Hawaiian History Research Articles

The Hālawa dune site, Moloka‘i, Hawaiian Islands: New excavations, redating, and new interpretations

The Hālawa dune site on Moloka‘i Island has played a key role in understanding early Hawaiian history. Initially excavated in 1969–1970 and regarded then as dating to the early phase of Hawaiian settlement, the site yielded a diverse artifact assemblage and the first evidence for round-ended house foundations in Hawai‘i. Prior attempts to refine the site’s chronology yielded inconsistent results. Renewed excavations and re-analysis of previously excavated collections from the site have allowed for recovery of a stratigraphically controlled sample of faunal materials and charcoal. AMS dating of candlenut endocarp indicates initial use of Mound A cal AD 1366–1610, with occupation continuing into the post-contact period. Matched pairs of candlenut and marine mollusk shell dates allow for the derivation of a Hālawa-specific marine reservoir value (ΔR = −267), in turn permitting the calibration of 12 dates on marine mollusk shells excavated from Mound B in 1970. Faunal materials from the 2020 Mound A excavation add new information on patterns of marine exploitation, and on a trend of increased frequency of domestic pig and dog over time. Charcoal identified from Mound A indicates largely native forest taxa, but with several Polynesian-introduced plants as well, including candlenut, breadfruit, and mountain apple.

Murder and Memory in Territorial Hawai‘i: A Moloka‘i Microhistory

Abstract The murder of Elmer Conant on the tiny island of Moloka‘i in June, 1923, was an act of local resistance to a wave of social and economic change. The hunt for Conant’s murderer, and the subsequent prosecution of a Native Hawaiian man local authorities believed was responsible for it, reveal the power territorial elites could exercise over life in rural Hawai‘i, the ambiguous nature of indigenous response to that rule, and the way colonial power could shape memories of the era. This microhistory reverses the conventional lens used to examine Hawaiian history by concentrating on rural events and ordinary people far removed from the capital city who confronted the forces of colonialism and whose struggles helped shape island history.

Wahi Pana Aloha ʻĀina: Storied Places of Resistance as Political Intervention

Wahi pana aloha ʻāina, storied places of resistance, is a historical and political research device that perpetuates contemporary Hawaiian sovereignty history, and can serve as a political intervention between Kanaka (Hawaiian people) and the State of Hawaiʻi. Wahi pana aloha ʻāina are places where movements and resistance in the name of aloha ʻāina occur. Aloha ʻāina is a founding quintessential concept to a Hawaiian worldview and epistemology. The genealogy of aloha ʻāina traditions, equipped generations of Kanaka with environmental keenness through a deep love for and connection to the land. During the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in the 1890s, aloha ʻāina became the political identity of Kanaka in the struggle for sovereignty of Hawaiʻi during the illegal encroachment by the United States. In the 1970’s during the Hawaiian renaissance (cultural re-awakening), leaders of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana (the group who organized the first contemporary resistance by Kanaka against the U.S.) re-discovered and reclaimed aloha ʻāina to re-awaken the Hawaiian consciousness after decades of imposed American indoctrination. The Hawaiian renaissance led to a series of land movements that arose in opposition to America’s control of Hawaiian lands and became the basis for the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement, or, the current Hawaiian political movement for better self-determination and the return of Hawaiʻi’s sovereignty to Kanaka. This legacy of storied places of resistance has been effectively written over by colonial historiography and the State of Hawaii’s legacy of American expansionism. This has manifested into a legacy of prejudice in the State of Hawaiʻi judicial system that favors non-Kanaka entities, initiatives and agendas, while disapproving and discrediting Kanaka self-determination initiatives and sovereignty agendas. Due to this, there is no concern from the State of Hawaiʻi in remedying the political conflicts that arise between Kanaka and the State. I argue that the normalization of wahi pana aloha ʻāina, can assist Kanaka in overcoming the negative impact of the colonial footprint of the State of Hawaiʻi over Kanaka ancestral legacies and land histories, and be used to reclaim Kanaka land rights. In this paper, I lay out the research behind the theory of wahi pana aloha ʻāina, and how it functions as a research tool in the field of Kanaka land struggles, with a specific focus on historical colonial resistance. Second, I exemplify the use of wahi pana aloha ʻāina through telling the story of the wahi pana aloha ʻāina of my own moʻokūʻauhau (genealogy) in Keaukaha on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, and how my family and community maintain our moʻokūʻauhau and kuleana (rights/privilege/responsibility) through the practice of perpetuating wahi pana aloha ʻāina.

