Jackie_Valley of the Dead Air

The Valley of Dead was a piece that I felt was very loaded, metaphorically. From what I understood and analyzed of the piece was that after the death of Jacob Hookano, the stench that remained was deemed a curse by the Natives, a cursed placed by Jacob to all that hurt him while he was alive. I feel that the stench or the curse alluded to the American settlement. There was a part in Gary's piece where a Haole businessman goes to sell air fresheners to Hawaiian homes as a "quick fix." Although it wouldn't fix the problem it would make it in the meantime bearable. I feel that that was something the United States did with their Apology yo Hawaii, it was a stalling tactic to meanwhile do nothing about the injustice the U.S. has committed to the Hawaiian nation. Plagued by their presence, their commerce and their greed for wealth and power, Natives may have not known how to react to the annexation of their lands, but then there was an awakening. It was in the instance where Joseph Correa goes to apologize to Jacob's tomb which made me think again of the apology the U.S. wrote to the Hawaiians. Even though there was celebration and back to the norm in Gary Pak's piece, in real place and time the Hawaiians are not back to normal. The land is still claimed by the United States and they have no intention of giving it back to Hawaii. It seems from a US mainlander's perspective that Hawaiians have conformed and resignated to the idea that they are part of the United States. But being in this class has made me realize the Hawaiians have been trying to fight back but they are not being heard.