Corrections
Corrections & Source Submissions
Hawaiʻi Sovereignty Archive welcomes documented corrections, stronger source material and evidence that may materially affect an entry. Submissions are evaluated according to the archive's published methodology. A correction request does not guarantee that an entry will be changed.
Correction requests are reviewed within seven days of receipt. Nothing is published automatically: each submission is read and checked against the cited record before any entry is changed. The methodology, source classes and evidence labels applied to every submission are set out on the About & Methodology page.
Corrections log
Corrections accepted after review are published here with the date, the page affected, the previous and corrected wording, the reason, the source relied upon, and the type of correction. Corrections and editorial revisions made in earlier archive versions remain in the version corrections log on the About page.
· Clarification · /about, Editorial independence and responsibility (disclosure: removed funding and relationship statements the owner has not confirmed for publication)
Previous wording: "The archive is self-funded and owned by the researcher who maintains it. It accepts no advertising, no sponsorship, and no funding from any Hawaiian sovereignty organization, political entity, or advocacy group. Independence of funding removes one kind of pressure…"; "The researcher maintains longstanding personal relationships within the broader Hawaiian sovereignty community…"
Corrected wording: "Funding and personal relationships are not described here; the owner has not published those details." The /about sentence "The archive is not affiliated with, controlled by, sponsored by, or funded by:" and its list of organisations were also removed, as were the matching non-affiliation clauses in /terms and the site footer. The anonymity and no-external-review statements are unchanged.
Reason: The owner has not confirmed these statements for publication.
Source basis: Owner decision, September 24, 2026.
· Clarification · Site header (all pages) and /accessibility (accessibility: removed non-functional dark-mode toggle; high-contrast mode unchanged)
Previous wording: Header button "Switch to dark mode" / "Switch to light mode"; /accessibility: "…plus an optional dark mode and a separate high-contrast mode — the dark charcoal background applies only when one of those modes is chosen".
Corrected wording: The dark-mode button is removed and the page always uses the light palette; /accessibility: "…plus a separate high-contrast mode — the dark background applies only when high contrast is chosen". The high-contrast control is unchanged.
Reason: No dark palette exists, so the button changed nothing visible.
Source basis: Owner decision, September 24, 2026.
· Clarification · /compare, /international-law, /groups (Atooi, Nation of Hawaiʻi, Lawful Hawaiian Government), /documents, the archive assistant and claim-provenance CP-02 (outgoing links and assistant treaty answer)
Previous wording: Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom linked to pca-cpa.org/en/cases/174/ (an empty case template); State v. Lorenzo linked to a Justia page that did not exist; "Kanahele pardon — Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Jan 12, 2002)" linked to an unrelated article; the New York Times, Nov. 24, 1993, apology article linked to a page that did not resolve; reinstated.org was linked as the Reinstated Lawful Hawaiian Government site; the assistant answered a treaty-count question with "approximately 15 to 20 different nations"; CP-02 repeated the list of states and typed "25 instruments".
Corrected wording: Larsen now links to pca-cpa.org/en/cases/35/; Lorenzo to Justia 16405-1 (77 Haw. 219, 883 P.2d 641); the pardon entry reads "Debra Barayuga, Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Dec. 6, 2002)" and links to archives.starbulletin.com/2002/12/06/news/story7.html; the NYT citation is kept without a link, noting "(online link did not resolve when checked Sept. 24, 2026)"; reinstated.org entries are kept without a link, noting "(domain no longer operated; for-sale page when checked Sept. 24, 2026)"; the assistant now gives the 1887-compilation wording and the archive's document count as separate figures and cites /treaties; CP-02 uses the /treaties wording and the counted number of instruments.
Reason: Outgoing links were empty, missing, unrelated or no longer operated, and the assistant gave a treaty count range not found in the archive.
Source basis: Each replacement page was opened and matched to the same record; the treaty wording is the archive's existing /treaties statement.
· Clarification · /documents, /compare, /international-law, /kingdom (quotation checking basis)
Previous wording: Of 39 unique quoted passages, only the 1871 Japan treaty excerpt and the 1851 British treaty preamble stated what their wording had been checked against.
Corrected wording: Each quoted passage now falls in one category: 15 checked against an original, scan or official print (no line added); 3 checked against a named transcription or copy only, each with a line under the quotation — the 1871 Japan treaty and 1851 British preamble (lines unchanged) and the Larsen award ("Wording checked against a commercial publisher's PDF reproduction of the award; not yet compared with an official Permanent Court of Arbitration copy."); 0 converted to a summary among the 39 (the Kūʻē summary is not counted and is unchanged); 21 not checked, each now showing "Wording not yet checked against a source copy." Passages shared by /compare and /international-law show the same line in both places. The Atooi report excerpts remain unchecked because no public copy of the report was located in the sources reviewed.
Reason: Most quotations did not say whether their wording had been compared with an original, a scan, an official print or only a transcription.
Source basis: The archive's own quotation-correction records; no new source comparison was made for this entry.
· Clarification · /treaties, /kingdom, /international-law, fact-checks #18 and #32, the claim-status legend and claim-provenance CP-02 (treaty-count scope)
Previous wording: "its 1887 compilation names 18 state-level partners"; #32: "names roughly 18 state-level counterparties"; Austria-Hungary and China notes: "no primary instrument or official locator has been located".