Capitalist Transformation and Settler Colonialism: Theorizing the Interface

ABSTRACTAnthropological theory has approached Indigenous experiences of colonialism through frameworks of capitalist expansion or, more recently, through those of settler colonialism. Given their different attentions, these frameworks in conjunction provide a more nuanced account of the colonizing and displacement process than either does alone. The history of Hawaiʻi from 1778 to 1860 provides a valuable illustration of the entanglements of economic transformation and settler colonialism over time, showing the need to combine analyses of settler colonialism with those of political economy to understand the emergence of new systems of governance, law, and exchange. The establishment of settler colonialism was neither quick nor uncontested, entailing Indigenous strategic appropriation along with political, legal, and social changes that created the space for settler dominance. Settler colonialism was fostered by the prospect of a profitable plantation economy. In Hawai‘i, chiefs managed to avoid a Euro‐American capitalist takeover during the first eighty years of contact but began to lose control as the settler population grew and the capitalist economy expanded. [settler colonialism, capitalist transformation, land alienation, Hawaiian history]

Skiing, science and sovereignty: A material and political history of the road to Hawai‘i's Mauna Kea (1936–2020)

ABSTRACT Mauna Kea, the tallest volcano on Hawai‘i Island, has become a mountain familiar to many in the Pacific and around the world, as a result of the massive mobilizations in which those who identified as kia‘i (protectors) of the mountain opposed the construction of a giant Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) at the summit. This article retraces the history of the Mauna Kea access road, based on a study of the English-language newspaper record as well as ethnographic and archival material. From the road's inception in the 1930s onward, economic interests, political conflicts, and relations of domination appear intertwined with the very materiality of the road: its route, surface, safety, maintenance, as well as features such as cattle grids, crosswalks, and guardrails. Three political strategies centrally involved the notion of a Mauna Kea access road. Starting in the 1930s, businessmen and government officials pushed for a road, and later for its improvement, in order to make the mountain more accessible, in particular for skiing. As of the 1960s, this push was paralleled and contradicted by another strategy which consisted in keeping the mountain not too accessible, in part because of what some perceived as a competition between recreational and scientific uses – skiing vs. science. A third political strategy involved the road as a site from which to question the notion of public ownership and to affirm sovereignty. The history of the Mauna Kea access road appears as a synecdoche of the political conflict over land and sovereignty that defines Hawaiian history since the nineteenth century.

Colonizing the Mind: Hawaiian History, Americanization, and Manual Training in Hawaiʻi’s Public Schools, 1913–1940

Background/Context:Current historical understanding of Hawaiʻi’s territorial period celebrates American education as a crucial influence on the islands’ political development. In particular, the territory’s public school system represents an essential institution for spreading democratic freedom, fostering social mobility, and, more importantly, establishing America’s presence as a positive influence on Hawaiʻi’s political destiny. There has yet, however, to be a critical look at how White territorial school leaders used the public school system as a settler colonial institution with the intent of producing a compliant non-White population accepting of the nation’s racially stratified social, political, and economic systems of inequality.Focus of Study:Making Hawaiʻi American was about controlling the islands’ past and determining its future. Cultivating consent, as this article contends, was a critical strategy to reach this end. White school officials used their uncontestable authority to uproot local history and social systems and replace them with narratives affirming American exceptionalism and racial segregation. Throughout the territorial period (1900–1959), they designed and supported formal and informal schooling practices and policies to inculcate Hawaiʻi’s majority nonwhite students with American values, norms of behavior, and political beliefs to socially engineer acceptance of White American authority and racial hierarchy. Through repetition and enforcement of these practices and policies, they sought to replace the unfavorable local memory of American involvement in the forced 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani and Native protests over U.S. annexation in 1898 with an affirmative, progressive narrative justifying America’s presence and jurisdiction as a beneficent enterprise.Research Design:This article brings historical inquiry to this topic and uses archival materials from the University Archives and Pacific-Hawaiian Collections at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Those include the entire collection of the Hawaii Educational Review, correspondence and memos produced by schoolmen (White male school officials and administrators), and newspaper clippings. It also draws on secondary literature to help further contextualize this topic.Conclusions/Recommendations:The history of White educators in territorial Hawaiʻi reveals how public education under their leadership constituted a colonizing project designed to limit student opportunities and determine their futures. The challenge for scholars and educators is not to consign such histories to mere reflections on past mistakes but to identify how forms of oppressive education continue to manifest in schools today and impact student lives.

