(Re)membering ‘Upena of Intimacies: A Kanaka Maoli Mo‘olelo Beyond Queer Theory.

Abstract

First and foremost, this dissertation takes aloha seriously. By exploring the ‘Ōiwi concepts of aloha ʻāina and pilina at the intersections of ʻike Hawaiʻi, Indigenous queer theory, and Indigenous feminisms, I offer an interdisciplinary investigation of ea, or Kanaka Maoli modes of nation-building and governance. Specifically, through a close examination of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele moʻolelo, I begin in Chapter One with a discussion of the ways aloha ʻāina spins ʻupena of intimacies, which I engage as both an ethics and practice of relationality grounded in ʻŌiwi land, memory, and desire. Chapter One also includes a review of Indigenous queer theory and moʻolelo literary criticism in which I also discuss how our ʻupena represents Kanaka Maoli alternatives to settler logics of heterosexism, cisheteropartriarchy, and heteronormativity. Chapter Two elaborates on my Kanaka Maoli methodologies of research, writing, and translation and maps the path of this dissertation through an engagement with Hawaiʻi’s archive of 19th and 20th century nūpepa. I offer in Chapter Two a new approach to addressing the many problems of the translation of Hawaiian language materials. I call this practice, “rigorous paraphrase.” In Chapter Three and Chapter Four I cast our ʻupena of intimacies across the Hiiaka archive and investigate pilina, intimacy, and ʻāina. Finally, in Chapter Five I narrow the focus, moving from suggesting the expansiveness of our ʻupena of intimacies to articulating a specific set of relationships that can help us see how the ongoing dislocations, disintegration, and disembodiment of our Kanaka Maoli relationships continue to obstruct our ability to challenge and offer alternatives to settler colonialism. To each ʻāina she departs Hiiaka chants: “Mai poina ʻoe iaʻu,” and like Hiiaka, this work also prioritizes ʻāina-based methodologies of (re)membering. In this dissertation, I join a succession of storytellers, scholars, and activists who have fought and continue to struggle to decolonize and deoccupy Hawaiʻi. This ʻupena of intimacies is part of a larger call to action to take aloha seriously, to (re)member our kūpuna, and to create deoccupied and decolonial Kanaka Maoli futures.