Hawaiian Kingdom research At the danish national archives

The following will provide information on how to access the Danish National Archives. I’ve learned from Native Hawaiian scholars that understanding how to navigate archives is key to one’s decolonial feminist endeavor to uncover herstory or primary sources of information from the past that is typically hidden by oppressive agendas. I am not formally trained in archival research, so I also hope my account of the process can affirm all types of truth-seekers to begin this type of work.

Most importantly, this piece is intended to aid fellow Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) take part in our collective effort to revitalize the internationalism of our kūpuna (ancestors). Throughout the 1800s, the Hawaiian Kingdom’s diplomacy efforts reached across the globe, but this information was erased through colonization in order to stereotype Native Hawaiians as savage and ancient. The public school system in Hawaiʻi does not teach students about the treaties with many countries, including Denmark, that declared the Hawaiian Kingdom as an independent nation state. Now, a growing number of Native Hawaiians are traveling to these ally countries to identify and catalogue these official documents recognized by international law still today.

Now, onto some tactical steps to utilizing the Danish National Archives

Request documents at least two weeks in advance

To view archival documents, you must request them. Just showing up and expecting them to be readily available is not realistic given that innumerable materials under management. Additionally, when researching internationally, there are often language barriers adding to the complexity. I was very fortunate that the Danish National Archives very graciously helped me navigate the process by emailing guidance in English, which I share in this below.

1. Use Google Chrome or another browser to translate the archive forms from Danish into the language you need

2. Set up an online Rigsarkivet Daisy account to find and request materials

3. When you are logged into your account, select the “New search” button

4. For the Hawaiian Kingdom and Denmark treaty, enter “Gruppeordnede sager: Konsuler: Diverse” into the “Archive Series” field (nothing else needs to be entered)

5. On the results page, click the Group-organized cases: Consuls: Various correspondence and cases concerning Danish Consulates” link

6. Click the “view content” button at the bottom of the page

7. Order the Sandwich Islands 1846 packet. The Hawaiian Kingdom was previously referred to as the Sandwich Islands.

Have the proper tools, including a flash drive and ID, when visiting the archive

The reading room in Copenhagen has a very great scanner, but it does not connect to the web. So, documents cannot be saved to the cloud. Bring a flash drive from home because stores that carry electronics are sparsely located in the city. In a rush, I went to Elgiganten, which is like Denmark’s version of a big box electronics store. Taking photos of documents on your phone is just not the same as far as quality goes. Also, an official ID is required to enter the reading room.

A mahalo (thank you) the Danish National Archives

I have so much gratitude to the archivists at the Danish National Archives. Not only did they help me find primary documents related to the Hawaiian Kingdom, they were genuinely interested in my research. One archivist was so surprised by my inquiry that he ordered the documents for his own personal viewing at another time. He had no idea about this relationship between our nations, solidified by a treaty signed by both Denmark and Hawaiʻi’s kings in 1846, and was sincerely intrigued. Mahalo.