Honors Projects for Hawaiian Studies
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ItemE Kupu Ana Ka Hana Noʻeau: An Honors Portfolio in Hawaiian Studies(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2021)
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ItemReactivating Maoli Birthing Practices Reserved in the Memory(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2015-05)Moʻolelo, (history) connect Kanaka Maoli to the past, present, and future. Within them are genealogies of events that are passed down generation to generation. When we look to our moʻolelo we see layers upon layers of rich history of Hawaiʻi and how we are connected to each other and the world around us. Therefore, moʻolelo show us the continuum that is enriched by each passing generation to aid future generations. The Kumulipo is a notable moʻolelo that we learn the genealogy of the Land, the Gods, Chiefs, and people are intertwine with one another. It’s important to realize, the expert weaving of moʻolelo by our kupuna (ancestors) that preserved the sacred connections to all things. But if one element (land, gods, chiefs, or people) is removed it severs the map creating detachment and confusion. This has been the case for Kanaka Maoli birth practices. Disconnection was created from acts of colonization of our language, religion, and healing practices, as well as, the deadly epidemic that almost led to the extinctions of Kanaka Maoli. By returning to moʻolelo within Hawaiian newspapers, the State Archives, and with in cultural practitioners, there lies instruction how to reactive Maoli birthing practices so that we can continue to weave our lāhui.
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ItemSecond Life, a Multi-User Virtual Environment Computer Game, as an Additional Tool in Teaching of the Hawaiian Language(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2014-09-26)Ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian language, is “critically endangered”. Many linguists agree that a minimum of 100,000 fluent speakers are needed for a language to be self-perpetuating and avoid extinction. In 1990, the US Census identified fewer than 9,000 Hawaiian speakers, a majority of whom had learned Hawaiian as a second language. Because of the grassroots “Hawaiian Renaissance” movement of the 1970s, concerted efforts were initiated to teach the Hawaiian language and reverse its decline. These efforts have included both in-class language instruction and long-distance learning programs utilizing home computers and the internet. By 2010, the US Census identified roughly 20,000 Hawaiian language speakers. Although evincing progress, this is a small number when compared to the more than 400,000 native Hawaiians living in Hawaiʻi and the continental U.S. Advances in computer technology and applications have produced sophisticated gaming programs, such as Second Life. This computer-generated MUVE (Multi-User Virtual Environment) game has successfully been used in teaching such topics as cultural sensitivity and English as a second language. Of particular interest is SL’s ability to engage participants in cross-generational teaching and learning and its “deinhibiting” effect. This creative project utilized MUVE technologies in constructing a prototype interactive student forum, capable of connecting native Hawaiians throughout Hawaiʻi and the continental US, to both learn and practice Hawaiian in a uniquely Hawaiian “cyber” environment. Proper Hawaiian teaching/learning protocols were utilized and the Hawaiian language lesson materials were developed to ensure accuracy in traditional usage of the language.
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ItemAn Ethnohistory of the Early Hawaiians on Kaho’olawe(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2014-09-26)It is my belief that the Early Hawaiians occupied the island of Kaho'olawe permanently and that it was a functioning unit of the Hawaiian Island Chain. I think that the Early Hawaiians were able to use the island's resources and live there self-sufficiently for a long period of time. I also think that the island of Kaho'olawe was considered important enough to be included in inter-island communications. I feel that the myths, legends and archaeological data are viable means with which to prove my theory because: (1) the Early Hawaiians had no written accounts of their life but only oral traditions which include myths, legends and geneologies, (2) many informants of Hawaiian culture and history are of recent birth or have memories only up till the period of European contact, (3) the written accounts of the explorers and Hawaiian scholars like Malo, Kamakau and Kepelino, can be applied only to the Contact Period or the period just before contact. Archaeology is the only direct evidence we have of the period prior to 1778. Therefore the only resources we have available to reconstruct early Hawaiian life are the oral traditions and archaeology. The following definitions are the ones that I have used to serve as a guideline for my paper. Mythology as defined by Malcolm Chun is a traditional story which may deal with gods or animals. It explains the origin, religious matters and sanction customs which are considered sacred. Myths were created to explain the unknown forces of nature. Legends, also defined by Malcolm Chun, are secular or sacred stories having historical background and humans play the major role. Archaeology according to Dr. Tuggle, is the study of the relationship between material things and human behavior. It is not just a study of the past but the study of the remains to reconstruct the behavior which produced the remains.
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ItemKane'ohe(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2014-09-26)A thesis for the Honors Program at the University of Hawaii. This paper presents a new explanation for the name Kaneohe given to that particular land area on Windward Oahu; a story for children take from this legend; and background information about the ahupua’a of Kane’ohe.
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ItemMoa Symbolism in the 'Ahu'ula and the Mahi'ole: A Theoretical Linguistic Approach(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2014-09-26)The magnificent featherwork of the ancient Hawaiians remains unrivaled in beauty and intricacy in the Polynesian world. No doubt, the superior craftsmanship of the ancients is readily evident in rare collections housed in museums all over the world. Of the various feathered articles mentioned in the journals of early western explorers to the islands, perhaps the mahi'ole helmet and the 'ahu'ula cloak stood out foremost in their recollections of the islands. These were the most visible examples of featherwork in the Hawaiian Islands at the time of western contact in 1778. They remain, to this day, the prime examples of ancient Hawaiian featherwork. In the past and up to the present, there have been and there are those who are skilled in reproducing much of this treasured art. However, despite the current revival and perpetuation of this art form, it is highly doubtful whether the true symbolic meanings of the objects survived the centuries of change from the days of the earliest ancestors. One cannot be certain that even the ancients remembered the significance of what they inherited from their kupuna (ancestors) due to the extreme antiquity of their inheritance.
