I
believe that language is the core of any culture. To survive, a culture
or nation needs to keep their language alive, growing, and always
changing to keep their identity from dying. I learned that in the past,
Hawaiians went through a rough patch where they could not speak their
native language. They were advised not to and to learn English cause
that’s what the westerners thought had to be done; to make the Hawaiians
more “civilized.” I got reminded of that also when I looked at the poem
in the reading by Clarke about his Hualapai language, when he said
“Don’t speak you language, it’s no good. Don’t wear your traditional
clothes, it’s no good. Cut your hair, it’s no good.” It just made me
kinda sad knowing that there are some people actually pushing other
people to stop speaking their native language and do it their way
instead. Because if a community of people stop speaking their language
and stop doing their cultural traditions as passed down through
generations, that people’s identity can perish also. I hope that this
doesn’t happen anymore and that traditional and native languages all
over the world would be revitalized and strengthened through the native
people.
References:
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/SIL/Clarke.pdf
Monday, October 1, 2012
Ideology of Language
Language
is so important to any culture that is trying to thrive and be
revitalized. If a language is not spoken in a certain community, the
number of native speakers will just keep dwindling down because they’re
not practicing the language daily and teaching it to their children. In
some cases though, it’s hard to keep the language going when people in
control are telling you not to, and that it’s not okay. Kind of like the
Sami language with the Sami people. I watched a video about their
language saying that only 1/3 of the Sami still speak it, because the
authorities have been telling them for a while through many different
sources that the Sami language is no good. And in the video, they say
that this influence was so strong that parents started to believe that
it might be risky for their children to learn and speak the language.
This is why they stopped teaching it to their kids. More parents are
realizing now that that was wrong and are now learning and teaching the
language. In the reading, The Sami Case, by Håkan Rydving, it says that
it seemed incomprehensible that the Sami have kept their language, but
the explanation is that they have lived isolated from the Norwegians
with an economy based almost only on reindeer. But the Sami were
economically dependent on Norwegian methods of working and on the
Norwegian language, so it was fairly hard for them to keep their
language still thriving. But they did, and now, more and more they are
trying to revitalize the language and have many more speakers. The Sami
peoples story of their language related so much to the Hawaiian
language’s history. They both went through hard times but ultimately,
both the Sami people and the Hawaiians are now revitalized and thriving;
growing each day, which is how it should be so that the language is
never lost.
References:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkG7psgdl1o
http://ir.minpaku.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10502/1049/1/SES66_027.pdf
References:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkG7psgdl1o
http://ir.minpaku.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10502/1049/1/SES66_027.pdf
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Ice In Hawaiʻi
The ice epidemic has touched tens of thousands of lives in Hawaiʻi. It has an impact on our families, our children, our schools, our crime rate, our prisons, our businesses. I learned that our Hawaiian community has never faced a problem quite like this. There are children growing up with crystal methamphetamine in the local neighborhood, in the house and in the family. Ice is a wickedly addictive and widely available drug; it steals control of people's minds and lives regardless of their socioeconomic status. Ice use has become such a widespread problem that some lawmakers from the governor to legislators and City Council members routinely refer to it as "the ice epidemic" and have put it at the top of the political agenda. A growing number of people have been victims of car thefts, break-ins, and even murder that police often attribute to ice users looking for quick cash to buy more. Recently, normal citizens, who have watched ice invade their neighborhoods and destroy lives, have stood on roadways to wave signs in protest. "We've had an ice problem since the 1980s, and the rest of the country has only had it for a few years," said Larry Williams, director of The Salvation Army's Addiction Treatment Services. Hawaiʻi has been at the head of meth use in the country, Williams said, but it has suffered when it comes to getting federal help. “For years, the federal government has focused on marijuana eradication in Hawaiʻi and ignored the meth problem,” he said. How can they do that? I mean, yes, pakalolo is a drug also but I honestly don’t think that it has more potential than ice does to ruin lives. I wasn’t even aware of this widespread ice problem in Hawaiʻi. I guess I could say I’m fortunate… what about the kids that live in homes where ice is used every day? How do we help them and what can we do as community members? Well, I could find some organizations and events that are trying to help get ice out of Hawaiʻi and her homes. The links to these sites can be found in my references. I really do hope that this crisis will be brought to an end in the very near future. Hawaiians don’t need more things coming into the homes and stealing our lives. I long for the day that Hawaiʻi will be rid of all those nasty vile poisons that were brought here by foreigners and will go back to how it was in the old days when there were no drugs that could tear a family, and even a community, apart.
