hawaii culture

PINO 1

Name:Daniela Pino

Professor: Sashily Kling

Course: HUM1001-03

Date 03/07/2022

Hawaiian Culture Analysis

Today, Hawaiian culture may hold several answers sought in the swiftly evolving world.

Hawaiians have a diverse culture expressed through their language, music, art, film, cuisine,

dance, and multiple festivals. Hawaii's beauty is largely reflected by the culture and traditions of

its people. Historically, the Hawaiian language suffered assimilation, which almost led to the loss

of the language. However, in the recent past, the Hawaiians have made significant efforts to

preserve their language and traditions through songs, cultural practices, arts, and other aspects

intended to ensure continuity of the language to their children and future generations.

Approaching the Hawaiian culture using the critical race theory makes an explicit that the

United States' education system is totalitarian, which functions from an assimilationist

perspective. Kanaka Oiwi has been forced to identify and assimilate to the standards of the U.S.

dominant culture due to the Euroamerican dominance via colonization and occupation in the

U.S. schooling (Cristobal). The institutionalized racism embedded in the education of Kanaka

Oiwi students presents a system that these students can grow resentful of (Cristobal). These

students have failed in formalized education systems because of Kanaka Oiwi's antagonism and

resentment toward the Eurocentric education system. This situation has contributed to adverse

life outcomes among this group. For example, Kanaka Oiwi primary school learners have

PINO 2

consistently scored below learners of all other ethnicities in standardized math and reading

scores. This trajectory has resulted in the overrepresentation of Kanaka Oiwi in low-paying jobs

after high school. This group has also been overrepresented in lower life expectancies linked to

increased risk of health issues such as heart attacks, diabetes, and stroke and a higher rate of teen

pregnancy.

From this perspective, it is clear that the deep-seated history of colonization and

occupation raises concerns about how Kanaka Oiwi students can exist within the education

system when their two worlds are at odds. The integration of Kanaka Oiwi into the mainstream

educational institutions of the United States requires that they substitute their cultural world with

the western culture, which leads to further tensions. It is necessary to suspend the Western

notions of culture, knowledge, and power and instead understand the entire issue using Kanaka

Oiwi epistemologies to reconcile these tensions.

In response to such continued assimilation of the Hawaiian language, the Hawaiians have

come out to defend and preserve their language and traditions. They have uncovered their history

and past stories. By uncovering the past, they intend to teach the young generation more about

the Hawaiian culture, practices, and traditions not to be lost due to assimilation. They believe

existence exists as long as they have language because they can communicate with one another

and understand each other. Assimilation of the Hawaiian language threatens to leave the

language only to the first generation.

For this reason, many of them have started to learn their language and be proficient.

Hawaiian language revitalization requires significant efforts such as those started by Larry

Kimura by focusing more on Hawaiian curriculum development and licensing teachers for

Hawaii's immersion programs (Enright). Through natives' love and passion for the Hawaiian

PINO 3

language, it is helping to keep alive the history, essence, and beauty of Hawaii (Enright). In

Hawaiian culture, favourite places or significant events inspire names. For instance, a parent's

paddling and canoe connections may play a role in a child's name. This aspect of culture can be

analyzed through the symbolic interactionism theory, an approach applied in analyzing human

interactions, primarily focusing on the meanings individuals assign to the world around them,

including objects and words. From this perspective, the Hawaiian culture is created and

maintained by the interactions and interpretations of each other's actions. Hawaiians' interactions,

just like other cultures, are viewed as a continuous process of delivering meaning from the social

and physical environment (Carter and Fuller). In Hawaiian belief, a person's name is considered

important. Often, parents ask someone fluent in the language with a deeper understanding of

their culture, the name of their newborn. However, not all babies receive a Hawaiian name

fluently in Hawaiian culture and a deep understanding of their culture. Others receive their

names through a sign of vision, such as inoa hō‘ailona, or receive their name in memory of an

event such as inoa ho'omana'o. Nonetheless, regardless of how one's name is chosen, it is

considered a prized possession to the passed on to other generations with the owner's explicit

permission because one's name has an existence all on its own.

Accordingly, in Hawaiian, they do not ask 'What is your name,' instead, they ask, 'Who

is your name,' because they truly believe that their name breathes and has a life. The Hawaiian

culture has been preserved so much that it is difficult to pick a Hawaiian name off the computer,

often without knowing its meaning (Lehia). They believe that one's name becomes that person;

hence, it is not something that people should take lightly. There is always a deeper or hidden

meaning beyond the literal translation of a Hawaiian name. It shows the pride and sense of

belonging attached to their names as part of their culture.

PINO 4

Besides, the Hawaiian culture has been integrated into their music, songs, and art. For

instance, they learn to pronounce and translate the words in songs, music, and art to ensure the

Hawaiian language shall live. It gives children the opportunity to learn Hawaii in the lyrical

language of their ancestors. It acts as a means to teach and offer the next generation what they

have yearned in their age and education in Hawaiian (Wianecki). It seems obvious that the

efforts to preserve the Hawaii language and culture seem to bring to life a practise that was

almost lost thirty years ago, where there were only a few native speakers, including less than

fifty children (Wianecki). When individuals no longer speak a language from the time they are

born, it dies, and such loss is incalculable. It explains why the Hawaiians have made every

attempt to preserve their culture and traditions in every aspect of their life. The culture has a rich

language with words that can be translated and articulate unique ideas. Analyzing this culture

shows how a language serves as the vessel that shapes people's thoughts, worldviews, and values

through its set of words. It has helped preserve the respiratory of over a thousand years, worth of

cultural knowledge, which was almost on the verge of extinction.

In conclusion, Hawaiians have a diverse culture expressed through their language, art,

music, film, and multiple festivals. This incorporation of the rich aspects of the Hawaiian culture,

traditions, and language into everyday life has played a significant role in perpetuating the

culture from generation to generation. It has helped revive a language that almost became extinct

due to assimilation. These efforts of revitalizing the Hawaiian language and culture play a crucial

role in the continuity of their language to their children and future generations. The Hawaiian

educators, poets, scholars, and others have reflected the ideas of the culture in their works to

ensure continuity. The culture is also reflected in the names given to people, plants, and even

animals, hoping that these names can survive through coming generations.

PINO 5

Works Cited

Carter Michael, J and Cellene Fuller. "Symbolic Interactionism ." Sociological Review (2015): 1-

16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/205684601561

Cristobal, Nik. "Kanaka Oiwi Critical Race Theory: Historical and Cultural Ecological

Understanding of Kanaka Oiwi Education." Contemporary Historical Presence in Visual

Culture 7 (2018): 27-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/CONTEMP.2018.240

Enright, Susan. Larry Kimura, UH Hilo Hawaiian language preservationist, named Living

Treasure of Hawai'i. 2020. <https://hilo.hawaii.edu/chancellor/stories/2020/02/10/larry-

kimura-named-living-treasure/

Lehia, Apana. "Defining Identity." Maui No Ka Oi Magazine. 2014.

<https://www.mauimagazine.net/defining-identity/

Wianecki, Shannon. "Olelo Hawaii." Maui No Ka Oi Magazine. 2013.

<https://www.mauimagazine.net/olelo-hawaii/