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Item"Eh You, What's Inside Your Body?"(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2014-09-26)This project was conceived with youth between the ages of 10 and 20 in mind. The reason being that these years are full of dramatic and consequential change as well as being a very important time for laying strong foundations-physiologically, mentally, and emotionally-and for setting a rhythm for the rest of one's life. It is a delicate time of change, growth, and reassessment. It can also be a time of great confusion and isolation. For this reason, material that is equally enticing as it is useful about health and basic body function is essential. The goal for this project is to create a bridge between the advanced medically educated world and the raw sprouting world of the next generation with specific focus on the body, its basic functions, layout, health, and nutrition. Learning and applying these things during this time in particular, as I mentioned above, has especially profound and recurring consequences for the rest of one's life. For this reason, material like this project is highly important, yet it is also surprisingly rare. Needless to say, a delicate balance of many qualities is necessary for this goal to be achieved and well received by my intended audience. The following are a few examples of these qualities: simple; accessible; cool; enjoyable; socially congruent and applicable; visually stimulating, sensitive, and colorful; personable; practical; intelligent; easy and fun to read; grabbing; humorous; engaging; encouraging; and that which leaves the readers with a desire to learn more about their body, health, and nutrition.
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ItemAn Examination of the Causes Leading to the Abolition of the Kapu System in Hawaii(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2014-09-26)One of the most well-known and crucial episodes in the course of Hawaiian history is the formal abolition of the kapu system by certain recognized individuals in Hawaiian society. In 1819, the native Hawaiian people, after years of contact with Europeans beginning with the "discovery" of the islands by Captain James Cook in 1778, abolished major aspects of their kapu (taboo) system, just a year before the missionaries arrived to convert large segments of the population into Christians. Many authors of different disciplines of study have attemped to write about the kapu system and have given their accounts and personal views of the reasons for its abolition. The purpose of this paper is to define the kapu system, its role in Hawaiian life, and to examine the possible causes leading to its renouncing by a segment of the Hawaiian population in the early nineteenth century. To fulfill this objective, I believed that it was importnat for me to first give a broad ethnographic background of the Hawaiian ancients, for the kapu system had virtually permeated every aspect of Hawaiian society, affecting the Hawaiians on the community and individual levels. Moreover, I have included a section that concerns foreign influence in Hawaii, for I believe that it was the foreigners, European and American, who directly and/or indirectly influenced the abolition movement by their culture and ideals. However, I believe that this was not a sudden process and that the final decision to overthrow the kapu was left to the Hawaiians, i.e., "it takes two".
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ItemThe Hawaiian Army: A fictitious projection of the circumstances surrounding the secession of the Hawaiian islands and the subsequent establishment of the Hawaiian Peoples' Republic in the last quarter of the twentieth century.(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2014-09-26)Although the roots of the Hawaiian Revolution can be traced back to the infamous "Planters Revolution" pf 1893, it must be admitted that the relationship of the Revolution to the events of 1893 are of only secondary importance to an understanding of the Revolution. The events of 1893 made necessary the Revolution but did not in themselves insure that the Revolution would take place. Indeed, for most of the twentieth century it seemed quite unlikely that such a revolution would ever take place, for following the dissolution of the Homerule Party shortly after the first years of the century there were no real efforts made by the Hawaiian people to liberate themselves for over fifty years. During this period, political and economic power rested in the hands of the white oligarchy, and after the Democratic landslide of 1954, the Japanese, with the ethnic Hawaiians occupying a marginal existence within the lower levels of the social system of the Islands. Therefore, while the dispossestion of the Hawaiian people over the course of the last half of the nineteenth century can be viewed as providing a historical justification for the rise of the Hawaiian nationalism in the past decade, it cannot be said that the American occupation of the Islands led directly ot the events of the Revolution.
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ItemKa Ho'onohonoho 'Ana i Ka 'Olelo Hawai'i: He Kakau Ethnohistory(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2014-09-26)Aloha, e na pua o Hawai'i mai ka moku 'o Lo'ihi a hiki i ka mole ‘o Lehua. Aloha kakou. Eo Hawai'i, moku o Keawe, moku o Pele. Aloha, e na koa mai ka wac kele o Puna. Eo Maui, moku o Kahekili i ka po 'ele. Aloha, e na koa mai na one o Honokahua. Eo Moloka'i. Moloka’i nui a Hina. Moloka’i pule o’o. Aloha, e na koa mai ka Hui Ala Loa. Eo Lana'i. Lanai i ka 'ulula'au. Ka moku palahalaha a mehameha. Eo Kaho'olawe, moku o Kanaloa, ka 'eha o ka lahui. Aloha e na koa 'elua i hala. Eo O'ahu, ka piko o ka lahui. Aloha e na koa mai na mala o Kalama a hiki i na ahi o Makua. Eo Kaua'i, a Lohi'au e Ha'ena. Aloha, e na koa mai Nukoli'i. Eo Ni'ihau, ka pu’uwai o ka lahui, kahi hope loa o ka 'olelo Hawai'i. Aloha e na kama a Papa a Wakea, na koa e malama i ka 'aina, e ho'omau i ka 'olelo Hawai'i. Aloha kakou.