The Diaries of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, 1885–1900 ed. by David W. Forbes

Reviewed by: The Diaries of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, 1885–1900 ed. by David W. Forbes Ronald Williams Jr., Ph.D. The Diaries of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, 1885–1900. Edited and with Annotations by David W. Forbes. Honolulu: Hui Hānai, 2019. xxxvii + 538 pp. Bibliography. Notes. Illustrated. Index. $40.00 cloth There can be little argument that the editor of this text—over the past several decades of in-person archival research—has seen, read, and transcribed more material related to Hawai'i and its history that anyone else of our time and likely of the past century. His bibliographic and editorial work has produced canonical texts that have benefited countless researchers and delivered a greater understanding of Hawai'i's past to all. His four-volume Hawaiian National Bibliography stands out as an authoritative first stop for any historian on the trail of an elusive document or looking to broaden their research of a given topic. With his latest project, The Diaries of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, 1885–1900, Forbes delivers another significant historical resource. Publication of the diaries of the last reigning sovereign of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Her Majesty Queen Lili'uokalani, adds significant content to the study of a life that still yet remains relatively under-explored and misunderstood. In a beautifully designed and illustrated book of over 500 pages, diary entries of the Queen are interspersed with annotations from the editor that offer further information about the many people, places, and events named within the diaries. Footnotes add biographical information to names mentioned in the original text. While these editorial insertions are a common, accepted method of delivering further content and context to the reader, they do mark places of outside authorship within an otherwise straightforward delivery of the subject's voice. [End Page 179] Issues of historiography in Hawai'i have taken center stage as a clear understanding of the past broad elision of Native voice propels demands for more inclusive histories. A prolific archive of Hawaiian-language writing—more than 125,000 pages of Hawaiian-language newspapers and likely an equal amount of government documents, private correspondence, and publications—is now being accessed by a growing number of scholars literate in the 'ōlelo makuahine (mother tongue) of these Islands. They are producing more inclusive, complex histories that often challenge long-entrenched master narratives of Hawai'i and its people. These important methodological shifts underway are not only about the inclusion of Native-language sources. In her brilliant biography of the Hawaiian statesman, John Papa 'Ī'ī, Facing The Spears of Change, Marie Alohalani Brown casts a paradigm that reaches beyond the mere use of Native-language sources and towards a cultural literacy that properly contextualizes and defines the sources gathered.11 The absence of both of these tools within this text is problematic. The Diaries of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, 1885–1900 contains significant annotations and over a thousand footnotes that offer Hawaiian history from the sole perspective of English-language sources. The reign of Her Majesty Queen Lili'uokalani was one of the most significant inflection points in Hawaiian history and voices of the period engaged in polemic rhetorical battles in attempts to influence the public both domestically and abroad. Time and again the text offers a window into this period through the eyes of the opposition English-language press. One of the most quoted sources among the book's annotations is the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, a newspaper purchased in May 1888 by William Richards Castle (a staunch opponent of the monarchy and a central member of the Committee of Safety that overthrew the Queen on January 17, 1893). An insertion following the Queen's July 6, 1898 diary entry offers an important note that this was the date of the passing of the annexation resolution in the U.S. Congress. The annotation goes on to platform the response of the Pacific Commercial Advertsier in its July 14 headline: "Annexation! Here to Stay!" Responses to these events that led to the loss of their nation from the Native-language press such as "Lawe Lima Nui o Amerika I Na Paemoku O Hawaii," "Me ka Ae Ole o ka Poe Nona ka Aina," and...

