Hoʻomau: The perpetuation of Hawaiian Culture in Southern California

Research pertaining to diasporic Native Hawaiians living outside of Hawaiʻi is fairly sparse, particularly in the realm of cultural preservation and dissemination.  With almost the majority of Native Hawaiians living outside of the ancestral homeland, retaining and perpetuating cultural practices becomes increasingly important.  By using a framework which focuses on five different elements: Cultural Associations, Information Resources, Media Resources, Education and the Arts, and Informal Channels of Communication, this study presents an overview of how Hawaiian culture is preserved and maintained by the endogenous Hawaiian community in the California cities of Carson, Gardena, and Torrance.  The study suggests that Hawaiians have adapted cultural traditions and practices to life on the continent and have created a symbiotic culture which integrates mainstream society with traditional Hawaiian culture.

July 11 – 3pm & 7pm: Halau Keali’i O Nalani Annual Polynesian Dance Production’s Annual Ho’ike

• El Camino College: 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance
• $15

July 18 & 19 – 10am-6pm: HICCSC’s Ho’olaule’a @ Alondra Park in Lawndale

• http://hiccsc.org/
• The largest Ho’olaule’a on the Continent!
• Free

July 18 – 2pm & 7pm: Aloha Falsetto Festival

• Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center – 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd.
• $25-$75
• http://www.alohafalsettofest.com
• Featuring Weldon Kekauoha, Pomaika’i Keawe, Richard Ho’opi’i, Leokane Pryor and Kumu Hula Kekaimoku Yoshikawa PLUS an awesome house band: Jeff Peterson, Bryan Tolentino and Alika Boy. The festival also features award-winning hula, Hawaiian food and an arts & crafts fair

July 30 – August 2: Tafesilafa’i – Pacific Islander Festival

• Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific- 100 Aquarium Way
• http://tafesilafai.org/

i just found this draft that i never posted…

so in my thesis, i regularly used mainland Hawaiians to act as the name of those Hawaiians who live in the continental United States.  I used the term mainland becuase this is how I’ve heard these Hawaiians described by Locals and mainland Hawaiians themelves.  It wasn’t until Spring Quarter of 2008 that I heard the term “continental Hawaiian” used in lieu of mainland Hawaiian.

part of the reasoning behind using continental Hawaiian instead of mainland Hawaiian is the connotations that come with the term mainland – as in the Main Land, making Hawai’i like a sub-land and not as good as the continent, where as the term continent is supposed to be more neutral and non-indicative of value judgments towards the ‘aina. at least thats how i’ve come to understand it.

i agree with the use of contient, but it just sounds so odd to me, especially as i’m writing my thesis.  For instance, normally I would have a sentence like: “Mainland Hawaiians do X”.  I don’t say Mainlander Hawaiians typically, but I can’t say Continent Hawaiians do X, i need to say Continental Hawaiians do X.  I’m not sure if its the pidgeon that makes me not say Mainlander or just my own poor grammar, but continental hawaiians sounds even weirder than mainlander hawaiians, although continental hawaiians is the proper grammatical use of the term.

i broached the idea of using the term continent instead of mainland with some diasporic Hawaiians i know and they near had a fit.  One made the point that Mainland implies the western U.S. whereas Continent implies the entire North American Continent, grouping in Canada and Mexico as well.  And I have to say that when I think of a mainland Hawaiian, i don’t usually include those in Canada and Mexico.  I would call those diasporic Hawaiians.  But do I now call them Continent Hawaiians?  Where does the term Continent Hawaiian stop?  I guess I keep it just to the US.  For instance, sales are often only for the “Continental United States” so really using the term implies Continental US and I’m just taking out the US part.

Theres a lot of implications for using both terms and although using Continent feels weird, i know that its only because its new and different, but better for the community as a whole.

Check out the Pacific Eye Radio Show which has its debut this Thursday!

Kānaka Maoli Scholars Against Desecration

Second Statement on Naue, March 24, 2009

As Kānaka Maoli scholars we write to follow-up on our statement from
September 13, 2008 publicly condemning the state-sponsored desecration of
a Native Hawaiian burial site at Wainiha, Kaua`i resulting from the
construction of a new home at Naue Point by California real estate
developer Joseph Brescia.  Both the state abuse of power and the
desecration continue unabated and must come to a halt.

