Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement

For the student-led discussion on Tuesday, 10/23.

An informative video on the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement in the mid-70s, which is referenced by Candace Fujikane in Between Nationalisms. Enjoy.

-Jon Vorpe

Ch. 16: Nationalism?

In chapter 16 of Liloukalani's memoirs, she describes in great detail the coronation of the new king Kalakau. Toward the end of the chapter she mentions the notion that some may have considered the large celebration as overly extravagant. The last line of the chapter makes a major assumption about how the Hawaian people felt on the topic of how the government spent money: "Naturally, those among us who did not want to have Hawaii remain a nation would look on an expenditure of this kind as worse than wasted" (105). This passage is prefaced by her sentiment that spending a lot of money on the coronation was "wise" and "patriotic." Are either of these statements fair to make? If she is refering to those that wanted to offer the nation to the U.S. for annexation then it would seem fair to claim that they would've liked a less expensive coronation ceremony for a Hawaiian monarch that was about to lose power. This statement also raises further questions as to whether or not the Hawaiin people were happy with their form of government.

Brandon Lovette

Queen Liliuokalani's diction

     

Post #1

     In class, on Wednesday, Professor Wilson argued that Ch. XI “Mauna Loa” of Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen showcases Liliuokalani’s Western leanings about Pele and religion.  But I think it is quite the opposite, the Queen’s language in this chapter shows her distinctly Hawaiian views of nature and natural “disasters”. 

     In 1880, Queen Liliuokalani and her family witnessed the beginning of Mauna Loa’s eruption. The language that Liliuokalani uses to describe the eruption shows that to Hawaiians volcanoes are not natural disasters, but something more closely related to a celebration of the land. Queen Liliuokalani describes the eruptions as “nature’s gorgeous fireworks” (71). A Western observer of this event would use language focusing on horror and the frightening aspects of the event, making it a natural disaster, not something joyous. Furthermore, Liliuokalani describes the flames as “light” and is portrayed as “dancing” (71). The volcanic eruption is something like a party to her. The Queen claims that Hawaiians do not worship Pele anymore, but based on the diction surrounding the eruption, a celebration of Hawaii is definitely an aspect of the eruption.  This chapter showcases Queen Liliuokalani’s distinctly Hawaiian viewpoint of the land, even though she may still have Western religious leanings because of her education. 

-Mary Rowan

Rituals & Worship: A Hawaiian Past Time

In the chapter Mauna Loa, from Hawai’i’s Story by Hawai’i’s Queen, Queen Lili’uokalani communicates an attitude that says the goddess Pele and the rituals associated with her worship are relics of the past. At times throughout her memoir it’s difficult to pinpoint which side, the missionaries’ or her native Hawaii, she’s on. Initially, it seems as though she mocks the tourists’ custom of throwing coins or other trinkets into the crater of Kilauea while scarcely knowing Hawaii’s ancient history. Then she turns around and says Hawaiians “have no money to throw away on such souvenirs of the past” (p.72). This statement expresses her opinion that rituals of the old, such as making offerings to the goddess Pele for mercy, are no longer worth performing especially if it means throwing away money that native Hawaiians don’t even have. The ritual has become a past time that she dismisses as a “harmless sport.”

Queen Lili’uokalani’s Christian upbringing and her aunt, Queen Kapiolani, play a role in her attitude towards Pele. In 1824, Queen Kapiolani defied the power of goddess Pele and overthrew native Hawaiians’ superstitious fears of being punished if they didn’t pray or make offerings to her. Queen Kapiolani accomplished this by being lowered into a crater within Mauna Loa called, Halemaumau. She not only survived this feat without reciting the sacred prayers of native Hawaiians, but she did so by reciting her own Christian prayers. Queen Kapiolani proved that native Hawaiian beliefs were obsolete.

- Francis Miguelino

"Colony" as Metonymy:

     I have been wrestling with this problem for a while and this is the my progress so far. It is not a literary analysis as I am accustomed to writing, but it is an analysis none the less. It is different than anything I have every submitted to a literature class but, this is a literature class unlike any I have had before.

