In life, Abigail Kawānanakoa embodied the complexities of Hawaii: Many considered her a princess — a descendant of the royal family that once ruled the islands.
But she was also the great-granddaughter of a sugar baron and inherited vast wealth thanks to Westerners who upended traditional ways of life through the introduction of private property and the diversion of water for industrial plantations.
Now, more than a year after her death at age 96 and the bitter battles over her fortune in the twilight of her life, her estate has been settled. And recently finalized court documents show that after doling out tens of millions to various people — including former housekeepers, other longtime employees and her wife — there will be at least $100 million left to support Native Hawaiian causes.
I went to Hawaii for a vacation in 2021 and I don’t think I will go back. It’s a beautiful place full of beautiful people and is frankly magnetic. However, I felt so bad being there after learning more about it’s history and after all the tourists coming during COVID even though the governor said to not come. White lotus really didn’t help either. A beautiful place that deserve to have people who live there direct what happens to it.
What I continue to hear is, please go, but buy local. If you spend your money on local shops, you’re helping. Otherwise you’re not. It’s just hard when vacationing is built around convenience.
We always try to do that. We had really bad experience renting a condo from a resort at the wedding location from some rich lawyer who used it as vacation home / money making scheme when we had to reschedule due to covid. He gave us nothing even though the governor closed all the beaches and urged no one to come. I bet that’s so common.
Also it’s packed with chains but the best food we had was from two different small food trucks. Overall it’s a great place when interacting with people who live there
It boggles my mind that these wealthy people expect a part on the back for giving a fraction of their vast fortunes after their deaths. She could have done so much more while she was alive. Even though I’m sure some people will benefit from this money, and be very thankful, this is way to little way too late. The problems for Hawaii stem from the fact that it is still functionally a colony with an interest in reducing the native population.
Please read the article, because she did do a lot when she was alive and more of her fortune would have gone to the Indigenous Hawaiian people except her partner married her after she was impaired to get a hold of her fortune and an unofficially adopted son as well as some others also went to court for a share of the money.
The indigenous Hawaiian people have been treated terribly since colonization, but it sounds like she was doing things to make people’s lives better. She was not the problem. The problem is outlined in the article by Dr. Naleen Andrade:
“Quite frankly, the needs of Hawaiians in education, in social welfare, in housing, in health far exceed the capacity of these trusts,” she said. “They augment what federal and state dollars should be doing for Hawaii’s Indigenous peoples.”
So don’t blame Abigail Kawānanakoa, blame the state and federal governments.
She herself was native Hawaiian and have tens of millions to native causes while she was alive.
Native popu-- huh? Sir I think you’re confusing an island with a vacation resort. /s
