The Side Of Pearl Harbor Tourists Don’t See 

Did you grow up learning about the military tragedy of Pearl Harbor? Did you know the Native history?

For a long time I believed that Hawaii wouldn't ever get the proper coverage it deserved. Too many people benefit from living in ignorance when it comes to understanding our history. AJ+, mahalo for continuing to prove me wrong.

King Kalakaua was forced to give Puʻuloa at gunpoint. He didnʻt do so willingly. Lookup details on the 1887 Bayonet Constitution. Four years later, King Kalākaua died in San Fran, and many suspected poisoning. His sister and heir to the throne, Queen Liliʻuokalani, was overthrown in 1893. Connect the dots. US imperialism at work in Hawaiʻi.

The part about fish ponds, is great imaginative problem solving. Show how the Natives were highly intelligent and innovative. These sorts of destruction of such innovation that Native indigenous created and were destroyed or greatly destabilized after being violently taken over. Is found in true historical records over and over and over again.

Just got back from Oahu this morning and this is the story I wanted to hear. So glad to hear the Kanaka Māoli side and appreciated what the gentleman said- “not to disrespect the lives that were lost” but truly enjoyed the natives side of the story.

Its so sad what Native Hawaiians have to go through they’ve been stripped of there land, their waters have been polluted and contaminated with hopes of erasing they culture

If I am remembering correctly. Hawaii has a obesity and diabetes problems. The same issues that affects another Polynesian island whom I can't remember the name. The point is that processed foods and over seasoned "food" has been linked to both health issues. Even in the US mainland this is an issue. Where prior to US processed items (food). I understand that both these Polynesian islands had no such issues.

Thank you for continuing to bring light to what most of the world ignores.

Would you have rather been under control of axis powers?

All over just the island of Oahu is like this. Pearl Harbor, Ke'ehi Lagoon, Moanalua Bay and Kuapa "pond", tons of places used to be "breadbaskets" and are now all polluted and messed up from runoff from all the housing covering the land.

you are an eye opener, thanks a lot for your work

Dena, I just got back from Hawaii, and your videos shed new light on what really happened there!! Mahalo!!

Thannk you AJ+ for sharing these Types of history! Our Race of Hawaiians may have dwindled and died but our history will never be forgotten ! 🤙🏾 love this ! Aloha !

It only took a little digging to find that your entire premise is completely wrong. Land use/survey maps from the 1890's clearly show that most of the fish ponds were no longer in use and the agriculture had changed from the 1840's native Hawaiian style of food production to growing rice by the 1890's. This was BEFORE Hawaii became a U.S. territory and well before the Navy started to acquire land around the harbor. As I stated previously, the native Hawaiian population was decimated by diseases that they did not have natural immunity for. The rice was most likely cultivated to feed the Chinese and Japanese immigrants who were brought in to work as sugar cane field laborers. So, the Navy acquired land at market prices, from private land owners, decades after the area had ceased to produce traditional native Hawaiian food. Again I ask, why didn't you consult a real historian? I'd say you got played by someone without the requisite background to put the story into the proper context. Your report is like blaming a police department in 2022 for not preventing a crime that happened in the1980's under someone else's watch.

Never forget.

I have been there in 2000. I have visited Pearl Harbor and it is very dramatic when I went there. My memory will not forger forever.

It would be good if AJ could have produced a more accurate video, as there are several factual errors. It not entirely clear exactly when, but it seems most of the fish ponds had stopped production before the first Reciprocity Treated was signed in 1873. Sad to say that most native Hawaiians had succumbed to diseases brought by foreigners, which decimated their population in the 19th Century. Fish pond production tapering off was probably a result of this population decline. The land around Pearl Harbor was purchased by the Navy from private land owners, including Bishop Estate, beginning in 1903, indicating that there were few native Hawaiians working the land around Pu'uloa by 1903. Pu'uloa would be more accurately described as the fish basket, rather than the bread basket of Oahu. The bread basket, was, and still is, Windward and central Oahu. Also, the overthrow of 1893 (here using photographs taken from different events in 1893, 1895 and 1898 respectively) was not as described in this video. The U.S. Navy involvement in the 1893 overthrow was somewhat convoluted and would take an entire book to accurately describe, but basically U.S. sailors and Marines took up position at the de facto U.S. Consulate, Atherton House, to protect U.S. assets, during the coup started by mostly Hawaiian Kingdom businessmen, of American descent. Queen Liliuokalani was told (mistakenly) that the Sailors and Marines could be used against her, although that was not their mission, and so she capitulated, hoping the monarchy would be restored at a later date. What is the point of promulgating inaccurate information? If one wants to debate the good and/or bad of U.S. policies please at least be accurate so that people can make informed decisions based on facts, not the spin of anti-U.S. military individuals. How about talking to an actual historian? Much of your video was shot at the National Park Service. You shot your stand ups there, but you couldn't take the time to talk to one of their many historians, who could've given you more accurate info?

