From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii (Revised Edition) (Latitude 20 Books (Paperback))

Awareness is essential for understanding the dynamics of culture, society and transnational relations. To say the least, I had a vague basic understanding of the impact colonization and the tourist industry had on the gorgeous islands of Hawaii and its beautifully rich culture. However, a feeling of ignorance began to take over my schematization of what I once thought Hawaii was. As somebody is half Japanese and half White, I never truly absorbed or learned in depth about my culture’s terrible actions towards the islands and its people until I began reading the novel. Moments of anger and frustration bewildered my attempts to understand the logic behind both of my culture’s brutal and apathetic actions towards the Natives. In From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai’i, Haunani-Kay Trask goes into great detail about the bloodshed, radical transformation and the lost but not completely forgotten culture of Hawaii. As a Psychology major, I am truly fascinated by the interpersonal dynamics between people, as well as what drives people to carry out actions, whether they are perceived as positive or detrimental to society. Reading this novel has enlightened my understanding of history on these islands. One of the most fascinating discussion points in the novel was the unique role of women in Hawaiian culture. In the traditional family system we see ever so present in America, the “the nuclear family” organization is most prevalent. This typically results in women being viewed as subordinates, and generally do not hold much power in terms of politics, finances, and overall decision making. In traditional families in Hawaii’s past, women were viewed as much more capable of making crucial decisions and had much more “mana” than in the nuclear families of America. Learning about this touched my heart. Although I am a male myself, being a homosexual male has caused me to connect deeply with women in an empathetic way. I am beyond frustrated at how many times in history women are viewed as lesser beings in their family/culture/society. To see the great accomplishments that women like Kupuna Emma DeFries had triumphantly and confidently sought out for was not only inspiring, but also fascinating. Despite living in a city my whole entire life, I have a deep connection with nature itself, and at times, I do wish I lived out in the jungle or a forest of some sort. When I was younger, I had little to no understanding about the impact that what you consume has on your body, as well as the environment. Over time, especially after watching some pivotal documentaries, I began to understand the connection between food and wellbeing of oneself and the planet. Learning about how the original settlers of Hawai’i had a profound and distinct connection between the environment and their lifestyle made me wish I could go back in time and fight for the Island’s rights to self-governing, specifically in terms of distribution and collection of natural resources. As evident with world hunger and an incredibly disproportionate distribution of food, we have almost completely abandoned the sustainable practices found in many indigenous populations. Many native populations have adopted unsustainable and incredibly unhealthy practices of the West. Obesity and substance abuse runs rampant in these populations, with the increasing divide between the rich colonizers and poor natives being the main culprit of these issues. Tourists have the luxury of choosing from a plethora of healthier options, due to their spending capacity being much larger. Meanwhile, the natives are mostly forced to limit their budget on unhealthy fast food options, such as L&L. To cope with the adversity that these natives face, many turn to alcohol, cigarettes and other substances. Turning to substances and eating heavily processed food has helped accelerate the detachment of a once environmentally conscious and sustainably practiced culture. As somebody who has traveled to Hawaii three times without the in-depth knowledge of the culture I have with me today, I truly wish I could go back in time and integrate that same knowledge to my three prior experiences of staying in Hawaii. I vividly remember my first time traveling to Oahu and seeing the itinerary that my dad’s coworker (who lived on the islands previously) wrote for him, and his recommendation to not go over to the western side. Apparently the western side of the island had a lot more crime and was not tourist friendly. Due to my young age and lack of societal awareness of Hawaii, I was perplexed at why such acts of crime were pitted against tourists. Over time, especially after reading this novel, I have realized how tourism and migration of non-Native peoples has created a gentrified society on the islands, especially in Oahu where tourism and migration is abundant. After learning about this, my question I had as a young adolescent had a clear answer. I can completely understand why Natives are against tourists coming to their land, as they have tried their best to keep tourism away, especially in the western part of the island. It is already frustrating enough to have such limited information available to us about the cruel and inhumane treatment towards Native Americans, but to have that same treatment hidden from the public about Hawaii’s past is just infuriating. I was blindsided when I discovered how fast the Native population of Hawaii shrank as Hawaii underwent colonization. It appears that the spread of disease is a common theme carried out through colonization acts in history. With the COVID pandemic impacting nations worldwide, it is also certainly easy to understand and compare how past diseases can destroy societies throughout. As somebody who has a tremendous amount of empathy, it broke my heart to realize how small the population of Natives are nowadays in contrast to how abundant they were prior to the savagery brought to the islands from colonization. The fact that a majority of tourists are completely unaware of these issues and have a low amount of empathy for the locals who are struggling just proves to me that we as a society are in need of massive, collective change. While the University has had its own share of the impact of colonization, I do believe as more and more people become aware of the roots of Hawaiian culture, these roots will begin to grow into a tree of collective knowledge and give way to the fruits of decolonization. I believe there are so many strengths that make this novel an amazing, as well as eye opening read. Trask uses a variety of sources for her information, which allows us to see from various perspectives on the many ways that colonization has negatively impacted Hawaii. It is both heart-breaking and insightful to learn about how Hawaii’s culture has transformed from pre-colonial days, to the sudden changes that were presented to the Natives once colonization took off, to how tourism is the new enemy in contemporary society. Emotional responses are evoked from reading some, if not all, of the stories presented. I have found myself turning pages while simultaneously wanting to turn back time. I do believe that a weakness about the novel is that it can be loaded with a multitude of information, which can be overwhelming to keep track of. Some of the terms can be challenging to remember, but I believe the emotions that flare up while reading and digesting the text can make it easier to retain information. I would most definitely recommend anybody, and everybody, to read this book. I believe a lot of America’s history is politicized and waters down the negative parts associated with America, and so it is refreshing and insightful to understand and learn about the true shadows of evil that were and still are present in our society. I believe this book should also be offered on every flight going to Hawaii, and should be mandatory for all students to read either in college or high school. We are in need of major change as a society, and that change occurs once awareness of issues is achieved.