Corrected wording: "its 1887 treaty compilation lists instruments with 18 named state-level counterparties (1825–1887), including the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, Japan and the German Empire", with, on /treaties and #32, "This is a count of listed counterparties in one compilation; some were later merged or were not fully independent, and the compilation does not cover 1887–1893." Austria-Hungary: draft treaty of June 18, 1875 shown on Punawaiola; signature or ratification not located. China: not located in the sources reviewed. Follow-up (same day): the shared undisputed sentence no longer repeats the list of states ("…18 named state-level counterparties (1825–1887)."); the claim-status legend reads "…with it; the Kingdom's 1887 treaty compilation lists…"; /kingdom's uncited 20-state diplomatic-relations list (which named Austria-Hungary, Brazil, Chile and Peru, absent from the 1887 compilation) replaced with "The Hawaiian Kingdom concluded treaties with states including the United States, Great Britain, France, the German Empire, Japan and Russia (see the treaty register), and is reported to have had consular posts in many other countries (see /consulates for what has and has not been verified)"; the 1875 Austria-Hungary record's archive changed from "Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Vienna" to "not confirmed — draft first page shown by Punawaiola (UH Mānoa), "Treaties, Austria"" (Class A kept, reproduction scan, noted as a draft); the 1883 China record's archive changed from "Hawaiʻi State Archives" to "not confirmed", class to "Class not yet assigned", and its note to "Recorded in this archive as a labor-immigration convention; no instrument, date or parties have been confirmed in the sources reviewed."
Reason: Scope of the count: 18 is a count of listed counterparties, not of distinct sovereign states. No verdict or status changed.
Source basis: Index of Treaties and Conventions, Treaties and Conventions Concluded Between the Hawaiian Kingdom and Other Powers, Since 1825 (Honolulu, 1887), University of Michigan copy, Internet Archive; UH Mānoa Punawaiola, June 18, 1875 draft.
· Clarification · /factcheck and /about#source-classes — source classification (origin vs reproduction vs host)
Previous wording: Class D included "Transcriptions"; fact-checks without a recorded class took their class from the link's host domain; #51 and the 1887 part of #18 were Class D; #49 had no recorded class; #55 was read as Class D; #34 showed Class A from a repository landing page; #28 read "Class D corroboration: a sworn self-description…"; #59 called the sworn account "Class D"; #20 and #33 used the retired "Class E"/"Class D, uncorroborated".
Corrected wording: Class describes the origin of the content; reproduction (official print, scan, transcription, commercial reproduction, not examined) is a separate note; host never sets the class. #51 and #18 (1887) Class A — transcription; #18 (1840) Class A — scan; #49 Class A (ICRC list; Swiss Federal Council depositary) with Council of Regency documents Class C; #55 Class T; #8 Class A — commercial reproduction; #34 Class not yet assigned; every other fact-check carries an explicit class.
Reason: Classification scheme correction. No verdict, flag, status or finding was changed.
Source basis: Each entry's own cited record.
· Clarification · /documents — citation formats and locators, all records (citation formatting)
Previous wording: Locators shown on their own gave bare pages without the volume or reporter (e.g. "at 750–751", "at 163, 175–176"); the Organic Act and Admission Act locators implied their sections sat on the opening page; the Liliʻuokalani protest page was not tied to a single edition; the Cleveland message Bluebook citation carried an unverified pinpoint "at iii"; the 1887 Constitution citations used a description as the author; several citations printed the same body as both author and publisher; the Morgan Report citation ended with a doubled period.
Corrected wording: Every locator now names its volume or reporter (e.g. "30 Stat. 750–751", "556 U.S. 163, 175–176"), and formatted citations name each publication once. Organic Act: "ch. 339, 31 Stat. 141 (1900), § 4 (citizenship, at 141), § 5, § 91 (public lands)". Admission Act: "Pub. L. No. 86-3, 73 Stat. 4 (1959), §§ 5(f), 7(b)". Protest: "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1894, App. II, at 461". Cleveland Bluebook: "President's Message Relating to the Hawaiian Islands, H.R. Exec. Doc. No. 53-47 (1893), reprinted in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1894, App. II, at 445." 1887 Constitution author: "Kingdom of Hawaii (signed by King Kalākaua)". The responsible body is printed once per citation, and the doubled period is removed. MLA and APA give the series volume and page range once, in each style's own form (e.g. MLA "U.S. Statutes at Large, vol. 107, … pp. 1510–1514"; APA "U.S. Statutes at Large, 107, 1510–1514"); the Organic Act and Admission Act give the opening page only (vol. 31, p. 141; vol. 73, p. 4).
Reason: Citation formatting errors. Pinpoint pages are otherwise unchanged; no record text, status or finding was changed.
Source basis: Official scans of 31 Stat. 141 and 73 Stat. 4; FRUS 1894, App. II, p. 461 (history.state.gov); each record's own cited source.
· Clarification · /about — Editorial responsibility disclosure (editorial revision: disclosure consistency)
Previous wording: The "Not yet published" list named funding and ownership, relationships that could create perceived conflicts, research assistance and a contact method for editorial questions, although the same block states each of them; external review was stated in both the disclosure and the External review section; the contact-form explanation was given three times.
Corrected wording: The "Not yet published" list now names only details that are not published: researcher / editor name; role; relevant experience; specific relationships, memberships or offices; historical reviewers; legal reviewers. External review is stated once in the disclosure, with its date, and the External review section links to it. The contact explanation is given once, under "How readers submit corrections", and the other two places link to it.
Reason: The disclosure contradicted itself and repeated the same statements. No fact was added, removed or changed.
Source basis: The archive's own published disclosure on /about. No outside source relied on.
· Factual correction · /documents — Apology Resolution (record doc-pl-103-150), excerpt
Previous wording: "Whereas, on January 17, 1893, the sovereign Hawaiian Kingdom ceased to exist after the illegal overthrow of the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom… Whereas, the Congress apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi on January 17, 1893 with the participation of agents and citizens of the United States…"
Corrected wording: "The Congress— … (3) apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893 with the participation of agents and citizens of the United States, and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination;" — Pub. L. No. 103-150, § 1(3), 107 Stat. 1510, 1513 (1993).
Reason: The excerpt included wording ("ceased to exist") that is not in Pub. L. 103-150 and presented § 1(3) as a Whereas clause. It was replaced with the exact text of § 1(3) at 107 Stat. 1513, in the source's spelling.