A Power in the World: The Hawaiian Kingdom in Oceania by Lorenz Gonschor

Reviewed by: A Power in the World: The Hawaiian Kingdom in Oceania by Lorenz Gonschor Kealani Cook A Power in the World: The Hawaiian Kingdom in Oceania, by Lorenz Gonschor. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2019. isbn hardback: 9780824880019; isbn paper: 9780824888299, xiv+235 pages, maps, tables, photographs, glossary, notes, references, and index. Hard-back, us$68.00; paper, us$28.00. Lorenz Gonschor’s A Power in the World: The Hawaiian Kingdom in Oceania is a well-researched addition to the growing body of work reexamining how Hawaiians, and in this case the Hawaiian Kingdom, shaped and reshaped their relationships with nations and peoples beyond Hawai‘i. Merging the fields of political science and history, Gonschor argues, convincingly, that the Kingdom of Hawai‘i played a pivotal role in shaping Oceanic politics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Chapter 1 examines the development of the Hawaiian constitutional monarchy as a model for a hybrid government recognized by the great powers of the day. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 explore Hawaiian thought and action related to diplomacy in the Pacific, specifically the promotion of the Hawaiian model by kingdom diplomat Charles St Julian and, later, by King David Kalākaua and his government. Chapters 5 and 6 investigate the far-reaching impact of the Hawaiian model in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Gonschor’s research, contained within an attractive volume and complemented by a number of helpful tables and maps, draws on a diverse set of sources, threading together Hawaiian- and Tongan-language newspapers, government archives and [End Page 273] records from across Oceania, and a variety of published and archival materials from around the world. While elements of this research have been covered before, no other scholar has brought together such a wide range of materials or crafted anything approaching such a thorough examination of the kingdom’s impact on Oceanic governance. Gonschor brings considerable nuance to our understanding of ties between different parts of Oceania. More importantly, he adds considerable weight to the argument that these connections must be assigned more significance when looking at the past, present, and future of individual Oceanic peoples and of the region as a whole. Gonschor argues convincingly that the kingdom not only proved, to Islanders and outsiders alike, that a hybrid government could work but also succeeded in using that government to shield itself against the colonial aggression being suffered across the Pacific. Furthermore, the kingdom and its representatives actively promoted this model in an effort to stave off such aggressions against its neighboring states and fellow Oceanic peoples and to make the kingdom a political power in the region and, arguably, the world. While Gonschor does a solid job of analyzing the perspectives and actions of the kingdom’s government and its representatives, his final two chapters on the kingdom’s regional impact stand out as particularly engaging. Gonschor carefully traces the direct and differing impacts of the Hawaiian model in Sāmoa, Fiji, and especially Tonga. He also explores the importance of the Hawaiian kingdom in promoting pan-Oceanic institutions and, to a certain degree, sentiments in the more recent past. As one might imagine, this includes a discussion of Epeli Hau‘ofa’s seminal 1994 essay “Our Sea of Islands” and the influence of Hawai‘i on his thinking about Oceania (see The Contemporary Pacific 6 (1): 148–161). It also includes consideration of contemporary organizations, such as the Polynesian Leaders Group, that look to the pan-Oceanic elements of Kalākaua’s reign as precedent for their own work. Gonschor’s work also touches on the need to reevaluate the role of non-ethnic Hawaiians in Hawaiian history, particularly those working for and with allegiance to the kingdom government. Once given outsized importance by historians with little faith in Islanders’ ability to shape their own history, many of these individuals fell to the historical wayside as a new generation of historians set out to re-center Islanders in Island histories. As Gonschor notes, in the process, some historians, including myself, have neglected prominent actors in the history we write. While the resolution of this issue will require a broader discussion far beyond the scope of...

Hawaiian Women's Fashions: Kapa, Cotton and Silk by Agnes Terao-Guiala

Reviewed by: Hawaiian Women's Fashions: Kapa, Cotton and Silk by Agnes Terao-Guiala Linda Arthur Bradley Hawaiian Women's Fashions: Kapa, Cotton and Silk. By Agnes Terao-Guiala. [n.p.]: Agnes Terao-Guiala, 2019. 288 pp. Illustrated. Bibliography. Index. $49.00 paper Terao-Guiala's book on Hawaiian women's fashions is the result of extensive research on Hawaiian clothing and history. It is a big, beautiful book, lavishly illustrated with line drawings and photos that enrich our understanding of the era prior to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. The last chapters discuss Hawai'i's contemporary designers who continue traditional Hawaiian designs within the global fashion industry. It is in these areas, the 19th century, and the 21st century, that the book shines. While there are many books on the aloha shirt, this is only the second book produced that covers Hawaiian women's dress. It is a welcome addition to the literature. As a trade book, it is written in a comfortable style intended for a wide audience of readers in Hawai'i. It is neither an academic or history book, as there are no footnotes and few source citations. Beginning with a discussion of Hawaiian material culture and of kapa designs in pre-contact times, the author sets the frame for examining later Hawaiian textile designs and their focus on Hawaiian flora, fauna, and culture. The shift from wearing kapa to clothing of woven fabric began in 1820 when American missionary wives arrived and first made garments for royalty inspired by their own western styles, but without waistlines. That has remained a unique feature of aloha attire. From then on, Hawaiian fashion developed through the interplay of western styles and Hawaiian print designs. This book is as much about history as fashion. Within each chapter, the author presents a long discussion of Hawaiian history and key personages followed by information on clothing and textiles from that era. The evolution of [End Page 177] style lines is presented through stories of significant Hawaiian women from the nineteenth century forward as they interacted with missionaries and others, then adapted western styles to their own use. This approach makes for fascinating reading, but along the way, there are contradictions regarding terms used, but none are defined. The reader is left confused as to the differences between the four basic styles of women's aloha attire, and that was also apparent in the identification of garments in the book's twentieth century photos, where half of the garments labeled as holokū would generally be classified as mu'umu'u. Key terms need to be defined and a glossary of Hawaiian terms is needed for readers unfamiliar with the Hawaiian language. With regard to women's aloha attire of the twentieth century, there are recognized definitions of the types of aloha attire based on the Hawaiian Garment Industry's nomenclature, found in academic articles and encyclopedias of fashion, and used by the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Historic Costume Collection. The holokū is a long gown, generally with long sleeves; it could be loose or fitted and became a formal garment with a train. A mu'umu'u is a loose day dress with a variety of sleeves and lengths. The holomu'u is a more fitted dress, like a holokū, but without a train. Aloha shirts were made for both men and women. Terao-Guiala does not discuss women's aloha shirts, though some remarkable ones were produced in the 1940s and 1950s. The book's subtitle, "Kapa, Cotton and Silk", refers to the dominant fibers for fabric used in Hawai'i's clothing. Each chapter title begins with whichever of these fibers seemed to be most important for that era. Unfortunately, rayon and polyester were completely ignored, even though most of the fabrics used in aloha attire in the last half of the twentieth century were rayon, cotton, polyester and cotton-polyester blends. Rayon was used in the post WWII period for about a decade. Aloha attire produced in rayon from the late 1940s through late 1950s is highly collectible today and can cost well over $1,000.00. Cotton dominated the 1960s, polyester came...