In the late 1980s, in response to a massive burial site disturbance at
Honokahua, Maui, Kanaka Maoli came together to challenge the laws that
allowed this type of sacrilege. As a result of this history, five Island
Burial Councils were created and are administratively attached to the
State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) of the Department of Land and
Natural Resources to address concerns relating to Native Hawaiian burial
sites.  By Hawai`i state statute, the composition of each island Burial
Council must consist of a majority of Kānaka Maoli.  The preservation
criteria established by state law favor the “preservation in place” of
burial sites that contain a “concentration of skeletal remains,” or are
“pre-contact” or “historic period” burial sites associated with important
individuals and events.

At Naue, there are 30 known burial remains within less than half of an
acre, with a high likelihood that more remains are present. Naue is a
significant historical site that is frequently acknowledged in hula, oli,
mele, and other Hawaiian knowledge sources.  Accordingly, the Kaua`i-
Ni`ihau Island Burial Council appropriately voted to preserve in place the
burial site on the property claimed by Brescia.

In complete contradiction to both their own state law, and the April 3,
2008 determination adopted by the island Burial Council to preserve the
burials in place, the SHPD improperly approved a “Burial Treatment Plan”
for Brescia without the required consultation with the island Burial
Council.  The Burial Treatment Plan was submitted by Mike Dega, the
archaeologist hired by Joseph Brescia as a consultant in support of his
building a private home atop of the burial site.

The SHPD’s own rules empower the island Burial Council to determine the
disposition of previously known burials.  The island Burial Council’s
decision on this issue is supposed to be binding. Yet, SHPD deputy
administrator Nancy McMahon sanctioned the use of vertical buffers and
concrete caps on the burials to make way for installing the footings of
Brescia’s house.  Her authorization for such an intrusive “preservation”
measure is a fundamental repudiation of the power allocated to all of the
island Burial Councils.

By ignoring the decision of the island Burial Council, her actions
undermine both the very concept of historic preservation and the reason
for the founding of the island Burial Councils.  Tragically, before a
court could intervene, and based on McMahon’s unauthorized agreements,
Brescia’s team managed to install massive house foundations on a portion
of the cemetery.

The Kaua`i Planning Commission’s approval of Brescia’s house plans
included a specific condition issued in a letter dated December 12, 2007
that “No building permit shall be issued until requirements of the State
Historic Preservation Division and the Burial Council have been met.”  The
requirements of the island Burial Council have not been met; the Council
recommended that there be no building upon the cemetery.  SHPD covered up
the island Burial Council’s decision by trying to pretend that vertical
buffers and concrete jackets constitute “preservation”; they do not.

During the consultation required by the preliminary October 2008 court
ruling, on November 6, 2008, the island Burial Council recommended that
the SHPD reject the revised Burial Treatment Proposal submitted by Dega.
Therefore, Brescia still has not met the requirements of the island Burial
Council and thus, the building permit should be revoked.  Because the
Kaua`i Planning Commission’s December 2007 approval was specifically
conditioned on Brescia’s meeting the island Burial Council’s requirements,
there is no real approval of Brescia’s house plans.  The island Burial
Council made clear the proposal to build on the burial site was culturally
unacceptable to its members, which is why the Council rejected the revised
Burial Treatment Plan.  The Kaua`i Planning Commission should be held
accountable to rescind the conditional approval it gave, since its
requirements were not met.

In the midst of this ongoing desecration, last month, on February 4, 2009,
the SHPD wrote a letter to Dega acknowledging his sixth proposed Burial
Treatment Plan.  This is the same Burial Treatment Plan that McMahon
circulated to Native Hawaiian Organizations for consultation as part of a
court order by Judge Watanabe on October 2, 2008.  The outcome of this
consultation with Native Hawaiian Organizations was their sweeping
rejection of the proposal.  Without any regard for this rejection, the
SHPD letter to Dega states, “at this time we cannot accept the Burial
Treatment Plan without some revisions which are to be addressed below” and
then outlines seven concerns for him to deal with such as detailing a
landscape plan for burials outside of the house footprint. In other words,
the letter basically instructs Dega to revise the Burial Treatment Plan in
order for SHPD to approve it.  This is unacceptable; if McMahon’s decision
is reaffirmed despite the outcome of the consultation with Native Hawaiian
Organizations that clearly rejected the proposal, it would set a dangerous
precedent and strip the island Burial Councils of any meaningful
authority.

To date, 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe has denied requests for a
temporary restraining order and has even refused to grant a temporary
injunction to stop further construction until the full civil suit is
adjudicated by the state court.   The civil suit — Joseph Brescia v.
Ka`iulani Huff, et al. — currently in progress is a travesty.  Brescia is
suing at least 17 individuals—almost all of whom are Kānaka Maoli
—implicated in protecting the burial site from his construction work.
Beside trespass, Brescia has accused them of five other counts: private
nuisance and harassment, tortious interference with contract, civil
conspiracy described as “terroristic threatening”, intentional
interference, ejectment, and slander of title.  We stand in solidarity
with the defendants.  Brescia has no one else to blame but himself; he
knowingly took the chance of building his house over a grave site when the
essence of the island Burial Council’s action was to preserve all burials
remains in place.