References:
Stop the Digging Up of Hawaiian Ancestral Bones
I just recently saw a link that was on my facebook that read “Save Our Ancestors - Stop the Digging at Kawaiahaʻo Church.” I clicked on it, read a little bit, and then quickly joined the cause. I couldn’t believe that digging up of kupunas bones are still happening till this day. I wanted to learn more about what was going on there at Kawaiahaʻo Church in Oʻahu. They reportedly have been digging up ʻiwi kupuna - the bones of Hawaiians buried in the Kawaiahaʻo Church so they can build a new social hall. They have recently uncovered 23 separate gravesites and have unearthed 69 sets of native Hawaiian bones already. The church intends to remove any and all ʻiwi kupuna from the former site of Likeke Hall and its surrounding areas in order to build a multi-purpose building. The construction of this site will perpetuate a tragic legacy of the removal of over 100 bones in 1940 when Likeke Hall was first built. Those ʻiwi kupuna were taken to the Kamoʻiliʻili cemetery, removed again when that cemetery was sold, and removed once again, cremated with other ʻiwi kupuna, and re-interred on Kawaiahaʻo's grounds. It was quoted that “Some of these ‘iwi kupuna currently lie in baskets on shelves at the bottom of the church and have been there for more than a year. Empty baskets are in this room waiting to be filled with more bones. When will the horror stop?” The building of the new social hall is a $17 million project that is turning out to be much more costly (non-money wise) than expected. It just breaks my heart. I used to attend Pūnana Leo o Kawaiahaʻo as a preschooler and I remember graduating in the Kawaiahaʻo church like it was yesterday. It’s an amazingly beautiful place; I would have never guessed that digging up of ancestral bones would ever take place there. I saw in some news reports that some Hawaiian protestors got arrested on site just for voicing their concerns. And I believe that they have a right to, especially those that are descendents of the kupunas that are being dug up. The kahu of the church said that “there’s not life in the bones, their lives are in heaven with our Lord God...” and I’m a believer of that. I’m a 100% Christian, was raised a Christian my whole life. BUT what he said does NOT justify digging up and removing bones from their resting place one bit! That is the ultimate disrespect in Hawaiian culture. I can’t believe this is happening in our present day. What is happening to Hawaiʻi? What happened to respect? Common sense? I guess now days, that’s a rare thing.. All we can do is pule for those who are blinded by the dollar.
References:
Does the Akaka Bill & Kau Inoa Poll benefit Hawaiians?
I never really knew any information about the Akaka Bill and the Kau Inoa poll, so I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to learn about it. In a nutshell, I read that the United States plans to take the Hawaiian nation through the Akaka Bill; by law, the U.S. cannot simply walk in and take Hawaiian land titles and erase the word "Royal" and replace it with "United States" Patent. The only way the United States will ever be able to get clear title to the Hawaiian Islands is if Hawaiians give it to them through the “fake state Akaka bill.” How are they planning to do that? Well, I read that they're going to register a majority of Hawaiians to sign onto the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Kau Inoa roll. Then through the Akaka bill a "Native Hawaiian Governing Entity" will be created. They are going to make sure those governing documents give the officers of the government the authority to give away title in negotiations. They are going to get the majority of Hawaiians on the Kau Inoa roll to vote for the new governing documents to reorganize the Hawaiian government. That government authorized and approved by the majority of Hawaiians is going to sit down at the negotiating table with the United States and trade land title for cash and benefits.
But only the Kingdom of Hawai`i is authorized to give away title to the Hawaiian Islands, but only as long as the kingdom remains intact. If the majority of its subjects revolt by forming a new government, the kingdom no longer exists. So the Akaka bill is only the bait. The hook is the formation of a new government and the negotiations between the US and the new government. The Akaka bill does not tell Hawaiians, but asks them to form a government that can and will extinguish Hawaiians claims. Overall, from my research about it, it’s stated not to fall for the fake state Akaka bill. To know that someone’s name, our names, could be used without our permission to support something that we would not support, is just frightening. When I watched the video “Roll with a Toll” that’s in my references, It confirmed that they really can do that with the Hawaiians’ signatures, and it’s so sad. Now that I know the possible outcomes of this Kau Inoa Poll, I now can make an educated decision of whether or not I should sign it myself. We, as Hawaiians, should get educated about things we do before we take any part of it. Right now, that’s a very crucial step for us to do. Make informed decisions!
