Office of the Aliʻi Nui · Statement of Position
Territory and Historical RealmThe Seat of the Kingdom · The Basis in Law and Tradition · The Scope of the Position
This page states, in one place, the territorial position maintained by the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi and the Kingdom's historical understanding of the Hawaiian archipelago. It is the Kingdom's own statement of position.
Two classes of record
Historical Hawaiian Kingdom Record
Material originating with the Hawaiian Kingdom as a historical state — its institutions, laws, treaties, decrees, and governmental activity.
Contemporary Atooi Record
Material of the modern Kingdom — its leadership, ceremonies, missions, agreements, correspondence, and Kingdom-issued instruments.
Historical Hawaiian Kingdom records document the institutions, laws, diplomacy, and governmental activity of the historical Kingdom. Their inclusion does not by itself establish the authority of any particular contemporary claimant. Contemporary claims of continuity, succession, genealogy, or authority are documented separately.
The Territory the Kingdom Maintains
Primary Seat
Kauaʻi and Niʻihau. The Kingdom is the continuing Indigenous sovereign authority of the island of Kauaʻi and its associated island of Niʻihau — the historical seat of the House of Kaumualiʻi. This is the core of the Kingdom's territorial position.
Continuing Hawaiian Kingdom Jurisdiction
The Hawaiian archipelago. The Kingdom's position is that the Hawaiian Kingdom, an internationally recognised state before 1893, was never lawfully extinguished, and that its juridical personality continues across the full Hawaiian archipelago. The Kingdom speaks to that continuing jurisdiction. It does not claim exclusive administrative control of the archipelago, which the United States and the State of Hawaiʻi administer today.
Cultural & Diplomatic Sphere
The Polynesian Triangle. References on this site to Tahiti / French Polynesia, Rapa Nui, Aotearoa, Sāmoa, Tonga and the wider Polynesian Triangle describe the Kingdom's cultural, ceremonial and diplomatic sphere of engagement — never territory. Each of those places has its own peoples, governments and Indigenous authorities, whose sovereignty and standing the Kingdom recognises. Those relationships are recorded under International Relations.
The Basis in Law and Tradition
- Indigenous self-determination. UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Article 3, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007.
- Historic non-conquest of Kauaʻi. Kauaʻi was never militarily conquered by Kamehameha; King Kaumualiʻi entered a treaty relation that preserved Kauaʻi's distinct sovereign identity within the Hawaiian Kingdom.
- Non-extinguishment of the Hawaiian Kingdom. President Cleveland described the 1893 overthrow as unlawful in his message to Congress of that year, and the 1993 Apology Resolution (Public Law 103-150) acknowledges that the overthrow occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to inherent sovereignty. The Kingdom's position, consistent with the scholarship cited at Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom (PCA 1999-01), is that the state was never lawfully extinguished.
- Genealogical and customary authority. Hereditary descent from King Kamehameha I and his first wife Pauahi, and the Kapuna transfer of the Hawaiian Kingdom flag, held in the Kingdom's archives.
The Scope of the Kingdom's Position
- The Kingdom's territorial position is confined to the Hawaiian archipelago. It extends to no island or landmass beyond it — not to Tahiti or French Polynesia, Rapa Nui, Aotearoa, Sāmoa, Tonga or any other Polynesian nation. Relations with those nations are cultural, ceremonial and diplomatic.
- The Kingdom maintains its own continuing legal personality alongside the government of the United States, the government of the State of Hawaiʻi and the wider Native Hawaiian community, and alongside other Hawaiian sovereignty organisations, each of which holds its own record and standing. The Kingdom speaks for itself.
- Formal state recognition of the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi has not been extended by the United Nations or by a United Nations member state. Securing wider recognition is an objective of the Kingdom's foreign relations.
Sources Cited on This Page
Primary references
Primary / authoritative source
Source categories indicate provenance and evidentiary weight. Classification does not determine the ultimate legal interpretation of a record.
How to Cite This Page
Suggested citation
Office of the Aliʻi Nui, Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi. "Territory and Historical Realm." Last updated July 9, 2026. https://kingdomofatooi.com/territorial-claim
When reproducing material from this page in academic, legal, or journalistic work, please retain the retrieval date and cite the underlying primary sources linked above directly wherever practicable.
Corrections may be sent to the secure inquiry form.