A Paradise Lost - KOPS - Universität Konstanz

a homogeneous society. Their reports state that OHA was created ‘to further the melting
pot theory.’ These phrases […] come straight out of the imperialist and colonialist
past.” 401 Sovereignty is not only exercised in grassroots activism, nation building,
constitution drafts, and acts of civil disobedience in the form of occupying and cultivating
land, but also in art and literature. 402 For many native Hawaiians, art has always contained
a communal, hence political function. Poetry, protest songs, or dialectic dialogue in the
vein of ancient Greek philosophers are utilized in the struggle for self-determination:
200 years ago, critics told a bunch of radicals to be realistic: ‘How could 13
unorganized colonies break the hold from their mother country which was the
mightiest sea power in the world at the time?’ If that warning was heeded, the
U.S. would not exist today. Nor would Gandhi’s India have its freedom, or little
Vanuatu have been able to kick out both the British and the French in 1980. 403
Practitioners of any art in Hawai’i can hardly escape the political. A hula dancer needs
certain plants for her costume at certain stages of her learning: Already, she may be
involved in the struggle for gathering rights.
401 Ho’oipo DeCambra, “An Interview with Mililani Trask,” in AFSC 1993: 113-24, here 115. Trask
elaborates on the imperialist politics of the U.S.: “America, in 1991, is the only U.N. member state that has
failed to relinquish its trust territories. All of the other countries that had trust territory oversight have freed
their people. […] Hawai’i cannot use the U.N. human rights procedures because America is not a signatory
to these conventions” (122-3).
402 One interesting example of ‘civil disobedience’ is the case of Ka Lae, or South Point: During my 2002
stay in the islands, I briefly met a family that turned part of the Big Island’s South Point area into a museum
and summer school for native Hawaiian students, refuting governmental charges of illegality. For several
years, the U.S. army had entertained plans for a missile range at Ka Lae, evicting residents for the purpose,
and later abandoning the project. To argue their case, the Viernes family has appeared in the public
television program First Friday which is reserved for discussions on indigenous matters. An article by the
late Wayne Westlake highlights the significance of the place: “South Point is the site of original prehistoric
Hawaiian settlements and also served as a sacred migration link connecting Hawaii with the mythical
homeland Kahiki. The ancient heiaus, village sites and canoe moorings testify to these facts. […] According
to the National Park Service, archaeological discoveries at South Point ‘document the longest and most
complete record of human occupation in the Hawaiian Islands.’ South Point is the Plymouth Rock of the
Hawaiian nation, and is a place as spiritual to Native Hawaiians as the Black Hills are to the American
Indians” (Wayne Kaumuali’i Westlake, “South Point,” in Hall 1985: 107-8). Sadly, one approaches this
heralded place seeing abandoned concrete structures and rusting cars. However, the green sands of the bay
and the lovingly self-made museum-cum-information-center both make up for the squalid first impression
(as does the hospitality of the Viernes family).
403 Poka Laenui, “Hawaiian Dialogue,” in AFSC 1993: 125-40, here 127. In the same piece, Laenui also
provides an answer to questions of non-native participation in the movement: “What’s a Hawaiian? Your
question suggests a Hawaiian is defined racially. Perhaps we can take a lesson from the indigenous culture.
People in Hawai’i were predominantly identified by their relationship to the country or to the society or to
the ‘aina. […] If you study Hawaii’s history, you can find where citizenship was not restricted to race. We
had people of many different races as citizens of Hawai’i. The real question was one of national allegiance.
One is either a Hawaiian or another national citizen, not both.” Optimistically, he adds: “Every person who
loves Hawai’i, who grew up here and feels for Hawaii’s future, who wants their children to enjoy Hawai’i as
we have, has an interest in Hawaiian nationhood” (133).
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