Hawaiian studies is an academic discipline dedicated to the study of

Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

. It evolved in the second half of the 20th century partly in response to charges that traditional disciplines such as

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

, history,

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...

Asian Studies Asian studies is the term used usually in North America and Australia for what in Europe is known as Oriental studies. The field is concerned with the Asian people, their cultures, languages, history and politics. Within the Asian sphere, Asian ...

, and

orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...

were imbued with an inherently

eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western worl ...

perspective.

Ethnic Studies Ethnic studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race, ethnicity, and nation, but also sexuality, gender, and other such markings—and power, as expressed by the state, by civil society, and by indivi ...

has mostly been a study of minority settler cultures although Hawaiian Studies shares with

attempts to remedy problems with other academic disciplines by trying to study Hawaiian culture and people on their own terms, in their own language, acknowledging their own values.

History

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, the discipline of Hawaiian Studies evolved out of the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and early 1970s, which saw growing self-awareness and radicalization of American Indians and

Decolonization Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...

struggles around the world. Hawaiian Studies courses and then departments were established on campus around Hawaii. Thinkers like

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have b ...

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938) is a Literature of Kenya, Kenyan author and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu language, Gikuyu and who formerly wrote in English language, English. He has been described as having bee ...

and

Linda Tuhiwai Smith Linda Tuhiwai Te Rina Smith (née Mead; born 1950) was a professor of indigenous education at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New ZealandProfessor Haunani Kay Trask became the first tenured professor in Hawaiian Studies at the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1986. She assisted Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, Jonathan Osorio and Terry Kanalu Young in obtaining their doctorates on Hawaiian Studies topics and in becoming tenured professors in Hawaiian Studies. After years of effort,

Gladys Kamakakuokalani Brandt Gladys Kamakakuokalani Ainoa Brandt (August 20, 1906 – January 15, 2003) was an educator and civic leader in Hawaii. She served as a principal at Kamehameha Schools and helped found the University of Hawaii's Hawaiian Studies Center, leading to a ...

and Trask were able to get funding to build a permanent home for the Center for Hawaiian Studies. It is now called the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. The Center added two master's degree programs in Hawaiian Studies in 2005. The center is now part of the Hawaiinuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. The Hawaiian Studies program at the

University of Hawaii at Hilo A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

is centered more closely around the instruction of the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...

. In 1997, the Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language was established to complement its Hale Kuamoo. The Hawaiian Studies program at the

Brigham Young University Hawaii Brigham may refer to: Places * Brigham, Cumbria, England * Brigham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England * Brigham City, Utah, USA * Brigham, Wisconsin, USA * Brigham, Quebec, Canada People * Brigham (surname), including a list of people with t ...

structures its instruction and research around perceived connections between Hawaiian culture and the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

and other doctrinal beliefs of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Criticism

Hawaiian Studies has faced some opposition and rejection from critics. They have no objection about Hawaiian culture being legitimate topics of academic research. What they object to is the current state of Ethnic Studies which they see as characterised by excessive left wing political ideology or Hawaiian claims to justice which, in their view, greatly undermined the scholarly validity of the research. Hawaiian Studies has been accused of promoting "racial separatism", "racial supremacy"", linguistic isolation" and "racial preference". Professor Haunani-Kay Trask was criticized for contributing to a culture of systemic racism and violence against white people in Hawaii in an intelligence report published by the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

(SPLC). The Law Center wrote that Professor Trask's book ''From A Native Daughter'' justifies hatred against white people by Native Hawaiians. The SPLC also finds violence against white people as being justified in Trask's poem, ''Racist White Woman'', which reads in part: "I could kick/Your face, puncture/Both eyes./You deserve this kind/Of violence./No more vicious/Tongues, obscene/Lies./Just a knife/Slitting your tight/Little heart." At a guest lecture at Stanford University, Trask embraced the label of 'racist', saying, "In Hawaii, I am probably the most famous racist." She added that it impossible for a Hawaiian to not be considered racist in Hawaii unless "you dance in a hotel". She also stated that, if she could have her way, non-Hawaiians would have no property rights in a sovereign Hawaii. Proponents of Hawaiian Studies feel that opposition comes from a reactionary movement from the right. They point out the rise of the conservative movement in the United States during the 1990s which saw the discipline come increasingly under attack. For proponents, the backlash is characterised as an attempt to preserve "traditional values" of Western culture, symbolized by the United States. For some critics, this actually is a slant by the proponents to disparage criticism by false association to right wing ideology. Hawaiian Studies has suffered most criticism by attorney William Burgess and retired high school mathematics teacher Kenneth Conklin. Their criticism is political and aimed at Hawaiian claims to justice and has never really attacked the actual scholarship of Hawaiian Studies scholars.

References

External links

Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani College of Hawaiian LanguageBYUH Hawaiian StudiesSouthern Poverty Law Center
{{Regional Cultural Studies Ethnic studies Postmodernism

History

Criticism

See also

References

External links