Papakū Makawalu and grounded theory: a combined and collective analysis for Hawai’i land stewardship—Honuaiākea

Kia’i (protectors) opposed to the building of a Thirty Meter Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea, a profoundly sacred site and ecologically vital one, impeded its construction to date. The sanctity of Mauna Kea and its implications for Hawai’i’s sovereignty and land ownership are central to the struggle, yet what are the Indigenous ecological laws of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) that ground opposition to the Thirty Meter Telescope? To construct a land stewardship policy, the Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation leadership bridged Papakū Makawalu, a Kanaka Maoli methodology, with grounded theory. Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation leaders organized a series of events where experts collectively and individually merged the two methods to analyse chants. Our article presents a discussion of (a) the struggles over land use on Mauna Kea, (b) the processes for merging methodological traditions, and (c) reflections on Kīho’iho Kānāwai (restoring Kānāwai for Island Stewardship), the final document of Honuaiākea (Earth in Expanse).

Militarization, slow violence, and the emerging threat of condemnation in Hawai‘i

This article examines the environmental impacts of the US military presence in Hawaii, looking specifically at the federal government’s power to condemn land for a ‘public purpose’ under the US Constitution. In 2018, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the State of Hawaii failed its duty to properly manage 23,000 acres of lands leased to the military at Pōhakuloa and must take an active role in preserving trust property. With the expiration of this lease (and several others) approaching in 2029, controversy is stirring as to whether the military will simply condemn these lands if the cost of clean-up is greater than the land’s fair-market value at the expiration of the lease. In other words, as long as it remains cheaper for the military to pollute and condemn than it is for it to restore, what options do we have for legal and political recourse? Considering grassroots movements’ strategic use of media and legal action through an environmental justice lens, this article provides a starting point to consider avenues for ensuring proper clean-up of these lands, and ultimately, negotiating for their return to Kānaka Maoli.

Refocusing Ethnographic Museums through Oceanic Lenses

In Refocusing Ethnographic Museums through Oceanic Lenses, Phillip Scorch encourages Kamalu de Preez and Marques Hanalei Marzan, two cultural advisors and specialists at Hawaiʻi’s Bishop Museum, to ‘have a conversation with a museum piece of their choice’ and to allow Scorch ‘to become part of it’ (50). Reading their reflections made me think about the many conversations I’ve had with pieces in museums and what they’ve said to me, what they’ve taught me, and what they’ve made me feel. In the Introduction to the book, I am quoted as calling an ʻahu ʻula and mahiole (a Hawaiian feathered cloak and helmet that belonged to one of our chiefs, Kalaniʻōpuʻu), a puʻuhonua, or a place of refuge and sanctuary (6). As a Kanaka Maoli (Hawaiian) living in Wellington, New Zealand, the feathered ‘things’ became my pieces of Hawaiʻi far away from home and therefore collectively transformed into a place of cultural safety for me, a place where I could converse with my ancestors in physical form, embodied in the intricate netting, knotting, and feather work.

Puhi in the Tree and Other Stories: Unlocking the Metaphor in Native and Indigenous Hawaiian Storytelling

Human beings live and tell stories for many reasons, and it is a way to not only understand one another but to give a time and place to events and experiences. Therefore, a narrational approach within the context of this research offers a frame of reference and a way to reflect during the entire process of gathering data and writing. This study examines the importance of storytelling among Native (Kānaka ‘Ōiwi) and Indigenous (Kānaka Maoli) women of Hawai ̒ i and their interconnectedness to land and spirituality through accessing [k]new knowledge. The main focus of this article is to illustrate the resiliency of stories as told by the Kānaka women who are connected to a time and a place of traditional and ecological knowledge. Findings indicate that despite forced cultural and political changes generationally, these women’s innate beliefs and interconnectedness to land and spirituality has begun to reshape as enduring patterns over time and space. This is evident by a resurgence in moʻolelo (storytelling), ho' oponopono (Hawaiian peacemaking process), revitalized methods of traditional land irrigation, cultivation, and sustainability programs as testimony. In ancient Hawai ̒ i, both men and women equally participated in the activities of food production and cultivation, however, in contemporary Hawai ̒ i, it is mostly the Native and Indigenous women who have mobilized to revitalize these traditional practices.

Positioning the Portrayal of White Protagonists in O.A Bushnell’s the Return of Lono and Ka’a’awa

This paper explores the role of literature in the post-truth age through reading on O.A Bushnell’s the Return of Lono and Ka’a’awa. A Hawai’ian novelist, Bushnell contextualizes the earliest interactions between the native Hawai’ian (Kanaka Maoli) and the white settlers which began with the arrival of Captain Cook’s expedition in 1778. Through his fictions, Bushnell underlines positive portrayal of the white characters to provide a counter-discourse to the generally accepted history of Hawai’ian colonialism. Through first person point of view, white characters become the central figure in both of Bushnell’s fictions. Through reading on O.A Bushnell’s narration, this paper aims to elaborate how the Hawai’ian natives also become a willing partner in western colonialism which highlights their colonial complicity. The concept of colonial complicity is employed to highlight the participation of the natives in promoting Western way of thinking. The analysis argues that although Bushnell contextualizes the complicity of the Hawai’ians in promoting Western discourse, resistance also occurs through creation of a hybrid culture. This paper concludes that in the post truth era, literature should always strive to uncover the truth based on subjective interpretation instead of abiding of a universal truth.

On Being Late: Cruising Mauna Kea and Unsettling Technoscientific Conquest in Hawai‘i

Conquest of new frontiers in the universe requires the colonization of old ones. This article interrogates technoscience desires to explore outer space, and how time and territory for discovering extraterrestrials and habitable planets are organized through settler colonialism on our own. Examining modern astronomy at Mauna Kea, I argue the technoscientific promise of the Thirty Meter Telescope hinges on a temporality of lateness—late to show up and late in time—that contributes to the dehumanization, elimination, and dispossession of Kanaka Maoli, the Indigenous people of Hawai‘i. I demonstrate further that kia‘i—mountain protectors—unsettle technoscientific conquest by cruising Mauna Kea as an alternative tempo that disrupts the pace of building the observatory.