Source basis: Pub. L. No. 103-150, 107 Stat. 1510–1514, official GPO scan, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-107/pdf/STATUTE-107-Pg1510.pdf, § 1(3) at 1513.
· Factual correction · /documents — records newlands-resolution, kue-petitions, hawaii-v-oha, rice-v-cayetano, treaty-us-1849, treaty-japan-1871, unga-1514, organic-act-1900, icj-namibia-1971, constitution-1840, treaty-reciprocity-1875 (excerpts); blount-report (pinpoint only); /kingdom — 1851 Hawaiian–British treaty preamble; /compare and /international-law — authorities block (Hawaii v. OHA, ICJ Namibia)
Previous wording: Newlands: "… signified its consent… the annexation of said Hawaiian Islands to the United States of America…" (phrase not in the resolution). Kūʻē: a quotation beginning "We, the undersigned, native Hawaiian subjects…" that matches no transcription. Hawaii v. OHA: "We hold that the Apology Resolution did not strip Hawaii of its sovereign authority over the ceded lands." (not in the opinion); authorities block spliced "the Apology Resolution's 37 'whereas' clauses ... would raise grave constitutional concerns…" from two sentences. Rice v. Cayetano: a sentence not in the opinion. 1849 U.S. treaty: party order reversed. 1871 Japan treaty: "His Majesty the Tenno of Japan", with "their heirs and successors" dropped without an ellipsis. UNGA 1514: paragraphs 2 and 3 run together. Organic Act § 4: opening "That" dropped and sentence cut without an ellipsis. ICJ Namibia (register and authorities block): "Member States". 1840 Constitution: comma missing after "earth". 1875 Reciprocity: a paraphrase of art. I shown as a quotation. 1851 British treaty (/kingdom): wording not the treaty's, with the King named first.
Corrected wording: Wording corrected to match source in each case, with a pinpoint shown under the quotation: Newlands — J. Res. 55, 30 Stat. 750 (1898), preamble and resolving clause; Hawaii v. OHA — 556 U.S. 163, 176 (2009) (Part III), in the register and the authorities block; Rice v. Cayetano — 528 U.S. 495, 524 (2000); 1849 U.S. treaty — art. II, 9 Stat. 977; 1871 Japan treaty — art. I, with a note that the wording was checked against the Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database transcription and not yet against page 115 of the 1887 compilation; UNGA 1514 — G.A. Res. 1514 (XV), paras. 2–3, separated with an ellipsis; Organic Act — § 4, 31 Stat. 141; ICJ Namibia — 1971 I.C.J. 16, para. 133(2), "States Members of the United Nations", in the register and the authorities block; 1840 Constitution — comma restored; 1875 Reciprocity — art. I, 19 Stat. 625, full text; 1851 British treaty — preamble text with the Queen named first and a note that it was checked against a Hawaiian Kingdom treaty compilation copy, not yet the British treaty series. The Kūʻē excerpt was converted to a labelled summary, shown without quotation formatting, stating that the printed wording has not yet been checked against the NARA scan. Blount: wording unchanged; pinpoint FRUS 1894, App. II, at 594 added.
Reason: Passages presented as quotations did not match the cited sources: wording was added, omitted without an ellipsis, reordered or paraphrased.
Source basis: Each passage was checked against the source linked from its record: 30 Stat. 750; 556 U.S. 163 (U.S. Reports PDF, page 176 confirmed); 528 U.S. 495; 9 Stat. 977; OSU Tribal Treaties Database transcription of the 1871 treaty; G.A. Res. 1514 (XV); 31 Stat. 141; 1971 I.C.J. 16; the 1841 printing of the 1840 Constitution (English translation unattributed, as disclosed on the record); 19 Stat. 625; FRUS 1894, App. II, p. 594 (history.state.gov d265); a Hawaiian Kingdom treaty compilation copy of the 1851 treaty.
· Factual correction · /factcheck — #25, #17, #45, #13, #40; /timeline — 1993 Apology Resolution entry; /groups/polynesian-kingdom-of-atooi and other pages quoting the UN press-page notice
Previous wording: #25: the Court held that the Apology Resolution "does not strip the State of its sovereign authority to alienate the lands." Timeline: "the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people." #17: "Aliʻi Nui" inside the quotation from The Garden Island. #45: "four years before the White House had electric lighting" presented as IEEE wording. UN press-page notice quoted as "for information media — not an official record".
Corrected wording: #25: paraphrase without quotation marks — the Court unanimously held that the Apology Resolution did not strip the State of its sovereign authority to alienate the lands it holds. Timeline: "the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States" (Pub. L. 103-150, preamble). #17: "Ali'i Nui", as printed in The Garden Island (Jan. 5, 2012). #45: "4 years ahead of the White House", the ETHW milestone page's wording. UN notice: "For information media. Not an official record."
Reason: Wording shown in quotation marks did not match the attributed source. The #25 sentence could not be verified as the opinion's wording, so it is now stated as a paraphrase of the holding.
Source basis: Pub. L. No. 103-150, 107 Stat. 1510 (1993), preamble; The Garden Island, Jan. 5, 2012; ETHW, Milestones: Electric Lighting of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 1886–1888; the UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases page's standard notice. Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 556 U.S. 163 (2009), for the #25 holding.
· Factual correction · /factcheck — #2, #6, #7, #11, #23, #51; verdict badges on all entries flagged for source review
Previous wording: #2: "It explicitly acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was illegal and that Native Hawaiians never relinquished their claims to inherent sovereignty." #6: "so the 1997 federal conviction stands unless a federal pardon is documented". #7 (verdict TRUE): "The conviction has not been pardoned or expunged. Case status can be verified through the Hawaiʻi Judiciary's public eCourt Kokua search (Cir. Ct. 1st Cir., Crim. No. 97-2160)." #11: the Court held the resolution "is a 'whereas' statement of historical fact and contemplation that creates no substantive legal obligations on the State of Hawaiʻi and no enforceable claim to land or sovereignty." #23 (verdict TRUE): "The estimated Native Hawaiian population at the time was approximately 29,000-40,000, meaning the petitions represented a substantial majority." #51: the League described as "a group of armed white businessmen"; "The King signed under duress"; "It is called the 'Bayonet Constitution' because it was signed at gunpoint." The source-review flag appeared only in each card's source row.