So happy that you're bringing these issues to awareness for everyone else in the world. I noticed these issues immediately after moving to Hawai'i from the mainland and I shared it with friends and families. Hawai'i' being a "paradise destination" is just a mask.

Informative. Thank you.

Fish ponds sound pretty impressive.

2 seconds of research shows that this video is nothing more than an anti military/American piece rather than “educational”

The Hawaiian story is basically the story of American imperialism at its biggest form crazy how the US also took over most of Latin America in the exact same authoritarian regime with the marines in did in Hawaii until this day Latin America hasn’t recovered from the instability these US occupations caused

Learned about Hawaiian aquaculture and fish ponds.

The Pu'uloa gunnery range is interesting. It sits immediately adjacent to the Ewa Beach city park. That creates an interesting environment for a day at the beach! You can plainly hear revelie (sp?) in the morning and taps in the evening with rounds of gunfire periodically through the day. Beach access is halted at a certain point beyond which it is closed to the public for safety reasons. That would consist of the usual issue - unexploded ordinance (combined with the possibility of an errant shot). The DOD is easily America's largest single polluter by count of EPA superfund cleanup sites.

The issue is most of the world reads history from US's perspective (History is written by the victors). And, thus US is very good at erasing their own misbehaviours and exaggerate perspective of US being a victim.

"who controls Hawaii ,controls the world". Clearly Japan didn't think that.

Talking about "food," these Hawaiians look pretty healthy. The interviewer, an outsider appears to be the only person looking skinny? 🤣!

Would of been a lot worse if you currently lived under imperial Japanese rule

I got to visit hawaii in 1991 and 1992. I'm shocked to see the built a bridge to ford island. They didnt need a bridge the bay was so much nicer without it. Even then i was saddened to see the changes made to such a pretty landscape. It must have been a real paradise before the us navy built their base and poisoned the water in and around hawaii.

Was in Honolulu in 1950, Waikiki, Diamond head, beautiful surroundings, peaceful. Returned in 1980 after the Henry Kaiser distasteful disaster, once beautiful now ugly.

New the sad history, never heard of a fish farm like that though... awesome 👌 👏 👍

EPA says the area around Pearl Harbor is very polluted, and then have the nerve to say that there is no danger to the people or environment. Smh!!!

Media as usual sowing the seeds of harmony.

This is a real tragedy. Hope it can be cleaned up soon.

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼good reporting

Great 👍 Story, I visited Oahu in 1999. I was there for New Years. I visited Ford Island and toured the USS Missouri and the Arizona Memorial. I will cherish these memories for the rest of my life. Everyone if they have the chance should visit Pearl Harbor at least once.

Thank you for this amazing report showing the original story and what the ecosystem and lives of the Hawaiian communities used to be. What an ingenious way to source food from the fishponds.

Justice for all except the natives and the poor.

So much has been destroyed all in the name of Modernity and Modernization!!

This channel is never in my timeline, unless yall upload at a weird hour

None of those are battleships and those ships aren't harmful to the environment the navy takes out all oil and gas

I grew up in Honolulu. And we’d have school field trips to Pearl Harbor yearly. I was aware through state/Hawaiian history of the changes that took place, allowing Pu’u loa to become Pearl Harbor. But not everyone picked up on the real story.(A lot depended on the history teachers one had in school; in addition to personal curiosity.) Thanks Al Jazzera! Nice job!

Here's something interesting to consider: Any World War 2 veteran still alive today has to be at least 94 years old if they turned 18 in 1945.

dena, glad you used the word battleship. however, all of the battleships had all been decommissioned. yes, the battleship uss missouri is there as a museum. at 2:42 all of those ships are not battleships, those are destroyers, frigates, and others.