We must remind the state agencies that their own law, Hawai`i revised
statute 711-1107 on Desecration, specifically states that no one may
commit the offense of desecrating “a place of worship or burial,” and the
statute defines “desecrate” as “defacing, damaging, polluting, or
otherwise physically mistreating in a way that the defendant knows will
outrage the sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover the
defendant’s action.”

We call on all people of conscience to join in our condemnation of the
desecration of the ancestral remains by:

• holding the Kaua`i Planning Commission accountable for upholding their
own condition by finding Brescia in violation of it by starting to build;

• demanding that the SHPD honor the Kaua`i-Ni`ihau Island Burial Council’s
original decision to preserve the burial site without any construction;

• insisting that the SHPD respect the outcome of the court-ordered
consultation process and reject the Burial Treatment Plan;

• supporting an end to the illegal construction supported by the state; and

• protesting Brescia’s lawsuit targeted at those who have served to
prevent the further degradation of the bones of our kūpuna.

Signed,

Hokulani Aikau, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political Science, University
of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Carlos Andrade, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Kamakakūokalani Center for
Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Maile Arvin, M.A. candidate, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of
California San Diego

J. Leilani Basham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Hawaiian Studies,
University of Hawai`i at West O`ahu

Kamanamaikalani Beamer, Ph.D., Mellon-Hawai`i Postdoctoral Fellow, Kohala
Center, Hawai`i

Kealani Robinson Cook, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History, University
of Michigan

Lani Cupchoy, Ph.D. Candidate, History, University of California, Irvine

Lisa Kahaleole Hall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies, Wells
College

Sydney Lehua Iaukea, Ph.D., Mellon-Hawai`i Postdoctoral Fellow, Kohala
Center, Hawai`i

Lilikalā Kame`eleihiwa, Ph.D., Professor, Kamakakūokalani Center for
Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Anthropology and
American Studies, Wesleyan University

Kanani K. M. Lee, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Geology & Geophysics, Yale
University

Jon Kamakawiwo`ole Osorio, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Kamakakūokalani
Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Lessa Kanani`opua Pelayo, M.L.I.S. Candidate, B.A., University of
California, Los Angeles

Kekailoa Perry, J.D. Assistant Professor, Kamakakūokalani Center for
Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Keanu Sai, Ph.D., Lecturer Kapiolani Community College

Noenoe K. Silva, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Political Science, University
of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Stephanie Nohelani Teves, Ph.D. Candidate, Program in American Culture,
University of Michigan

Ty Kāwika Tengan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Anthropology and Ethnic
Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

Haunani-Kay Trask, Ph.D., Professor, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian
Studies, University of Hawai`i, Mānoa

Liza Keanuenueokalani Williams, Ph.D. student, New York University

Erin Kahunawaika`ala Wright, Ph.D. Director of Native Hawaiian Student
Services, Hawai’inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge

——-
Contact: J. Kehaulani Kauanui
Ph: 860-638-1264
Email: jkauanui@wesleyan.edu
——–

TAKE ACTION

Please cc: all letters and emails to:  J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Center for
the Americas, Wesleyan University, 255 High Street, Middletown, CT 06459.
Email: jkauanui@wesleyan.edu

Write the Kaua`i Planning Commission, State Historic Preservation Division
Officials, Governor Linda Lingle, Joseph Brecia, and the Mayor of Kaua`i.

See addresses below:

Ian Costa
Director of Planning
County of Kaua`i
4444 Rice Street, Suite 473
Lihue, HI 96766
(no email available)

Laura Thielan, Chairperson
State of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources
State Historic Preservation Division
601 Kamokila Blvd., Room 555
Kapolei, HI 96707
dlnr@hawaii.gov

Pua Aiu, Administrator
State Historic Preservation Division
601 Kamokila Blvd., Room 555
Kapolei, HI 96707
pua.aiu@hawaii.gov

Nancy McMahon, Deputy Administrator
State Historic Preservation Division
601 Kamokila Blvd., Room 555
Kapolei, HI 96707
Nancy.A.McMahon@hawaii.gov

Governor Linda Lingle
State of Hawai`i
Executive Chambers
State Capitol
Honolulu, Hawai`i  96813
governor.lingle@hawaii.gov

Joseph Brescia, President
Architectural Glass & Aluminum
1151 Marina Village Parkway, Suite 101
Alameda, CA 94501
jbrescia@aga-ca.com

Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr.
Mayor, County of Kauai
4444 Rice St., Suite 235
Lihue, HI 96766
mayor@kauai.gov

The Pacific Islander Studies Collective at UCLA
invites you to

Unlearning the “American Pacific”: A Symposium on Anti-Colonial Pedagogies

Keynote speakers:
Professor Maenette Benham, Dean of the School of Hawaiian Knowledge
at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, and
Professor Vicente M. Diaz, Director of Asian/Pacific Islander
American Studies at the University of Michigan.