     The term colony does not indicate a place but a condition. To say that some place is a colony, (French, British, German, English, Dutch, American, etc) is a syntactic deception. The place is always itself, the colony is only an orientation others take towards it. This is akin to calling a running person a runner. They are not a runner, they have the condition of running--they are a person. In this way Hawaii is not, nor ever was, a colony, but has the property of being colonized, which is the property of being approached by specific people for specific purposes in a specific way. Hawaii’s Story cannot be a post-colonial document because Hawaii was never a colony. It was always Hawaii, it is still Hawaii, and it still is exploited in the same way. It is a Hawaiian document recording continual colonial forces. In this way Liliuokalani’s story is actually Hawaii’s story, it is the story of non-Hawaiian forces, both coercive and brutally physical, exploiting a person for colonial purposes. Hawaii is in what resists, is in Liliuokalani’s resistance. 

     Furthermore, to call something post-colonial is to define it by negation. Every text can be defined as the response to something else, but we do not call continental american literature post-european. It embodies the time before it and its present, so that it is not thought of as being “post”, for the past is rich in it. It, in fact, would not be possible without the past continued in it.

     When a person refers to the state Hawaii they are signifying something other than what I consider Hawaii. This double signification is not merely something I have created, or else the redundancy in the term “Native Hawaiian” would be obvious. A Hawaiian is someone native to Hawaii--if otherwise is possible than the word Hawaii must have more than one meaning. The second meaning is the contemporary equivalent to "Colony". Calling the state of being subjected to the United States "Hawaii" is metonymy, the subjection is merely "next" to Hawaii. This is not to say that a Hawaiian exploited or inundated into another culture is no longer a Hawaiian, this is to say that their condition is more than Hawaiian. People are more than the conditions they are currently subject to, their pasts live in them. Likewise, they adopt more self as they grow. There is more in them that is more than their being subjected to some condition or circumstance than their past. We are creators of ourselves.

Joseph Watkins

Liliuokalani’s Humorous, Yet Revealing, Observations Regarding Some Truths about British Culture circa late-19th Century

Liliuokalani’s Humorous, Yet Revealing, Observations Regarding Some Truths about British Culture circa late-19^th Century

While Hawaii’s Story By Hawaii’s Queen acts as a most illuminating account into the unfortunate demise of the great nation of Hawaii, it seems only fair that one notes the few humorous admissions the pop up during Liliuokalani’s memoir.  It is also quite curious that several of these revelations revolve around Liliuokalani’s preconceptions and subsequent observations during her trip to British Isles.

One of these observations occurs during an outing to Richmond, after the Jubilee celebration of Queen Victoria (165).  During their evening stay in “this pleasant place,” Liliuokalani and Queen Kapiolani are “conducted to a house exhibited to us as the type of an English inn” (165).  However, this inn hardly lives up to the standards of the “glorious descriptions” that Liliuokalani had “read [about] from her earliest days…where the pleasures of the chase culminated, and to whose doors the trophies of hunters were brought” (165).  Some readers might classify these revelations as proof of the spoiled nature of the last Hawaiian sovereign.  However, it seems much more realistic that this is nothing more than Liliuokalani’s disappointment as she realizes she has been mislead as to the true nature of the “inns of which the English novelists” scrawl within their texts, reminiscent of the disappointment a child feels after they learn that Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny aren’t real; sorry if I ruined that for anyone in our section (165).

The next day as the Liliuokalani and Queen Kapiolani continue their journey up the Thames, Liliuokalani witnesses, what is to her, a most bizarre incident:

            “But there was one phase of the exhibition which excited my attention, not to say surprise an wonder.  This was the indifference of the men in the smaller boats, who lounged in the stern, cigar in mouth, book or paper in hand, while the poor girls with poles exerted their strength to the utmost to shove, their boats along the waters of the lock.  Men smoking or reading while the women were doing all the work!  Taking their ease, while from those called the weaker sex came the exertions necessary to get the boat into her place amongst the crowd of others.  It was not a pleasant picture, nor did it speak of gallantry.  I had never seen anything like it.”  (166-167)

Again, this revealing account of an occurrence during Liliuokalani’s stay in England seems much more like the previously-chronicled disappointment as opposed to evidence of the spoiled nature of Liliuokalani: surely the infamous male protagonists of the renowned “English novelists” would not allow such a defiance of “gallantry” to occur (165, 167).