Corrected wording: #2: "Section 1 refers to the 'illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii', and a preamble finding states that the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States." #6: "and no federal pardon was located in the records reviewed for this entry" (verdict TRUE kept). #7 (verdict changed TRUE → UNVERIFIED): "No pardon or expungement was located in the records reviewed for this entry. The linked Hawaiʻi Judiciary eCourt Kokua page is a case-search interface, not the judgment; a copy of the judgment in Cir. Ct. 1st Cir. Crim. No. 97-2160 has not been located." #11: the Court unanimously held that the resolution did not strip the State of Hawaii of its sovereign authority to alienate the ceded lands, reasoning that its preambular findings did not change the State's legal rights, and did not rule on other claims, which § 3 states the resolution does not settle. #23 (verdict changed TRUE → CONTEXT NEEDED): the 1896 census counted 39,504 Native Hawaiians (31,019 Hawaiian and 8,485 part-Hawaiian), so the signatures equal a little more than half of that total; signatures are not a verified count of unique individuals, so the share cannot be stated exactly. #51: FACT text rewritten to attribute the coercion account to standard histories, describe the Honolulu Rifles' backing, cite art. 59's qualifications for electors of Nobles, and state that no page-level citation is recorded yet (verdict TRUE and review flag kept). Every flagged entry now shows "Source review pending" beside its verdict badge.
Reason: Several entries stated conclusions more categorically than their cited records support. #7 cites no judgment or docket record, so a categorical TRUE was not supported. #23's population range had no cited source.
Source basis: Pub. L. No. 103-150, 107 Stat. 1510 (1993), § 1 and preamble; Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 556 U.S. 163 (2009); 1896 census figures as tabulated in Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Native Hawaiian Population Enumerations in Hawaiʻi (Table 7); Constitution of the Hawaiian Islands (1887), art. 59; each entry's existing source record.
· Factual correction · /treaties, /kingdom, /international-law, /overview, /factcheck #18 and #43, the international-law section, the claim-provenance record CP-02, and the 1843 Anglo-French Proclamation citation (/documents, /overview, /timeline, /treaties)
Previous wording: /treaties: "The Hawaiian Kingdom signed and ratified treaties with 20+ nations between 1826 and 1893." and "The historical record is clear and strong: the Hawaiian Kingdom…" /kingdom: "The Hawaiian Kingdom held bilateral treaties with 20+ nations, including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and Belgium."; description "treaty relations with more than twenty governments". /international-law: "…the governments that concluded treaties and conventions with it — more than twenty." and "The Hawaiian Kingdom was a recognized sovereign state with treaties with 20+ nations before 1893." #18: "and bilateral treaties with more than twenty nations". #43: "indexes several dozen bilateral instruments with". CP-02: "The Hawaiian Kingdom held bilateral treaty relations with more than twenty governments." Instrument counts shown without scope. 1843 Proclamation author: "Lord Aberdeen (United Kingdom) and François Guizot (France)"; /treaties signatories "François Guizot (French Foreign Minister)".
Corrected wording: /treaties and /kingdom: "The Hawaiian Kingdom concluded treaties and conventions with the United States, Great Britain, France, the German Empire, Russia, Japan and other states; its 1887 compilation names 18 state-level partners." /treaties intro: "The record documents that the Hawaiian Kingdom…" /kingdom description: "treaty relations with the 18 state-level partners named in the Kingdom's 1887 treaty compilation". /international-law: "— its own 1887 compilation names 18 state-level partners (see fact-check #32)." and "…a recognized sovereign state before 1893 and concluded treaties and conventions with the United States, Great Britain, France, the German Empire, Russia, Japan and other states; its 1887 compilation names 18 state-level partners." #18: "and treaties with 18 state-level partners named in its 1887 compilation" (verdict FALSE kept). #43: "lists about thirty instruments, most of them bilateral treaties, with" (verdict TRUE kept). CP-02 restated to the same narrow wording. Instrument counts now read "indexed in this archive (a count of documents, not countries)" once per page. Austria-Hungary 1875 and China 1883 marked "Requires source review" (not in the 1887 compilation's table of contents). 1843 Proclamation author: "Lord Aberdeen (United Kingdom) and the Comte de St. Aulaire, French ambassador (France)".
Reason: The Kingdom's 1887 compilation names 18 state-level treaty partners and does not by itself establish more than twenty (fact-check #32); the instrument count is a count of documents, not countries. The 1843 declaration was signed for France by the Comte de St. Aulaire, not Guizot (fact-check #47; September 10 correction).
Source basis: Treaties and Conventions Concluded Between the Hawaiian Kingdom and Other Powers, Since 1825 (Honolulu, 1887), table of contents (University of Michigan scan, Internet Archive); fact-checks #32 and #47.
· Status update · /groups/* profiles — section-level evidence badges; Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi "Claimed constituency" (profile, /compare, /groups, /overthrow)
Previous wording: Section badges were computed from every citation in a section pooled together, so one independent citation made a whole section read Corroborated (or two made it Strongly corroborated) even where other items rested on organization material or reported that nothing was located. Changed sections: Atooi 12, 16, 17, 20 (Corroborated); Nation of Hawaiʻi 16, 20 (Corroborated); Office of Hawaiian Affairs 04, 11, 20 (Strongly corroborated); Hawaiian Kingdom Government 11, 16, 17, 20 (Corroborated), 12 (Partially corroborated); Lawful Hawaiian Government 11 (Strongly corroborated), 20 (Corroborated); Naʻi Aupuni 04 (Corroborated), 11, 20 (Strongly corroborated); Crown of Hawaiʻi 04 (Partially corroborated), 18, 20 (Corroborated); Akahi Nui 04 (Partially corroborated), 20 (Corroborated); Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi 16, 20 (Corroborated). Ka Lāhui 06: "The organization reported enrollment of roughly 20,000 members at its early-1990s peak." (Partially corroborated); elsewhere "more than 20,000" / "20,000+" at its peak.
