Today we are taking a look at the Native Hawaiians. This is our post for the Multicultural Kid Blogs Native American Month. I figured this was a perfect time to truly explore the Native Hawaiians. They have been making news lately because they are fighting the world's largest telescope being installed on one of their sacred lands. Although they are not actually indigenous people many think of them as a group of them. Since we know they came from the Polynesian Islands they are actually aboriginal people. (Source) As I mentioned in my fist Hawaii Challenge post the Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanoes. South Seas peoples of Polynesia and Tahitian descent came to the islands and stayed. This was around the third century.
Similar to the experience of Native American tribes life changed drastically when Europeans visited and eventually took over. Back in 1778 the English captain James Cook came to Kauai and everything changed. The Native Hawaiians went through a hard time and they actually organized themselves into a monarchy. They became the Kingdom of Hawaii. They were recognized internationally as a sovereign and independent country. They made treaties with every major country including the United States.
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| Crowned Princess Liliuokalani by J. J. Williamsderivative work: PawełMM [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Then the businessmen moved in. After all Hawaii is home to amazing growing conditions. They also have some flora and fauna that are unique to only Hawaii. Much of this is now endangered. The sugar and pineapple plantations were developed. They brought workers from many countries and provided awful living conditions and did not pay well. Native Hawaiians lost more and more of their territory.
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| Pineapple Plantation Pukalani, Maui by Photo by Forest & Kim Starr [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| `Iolani Palace by Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons |
Today many Native Hawaiians want to be a sovereign nation again. Their efforts center on land and water rights. The Native Hawaiians are caretakers of the islands. The struggle for the land and water rights is to ensure they can truly take care of the islands and their unique ecosystem. The islands unique flora and fauna had no natural predators until Europeans brought foreign plants, insects and animals which invaded and destroyed the natural inhabitants. Thus the Native Hawaiians must work even harder to preserve and care for their environment.
Native Hawaiians have hundreds of games including wrestling, swimming, surfing, canoe racing and fencing. Surfing is a Hawaiian tradition and was an integral part of life. Making a surfboard was a spiritual process. The Native Hawaiians have great respect for the ocean and its many mysteries. The Hawaiians developed some methods used in surfing. Duke Paoa Kahanmoku is called the Father of Surfing. He competed in four Olympics and won medals in all swimming events and water polo. He once rescued a crew of capsized fisherman on his surfboard.
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| Duke Paoa Kahanmoku Malama Pono Ltd. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Hawaiians have their own language. The language began to get lost since the U.S. government had laws that prevented natives from speaking their own language. However in 1983 an organization called 'Aha Punana Leo was founded and its purpose is to save the Hawaiian language. There are only thirteen letters in the Hawaiian alphabet. There has been a push for the children to learn the native language as well as about the native culture. There are schools that teach the language as well as Japanese and Chinese. They also learn about the native culture and practice things such as ho'okipa or hospitality. In Honolulu there is the Halau Ku Mana Charter School where kids are taught in more traditional ways of the Native Hawaiians.
I hope the Native Hawaiians can gain back their own government and live in the peace and harmony that so much of their culture strives for. I also look at our own developments and their struggles and question why are we doing this. If their sole hope is to preserve their environment and sacred lands why are we fighting them and taking more from these people.
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| Yellow Hibiscus in Oahu, Hawaii by Diego Delso [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons |
Since I don't want to get political I am going to share a fun craft that I got from the book mentioned above. This craft will teach us a small bit about the Hawaiian world but also serve to help us protect the environment if we use it. It is to make a Hawaiian bag in the style of Hawaiian quilts and with the state flower of Hawaii on it. The state flower is the yellow hibiscus. The project requires yellow fabric, a canvas bag, fusible webbing, an iron and iron board and paper, pencil and scissors.
To start I folded the paper into quarters and then drew a picture of a hibiscus (I traced one and then adjusted it). I also extended lines to the flower to the folds of the paper so it would be one piece when cut out. Then I cut it. You can see my pattern in the photo above. Next I took a piece of my yellow fabric and the fusible webbing and ironed on the webbing according the instructions on the package. I made sure the piece of fabric fit the pattern. Then I traced my pattern onto the backside of the webbing and cut it out. Finally I ironed the fabric onto the canvas bag. I used the backside of the bag since the front side of the bag I had has a pink stripe on it.
Other Sources:
- Shilling, Philip Sebastian. Central Home. "History of Surfing." https://www.centralhome.com/Surfing-History.htm
- Sun, Amy. Everyday Feminism. "3 Myths About Native Hawaiians You Ought to Know Before Visiting Paradise." (9 January 2015) https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/01/myths-about-native-hawaiians/