-Michael Kell

My Love Hate Relationship With Liliuokalani

     After reading Hawaii's Story By Hawaii's Queen, I was unsure of how I felt towards Liluokalani. I think the best way to describe my impression of her is to say that I have a love hate relationship. There were several passages where I did a mental applause for Liluokalani and was genuinely impressed by her commitment to her people, her keen awareness of the situation at hand, and  her drive for the preservation of Hawaii. For example, Chapter XLI (and more specifically pg. 257) Liliokalani gives a detailed report of the government take over and all the trickery that was underway.
          "Where was proper consideration given to my own statement to President Harrison...? Why were not the petitions of the patriotic leagues of my people put into the inquiry? Why was not the fact that there was such an inquiry going on communicated to me? Why were my enemies informed of that which was in progress, so that they could hurry to Washington, or send their testimony, while not one of my friends was given the opportunity to raise a voice in behalf of the disfranchised Hawaiian people or their persecuted queen?"
     Moments like the passage above made me love Lilokalani. I felt that she really had her wits about her and she stood upon strong moral grounds to fight against the invading United States. The autobiography actually reminded me of a lot of a love letter to her fellow Native Hawaiian and the land and, for this, I truly admired  her.
     So what did I hate? I hated the way she went about presenting everything. I know that in discussion we talked about her straight forward writing style being a tool she utilized for presenting historical facts and the great influence her childhood teachings at the Royal School had on her mannerism, but even with these taken into consideration I found myself annoyed! Maybe my dislike stemmed more from her writing style then her actual self but I felt that she painted herself as a victim or hero (depending on the situation) far too often. For example, when she is thrown from the carriage and gets injured the rest of the chapter is dedicated to her trying to be strong through this almost instant death. It just felt over done.
     I looked up some of her songs and read over the lyrics and THAT is the Liliuokalani I wished I could have read from! A lot of her songs are about love and nature, the beauty of Hawaii and, most importantly, they're filled with passion. The writing style here is beautiful and poetic and for many of the songs she was the direct translator for the English versions. So where did that passionate writing style go in her autobiography? I understand that this is an autobiography and that she can't necessarily be as poetic as her songs, but the gap between her artsy self and her very removed manner of writing her book seemed, to me, like too big of an extreme.

-Vanessa Arredondo

South Park tonight

I'm hoping that somebody from class saw the new south park tonight...The whole episode was about Butters' Parents claim that he's a native Hawaiian and he has to make a journey back to his homeland and the whole episode is just ripping on people who move to Hawaii and then start considering themselves native Hawaiians...I probably wouldn't have understood like half of the references a few weeks ago before this class started. I'll leave a comment with a link to watch the episode.

Liliuokalani's Style of writing (by:Jackie)

After reading Hawaii's Story by the Hawaiian Queen, I got a sense that she felt very hurt and betrayed but was able to hide it very well through the language she used. I couldn't help but wonder if it was because of translation, that a lot of important things get lost in translation. Or I was also thinking since she was taught by American missionaries maybe their style of, not necessarily introvertedness but maybe dry style of writing. I felt that a lot of her stories were very structured, a great example would be one we discussed in class where Liliuo goes to a reception in England with Queen Victoria and she described the room of a moderate size and that there was a sofa. Because her stories are so structured and quite monotone I am close to fully believing its due to translation because based on other videos that have been shown in class, Hawaiian people enjoy the use of metaphor and Hawaii's Story has very little of them.Then again it could be because leading up to the bitter part because I realized that when she talks about Hawaiian customs its really quite interesting.  
   Some parts of her stories though were very interesting to read for instance the part when she says, "But I was destined to grow up away from the house of my parents. Immediately after my birth I was wrapped in the finest soft tapa cloth, and taken to the house of another chief, by whom I was adopted." My initial reaction was like "Oh no, I'd want to be with my birth mother!!!" But it just shows how communal Hawaiians really are and how would it be to be adopted by a royal and then grow up and be their successor  I really obviously enjoy the Hawaiian customs part because I never really knew much about legit Native Hawaiian culture until now. The only thing I knew back then was...

and this

   

Liliuokalani mannerisms.