Corrected wording: One rule for every profile: a section badge is derived from its items. If every item shares one status it is shown; if items differ the section reads "Mixed — see items" and each item shows its own status. Items that only report that nothing was located (including "no conviction located" searches and "no authority recognizes" statements) read No documentation located. Independent-corroboration summaries stating that part of the record is corroborated and part is not read Partially corroborated. Now: Atooi 12, 17, 20 Mixed, 16 Partially corroborated; Nation of Hawaiʻi 16 Partially corroborated, 20 Mixed; Office of Hawaiian Affairs 04, 11 Corroborated, 20 Mixed; Hawaiian Kingdom Government 11, 12, 17, 20 Mixed, 16 Partially corroborated; Lawful Hawaiian Government 11 Corroborated, 20 Mixed; Naʻi Aupuni 04, 20 Mixed, 11 Corroborated; Crown of Hawaiʻi 04 Mixed, 18 and 20 No documentation located; Akahi Nui 04 Mixed, 20 No documentation located; Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi 16 Partially corroborated, 20 Mixed. Ka Lāhui 06: "The organization reported over 8,000 enrolled citizens in December 1993; a higher peak of about 20,000 appears in secondary accounts but no record establishing it has been located (see fact-check #35)." (Organization documentation); the profile, /groups and /overthrow mentions carry the same qualification.
Reason: A section badge must not be stronger than the weakest item inside it, and an absence is not corroboration. The Ka Lāhui peak figure contradicted fact-check #35 and the September 9 correction. No badge was raised.
Source basis: Archive evidence-status definitions (About, Verification status); Mililani B. Trask, "Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi: A Native Initiative for Sovereignty," Turning the Tide, vol. 6, nos. 5–6 (Dec. 1993), reposted by the organization (fact-check #35).
· Source reclassification · Source classes sitewide (/about, /groups/* profiles, /documents, /sources, /compare, /factcheck, claim-provenance register); /factcheck #10 link; assistant knowledge
Previous wording: Four conflicting source-class lists: About defined Class D as "Partially corroborated material" and Class E as "No reliable source located"; profiles defined D as "limited or incomplete independent corroboration" and E as "No reliable source located"; the register defined D as "Secondary reference work" and E as "Uncorroborated or unlocated"; the claim-provenance register used C for later independent reporting and E for organization-produced material. Fact-check classes were read from the link's publisher: #1, #5 Primary record; #6, #10 Independent scholarship; #12, #17, #18, #21, #27, #30, #31, #32, #35, #42, #43, #44, #53, #57 Compiled or secondary; #28 Primary record. Claim-provenance CP-02: "D — published secondary compilation". Profile case-search citations (Naʻi Aupuni, Crown of Hawaiʻi, Akahi Nui, Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi): Class A. #10 linked the OSU Treaties Portal transcription. Assistant knowledge: Ka Lāhui "Reported 20,000+ members at peak"; Sai conviction "has not been expunged or pardoned per public records"; Hawaii v. OHA "held … that it is not a substantive grant of rights".
Corrected wording: One scheme, defined once: A — Primary and institutional records; B — Independent journalism and scholarship; C — Organization-produced documentation; D — Compiled or secondary reference; T — Testimony, oral history and traditional knowledge. "Partially corroborated" and "No source located" are verification statuses, not classes; archive analysis is labelled separately. Fact-checks: #1, #5 → D; #6 → B (opinion A for the mistrial facts, reporting B for plea and sentence); #10, #12, #18 (1840 constitution; 1887 transcription D), #21, #27, #30, #31, #32, #43, #57 → A; #17, #42, #44, #53 → B; #35 → C; #28 → T (sworn statement) and C (organization letter). CP-02 → "A — official government compilation"; other provenance letters realigned (later reporting C → B; organization-produced E → C). Profile case-search-only citations → D (item statuses unchanged). #10 now links 9 Stat. 977 on GovInfo. Assistant knowledge aligned with fact-checks #7, #11 and #35. The four /compare corroboration values are defined under Verification status on About, and the compare evidence drawer links to the definitions.
Reason: Source classes must describe the kind of record cited, not how far a statement is established, and must be assigned from the record itself rather than the hosting domain. No verdict, review flag or item-level verification status was changed.
Source basis: The records cited in each entry; 9 Stat. 977 (GovInfo, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-9/pdf/STATUTE-9-Pg977.pdf); Treaties and Conventions Concluded Between the Hawaiian Kingdom and Other Powers, Since 1825 (Honolulu, 1887).
· Citation improvement · /documents (document register) and /sources; /groups/polynesian-kingdom-of-atooi; /factcheck #10 source title
Previous wording: Seventeen records (pl-103-150, liliuokalani-protest, blount-report, cleveland-message, kue-petitions, hawaii-v-oha, undrip, treaty-japan-1871, unga-1514, unga-1541, organic-act-1900, admission-act-1959, unga-1469, larsen-pca, constitution-1840, morgan-report, pg-recognition-1893) read "Requires review — not yet summarised for this record" for what the document establishes and does not establish. "Issuing institution" often named a host, publisher or repository — e.g. "U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo)" for statutes; "Hawaiʻi State Archives" for the Liliʻuokalani protest, the Anglo-French declaration, the 1840 and 1887 constitutions and the 1893 recognition file; "League of Nations Treaty Series" and "United Nations Treaty Series" for Montevideo and the VCLT; "U.S. Statutes at Large" for the 1849 and 1875 treaties; and "Japan Center for Asian Historical Records / National Archives of Japan" for the 1871 Japan treaty, where no record there had been located. The Garden Island article "King of Atooi nation strikes plea" was linked to the newspaper homepage and described as not located. Fact-check #10's source was titled "… — OSU Treaties Portal" while linking to 9 Stat. 977.