The anti-fouling paint on the ships is probably really bad for the water pollution in the harbor. There are safer alternatives now but I'm not sure if the Navy has them on their old ships, and how long will it take for the local water to be clean enough...

The EPA says there's no immediate risk to human health... But don't eat the fish, or drink the water, or grow food in the soil and it's probably not a great idea to breathe the air. But there's no immediate risk to human health.

Stuff like this irritates me. Some Hawaiians are so small minded to see the bigger picture. They complain about military taking their land yet mainlanders are pouring in yearly buying homes and adopting the “aloha spirit”

I think her ancestors would be very proud of her!

She is so pretty I can’t believe she’s almost 40.

Mahalo nui for sharing 💯💯💯💯

Some years ago, I called out the Wall Street Journal for inappropriately attributing quotes in an otherwise accurate article. In less than a week the WSJ: 1. investigated the error, 2. retracted the article, 3. apologized, 4. fired the reporter. After more than month AJ has done nothing, after being told that the entire premise of their video is easily debunked. I think that AJ should asked themselves if they are really the media organization that that portend to be, with real journalistic standards, or if they are just a bunch of social media influencer wannabes, without any standards. Sorry, but this video does NOT meet the standards of real journalism.

25 Battleships or are they Arleigh Burke class destroyers?

Thank You for making this available. I was born and raised in Hawaii and love this. I always looked for fishponds what we now call Aquaculture. Even the local media doesn't cover this.

When Captain cook first arrived…what? They ate him.

I doubt any of them want to go back to farming their own food lol

I'm curious how they got away with those drone shots.

Thank you

Sorry for Japan's actions I guess

Native Hawaiian peoples make up a small part of the modern population of the state.

Wow, I never really knew about the history of Puʻuloa. That’s crazy. Also, right on Ashlee! 🤙🏻

I wonder what the native Hawaiians made that breakwater Barrier from to trap all those fish?

It’s so sad that colonization is still harming natives from all over the world…yet we still don’t get it! So frustrating! Love the video! I never knew…this was very eye opening! This side needs more exposure! ♥️

Ok listen as a Texan and I dislike the build up of city and crowded areas I understand what is being said and agree and support the preservation of a lifestyle and the need to get back to self reliance but to remove the is military from the Hawaii islands is not a good idea and impractical.

The leaking fuel of the ship has long bothered me. Gravesite or not...that needs to be fixed.

I had no idea about any of that.

I NEVER KNEW OF THIS ,,,AMAZING...ADMIRAL MAHAN IN SHORT TERMS BROUGHT THE FLEET TO HAWAII AS A STOP GAP BETWEEN ASIA AND THE U.S.A....I HAVE IN ALL MY 60 YEARS ,,,I NEVER KNEW OF THESE PEOPLES RENEWABLE TECHNOLOGY...U.S.S. J.F.K.-67...3.M.M.R... 40 YEARS AGO...

It is nice to hear that the Navy is helping to restore one fish growing pool. I hope it can be used as a tool to show off the old Hawaiian culture to native Hawaiians and to visitors. Will many Hawaiians be lured back into the old culture? Don't hold your breath. If the entire base was gone to be replaced by many pools, Hawaii could never be self-sufficient in food with its current population. Maybe it could be done if they could get all the Japanese, Chinese, many other Asian immigrants, and whites to leave. Hopefully those who remain would flock to do the really hard work. Blame the military for the polution from the battle of pearl Harbor if you will, but without the Naval Base all of Hawaii definitely would have been occupied by the Imperial Japanese military and it would have been a major battle ground of the war, not just one battle. I leave it for you to imagine how kindly their occupation would have been, verses that of the US. From working for 8 weeks on loan from the Charleston Naval Shipyard to the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNS) I became aware that Hawaiins are quite protected, even privileged. There are property areas only Hawaiins can own. Normally Civil Service transfers from one location to another are allowed to fill vacancies but, by policy, no one can transfer from mainland US to jobs at PHNS (as of 1994 at least). Fortunately even as the population has become difficult to sustain agriculturally, it benefits economically from military facilities, tourism from everywhere including many from the US, and valuable food exports. I don't doubt being isolated in the middle of nowhere dampens economic opportunity, but Hawaiins have made the best of it and the US has helped and not just exploited the islands for military use without regard to the economic conditions there. Surely some can imagine a better outcome, an untouch paradise safe forever and limited to only native Hawaiians. I'd like pardise and a feeling of safty too, but who do I get to blame? Be thankful. Many have it worse.