Native Hawaiian culturally based treatment: Considerations and clarifications

The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, it aims to understand some of the earliest documented perspectives voiced by Native Hawaiian communities and their appeals for the concept of culturally based treatment. Second, it presents research, practice, and policy considerations with the goal of evolving the base of evidence supporting cultural treatment. Within the context of Hawai‘i and Native Hawaiian history, this paper first contextualizes the emergence and conceptual orientation of culture-based addiction treatment. In discussing substance use disorder treatment in the Hawaiian context, insights and perspectives consider cultural-political trauma a key factor in developing a beneficial framework of practice. This historical background, however, reveals that contemporary culturally based design and service delivery is not aligned with the objective of specifically improving treatment for Native Hawaiians.

Hawaiian history and American history: integration or separation?

ABSTRACTOver the past three decades, a rich historiography on nineteenth-century Hawaiʻi has argued that too often the islands have been understood as marginal, and their people as passive in the face of American colonialism. This literature recovers the voices of the colonized, stressing the crucial ways in which Hawaiian history is not American history, but rather that of an independent people whose politics and culture were eroded by imperialism. This article offers an overview of this scholarship, asking how it might help scholars of U.S. history understand Hawaiʻi as offering a different perspective for viewing the United States, from the outside in.

A Man for All Seasons

Kekuni Blaisdell was a “man for all seasons,” the ultimate man of conscience. Back in the early 1990s, as a newcomer to Hawaiian history and Hawaiian activism, I fell in love with the idea of Kekuni as someone rational and balanced, a person who remained true to himself and his beliefs, despite external pressure or influence.

“Ea mai Hawai‘inuiākea”: Marking the Global Diplomatic Presence of the Nineteenth-century Hawaiian Kingdom