I have noticed that several of the posts have to do with the tone, diction, and emphasis Queen Liliuokalani uses while she narrates the story of her life and the annexation of Hawaii.

I suppose my reaction is to "jump to her defense," and offer up how I was impressed upon by her tone and choice of words.

She does seem to have her priorities a bit mixed up throughout the book: incessantly listing of the deaths and sufferings of loved ones with little more than a glance, while taking full paragraphs to go in to detailed descriptions of her jewelry, for instance. The only argument I can muster is that she had grown up during a time when death was plentiful in Hawaii (during the initial trips made towards the colonization of Hawaii, numerous new diseases were introduced in to the populace, and I think we have all by this point heard how the population had been devastated with the coming of "The white man."), and was simply an accepted facet of Hawaiian life.
It may also be the case that her nonchalance was granted (partly) for the benefit of the reader. Imagine how much longer the book would have been if she had described and re-described her emotions over the death of each and every character who had died... I think those of us who had a hard time finishing the book may not have succeeded. That is not to say that the queen was thinking of us specifically, but it is to say that we should remember who the audience was meant to be (powerful citizens and politicians of the USA), and remember that she had many, many instances to list.
While we are thinking about the audience that the queen had in mind, we should also remember that this book isn't meant to be read for pleasure; it is not a novel. I feel that as a member of Western society, I have one of two expectations while approaching a book: for it to be either a) instructional, or b) entertaining. If the book fails to do either, then that was a waste of some good page-space.
And since Hawaii's Story has the outward appearance of a novel, I think that maybe a lot of readers might be disappointed when it really isn't all that entertaining (informative, to be sure, but it is not a novel). Things like a lack of strong "voice" from the narrator, and a consistent absence of emotion during the listing of things that we have grown accustomed to think of as emotional (death).

Now the jewelry (almost done, I promise). How can she be so detached when it comes to instances of death, but clearly so infatuated by jewelry.

Well, the same way that we feel that romance movies are banal, but Pixar produces the greatest films of the decade. We become desensitized to things that we are repeatedly exposed to. Since death permeated Hawaiian life so deeply, it seems to lose its shock value to those people, whereas jewelry or gowns that have never before been seen by someone would very easily evoke a stronger response (even emotionally).

So I think while reading this book we should work very hard to keep it in context, and not treat the words, actions or people as if they happened recently, or were acted out by people whom we know and fully understand (I know that I had to shake myself from a "What the Hell was she thinking?" moment regularly while reading).

                Reading Hawaii's Story, by Queen Liliuokalani has been quite an empowering, yet unjust adventure. I have come to appreciate the style the queen writes in. She has been able to write in a structured form that comes off as very direct, yet innocent in the same manner. Being a queen obviously is no easy task to take upon, especially being in the situations and circumstances Queen Liliuokalani had to face. Some people may think she is a bit too direct, but it rather important I find in this memoir because as a reader of such history it is important to differentiate truth vs. judgement. When the queen at times describes certain royalty and excursions she is being very descriptive, not in a sense to offend others, but more so I believe to give a distinctiveness into the world she was experiencing.