Much from Tahiti to our Kanaka Maoli brothers and sisters in the occupied Kingdom of Hawai'i

Hi.. just FYI there are no battle ships with the exception of the sunken ones.

*80 YEARS!*

Of course most of the food has to be imported When the land and sea supported the population without imports, the population of the whole island chain was was less than the population of Honolulu today The truth is that we cannot return to the idealized past Oceans are rising and humanity must be prepared to adapt to changing conditions in order to thrive as both a species and as a people

Dena, I love this series and your thoughtful reportage, mahalo. I had to smile at seeing the Professor/tour guide, he reminds me of Ban Ki Moon. :D On the more serious side: note how the geniuses are still parking all their ships in nice, tight rows? Stupidity reigns supreme, yeah?

THROUGHOUT this video it's claimed the US Navy is helping .. so the group responsible is apparently trying to fix it. Why the flack towards the hand feeding?

2:42 - battleships?

Is Dwayne Johnson making any donations or contributions to such a valiant effort in Hawaii?

A government funded yt channel? I never knew this was a thing, I like

12 Thousand America British watching this short documentary Al Udeid Airforce Base..)

So the the resort couldn't be moved to put these "fish ponds". . or Does the US Navy take up all shores?

Most people don’t know about this history of Hawaii. And that’s just the way the American Government likes it!😠😣😢 Thanks for sharing.

💔💔

Ohh 25 active battle ship you say……lol

At least do the research those are not battleships. The only battleships shown is the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona sunken cemetery.

6:36 Lady, that is not a battleship, retired or otherwise. Do your homework.

when captain Cook first arrived and never left in the end when they killed him with a knife to the back

If not for Americans the Hawaiians would be speaking Japanese

And now the U.S. and Australia are sounding the alarm that China might take over the Solomon Islands like the way the Americans did to the Hawaiians.

I like how she calls everything a battleship when the US Navy doesn't have battleships anymore. Also funny how she referred to the mothball fleet as a "graveyard of decommissioned ships" They also act like taro fields and fish ponds are some rare gem that no Native Hawaiian or local has ever seen, when you can go up to UH Manoa or up to Windward and find them. I remember going one in elementary school. Native Hawaiian culture does have a generational gap, but it's not like locals and Kanaka Maoli are completely ignorant about it. We have Hawaiiana classes and lessons.

Lady the US does not used battleships anymore, Battleships are now retired get your facts right

Interesting... I work for the Navy @ Pearl, retired from the HIARNG in July, and my family thrive in Hauula off the land. The benefits of having a military superpower in the islands to me outweigh the fish and kalo you can buy at Foodland.

The history of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom is dark chapter in American history but like all historical events there is a back story that needs to be told. I always recommend two books on Hawaii. One is King Kalakaua's book " The Myths & Legends of Hawaii ", the second, Lost Kingdom: Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America's First Imperial Adventure , which gives much insight to the events that happened in 1893. Another is the Morgan Report. At the time when annexation was being debated in Congress it held open sessions on the matter taking testimony from most of the key players.

Removing the military is worth the amount of years needed to rehabilitate Pu’uloa The least the US military can do is clean up after themselves!

wow, Dena is gorgeous!😍

Why is that obnoxious background noise necessary.

Pearl harbor was once the best place to harvest fish .you can't even catch or eat the fish from there anymore. Cuzz all the oil and shit they have in the water ..was so beautiful back in the days...my grampa and grampa use to talk about it all the time ...usa has messed up so many places Dat mean so much to use kanakas

At the end of the day, the native Hawaiians would have realized that they needed to either modernize and militarize or get conquered by another nation. Simply suggesting that America is to blame is naïve. Considering that colonialism brought many different forms of territorial grabbing, and conquering by other nations around the area, it isn't right to assume America is the real evil here. They are just an ignorant consequence.

😍👏👏👏👏

I lived on the North Shore in the late 90’s to early 2000’s. Coming from Florida, I saw a lot there that reminded me of home. I’ve been back in Florida since but miss some things from Hawaii. My next door neighbor was a long time Life Guard so life was really good for me.

Is there anyone left in America that is NOT a victim?

Chinese people are smart human being

Without the navy, Hawaiians would be speaking Japanese right now.