Reaction

Our guest speaker on Sept 22nd shared his personal experiences which led him to becoming an advocate for Kahoolawe. As in so many other kanaka from that generation, caught up in the ideology of the American dream, he managed to break away from it, and walk native. He asked why so many of us are in school rather than living and following our cultural practices. Why are we spending four to ten years in the university, wanting to obtain BA, MA or PhD degrees? I've had to absorb this, toss this around in my head for a few days before actually coming up with an answer. For me, much of the Hawaiian history we are learning today is a result of other kanaka who have graduated from the university level, challenged previous historical accounts on what happened to kanaka pre and post 1893, and have established themselves as credible sources by obtaining the palapala and doing the research. Without these degrees, how can we be taken seriously? Granted we may not all agree on certain topics, but a healthy exchange of ideas allows us to think critically enough to make up our own minds and not rely on having it done for us by someone else. Teaching Land & Sovereignty - A Revised View summed it best for me: There is a need for curriculum materials addressing Hawaiian history because previous accounts have been manipulated and erroneous. I believe that being a kanaka student in this day and age is empowering because it's allowing me to rid the shame. While schooling is taking away most of my free time, it doesn't strip me of practicing what I love best...hula, and eventually when my palapala is in hand, I will return to papa hula and continue the learning there as well.

Response to Commentary in PBN - Sep 11, 2009

Pacific Business News ran an edited version of Gov. Lingle's remarks at the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce meeting on Sept. 4th which basically stated that she was disappointed that people are not as transparent in voicing their opinions or stating their positions in government affairs. The first example was the failure of the Super Ferry. She felt that not enough proponents convinced the population that this is what "we need[ed]." She stated she was against the gas cap; is a proponent of energy independence and other energy alternative issues (wind, solar, wave, ocean thermal energy conversion, geothermal, hydropower). She stated, "I take the position that none of these are as bad as burning fossil fuel, sending pollution into the environment, sending our money outside of the state, creating no jobs for the people of Hawaii." While I haven't been following all the issues she's addressed, the idea of transparency should be something she herself should practice. While I felt the Super Ferry was a bad idea for Maui, I recently learned in HWST that the bigger picture involved federal contracts for the Super Ferry company,that the vessels were merely protoypes in order to win future federal support. I don't recall any of this as public information. While I agree that all of us need to take a position on issues we believe in, I believe government officials have a bigger responsibility to provide all necessary information for us to make educated decisions and not feed what "they" think is beneficial for us. In addition, because we are an island community with limited resources, issues about environment, culture and finance will always create heated debates. But, at least this is creating dialogue among our community. Dialogue creates clarity which in turn, makes us an educated community and puts the brakes on projects that have no balance or benefit for us now and in the future.