“Ea mai Hawai‘inuiākea”1: Marking the Global Diplomatic Presence of the Nineteenth-century Hawaiian Kingdom Ronald Williams Jr. (bio) The field of Hawaiian history has witnessed several recent explorations of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s role in international diplomatic affairs of the nineteenth century. A common theme has been the outsized reach, both in breadth and potency, of the relatively diminutive island monarchy. In September 2018, the Honolulu Museum of Art opened a major exhibition entitled, “Ho‘oulu Hawai‘i: The King Kalākaua Era,”2 dedicated to the conception that during the mid-late nineteenth century, “Cosmopolitanism—the idea that local politics share systemic parallels internationally as part of a world citizenry—was a thriving philosophy in the Hawaiian Kingdom.”3 A significant component [End Page 133] of the exhibit was the material culture surrounding Hawaiian Kingdom statecraft, including: an official uniform “decidedly of a distinct national feature;”4 decorative royal orders, both awarded and received; and exquisite jewelry presented to Queen Kapi‘olani and Princess Lili‘uokalani as diplomatic gifts when the two represented the Hawaiian Kingdom at the 1887 Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in London. Several essays within the accompanying catalogue highlight “Hawai‘i’s place in a global society during what was, in Eurocentric terms, the modern era.”5 On 28 November 2018, the Hawai‘i State Archives [HSA] hosted an open house commemorating the 175th anniversary of the 1843 Anglo-French Declaration—an international recognition of the Hawaiian Kingdom as a sovereign and independent nation-state by Great Britain and France. A public lecture on one of Hawai‘i’s first commissioned diplomats, Timoteo Ha‘alilio (1808–1844), was followed by an exhibition displaying primary-source documents and artifacts highlighting Hawaiian Kingdom diplomatic history from 1843–1893. One case offered materials from Hawaiian Kingdom consulates—San Diego, Valparaiso, Antwerp, Pretoria, Hong Kong, and Sydney—located on six of the world’s seven continents. Also in 2018, the Hawaiian Historical Society, as part of its ongoing Public Lecture Series, hosted a research presentation by Tiffany Ing discussing her recent dissertation, “Ka Ho‘omālamalama ‘ana i nā Hō‘ailona o ka Mō‘ī Kalākaua a me kona Noho Ali‘i ‘ana: Illuminating the American, International, and Hawai‘i Representations of David Kalākaua and His Reign, 1874–1891.”6 Ing’s work examines both domestic and foreign representations of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s seventh mō‘ī [monarch] through English and Hawaiianlanguage newspapers; offering a broader evaluation and explanation of the Hawaiian leader’s activities and motivations. As in the aforementioned works, Ing examines the prolific international actions and efforts of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the resultant place afforded the Islands as a co-equal sovereign state in the great family of nations. She explains, “From the outset, then, the mō‘ī [Kalākaua] used well-established diplomatic methods to set up recipocal and symbolic relationships with other world leaders as part of his strategy to assert Hawai‘i’s independence.”7 [End Page 134] As part of a larger book project on the history of Hawaiian Kingdom diplomacy, I have recently sought to compile a complete list of Hawaiian Kingdom consulates and legations abroad from 1843–1893. Several lists have been previously published with varying numbers of cities that number from seventy to around 100—archivist Alice Tran of the Hawai‘i State Archives and I produced a list for the November 2018 open house that contained 117—but all have been decidedly partial. An examination of previously cited sources, along with the voluminous correspondence and diplomatic circular collections at the HSA, produced the list included below—revealing that during the nineteenth century, the Hawaiian Kingdom operated consulates and legations in at least 136 cities on six continents across the globe.8 Note: spellings and names of cities and countries listed reflect those used in the original primary sources. Consulates and Legations of the Hawaiian Kingdom Abroad [1843–1893] 1. Aguilas, Spain 2. Amsterdam, Netherlands 3. Antwerp, Belgium 4. Apemama, Kiribati 5. Apia, Samoa 6. Arecife de Lanzarotte, Canary Islands 7. Astoria, Oregon, USA 8. Auckland, New Zealand 9. Assumption, Paraguay 10. Bangkok, Siam 11. Barcelona, Spain 12. Batavia...

The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native Hawaiian Intellectual History by Noenoe K. Silva

