Moving from the Margins to the Center: Elevating the Space on Kahoʻolawe through a Modern Navigational Platform

Abstract

The first Hawaiian Renaissance took place in the 1880s during the reign of King Kalākaua. A second Hawaiian Renaissance occurred in the 1970s and included numerous forms of resistance, agency, and empowerment of an Indigenous culture, although within a colonial context. I start with the catalyst event of the Kalama Valley evictions to show how a community comes together in peaceful, non-violent direct action to protest and spark a cultural resurgence in oral traditions. This dissertation examines the two main social movements, The Protect Kahoʻolawe ‘Ohana and the Polynesian Voyaging Society, that emerged from this era, and showcases how Native Hawaiians negotiated pathways of knowledge through these movements by reclaiming, reasserting, and reconceptualizing Hawaiian identity in modern times. The power of the two movements joining together in 2004 created a dynamic and collaborative space for traditional voyaging practices to be recognized and practiced, thereby elevating the sacred island of Kahoʻolawe. The voyaging scientific and cultural concepts and practices are, once again, coming back into the main framework of the Hawaiian culture and allow for a conscious mindset of possibilities that open up a space for voyaging practices, lessons in stewardship, and the aloha ‘āina philosophy. I used three methodologies: (1) geospatial technology analysis through GIS mapping of two navigational platforms, the Moaʻulaiki Navigational Platform and the Kuhikeʻe Navigational Platform; (2) quantitative analysis of traditions and practices; and (3) Indigenous research methods in moʻolelo, mele, oli, and elements of reference (stars, sun, and moon). Data has been collected from numerous archives, nineteenth-century Hawaiian-language newspapers and literature, published reports, Hawaiian cosmology and genealogical chants, and aerial pictures from drone technology. I used the results from my extensive research and fieldwork on Kahoʻolawe to create a Hawaiian pedagogy along with a voyaging-based curriculum designed for navigational students to learn and practice at the Kuhikeʻe Navigational Platform on the island of Kahoʻolawe but also anywhere else in the world.