What does it feel like to know that your people (ethnic group/tribe) are achieving greatness and doing well on their own? In my case, what does it feel like to be really proud to say that I am a Hawaiian, in this day and age of the 21st century when we are still considered the minority in our own ancestral land?
I had another epiphany moment last night. I was awarded a generous scholarship from the Kamehameha Schools ʻImi Naʻauao program. ʻImi Naʻauao is awarded to many native Hawaiian students in Graduate-level or graduate-equivalent programs ranging from education to medicine, and from law to business, but also from film and TV production to Hawaiian Studies. I am very appreciative to be of that group of selected individuals.
To give a brief background, I was not one of the privileged few to attend the Kamehameha Schools. Kamehameha Schools is the largest and wealthiest private education institution in the world, the endowment is worth an estimated $7.2 billion (as of June 2010) and yes, this school supports people with native Hawaiian ancestry. Harvard University, from what I read in an article, comes second to Kamehameha.
As I sat there during the orientation, eating a late dinner with the provided mini-mini-bento, I had to stop for a moment. A video about (Princess) Pauahi's Legacy was playing, and I realized I was proud to be Hawaiian (again). I sat in a room/building dedicated to Hawaiians, built with money from Hawaiians, in a room full of future Hawaiian professionals, watching a video about Hawaiians by Hawaiians, and I was receiving a scholarship with Hawaiian money. It definitely was a different sight to see from the norm for me. I live in Chinatown and as I head to the bus stop every morning to go to school, all the Hawaiians I see are homeless, a drug addict, and/or in a gang and I count my blessings that my ʻohana has provided me. On a daily basis, I see the negative effects of Missionary contact from over two hundred years ago; and obviously it continues to effects our people.
But for those two hours, I was so proud to see the other side of Hawaiians, although it can be seen as an everyday Western event that so happens Hawaiians are there. Does your average American feel this way on a daily basis? Most likely not, and if they do, it's a different idea to them, to them they are proud to be American, as a nationality because it is NOT an ethnic group. I am sure after the apartheid ended in South Africa and Nelson Mandela became President, this is how the African tribe(s) of that area felt. For once, in a long time, they are in control and they do not need to feel like the minority and be underrepresented.
Think about the possibilities.
Aloha Kaipo,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, people's drug addictions and socioeconomic statuses would have been affected one way or another by a foreign country sooner or later. As remote as the Hawaiian Islands are, they are relatively centralized in the Pacific, and were bound to be discovered and exploited. There are still many "untouched" tribal nations in many parts of the world, but of course, they are protected by modern law.
I agree, we Hawaiians live in our "own" lands as a minority. However, time and history cannot be reversed, and what's really out on the table for the Native Hawaiian people is how to do the best we can as a multinational, multicultural and multiethnic society.
I have to disagree with comment about the negative effects of Missionary contact, only because I feel that there are positive aspects to the scenario, as well. If another country had come upon the Hawaiian Islands and nationalized us as their own, don't you think that there would still be the same problems that we have today? There are pluses and minuses to it no matter which way you look at it. In my opinion, I would like to see Hawaiians striving in the multicultural/ethnic/national setting that we have been blessed with, rather than trying to separate from it.
o wau me ka ha‘aha‘a,
na Kale