A Paradise Lost - KOPS - Universität Konstanz

writers, exhibiting a neo-colonial “settler arrogance,” and the like, their works have to be
read critically.
On July 7, 1898, President McKinley signed the resolution to annex the Republic of Hawai’i –
significantly, in the midst of the Spanish-American War which would result in the American empire
5.1.1 A Brief Sketch of Hawaii’s History
extending to include the Philipines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
Charlene Setsue Gima – Writing the Pacific 291
In order to assess the importance of attempts at a re-evaluation, a re-narration of island
history in various literary texts, one needs to have at least a cursory knowledge of this
history and its problematic implications. Therefore, the literary negotiations with the past
will be prefaced by a sketch of Hawaii’s socio-political history:
The Hawaiian Islands were ‘discovered’ twice: the first Polynesian navigators
reached the archipelago in the 4 th or 5 th century A.D., or even earlier, but Western visitors
and scientists did not believe this until only recently, when archaeological data proved
native claims to a 1500-year-long residence. 292 Native life before Western contact was
organized by communal and collective subsistence usage of resources and profits, and by
the division into a commoner class and a chiefly class, the ali’i, whose genealogical
descent together with their genuine abilities, or mana, meaning power, charisma,
authority, justified their reign. A priestly class, the kahuna, functioned as keepers of
traditions and genealogical chants, conductors of worship and sacrifice, and guardians of
culture and knowledge. All aspects of life were regulated with a system of do’s and
don’ts, the kapu, or taboo. Hawaiian culture and history were perpetuated and passed on
orally, in chants and dance, the hula. 293 The smallest social unit was the ‘ohana, or
291 Gima 1997: 45.
292 See Trask 1999: 117. In general, the following information was gathered from the books by Trask,
Gibson, Emerson, Daws, and Judd (see bibliography). A historical outline in the form of a time chart is
provided in Appendix I.
293 Chant can be seen as poetry, historiography, formalized worship, and finally, entertainment.
Instrumentation and hula accompanied the chanter in public presentations, underscoring the meaning of the
chants. The words always came first, rhythm and dance being added after the composition of the poem,
partly for mnemonic purposes.
93