Whereas in the mid-19th century, the Guano Islands Act (48
U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) enabled companies from the United States to mine guano
from a number of islands in the Equatorial Pacific;
Whereas after several decades, when the guano was
depleted, such companies abandoned mining activities, leaving the islands open
to British exploitation;
Whereas in the 1930s, military and commercial interest in
Central Pacific air routes between Australia and California led to a desire by
the United States to claim the islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis, although
the ownership of such islands was unclear;
Whereas in 1935, a secret Department of Commerce
colonization plan was instituted, aimed at placing citizens of the United
States as colonists on the remote islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis;
Whereas to avoid conflicts with international law, which
prevented colonization by active military personnel, the United States sought
the participation of furloughed military personnel and Native Hawaiian
civilians in the colonization project;
Whereas William T. Miller, Superintendent of Airways at
the Department of Commerce, was appointed to lead the colonization project,
traveled to Hawaii in February 1935, met with Albert F. Judd, Trustee of
Kamehameha Schools and the Bishop Museum, and agreed that recent graduates and
students of the Kamehameha School for Boys would make ideal colonists for the
project;
Whereas the ideal Hawaiian candidates were candidates who
could “fish in the native manner, swim excellently, handle a boat, be
disciplined, friendly, and unattached”;
Whereas, on March 30, 1935, the United States Coast Guard
Cutter Itasca departed from Honolulu Harbor in great secrecy with 6 young
Hawaiians aboard, all recent graduates of Kamehameha Schools, and 12 furloughed
army personnel, whose purpose was to occupy the barren islands of Howland,
Baker, and Jarvis in teams of 5 for 3 months;
Whereas in June 1935, after a successful first tour, the
furloughed army personnel were ordered off the islands and replaced with
additional Kamehameha Schools alumni, thus leaving the islands under the
exclusive occupation of the 4 Native Hawaiians on each island;
Whereas the duties of the colonists while on the island
were to record weather conditions, cultivate plants, maintain a daily log,
record the types of fish that were caught, observe bird life, and collect
specimens for the Bishop Museum;
Whereas the successful year-long occupation by the
colonists directly enabled President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive
Order 7368 on May 13, 1936, which proclaimed that the islands of Howland,
Baker, and Jarvis were under the jurisdiction of the United States;
Whereas multiple Federal agencies vied for the right to
administer the colonization project, including the Department of Commerce, the
Department of the Interior, and the Navy Department, but jurisdiction was
ultimately granted to the Department of the Interior;
Whereas under the Department of the Interior, the
colonization project emphasized weather data and radio communication, which
brought about the recruitment of a number of Asian radiomen and
aerologists;
Whereas under the Department of the Interior, the
colonization project also expanded beyond the Kamehameha Schools to include
Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians from other schools in Hawaii;
Whereas in 1937, in preparation for Amelia Earhart’s
arrival on Howland Island, the colonists constructed a landing field, readied a
shower and bedroom for her, and prepared a performance for her, but she never
arrived, having disappeared en route to the island on July 2, 1937;
Whereas in March of 1938 the United States also claimed
and colonized the islands of Canton and Enderbury, maintaining that such
colonization was in furtherance of commercial aviation and not for military
purposes;
Whereas the risk of living on such remote islands meant
that emergency medical care was not less than 5 days away, and such distance
proved fatal for Carl Kahalewai, who died on October 8, 1938 en route to
Honolulu after his appendix ruptured on Jarvis island;
Whereas other life-threatening injuries occurred, in 1939,
when Manuel Pires had appendicitis, and in 1941, when an explosion severely
burned Henry Knell and Dominic Zagara;
Whereas in 1940, when the issue of discontinuing the
colonization project was raised, the Navy acknowledged that the islands were
“probably worthless to commercial aviation” but advocated for “continued
occupation” because the islands could serve as “bases from a military
standpoint”;
Whereas although military interests justified continued
occupation of the islands, the colonists were never informed of the true nature
of the project, nor were the colonists provided with weapons or any other means
of self-defense;
Whereas in June of 1941, when much of Europe was engaged
in World War II and Imperial Japan was establishing itself in the Pacific, the
Commandant of the 14th Naval District recognized the “tension in the Western
Pacific” and recommended the evacuation of the colonists, but his request was
denied;
Whereas, on December 8, 1941, Howland Island was attacked
by a fleet of Japanese twin-engine bombers, and such attack killed Hawaiian
colonists Joseph Keliihananui and Richard Whaley;
Whereas in the ensuing weeks, Japanese submarine and
military aircraft continued to target the islands of Howland, Baker, and
Jarvis, jeopardizing the lives of the remaining colonists;
Whereas the United States Government was unaware of the
attacks on such islands, and was distracted by the entry of the United States
into World War II, which delayed the retrieval of the colonists;
Whereas the 4 colonists from Baker and the 2 remaining
colonists from Howland were rescued on January 31, 1942, and the 8 colonists
from Jarvis and Enderbury were rescued on February 9, 1942, 2 months after the
initial attacks on Howland Island;
Whereas, on March 20, 1942, Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of
the Interior, sent letters of condolence to the Keliihananui and Whaley
families stating that “[i]n your bereavement it must be considerable
satisfaction to know that your brother died in the service of his country,” and
subsequently urged the families to submit claims for compensation;
Whereas in April 1942, the claim of the Keliihananui
family was denied because there were no “qualified dependents” to submit
claims;
Whereas during the 7 years of colonization, more than 130
young men participated in the project, the majority of whom were Hawaiian, and
all of whom made numerous sacrifices, endured hardships, and risked their lives
to secure and maintain the islands of Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Canton, and
Enderbury on behalf of the United States, and 3 young Hawaiian men made the
ultimate sacrifice;
Whereas none of the islands, except for Canton, were ever
used for commercial aviation, but the islands were used for military
purposes;
Whereas in July 1943, a military base was established on
Baker Island, and its forces, which numbered over 2,000 members, participated
in the Tarawa-Makin operation;
Whereas in 1956, participants of the colonization project
established an organization called “Hui Panala‘au”, which was established to
preserve the group’s fellowship, to provide scholarship assistance, and “to
honor and esteem those who died as colonists of the Equatorial Islands”;
Whereas in 1979, Canton and Enderbury became part of the
republic of Kiribati, but the islands of Jarvis, Howland, and Baker still
remain possessions of the United States, having been designated as National
Wildlife Refuges in 1974;
Whereas three-quarters of a century later, the Equatorial
Islands colonization project has been nearly forgotten;
Whereas May 13, 2011, marks the 75th anniversary of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order proclaiming United States
jurisdiction over the islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis, islands that
remain possessions of the United States; and
Whereas the Federal Government has never fully recognized
the accomplishments, contributions, and sacrifices of the colonists, less than
6 of whom are still alive today, and most of whom are in their 90s: Now,
therefore, be it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)acknowledges the
accomplishments and sacrifices of the Hui Panala‘au colonists and extends
appreciation on behalf of the people of the United States;
(2)acknowledges the
local, national, and international significance of the 7-year colonization
project, which resulted in the United States extending sovereignty into the
Equatorial Pacific; and
(3)recognizes and
commends the accomplishments, sacrifices, and contributions of the more than
130 young men, the majority of whom were Native Hawaiian, who participated in
the Equatorial Pacific colonization project.