https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/09/trisha-kehaulani-watson-a-hawaiian-revolution-emerges/
Honolulu Civil Beat, September 10, 2019
A Hawaiian Revolution Emerges
Today we know our language; we know our culture; we know our rights; and we know what is best for these islands.
By Trisha Kehaulani Watson
The world has changed.
I’ve often written about the many ways in which Hawaii changed over my lifetime. I’ve often been critical of those changes, but the Mauna Kea Movement has highlighted the many ways in which Hawaii changed for the better over the last four decades.
In 1977, George Helm spoke at Iolani Palace during the height of the Kahoolawe Movement. He spoke of revolution, he said then, “This is a seed, today, of a new revolution … The kind of revolution we’re talking about is one of consciousness — the consciousness, awareness, facts, figures.”
In the many years since that day, Hawaiians and experts in Hawaiian history, language, and culture committed themselves to scholarship and research that would contribute to Helm’s “Revolution of Consciousness.” Scholars traveled the world to uncover and share information from archives lost for decades.
Hawaiians fought to protect and revive their native language. The 1978 Constitutional Convention would make Hawaiian an official language of the State of Hawaii. The Hawaiian language immersion preschools, Aha Punana Leo, would be formed and offer instruction in Hawaiian language to children across the islands.
Recognizing the fundamental importance of the native language to the Hawaiian people, advocates fiercely fight to make language instruction as accessible as possible in an effort to reverse late 19th century policies that targeted use of the Hawaiian language. As the Aha Punana Leo timeline explains, in 1896 “Education through the Hawaiian language in both public and private schools is outlawed on the model of U.S. policy towards the use of American Indian languages in education. Teachers are told use of Hawaiian with children will result in termination of employment. Children are harshly punished for speaking Hawaiian in school.”
Over time, more and more families began to communicate in Hawaiian again. Education flourishes. Music flourishes. Hula flourishes. A cultural renaissance continues to grow and strengthen.
Millions of pages of text from Hawaiian language newspapers and resources were preserved, digitized and made accessible to a larger audience. Historic facts flooded discourses as access to archives intersected with a growing number of Hawaiians who relearned their native tongue.
The number of Hawaiian Ph.D.s continued to grow, as more and more Hawaiians achieved advanced degrees at unprecedented rates. Today, Hawaiian Ph.D.s exist in every field and hold academic positions in universities across the world.
Building upon the extraordinary legacy of Haunani Kay-Trask, who became the first tenured professor of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii in 1986, what began as a provisional program in 1979 has swelled into the Hawaiianuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, led by one of Kamakakuokalani’s founding professors, Jon Osorio.
Trask, who along with Osorio, Lilikala Kameeleihiwa and Kanalu Young, would influence thousands of students coming through the university, helped to build generations of scholars, educators and activists. These people, many of whom are parents today, helped to exponentially grow a movement of informed, educated, confident Hawaiians and accomplices.
What we witness today on the mauna is the direct product of decades of activism and education. Hawaiians are no longer willing to sit idly by when their culture, rights and resources are threatened. Kupuna, steeled by decades of advocacy, are leading the effort and unyielding in their commitment. The most culturally astute Hawaiian youth in over a century are demonstrating that and culture and language are every bit as powerful as we all knew it could be.
Forty-two years ago, George Helm planted a seed. He told Hawaiians to come together. For the activists of that day knew then that the fight would not end with Kahoolawe. No, they knew then that reversing the multi-generational hurt and trauma would require much more than just protecting an island. It would require the restoration of language, the restoration of cultural practices, and the restoration of pride that had been so forcefully stripped from the Hawaiian people.
Growing up, I often was led to believe that being Hawaiian was something shameful. I was taunted, teased and ridiculed – for my dark skin, or my kinky hair, or my flat Hawaiian nose.
When I became a mom, I swore my child would never feel anything but tremendous pride in being Hawaiian. My greatest achievement in life has nothing to do with education or business, it is having raised a child who proudly speaks Hawaiian, who proudly practices his culture, and, according to him, has never once felt anything but proud to be Hawaiian.
What you see on the mauna is not merely resistance – it is pride. It is an unyielding confidence that today we know our language; we know our culture; we know our rights; and we know what is best for these islands.
And we will never have those things stripped from us again.
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** 5 Online comments by various unknown people, using screen names and therefore anonymous, each limited to maximum of 1000 characters. A day after the article was published, there were 16 online comments which survived censorship by the editors. These are the 5 which received the largest number of reader "respect"s ["likes"]
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I was born and raised on Maui 76 years ago and live here now. I have no Hawaiian blood. I had many part Hawaiian friends then and do so now. I also now have Hawaiian relatives by marriage. Ms. Watson said "Growing up, I often was led to believe that being Hawaiian was something shameful. I was taunted, teased and ridiculed – for my dark skin, or my kinky hair, or my flat Hawaiian nose." I never observed anything like that when I was young or now as a kupuna. Maybe that was an Oahu thing, it certainly did not occur among my circle of friends. While none of my friends have told me directly, I imagine some of them may support the current TMT protests. However, others, including relatives, have called such lawbreaking shameful and harmful to the long-term Hawaiian cause.
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I was born and raised in Honolulu. I have no Hawaiian blood, but have many friends of all nationalities. I have not witnessed what Ms. Watson said about the way she was treated. Most people earn the way they are treated. Possibly this is also the case with Ms. Watson.
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I believe that the Hawaiian Renaissance that continues on from the 1970's to today is at a crossroads. They have now established a presence that has not been seen in a number of generations, in a place where the population dynamics are resoundingly different than "the last time" Hawaiian's rose to claim their space.
So what about how to address a Hawaii of today, through Hawaiians that requires a much different approach. Lets face it here, 70% of the state of Hawaii is made up of non-Hawaiian blood individuals, whom for a good number of them were born and raise in Hawaii. How does a Hawaiian Renaissance address this "other"group that is vested also in the direction of Hawaii.
This is where a real, adult level conversation needs to be had in this state, with all stakeholders, to determine how we work with all these social elements. Because I believe that if we don't address this, we become yet another version of Fiji, and you know how much chaos they've had socially since 1987.
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Ah, the undying appeal of victimhood. Nothing works better, the world over, to unite people than the call to awaken to their 'oppression'. It's exactly what the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of China is using to rally their citizens against the U.S. as they quietly seize islands and build missile sites across the Pacific. It's exactly what evangelical Christians use to rally their followers into a frenzy of political righteousness. It's exactly what Trump does at his rallies to energize his embittered base. Sure, it works. It makes people angry. It gives them a sense of purpose and an 'other' to attack. Is it true? Probably not, but when you're seeking power and influence over other people, who cares? Manipulate their emotions through an appeal that their very identity is at risk.
There's more than one parallel to the red hat MAGA crowd at a Trump rally and the red shirt MAUNA crowd, especially their desire to revert to the good ol' days.
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As another Hawaiian in our divided community, why aren’t we fighting this hard for issues such as health care, housing and education? These are huge pressing issues that have plagued our people for over a hundred years and deserve the publicity hype you are giving to the TMT. By the by, the telescope is furthering education. Didn’t our ancestors navigate by the heavens or did you forget that while you’re busy trying to get headlines and followers to your hashtag. Fight issues that are affecting the strong majority of our people. I volunteer for organizations such as Sierra Club, Blue Planet Foundation and Polynesian Voyaging Society and see Hawaiians only at PVS. What’s with that? The other two organizations are pro-environment groups like our ancestors. We should be the majority attendees in all of the causes supporting environment, healthcare, housing, education that benefit ALL Hawaiians!
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