Corrected wording: Each of the seventeen records now states, in concise source-supported text, what it establishes and what it does not, with legal interpretation attributed. The field is now "Issuer" — the body or person that made the document — with separate "Published in / reprint" and "Digital host" fields (statutes: U.S. Congress, U.S. Statutes at Large, govinfo; treaties: the named parties; the protest: Queen Liliʻuokalani, reprinted in H.R. Exec. Doc. No. 47 and FRUS 1894, App. II; the 1843 declaration: Governments of Great Britain and France, signed by Lord Aberdeen and the Comte de St. Aulaire; the 1840 and 1887 constitutions: Kingdom of Hawaii; Montevideo and the VCLT: the conference and state parties, with the treaty series as the publication). Generated citations use the publication, never the digital host, and the author field is unchanged. Addressee reads "Not applicable" for statutes, treaties, court opinions, constitutions and UN resolutions. Verified records with unrecorded metadata carry a "Metadata partial" note. The Garden Island citation links to the article (https://www.thegardenisland.com/2013/05/29/hawaii-news/king-of-atooi-nation-strikes-plea/). #10's source is retitled "Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (U.S.–Hawaiian Kingdom), Dec. 20, 1849, 9 Stat. 977 — U.S. Statutes at Large (govinfo)".
Reason: Placeholders on Verified records understated what had been checked, and naming a host or publisher as the issuer misattributed the document in the metadata and generated citations. No verification status, source class, record ID or order was changed.
Source basis: The records cited in each register entry; Pub. L. 103-150, 107 Stat. 1510; FRUS 1894, App. II; Treaties and Conventions Concluded Between the Hawaiian Kingdom and Other Powers, Since 1825 (Honolulu, 1887), p. 115; The Garden Island, May 29, 2013.
· Clarification · /about — editorial responsibility disclosure
Previous wording: Responsibility, funding, relationships, AI use, review status, corrections and external review were stated across several overlapping sections (Editorial transparency, Editorial standards, Funding & independence and the confirmed-disclosure list), with the same four statements repeated in three places and no single statement of who is responsible.
Corrected wording: One consolidated disclosure lists who is responsible, ownership and funding, relationships that may create perceived conflicts, research and AI assistance, external review, and how readers submit corrections. It records that the maintainer's name, role and experience have not been published, that no specific relationship has been disclosed for publication, that no research assistant or collaborator has been disclosed, and that no external review of any kind has occurred. Duplicate paragraphs and future-tense statements about what might be published later were removed.
Reason: The overlapping sections repeated the same disclosures while leaving the responsible party unidentified, and no identity, credential, funder, relationship or reviewer has been confirmed for publication. Consolidating the disclosure states the confirmed facts once and the gaps plainly, without inferring an identity from project metadata.
Source basis: Owner-confirmed disclosure fields held in the archive's own disclosure record (src/data/editorial-disclosure.ts, src/data/external-review.ts); all identity, credential, funding-detail, reviewer and public-contact fields are unset.
· Clarification · /factcheck — heading of the five highlighted entries
Previous wording: "Most Searched", above a fixed list of five fact-check entries (#6, #7, #1, #8, #20).
Corrected wording: "Editors' Starting Points", with a note that the five entries are selected by hand to span a historical event, annexation, statehood, legal interpretation, and a modern organizational claim, and that the archive keeps no search-popularity ranking. The selection is now #22, #1, #24, #19, #40.
Reason: The list was hard-coded and never derived from search activity, so the heading implied a popularity measurement that does not exist. The label was corrected rather than adding any search tracking, and the opening selection was rebalanced across subject areas. All entries, including the leadership-accountability records previously highlighted, remain in the full list and in site search.
Source basis: Archive source code: the list was a fixed array of entry IDs with no counter, storage, or analytics input.
· Citation improvement · /compare and /groups — Office of Hawaiian Affairs evidence citations
Previous wording: "Hawaiʻi State Constitution, Article XII"; "Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes Chapter 10"; "OHA financial statements and annual reports; State of Hawaiʻi audits"; "Agency annual reports and grant records (State of Hawaiʻi)."
Corrected wording: Citations now name the identified records: Hawaiʻi State Constitution, art. XII, §§ 5–6 (Legislative Reference Bureau official text, linked); Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes chapter 10, marked as a chapter-level locator whose official text was not retrievable in this review; OHA audited financial statements FY2006–FY2025 (agency financial-transparency page, linked); and State of Hawaiʻi Office of the Auditor Report No. 18-03, Audit of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (Feb. 2018), linked.
Reason: Sections labelled corroborated cited record categories rather than identifiable records. The underlying documents were opened and are now cited with locators and direct links; the one record class that could not be retrieved is stated as such rather than left implied.
Source basis: Hawaiʻi State Constitution, art. XII, §§ 5–7 (lrb.hawaii.gov/constitution/); Office of the Auditor, Report No. 18-03 (Feb. 2018); OHA financial-transparency page. All verified September 10, 2026.
· Citation improvement · /compare and /groups — Naʻi Aupuni and Native Hawaiian recognition citations
Previous wording: "Akina v. Hawaii record; news coverage."; "Federal court records."; "Congressional hearing records; news coverage."; "Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act — introduced, not enacted."