2nd Floor Lounge, Ackerman Student Union, UCLA
Friday, April 10, 2009
8:00 am – 5:30 pm

This event will feature scholars from the Pacific region and various
universities across the country.
The participants will explore the ways in which the themes of “empire
and sovereignty,” “gender and sexuality,” and “indigeneity and race”
inform their curricula and challenge popular perceptions.

The event is free, but RSVP is required, as space is limited..
Register now at http://tiny.cc/UnlearningTheAmericanPacific
The deadline for registration is Friday, March 27, 2009.

Campus guests must purchase a parking permit at the Parking
Information Booths located
at the UCLA campus entrances at Westwood Blvd. North or South.
If you enter campus at Westwood Blvd. South, off of Wilshire Blvd.
request parking for Lot 6.
If you enter campus at Westwood Blvd. North, off of Sunset Blvd.
request parking for Lot 4.
Parking Rates are $9.00 per day.
View this website for a campus map of the Ackerman Union building and
parking lot structures.
http://www.transportation.ucla.edu/portal/maps/eventmap/eventmapnew.html#

For more information, email nativepacific@gmail.com.

UCLA sponsors include:
Graduate Coalition of the Native Pacific, Asian American Studies Center,
Asian American Studies Department, Asian American Studies Graduate
Student Association,
American Indian Studies Center, Campus Programs Committee, Critical
Race Studies Program-UCLA School of Law,
Graduate Student Association, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Studies Program,
Tribal Learning Community & Educational Exchange (TLCEE)-UCLA School of Law,
Pacific Island Students Association, Pacific Island Education & Retention

Community partners include:
Guam Communications Network, Queen Flores and Friends

The event is free, but RSVP is required, as space is limited..
Register now at http://tiny.cc/UnlearningTheAmericanPacific
The deadline for registration is Friday, March 27, 2009.

For more information, please contact: nativepacific@gmail.com

A new blog/site that I’ve created to fulfill my final project for multilingual libraries.  If anyone has any suggestions on resources that are good but missing, let me know!

http://mahele.wordpress.com

This episode of Sesame Street (#1094) is a little too old to be included in my critique of Hawaiians in Mainstream Media, but its still fun to watch none the less.

The Amazing Nona Beamer Counts to ‘Umi

Keola Beamer Dancing Hula

Bilingual Three Blind Mice

City of Torrance Spring Schedules (includes Polynesian Dance classes in 3 levels)

Kalani Islander Reunion Practice: Every 3rd Saturday of Each Month at Kaulana Ka Hale Kula ‘O Na Pua ‘O Ka ‘Aina Halau.  The Kalani Islanders were formed in the 1970s in Carson, CA, under the direction of Moana Chang.  They are currently planning a reunion set for sometime in July and are looking for past members.  Contact phone: 310-294-381

Herb Ohta Jr. – Private Ukulele Lessons For more information and appointments, call: 310.339.7205

• Torrance: March 18 – 20, 2009 @ Island Legends
  • Private Lessons
  • $65/45 minutes
• Carson: March 21, 2009 @ Hula Halau o Lilinoe
  • Ukulele for Beginners: 1pm-2:30pm
  • Learn How to Play a Song: 3pm-4:30pm
  • $25 Before 03/15/09 ($30 After)

Welina O’ahu: Kaulana Ka Hale Kula ‘O Na Pua ‘O Ka ‘Aina annual Ho’ike

• April 11, 2009
• Pre-Sale Tickets: $18, $20 at the door
• Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College
• For Tickets, contact the halau at 310.628.1547 or visit Styles of Hawai’i in Torrance

For anyone in Nor Cal:

O’ahu: Confessions of an Island by Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu

• March 28, 2009 @ 2pm and 8pm
• Tickets are $20/$26/$32
• Zellerbach Hall
• For tickets and more information, call 510.642.9988

if anyone goes to this, I’d like to hear how it was since I was so interested in the halau from watching American Aloha.