               The part that struck me the most would have to be when the people that were her "so called" friends betrayed her by plotting certain forms of overthrow against her behind her back. The whole formation of these people befriending her, inviting her to certain events, and treating her to such importance just to gain her trust then betray her was very unjust to say. "Now it was the report of a secret meeting at some house up the Nuuanu Valley to debate upon an overthrow of my government, again the account of an assembling out on the plans for conspiracy" (Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's Story, 208). The fact that these people slowly made their way through into Hawaii and the Queen's heart and putting up a false act of trust in order for them to get what they want in the end just shows their true identity and disloyalty. It is very disappointing to see a on-going trend in terms of the entire "colonialism" project for these group of individuals using religion, faith, and trust, upon these minorities in order for them to betray them for self-profit. People might ponder upon such history being nonrefundable, but it isn't so much the notion of going back and undoing, but improving from the past, which today there is still little being done in the present circumstance. Queen Liliuokalani is a strong force to recognize, not because she was a queen, but more so she stood 100% behind her beliefs and fought for her people in a way that surpasses any violent action. She was able to put herself in a trial of suffering, which by no means did she have to, but by using a force of violence it would have just created more destruction. Her strong mindset of not "consenting" gave her a voice of honor, regardless of what the outcome happened to be. She did stand by her beliefs firmly, which is by far the most commendable trait anyone can possess.



~PUJA PATEL~

Liliuokalani and Pele

So far I've really been enjoying Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen- probably more than I thought I would. Tonight's discussion was excellent and it got me thinking about a lot of different things, but as I was looking over the lecture notes, I realized no one mentioned anything about chapter XI, "Mauna Loa" and I realize it's not a very important chapter as much as others are, but I really liked it and since one of the topic suggestions for this week was to discuss the Queen's attitude towards Pele in this chapter, I wanted to write a little bit about it.

The first thing I wondered was what the goddess Pele is all about. In Hawaiian mythology, Pele is the goddess of fire, volcanoes, wind, and lightning. When I started reading this chapter, I thought Liliuokalani would have a lot of positive things to say about Pele, as she described the journey to Hilo and her time there very pleasantly. She states that the volcano is seen as one of the greatest natural wonders of the modern world, and that her journey to see it with her friend Helen Aldrich was a "short and pleasant voyage." Liliuokalani goes on to describe the comfortable grass house in which they stayed, and the brilliant, fiery glow of the crater. The bulk of the chapter is spent on details of dancing flames and bubbly fires and a lot of descriptive imagery that set me up to feel really interested in what Liliuokalani would have to say about Pele. When I finally got to her opinion, I was actually surprised. I thought she would have a lot to say about the traditions or background of Pele, but she barely mentions the goddess. What she does say is that the legends  of appeasing the volcano's wrath have become a harmless sport; "not by any means an act of worship." She also compares it to throwing rice at a newlywed couple at a wedding. I can think of a lot of things we do in that sort of free-spirited tradition, so it was interesting to see Queen Liliuokalani's view on something like that.

Personally, I like Liliuokalani's style of writing and tone of voice. It seems very informal to me, almost like talking with someone you just met. That's why it was interesting to me to read her opinions on this easygoing vacation rather than all of the formal occasions and royal lifestyle that were her everyday life.

Just for fun, here's a video of a chant about Pele I found.

-Emily Warren

Colonialism at it's finest.

Queen's Perspective

I really enjoyed Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen due to Liliuokalani's point of view. If anyone other than her wrote the story, I think it would be a very different tone. The whole time, she had a sort of whimsical voice throughout the book like she was confused, but also interested on how the annexation process carried out. If a regular Hawaiian native wrote the story, however, I feel like it would have been more of an angry and spiteful book. It was also helpful that Liliuokalani had all of the inside information from the government, and better understood the situation of the annexation. She was sort of an Alice in Wonderland, wandering through her life and accepting what life threw at her.

Aloha 'Oe

Early recordings of Queen Lili'uokalani's "Aloha 'Oe":

Adoption

What I found interesting in the reading was the way Hawaiians adopt children.  Though born to Kapaakea and Keohokalole, Liliuokalani was raised by Paki and Konia. Most of her other siblings by birth were likewise adopted by other Hawaiian families. Though related by that factor, they treated each other as though that weren't the case, as though it were no factor. According to Liliuokalani the custom was to adopt each others children to foster friendship among the chiefs and developed amicable feelings in the community as a whole and to treat each other in this manner. This is different for me to say the least. My general concept of adoption up until this point is that it's for people who can't have kids of their own or  give away their babies for personal reasons. The more I live the more the world challenges my views.

