In a viral Instagram video, musician and content creator Steven Tausinga criticized ICE after seeing the agents outside ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Of all the places for ICE to show up!
“I just saw a whole bunch of ICE agents cruising around here in a long caravan,” Steven began. “It’s so crazy to see something like that in front of a place like this. It was so symbolic that I was moved to say something.” Switching to ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (the Hawaiian language) with the English translation posted beneath, he addressed Hawaiians directly.
“Regarding the Hawaiians who support Trump, it’s just like supporting Sanford B. Dole in the olden times. They are so similar. They are in love with money. Don’t follow them. Don’t follow them. Don’t trade your love for their bad ideologies. Their connection is so weak to the land and the sea. Their connection is so weak to people who are different. Their connection is so weak to their own hearts.”
“‘Our rocks are enough for us!’ Right? Resist them. Resist this loveless government just like the provisional government of old. Resist the provisional government of today with love. With the same love as the fearless cowboy, Kaluaikoolau,” Steven concluded.
Folks in the comments showered him with praise, with one person commending his “inspiring spirit” and many others sharing support for his message.
To learn more, I reached out to Steven. Shaped by his Hawaiian, Tongan, and Japanese cultures, he travels the world to immerse himself in local music and sails across the Pacific on the Hōkūle’a (double-hull canoe) using traditional Polynesian navigation. It’s perhaps his multicultural experiences and connection to his roots that give him such a powerful perspective.
Steven told BuzzFeed he felt “sadness” upon seeing the ICE agents near ‘Iolani Palace and likened it to “hearing demeaning laughter in a sacred place or a solemn moment.” He continued, “Perhaps the ICE agents and their supporters don’t realize the disrespect it shows, given the history of that place. ‘Iolani Palace was once overrun by a militant group and US soldiers in the name of law and order. But ultimately, that overthrow was motivated by racial exclusion and economic power.”
Steven said that Trump’s administration relies heavily on both a “hateful narrative” and the “language of fear and dehumanization.” Additionally, he emphasized the parallels between the current admin and Sanford B. Dole, who plotted the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and became president of the provisional government. “Their brutality echoes the inhumanities that haunt our past. In our language, we call this loko ‘ino, which means bad inside and refers to a corruption of the inner conscience.”
“Hawaiian culture values strong connections to nature, to other people, and to our inner conscience,” Steven said. “When policies or leaders feel disconnected from those values, we name that dissonance. These are important values in Hawaiian culture and throughout the Pacific (Moananuiakea).”
As for Lili’uokalani — the last monarch of Hawaiʻi, who was wrongfully deposed and imprisoned in her own palace — Steven believes that “she would have recognized the same loko ‘ino or malice in documented instances of ICE brutality that she saw in the provisional government of old… I could feel the eyes of our ancestors watching on those grounds. I felt their sadness, and I felt their desire for Hawaiian aloha to rise above the tide. This is why I spoke out. I felt that it was my kuleana or responsibility in that very moment. One of the ancestors I felt was watching was Lili’uokalani.”
He recalled the lyrics of Kaulana Nā Pua, an 1893 resistance song that condemned the overthrow of Lili’uokalani and called upon Hawaiians to remain loyal to the ʻāina (land). “This song means The Famous Flowers, which is a nickname for the Hawaiian people, and in it there is a potent line: Ua lawa mākou i ka pohaku. It means rocks are enough for us, and it is a response to the calls of the Western world for Hawaiians to sell their birthright for money and protection. In essence, it means we’d rather eat rocks or our rocks are enough for us. She saw through the deception of those who sought only to exploit Hawaiʻi. And Hawaiians, as the original stewards of this land, must maintain that resolve.”
Finally, Steven again encouraged his people to resist with love. “We can stand against oppression without hating its supporters; we can express hate for ideologies with our full chest without hating their champions; and we can persuade those who are misled without using deception. It’s not about fighting fire with fire. It’s fighting fire with water, which is the essence of physical life. And the fire of hate must be fought with aloha or love, which is the essence of our spirit as a people.”
Such a moving and much-needed message! To learn more about Hawaiian issues and music, follow Steven on Instagram here.
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