Hello All! The prompt from this week was to talk about something you like about being indigenous and the first thing that came to mind was the pride I think I've grown into having from being Native Hawaiian. When I was little and attend summer camps at Kamehameha we would sing songs that said "you are the chosen sons and daughters." I didn't think about it much at the time, but now I find it crazy and am always deeply humbled by the rich history and culture my ancestors were able to sustain on a relatively small island chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Specifically, I am always in aw of the way-finding skills of my ancestors and am interested in exploring more of the theory that Pacific Islanders visited the South American long before contact with the Spanish Empire.
Related to this thought, I remember growing up telling my friends or people in general that before settling on what we know know as the Hawaiian islands, my ancestors lived in Tahiti. Using knowledge of the stars, winds, clouds, air, etc. they were able to successfully navigate all over the Pacific. People couldn't believe that Pacific Islander could navigate the ocean without "modern" tools of navigation, but they did. Overall, what I loved about Moana was that this story highlighted the skills that allowed Hawaii to exist today.
Pic of the Hokulea'a, a navigating vessel that travels around world replicating the navigating skills used by our ancestors.
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