Corrected wording: Akina v. State of Hawaii, No. 1:15-cv-00322-JMS-RLP (D. Haw.), Order Denying Preliminary Injunction, Doc. 114 (Oct. 29, 2015), official GovInfo copy, linked; S. 1011, 111th Cong. (2009), Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009, official GPO text, linked. The U.S. Supreme Court order staying the ballot count is now stated as not retrieved in this review.
Reason: The court and legislative citations named no docket, document, or bill number. The district-court order and the bill text were opened; the separate Supreme Court order was not, and that gap is now stated rather than absorbed into a general "federal court records" label.
Source basis: GovInfo USCOURTS-hid-1_15-cv-00322 (Doc. 114, Oct. 29, 2015, preliminary injunction denied, describing Naʻi Aupuni as a Hawaiʻi non-profit corporation); GovInfo BILLS-111s1011is. Verified September 10, 2026.
· Citation improvement · /compare and /groups — case-search and business-registration citations
Previous wording: "Hawaiʻi State Judiciary eCourt Kokua case search."; "Hawaiʻi business registration filings."
Corrected wording: Hawaiʻi State Judiciary eCourt Kōkua public case search (official Judiciary system; searched September 10, 2026; a search interface, not a case record), linked; State of Hawaiʻi DCCA Business Registration Division filings (Hawaiʻi Business Express search, searched September 10, 2026), linked.
Reason: The labels did not distinguish a search of an official system from a retrieved record. The search date and the fact that a search interface is not itself a record are now stated.
Source basis: courts.state.hi.us eCourt Kōkua availability page; hbe.dcca.hawaii.gov. Both reached September 10, 2026.
· Source reclassification · /compare and /groups — unidentified secondary and organization-reproduced citations
Previous wording: Class A/B citations reading, for example, "Independent reporting and public records.", "Scholarly accounts and period reporting.", "Permanent Court of Arbitration case record.", "1864 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, archival text.", "UN Working Group session records.", and "Organization constitution as reproduced in scholarly accounts."
Corrected wording: Where no specific publication or record could be identified, the citation now reads "Secondary references only" and is classed as a located but unconfirmed reference (class D), with corroboration shown as a single located source rather than independent corroboration. The Larsen arbitration, the 1864 Constitution, and the UN Working Group session records state the specific retrieval failure or absence. Citations resting on an organization's own constitution, documents, statements, or its principal's filings are now classed as organization-produced (class C), noting that a reproduction in unidentified scholarship does not make them independent.
Reason: Sections were labelled corroborated or strongly corroborated on citations that named no identifiable record. No bibliographic detail was added to preserve a favourable label; the labels were lowered to what the review actually established, applying the same rule to every organization.
Source basis: Archive source review, September 10, 2026. The official Permanent Court of Arbitration case page returned HTTP 403 and no archival scan of the 1864 Constitution was located.
· Clarification · /compare and /groups — court records without primary locators
Previous wording: "Hawaiʻi state court records."; "Hawaiʻi appellate and federal court records."; "Hawaiʻi Supreme Court decision; state court records."
Corrected wording: The same court-record citations now state that the outcome is recorded while the docket number or opinion citation was not located in this review.
Reason: A documented outcome was not downgraded because its primary locator is incomplete. Outcome evidence and primary-record completeness are now stated separately.
Source basis: Archive source review, September 10, 2026.
· Clarification · /groups — profile evidence-mix summary lines
Previous wording: "N primary government, court, institutional, or authenticated records (class A) cited on this profile."
Corrected wording: "… cited in the sourced sections of this profile, excluding these summary lines."
Reason: The counts are taken from the sourced sections before the summary lines are generated, so the previous wording implied they counted every citation shown on the page.
Source basis: Archive implementation review, September 10, 2026.
· Factual correction · /factcheck — Fact-check #35 (Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi membership)
Previous wording: Status TRUE. "A 1993 article by Trask, reposted by the organization, states that enrolment exceeded 20,000 members by 1993. That figure is organization-produced and is not independently verified."
Corrected wording: Status CONTEXT NEEDED. The cited 1993 text reports "over 8,000 citizens" as of that writing, not more than 20,000. A higher 20,000-plus peak is reported in secondary accounts, but no record establishing the peak has been located; the peak is stated as unresolved and the cited figure is attributed as an organizational statement.
Reason: The cited source did not support the figure attributed to it. The 20,000-plus peak was attributed to a passage reporting a different, lower figure.
Source basis: Mililani B. Trask, "Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi: A Native Initiative for Sovereignty," Turning the Tide, vol. 6, nos. 5–6 (Dec. 1993), reposted at https://kalahuihawaii.com/faq/, answer 3: "To date, there are over 8,000 citizens in Ka Lahui Hawaii." Read September 9, 2026.
· Status update · /groups/ka-lahui-hawaii, /compare (current activity), /overview, /groups, /start-here — Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi current activity
Previous wording: "Largely inactive since the late 1990s." Described as a now-dormant organization with no located activity after the late 1990s/early 2000s.
Corrected wording: The dormancy statement is now limited to the organization's original legislative and governing institutions, for which no assembly, election, or other operation was located after the late 1990s. Continuing advocacy, public-education, publication, and community activity published by the organization itself — including its 2026 candidate-information page and dated 2023 and 2024 posts — is described separately and attributed as organization-produced, with no inference of membership, institutional capacity, legal recognition, or outcomes.
Reason: The single activity description conflated two different questions and did not account for the organization's published current projects and 2026 candidate-information material.
Source basis: https://www.kalahuihawaii.net/ ("THIS IS US TODAY"; annual ʻOnipaʻa Peace March co-sponsorship; 2019 Kūkahi march organizing); https://www.kalahuihawaii.net/kohopono2026 (2026 candidate questionnaire responses for statewide and district races); https://kalahuihawaii.com/ (posts dated September 12, 2023 and July 9, 2024, directing readers to the .net site as current). All read September 9, 2026. Each is organization-produced.
