Hawaiian at Heart

History of Hawai'i

On January 18, 1778, Captain Cook stumbled upon the Hawaiian Islands on his way to discover the Northwest Passage. It was on this trip that he first documented surfing after seeing the natives “riding the ocean's waves on wooden boards.” What he also noticed about the Hawai'i was the prime agricultural area for growing sugar cane. Because of this Americans, Europeans as well as Asians began imigrating to Hawaii and build plantations.

Over the next 50 years people continued to flow into Hawaii. The American missionaries became a strong social group, influencing and reshaping social mores and behaviors of the time. With them they brought Christian and Protestant priests. Christianity increasingly becoming an influential religion in the Hawaiian Islands. The immigration of foreigners also brought diseases that the Hawaiians were not able to fight off. Their population plumetted.

The population of Hawaii continued to grow with many america and europeans building their own lives within the nation. The colonisation of Hawaiian people continued and was not friendly. Hawaiian people fought for their sovereignty. One of the most violent incidences occured in 1843 when Lord Paulet entered the Honolulu Harbour and demanded that King Kamehameha cede teh Hawaiian Islands to the British Crown. Using guns and other weapons the King stepped down. Later that year, Paulet's commanding officer returned to Hawaii and reinstated the Hawaiian monarchy.

Recognizing Hawaiian sovereignty, the American's were paying tariffs on sugar cane that they were exporting. In 1875 the American's and Hawaiian's signed a free-trade treaty allowing the Americans to export as much as they wanted. This of course imposed stress on resources and fueled more violent protest.

In 1887 another rebellion broke out, apparently because of an opium scandal. This opened the doors for other groups living in Hawaii to voice their own unhapiness and through countless political movements the monarchy lost much of its power.

In 1893 Queen Lili`uokalani recieved petitions from her subjects asking to reqrite the constitution and restore the monarchy's power. She did.

Another group, made up of europeans and americans formed the “comittee of safety” and there purpose was to try and find peace among those living in Hawaii. Queen Lili`uokalani yielded her throne, under protest, in order to avoid bloodshed, trusting that the United States government would right the wrong that had been done to her and the Hawaiian people.




Summary
To others, Hawaii seems like a place of whimsical beauty and freedom. We are now able to purchace Hawaiian culture in the form of dress, music and hula, but to some this is not enough, they want to BE Hawaiian. This sparks interest in the Hawaiian language, music and art which is not bad. Imagine how different Canada might be if more of us were interested in Aboriginal languages. However, these people who are interested in Hawaii are because of marketing products. They are not interessted in the land, the oceanography, fishing, farming or other things that define Hawaiian culture.
Taking a step back to the definition of Hawaiians , we have the concept of the Hawaiian geneology. Hawaiian identity lies in relation to “aumakua” (ancestral spirit), “aina” (land) and “kanaka” (other Hawaiians). The people care for the land, and thus the land cares for them. Their relations to others explains where they came from. And they do not understand the notion of “part” whatever or “half” whatever. They are Hawaiians.
She kind of makes fun of the way American's boast that “their grandmother was a Cherokee” and says that statements like that would not fly in Hawaii. If your family is truly Hawaiian there will always be someone who knows you, or your family. People attempt to claim Hawaiian as their identity because they fall in love with the idea of Hawaii that has been sold to them. Many Samoans and Phillipino people seek refuge as Hawaiians because to most, being hawaiian carries no history of pain or loss.



Discussion
What is apparent is that there is a huge disconnect between true-Hawaiians and those who wish to live the Hawaiian dream. These are people who are actively seeking education in Hawaiian language and culture. On page 410 she says “Often Hawaiians are misread as uninterested or resistant to learning when they do not fully participate in Hawaiian education, but the reality is that all contemporary Hawaiians come from a pat where out parents, grandparents or great grandparents use of Hawaiian language and culture was forbidden, legislated against or brutally punished.”
It's almost impossible to compare native-Hawaiians with native-Americans. Hawaiians were not the “first people” on North American land, the Hawaiians were another nation completely unto their own. They were slowly pushed out of their home until it seems the had no choice but to hand it over to the Americans for the sake of peace.
What I see as the difference in Native and American cultures is the disconnect between the definition of land and power. The native Hawaiians were connected to the land and to their relatives. When American's wanted to take power away fromt he monarchy Hawaiians gave in to save their land and people from the violence that they forsaw happening. What happened was an American imposition of tourist culture and an erasure and suppressed notion of true-Hawaii.
In preparing for this seminar I was searching hard for videos, articles and website that could help me to understand the history of colonisation in Hawaii. It was hard. Even on google.