A Royal Contradiction

-Jessica St.Martin

I was very taken aback when presented with Queen Liliuokalani's "British Victorian Era" style of writing, because I had never before thought of her as an educated and bilingual woman. Consequently, I found that to be a very obvious "western assumption" of mine. Because of this, I also encountered very few Hawaiian words included in her text, and whenever the Queen did speak of chants committed to memory or a true Hawaiians connection to flowers, it was soon followed by an "I have my own chant" and "my garden, in which I have never ceased to take a keen interest." It seems as if she is throwing in claims to solidify her own bond with Hawaii, yet spends and awful lot of time referring to foreign countries and their customs or sights. I guess I expected "Hawaii's Story" to be more about Hawaii.

Another thought that constantly kept itself in the back of my mind was that, if stripped of any titles, references to author's name, or essential information identifying Liliuokalani as the source, I would have instantly placed her book as written by a Caucasian, British woman. Perhaps this is something to further discuss, as to why she portrayed herself in this manner, or what aspects of her life shaped her in this way. Also, I couldn't help but notice her incessant need to refer to all things impressive, charming, or pleasant that was constantly provided for her entertainment. On the other hand, any illness or disappointment was followed by a sharp and dramatic reaction. After the incident on page 87, where the Queen was thrown from her carriage, she states that "certainly no one could have been nearer to instant death." Yet two pages later it is revealed that the injuries were "no more serious than a very severe wrench or sprain."

She also presents another contradiction referring to her views and interactions with death. On page 108, Queen Liliuokalani quickly touches upon Mrs. Bishop's disease of cancer and her death. She then briefly notes Queen Emma's death with, "in the month of April 1885, she died." Soon after, on page 110, the Queen transitions to a list of valuable jewelry and land given to her upon the death of Mrs. Bishop. She then selfishly pouts while noting the preferred estate not acquired, claiming that "this wish of my heart was not granted." The Queen goes on to add impersonal and brief accounts of when "Princess Likelike and the other two princesses dies," and the effects her sister's death had upon the "efficiency of society" and her branch of the "Liliuokalani Educational Society." Then again on page 116, she selfishly states that "her death had an unfavorable effect upon my health."

Once past her self-centered account of the unfortunate deaths of multiple important women, the Queen's contradiction then appears. Upon the sight of a mummy exhibit, she had "turned away from the sight, because it spoke too plainly of death and burial," even though the Queen had hypocritically spoken of various death's with a light and unimportant air, and lapsed over mention of the women's  burials. I also tried to pull the most descriptive and detailed quotes on these deaths in order to show examples of how they compare up against the multiple chapters depicting the Queen's pleasure filled journeys.

These instances left me with many questions of her core personality and the effect a royal life had upon her values. So far, I have been disappointed to find a lack of "mana" in the last Queen of Hawaii.

Lecture Notes Weeks 1-3

Rob's Lecture Notes

Kelea-nui-nono-'ana-'api 'api: Respected Female Figure

While reading this myth in Pacific Passages, I could not help but make a connection to Greek gods and goddesses. Due to her magnificent surfing prowess, Kelea is known all throughout the islands.  Like the male chiefs, Kelea is a talented surfer, which could act as a bond between her and the ocean, thus making her even more desirable; she is a character who is on par with all the male figures of Hawai'i. Thus, all the chiefs want to marry her. In such a male dominated world, it is unusual to see a strong female figure, especially in mythology. This myth calls to mind the Greek myth of Persephone. Hades sees how graceful and beautiful Persephone is and wants to marry her. Persephone, like Kelea, is also linked with nature: she is the goddess of vegetation. Hades abducts her and takes her for his own wife, similar to the way chief Kalamakua takes her to be his wife even though she was already married. However, the only difference is that Persephone was forced to marry, while Kelea chose to marry again, therefore reinforcing her as a strong female figure. This story shows how much the Hawai'ian people really respect women. They are not treated like second class citizen, but can even be on the same level as chiefs. The respect, or lack thereof, does not come from the sex of the person, but from their skills on a surfboard.