Final

In house seminar Jaysha gave a presentation on the history of Hawai’i and specifically the colonization of the Native Hawaiian people.  This was the inspiration for this write up. As a Native Hawaiian person I feel so incredibly lucky to be in the space that is Stanford.  I have the opportunity to learn about my culture and to be around other indigenous people every single day. While I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity, it is difficult for me not to think about the other Native Hawaiians who live on the mainland and do not have the same opportunity as me.  My tutu is a prime example of the impact of colonization on Native Hawaiian people. She grew up in a time where it was not an acceptable or allowable thing to speak or practice traditional Hawaiian olis (chants), dances, etc. She was not allowed to learn her Native language in the boarding school which she attended.  Her father, my great grandfather, worked on a sugar cane plantation and was not allowed to progress through the ranks due to his race. I see the trauma of colonization manifested within my tutu every time I speak with her. There are remnants of self-hatred regarding this aspect of her identity which time has not been able to completely erase.  Upon my starting school at Stanford, she told my mom that she was surprised, but pleased, that almost all of my friends were Native of some sort. She told my mother that she left Hawai`i to go to school on the mainland to get away from her home, and that she only wanted to be friends with non-Hawaiians as she did not see the value in her own people.  Being at this school, living in Muwekma, taking house seminar and Native Hawaiian language, I am privileged. I have had the chance to make a lei, a kihei, to learn new olis. As a Native Hawaiian who is not from the islands, I acknowledge both how I have struggled to be in touch with my culture, but also how this has resulted in a deeper desire to garner more knowledge than perhaps I would have if I had been born in Hawai`i or had more access to this information growing up.  I hope that every Native Hawaiian, from the islands or not, will be able to learn extensively about our culture at some point in their lives. This ongoing pursuit for cultural knowledge is the way that we will combat ongoing colonialism, and reclaim our indigeneity.