha ʻĀina), David Kalauokalani (president of Hui Kālaiʻāina), William Auld, and John Richardson.
Our designs are hand printed on O’ahu.
Our garments are laid out, cut and sewn on O’ahu, Maui and Hawai’i Island.

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