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