Hawaiian Spatial Liberation: Kanaka Oiwi Contribution to the Old (K)New Practice of Indigenous Planning

Abstract

There is very little planning literature that focuses on indigenous planning. This research examines the link between education to the necessity of land among Hawaiian-focused public charter schools. It is my position that these schools offer a unique research perspective that centers on ʻāina-based knowledge production and transmission. I argue that the dominance of positivist planning, observed through land use rules and regulations, interrupts Hawaiian knowledge production and its transmission in overtly spatial ways. By identifying how educators think about ʻāina, we can grasp the critical interplay between Hawaiian epistemology in order to apply what was learned to a Hawaiian planning framework. Designed as a qualitative inquiry, this research informs a larger conversation among mainstream planners by questioning: How can societies accommodate multiple epistemologies and what is the role of indigenous planning in addressing this transformation? I argue that a Hawaiian contribution to indigenous planning is premised on relationships and an understanding that a genealogical connection to land utilizes the successive accumulation of knowledge over time as fundamental planning method. Future research should examine Hawaiian-focused planning cases to understand Hawaiian knowledge impact in terms of methodology, process and policy development.