· Status update · /factcheck — Fact-check #30 (1893 annexation treaty)
Previous wording: Status CONTEXT NEEDED. "Accounts describe President Cleveland withdrawing it from the Senate before a vote. Source not yet located in the archive for the withdrawal itself."
Corrected wording: Status FALSE. The withdrawal is now documented in the President's own message of March 9, 1893, quoted in full, and the treaty was never put to a ratification vote.
Reason: The withdrawal message was located and read, so the withdrawal is no longer an uncited account and the claim that the treaty was defeated by a Senate vote can be stated as false.
Source basis: Grover Cleveland, Special Message to the Senate, March 9, 1893, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/special-message-629 (full text). Read September 10, 2026.
· Factual correction · /factcheck — Fact-check #47 (1843 Anglo-French declaration)
Previous wording: "British Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen and French Foreign Minister François Guizot jointly issued the Anglo-French Proclamation," with the quoted engagement clause taken from an organization-published transcription.
Corrected wording: The declaration was signed at London by Lord Aberdeen and the French ambassador extraordinary, the Comte de St. Aulaire — not by Guizot — and the quoted wording is now taken from the official published reproduction.
Reason: The named French signatory was wrong, and the quotation rested on an organization-produced transcription rather than an official text.
Source basis: Declaration of November 28, 1843, reproduced in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1894, App. II, doc. 37, pp. 120–121, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1894app2/d37 — signed "Aberdeen" and "St. Aulaire". Read September 10, 2026.
· Status update · /factcheck — Fact-check #49 (Geneva Convention IV accession)
Previous wording: Status DISPUTED, with no depositary record located and the effect of the 2013 filing left open.
Corrected wording: Status MISLEADING. The delivery of an instrument in January 2013 remains organization-documented, but the ICRC's official list of States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention records 196 States and does not include the Hawaiian Kingdom, so no accession took effect.
Reason: The decisive check — the depositary's published list of parties — was carried out, distinguishing delivery of a filing from accession.
Source basis: ICRC IHL Databases, Geneva Convention (IV) 1949, State Parties, https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/state-parties ("196 States"; full party list checked). Read September 10, 2026.
· Factual correction · /factcheck — Fact-check #52 (1897 annexation treaty)
Previous wording: Status TRUE. "The treaty ... failed to secure the two-thirds Senate vote required by the U.S. Constitution for treaty ratification."
Corrected wording: Status CONTEXT NEEDED. The 1897 treaty was never brought to a ratification vote; supporters could not assemble a two-thirds majority and carried annexation instead as a joint resolution requiring only a simple majority.
Reason: The previous wording implied a Senate vote that never took place.
Source basis: U.S. House of Representatives, History, Art & Archives, "The Annexation of Hawaii," https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-annexation-of-Hawaii/ (joint resolution used to lower the threshold from two-thirds). Read September 10, 2026.
· Citation improvement · /factcheck — Fact-checks #32, #42, #43 (treaty and consulate counts)
Previous wording: Status TRUE for "treaties with more than 20 nations" and for "90+ consulates," both citing a Hawaiʻi State Archives finding-aid PDF.
Corrected wording: The finding-aid link no longer resolves and has been replaced. The treaty entries now cite the Kingdom's own 1887 treaty compilation, whose index names about 18 state-level counterparties, so the "more than 20 nations" figure is narrowed to CONTEXT NEEDED; the consulate count is narrowed to CONTEXT NEEDED and cites the peer-reviewed study of the consular network instead.
Reason: A dead citation cannot support a count, and the compilation that was read does not enumerate more than twenty sovereign treaty partners.
Source basis: Treaties and Conventions Concluded Between the Hawaiian Kingdom and Other Powers, Since 1825 (Honolulu, 1887), index of treaties, https://archive.org/details/ahn1084.0001.001.umich.edu; Nicholas B. Miller, "Trading Sovereignty and Labour: The Consular Network of Nineteenth-Century Hawaiʻi," The International History Review (2019), doi:10.1080/07075332.2019.1586747. Read September 10, 2026.
· Status update · /factcheck — Fact-checks #36 and #59 (Mililani Trask, United Nations)
Previous wording: Status TRUE, resting on her sworn 2016 testimony, with the UN records described as not located.
Corrected wording: A United Nations record independently documents her membership on the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the 2002–2004 term, held as an expert listed for the United States. #36 remains TRUE on that record; #59 is narrowed to CONTEXT NEEDED because her account of representing Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi at the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, and of a role in the drafting of UNDRIP, is still only her own sworn statement.
Reason: An independent UN record was located for one role, and the separate organizational-representation claim needed to be distinguished from it rather than carried by the same verdict.
Source basis: United Nations DESA, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Members 2002–2004, https://social.desa.un.org/unpfii/members-2002-2004 ("Ms. Mililani Trask — United States"). Read September 10, 2026.
· Status update · /factcheck — Fact-checks #34, #45, #57 (literacy, palace electrification, 1840 constitution)
Previous wording: Status TRUE for a literacy rate over 90%, for ʻIolani Palace as the first electrified royal palace in the world, and for the 1840 constitution preceding "most of Asia."
Corrected wording: All three are narrowed to CONTEXT NEEDED. The literacy figure is stated as an estimate drawn from period school reporting with no located measurement. The palace entry now cites the IEEE Milestone record for the November 1886 grounds lighting, the 1887 interior installation and the four-year lead over the White House, and drops the unsupported "first in the world" ranking. The 1840 constitution entry keeps the documented comparisons with Japan and China and drops the broader ranking claims.
Reason: Each verdict was stated more strongly than its evidence, and two of the three cited a homepage rather than a record.
Source basis: IEEE Milestone, "Electric Lighting of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 1886–1888," https://ethw.org/Milestones:Electric_Lighting_Of_The_Kingdom_of_Hawaii_1886-1888 (citation text and "Historical significance" section). Read September 10, 2026. No measurement of a literacy rate above 90%, and no comparative constitutional authority, was located.