References:
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Kahoʻolawe; The bruised Hawaiian Island
Kahoʻolawe is a small island, right at the center of Hawaii. For most of its history, the island has been recognized by Hawaiians as a sacred place - a sacred place of learning, tool-production, and communicating with the gods. More recently, Kahoʻolawe has been known as "that place that no one can go to", mostly because it is just way too dangerous to go there. The island is dangerous because the United States military seized the island and then proceeded to use the island as a target practice at the outset of World War II. The U.S. practiced war on Kahoʻolawe throughout World War II, then the Korean War, then the Vietnam War, for fifty years. As this small island was nearly bombed out of existence, the land and even the waters around the island became filled with unexploded weapons like bombs. PKO - the Protect Kahoʻolawe Ohana - is the same working group of people that led the decades-long struggle to stop the U.S. military from destroying Kahoʻolawe. It took enormous sacrifices and an extensive time, but eventually they prevailed and the bombing at Kahoʻolawe stopped. The PKO people are doing the most radical form of education possible; they are actually living according to the wisdom and knowledge of their ancestors. On Kahoʻolawe, the Hawaiian cosmology creates all relationships, practices, and micro-practices. The kua of PKO are doing everything they can to help the island heal, to become a safe place of learning and growth again. And in the process I think they are healing themselves too. I’ve never been to the island of Kahoʻolawe, but I would love to one day. I believe that there is an astounding mana that is attached to Kahoʻolawe and I would be honored to just be standing on that island, let alone learning there from the habitants. I’m going to go there one day, if Akua permits, to help, grow, and most importantly, learn.
References:
Illegal Occupation of Hawaiʻi
If I never attended University of Hawaii Maui College, I never would have known about the United States’ illegal occupation of Hawaiʻi. I learned all about the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and then the prolonged stay here by the US in Kumu Kaleikoa Kaʻeos Hwst 107 class. Here’s a little summary of the events which led to the predicament: In 1893, US personnel conspired with a small group of individuals to overthrow the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom and prepared to provide for annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States of America, under a treaty of annexation submitted to the United States Senate, on February 15, 1893. Newly elected U.S. President Grover Cleveland, having received notice that the cause of the so-called revolution derived from illegal intervention by U.S. diplomatic and military personnel, withdrew the treaty of annexation and appointed James H. Blount, as Special Commissioner, to investigate the terms of the so-called revolution and to report his findings. The report concluded that the US legation assigned to the Hawaiian Kingdom, together with United States Marines and Naval personnel, were directly responsible for the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government. The report details the responsibility of the US government in violating laws and the sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom, but the United States Government fails to follow through in its commitment to assist in reinstating the constitutional government of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Instead, the US allows five years to lapse and a new United States President, William McKinley, enters into a second treaty of annexation with the same individuals who participated in the illegal overthrow with the U.S. legation in 1893 on June 16, 1897, but the treaty was unable to be ratified by the United States Senate due to protests that were submitted by Her Majesty Queen Lili‘uokalani and signature petitions against annexation by 21k+ native Hawaiians. As a result of the Spanish-American War, the United States opted to unilaterally annex the Hawaiian Islands by enacting a congressional joint resolution on July 7, 1898, in order to utilize the Hawaiian Islands as a military base to fight the Spanish in Guam and the Philippines. The United States has remained in the Hawaiian Islands and the Hawaiian Kingdom has since been under prolonged occupation to the present, but its continuity as an independent State remains intact under international law.
I was so shocked at how this treachery has been swept under the rug for so long, that most Hawaiians don’t even know about what happened and what IS happening now. Hardly anybody knows about this! Everyone has accepted the fact that Hawaiʻi is “the fiftieth state” without even looking at the facts in history. I feel that this is unacceptable and that the Hawaiian Kingdom was treated VERY unfairly... but what do we do now? It’s been so long since the illegal overthrow happened, what can we do now that will make any difference? Well, I’m not positive about what we can do, but if I do find out some way that would contribute to getting Hawaiʻi its independent distinction back again, I would help with all that I can. Cause what happened was not right, and I feel that there is a lot of making up to do for the United States. Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina I ka pono o Hawaiʻi!
"A lie told often enough becomes the truth."
- Vladimir Lenin
References:
http://www.hawaiiankingdom.org/us-occupation.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nqDkCzwXeY&feature=related
http://freehawaii.info/
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