Reviewed by: The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native Hawaiian Intellectual History by Noenoe K. Silva Robert Warrior (bio) The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native Hawaiian Intellectual History Noenoe K. Silva Duke UP, 2017, 288 pp. ISBN 978-0822363682, $26.95 paperback. The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen focuses on the lives and works of two Kanaka Maoli writers and editors from overlapping generations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, providing by example an argument for and a methodological intervention in the continuing development of Native Hawaiian studies. Intellectual history is at the heart of Silva's version of Native Hawaiian studies, and this biographically-based study operates as both a much-needed contribution to intellectual historical archival research and interpretation and as an argument in favor of the need for a library of books like it. Joseph Ho'ona'auao Kānepu'u, a Christian schoolteacher from the island of Molokai, wrote and published in Hawaiian from the 1850s into the 1880s. Silva dedicates three chapters to Kānepu'u and his work, first providing an overview of the body of his writings, then a closer look at what she considers to be the most significant and literary of his works, and finally a discussion of his writings that contribute to contemporary discussions of Native Hawaiian geography. As Silva argues of Kānepu'u's literary works, "He intentionally positions himself to act as a bridge spanning the divide between the world of thought and practice of his ancestors and us, his descendants" (52). The second part of the book provides a similar overview and analysis of Joseph Moku'ōhai Poepoe, a prolific and well-known writer and newspaper publisher who wrote from the late 1870s until his death in 1913. In Poepoe's case, Silva provides detailed analyses of mele (songs or chants) from a mo'olelo, or work of Hawaiian history, featuring Hi'iaka, the sister of the volcano (deity) Pele, and a full mo'olelo Poepoe serialized in his newspaper over the course of ten months. The contrast between The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen and Silva's 2004 Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism, which members of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association in 2011 voted the most influential book of the first decade of this century, is remarkable. Silva presents the history of Kanaka Maoli resistance she chronicles in Aloha Betrayed on a grand scale, while this new book tightly focuses on two figures. Aloha Betrayed demonstrated how generations of scholars of colonial Hawai'i had not utilized the extensive archive of Hawaiian-language newspapers in writing their histories, effectively ignoring a deeply detailed and complex record of Kanaka responses to settlement and colonization. Silva narrated a history that cut against the grain of Native passivity, showing, for instance, how 95 percent of Native Hawaiians signed an 1897 petition opposing US colonization and many other episodes of defiance against US usurpation of Hawaiian sovereignty. Steel-Tipped Pen also focuses on that era of Kanaka resistance to US [End Page 936] colonialism, but does so through the lives of these two newspaper publisher-editors. Poepoe, as Silva points out in Steel-Tipped Pen, came to be in favor of US annexation and actually wrote derisively of the 1897 petition drive in his newspaper. Poepoe's story is strikingly similar to that of the Cherokee intellectual Elias Boudinot, who in 1827 founded the first Native American newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, and favored Cherokee Removal even in the face of an anti-removal petition signed by an overwhelming number of Cherokee people. Boudinot, as a member of a tiny minority of Cherokee elites who signed the Removal treaty, was summarily executed under provisions of Cherokee law against signing away Cherokee lands. Poepoe lived to see annexation, celebrating it in his newspaper and eventually serving in Hawai'i's territorial legislature. Kānepu'u died before the unfolding of the major events that led to the US overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, but in Silva's portrayal of his life and work he comes across as a figure whose politics were nothing like Poepoe's, not...

A pedagogical approach to indigenous community-based archaeology in Hawai‘i: The north shore field school

ABSTRACTBecause Indigenous community-based archaeology in Hawai‘i is in its infancy, compared to other areas of the world, we decided to develop a pedagogical approach for the North Shore Field School that would foreground local cultural imperatives in tandem with the values of higher education. Engaging the local community in an archaeology that honours Hawaiian history and heritage was a major objective of our field school, as was our effort to train university students in research techniques. The focus of our field school on an ancient Hawaiian heiau (religious temple) was risky due to its profound cultural significance. Importantly, our early and frequent consultation with the community – along with the practice of cultural protocols that we created for the field school – facilitated its implementation. The field school was a life-changing experience for several students who are now developing careers in archaeology and heritage management or pursuing graduate degrees.

The jumping flea diaspora: an ethnographic exploration of music and culture in a Hawaiian ‘ukulele club

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine the musical and cultural underpinnings of the Kanikapila Island Strummers, a community ‘ukulele group that celebrates Hawaiian ethos through music and dance. Specifically, this research underscored the Kanikapila Island Strummers’ musical practices, the narratives of Hawaiian culture as expressed by club members, and the members’ perceived sense of responsibility in preserving and disseminating Hawaiian customs in the Continental United States. Data collection included participant-observations, interviews, video recordings, and photographs. Predominant themes encompassed inclusive music making, Hawaiians’ connection to and separation from the islands, and acculturation processes on the mainland. While Hawaiian cultural elements have engendered a rich community of practice, Hawaiian history and sovereignty initiatives remain key aspects among participants. Implications include viewing the ‘ukulele as a serious instrument that is as much about a people and a place as it is about music.

In the News

Welcome to the May 2018 issue of C&RL News. Social justice issues continue to be a focus for many academic and research librarians, resulting in a variety of creative projects. Myra Waddell and Elena Clariza of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa write about their use of “Critical digital pedagogy and cultural sensitivity in the library classroom” through two projects focusing on the unique cultures and history of Hawaii and the Pacific region.