While reading From a Native Daughter Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai’i I was lucky enough to learn about so much that has been going on and continues to go on in Hawai’i. Overall, I am surprised and partially disappointed uh all the injustice that has been continually going on after so many decades of unfair treatment. I think it is true when they say ignorance is bliss because prior to reading this book I had always thought of Hawaii being such a peaceful and genuine place, but now I see that partially my dear Hawaii comes from seeing certain movies but also from the reputation that America has built the island on. The main purpose of the book is to demonstrate and educate those reading it that Hawaii is not what The US makes it seem. It was already home and land for many individuals who had decades of traditions and culture so binding that has given them the strength to continue fighting for their rights. Some of the strengths of the book are how information was presented and such a clear direct chronological order that is easily understandable for the reader to learn and imagine the events that took place prior and after colonization. I think that the images that are shared throughout the book also exhibits the seriousness of the situation as well as highlighting that these issues have not taken place 50 years ago or 100 years ago but are continuing to happen in our present day. Almost like a double-edged sword, I feel like the information that was shared throughout the textbook compiles the most important parts of Hawaii's history however I would have liked chapters too have been broken down into more categories rather than the book being made up of only four chapters. It's surprising for me how much I've learned not only about Hawaii's history but the parallels that have come into play over the years through this course. While I was reading the textbook, I came across the use of the declaration of human rights highlighting the forceful way the United States took ownership of the island and its people without their consent. prior to this reading, I had never heard about the declaration of human rights which is why I'm taken aback at how America still continues to not acknowledge this act as a crime. another learning outcome that came from reading this book is the seriousness of tourism throughout Hawaii, as it continues to build a very bright and preppy image of Hawaiian culture as well as Hawaiian Natives attitudes. These lies have continued even though the people of Hawaii have tried in a very respectful and lawful manner to get back what was theirs, to begin with. racism against Hawaiian people is still very much alive. Which you would think that after all these years of constant cultural prostitution More respect would be granted to Hawaiian Natives that continue to endure such harmful and disrespectful acts towards them. Sadly, I think that a lot of the time every individual is so preoccupied with their own life bubble that we forget that there is a whole world continuing to live on around us. So, I am very grateful to have learned that indigenous people continue to be looked down upon and have not had the same reformation that has had American indigenous tribes. Another important portion of this is that these rights are not to be confused with minority rights which is something that I did not know prior and assumed not even to be an issue on the island of Hawaii. I would definitely recommend this book because I think it goes beyond what it's being used for that being this course. It embodies so much moral respect and holds values that I think many people can see eye to eye with. It is also a clear and understandable read which provides the opportunity for people who are not necessarily in college or are even thinking about major in sociology to become interested in this topic. during one of our assignments, I remember answering that throughout the University of Hawaii administration change came with the perseverance of students which I think can compare to change in governments. and at the end of the day, the people who are in power maintain their position thanks to the people's vote so I do believe that if more people were to Unite and become informed on such topics change can occur and this book has a way of motivating someone who is not even part of the Hawaiian community to fight with them.

Le livre de Trask est un monument de référence dans les études hawaiiennes. C'est l'ouvrage d'une pionnière de la Renaissance des années 1970-80, l'une des premières femmes hawaiiennes à intégrer l'Université d'Hawai'i, à en dénoncer le racisme et la mysoginie, co-fondatrice du département des études hawaiiennes et militante contre l'esprit colonial étatsunien et l'occupation illégale des îles par les non-Hawaiiens. Pour elle, il est impossible d'être hawaiien-ne et américain-e. Elle s'est donc battue toute sa vie pour le retour à la souveraineté de la nation hawaiienne. Le livre reprend un certain nombre de ses articles et l'édition de 1999 y ajoute le Master Plan qui est un programme politique pour la future nation hawaiienne ainsi qu'une des versions qui conduira à la Déclaration des Nations Unies pour les Droits des peuples autochtones publiée en 2007. Complétez cette lecture par quelques vidéos de ses discours disponibles sur YT!