Determining the Birth Date of Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III

Determining the Birth Date of Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III Ralph Thomas Kam (bio) and Ashlie Duarte-Smith (bio) “Though their system was thus broken and imperfect, still, as their chronologists could tell the name of the day and the name of the month on which any great event occurred, it was generally easy to reduce their time to ours by a reference to the phase of the moon at the time.”1 —William Richards to Capt. Charles Wilkes, March 15, 1841 “Kauikeaouli was born on the 11th. day of the month of Hinaiaeleele, that day was Huna.”2 — Emilia Keaweamahi via Lohepono in Ka Eleele Hawaii, August 18, 1847 The dates of some of the most prominent events in Hawaiian history are shrouded in what Native Hawaiian historian Davida Malo called “obscurity and vagueness.”3 Such was the case of the birth of Kauikeaouli, [End Page 1] King Kamehameha III, preserved by oral tradition but later recorded by several authoritative sources as taking place on different dates: March 17, 1813 (Privy Council); August 11, 1813 (George Luther Kapeau, governor); August 17, 1813 (Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau, historian); and March 17, 1814 (James Jackson Jarves, historian). Though the birthday anniversary of King Kamehameha III was officially set as March 17, and observed as a national holiday of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i during his reign, the actual date of his birth remained open to debate during his lifetime, a discussion that continues to the present. The use of the Hawaiian lunar calendar by an eyewitness to express the day and month of the king’s birth complicates efforts to calculate when the event occurred, but also provides the only means to ascertain his actual birth date. First Official Date The first recorded official action regarding the king’s birthday occurred at the Privy Council meeting of March 16, 1846, using a decidedly Gregorian date: It was resolved that a celebration be had on the King’s birthday, the 17th of March coming, that the national flag be hoisted on all the forts, from morning to sundown, and that a salute be fired by the fort in Honolulu and by all forts in the Hawaiian Islands, and that the Hawaiian flag be hoisted on all the vessels belonging to these, and we believe it proper that the Governors give a feast as well as all of the other people according to their wishes in a way befitting the honor and dignity of the King of an independent nation.4 The action makes no reference to the year of his birth. So, too, a notice in the “By Authority” column of the Polynesian, the following year, dated March 13, 1847, announced without reference to the year of his birth nor his age: “The King’s Birth-day will celebrated as usual on the 17th inst.”5 A week later the Polynesian reported: “17th of March.—The King’s birthday passed off pleasantly, though quietly in Honolulu, Majesty and chiefs being at Maui.”6 While the English-language newspapers accepted as official the celebration on March 17, the observance generated an extended discussion in the Hawaiian-language newspaper, Ka Elele Hawaii, concerning the actual birth date of the king. [End Page 2] Letter by Lohepono The strongest evidence that points to the actual birth date of Kauikeaouli comes in the account of his birth by an eyewitness who used the traditional Hawaiian lunar calendar date names for the event. The tale concerning his birth by Emilia Keaweamahi, wife of High Chief Kaikio‘ewa, who served as guardian of Kamehameha III (Figure 1), appeared in the August 18, 1848, edition of the newspaper Ka Elele Hawaii in a letter by Lohepono dated July 26, 1847, (Keaweamahi died November 24, 1848): I desire to inform you of the tale I have heard from Emilia Keaweamahi, concerning the year the King, Kamehameha III, was born; her version is as follows. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Kauikeaouli in 1825, when the body of his brother, Liholiho, returned to Hawai‘i. Courtesy Hawai‘i State Archives. [PP-98-16-002] [End Page 3] Kauikeaouli was born on the 11th. day of...

The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native Hawaiian Intellectual History by Noenoe K Silva

The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native Hawaiian Intellectual History by Noenoe K Silva

'Mo'olelo and Mana: The Transmission of Hawaiian History from Hawai'i to the United States, 1836–1843

In addition to Christianizing the Hawaiian people, another signifcant project of the ABCFmʻs Sandwich Islands Mission was to teach the palapala, reading and writing. This essay examines the production of the first two histories of Hawaiʻi, Ka Mooolelo Hawaiʻi (1838) composed by Hawaiians in the Hawaiian langauge, and The History of the Sandwich Islands 91843) published by their missionary teacher the Rev. Sheldon Dibble, in order to locate the introduction of the idea in Hawaiʻi of the superiority of writing and printing over an aural / oral practice of maintaining history. Dibble also held the culturally charged conviction that written history is the only kind of legitimate and authentic kind of history that could be produced. Highlighting this moment in Hawaiian print culture also illuminates the branching off of two distinct scholarly trajectories: one that continues to rely strictly on an English language only textual source base from which to work out its findings, and another which draws upon the largest indigenous language textual source base in Native North America and the Polynesian Pacific in the Hawaiian language and English language sources in order to understand the past. The essay suggests an ethical imperative that scholars should consider, namely decolonizing our intellectual practice with respect to the writing of native and indigenous histories intertwined with American colonialism and empire.