The Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana: Cultural Revitalization in a Contemporary Hawaiian Movement

Abstract

The island of Kaho'olawe has been the focus of more than three decades of military bombing and training maneuvers by the U.S. armed forces. Since 1976, it has also been the focus of protest, sometimes volatile, by an activist organization called the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana.* The goal of this loosely organized group of individuals is to stop the bombing of the island and to have the island returned to the people of Hawai'i. In 1976, the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana emerged from the general milieu of the American 1960s protest and a Hawaiian culture renaissance, which was most visibly manifested in a resurgence of interest in traditional music, dance, and the arts. The confrontational stance of the 'Ohana made them one of the more visible and controversial organizations, among the numerous Hawaiian groups which existed at the time. In the following five years, the 'Ohana underwent several crises which challenged its existence. It survived, changed but still persistent in its goal of stopping the bombing of the island. The intent of this thesis is to analyze the nature of the Protect Kaho'olawa 'Ohana, using revitalization and contemporary social movement theories. Revitalization looks at movements as vehicles for rapid cultural change, as a Gestalt shift or "mazeway reformulation" to alleviate cultural stress. Contemporary social movement theory, on the other hand, deals with the organization of movements, with an emphasis on the dynamics of collective behavior. It is argued that the 'Ohana can be seen as 1) a revitalization movement, directed toward Hawaiians as a cultural group which has been greatly impacted by Westernization, and 2) as a contemporary social movement, directed toward a broad constituency concerned with the politics of land issues. In the context of Hawaiian culture, the 'Ohana is attempting to enhance an awareness and pride in being Hawaiian and, through this consciousness, to enhance a new Hawaiian way of life. In the context of contemporary Hawaiian society, it is involved in issues of land ownership and use, particularly in the limited distribution of power related to the control of land. In the analysis of the 'Ohana, it became clear that the manifestation of both revitalization and contemporary movement characteristics within one organization created conflicts. These conflicts seem to have been inevitable in the movement's attempts to reconcile the demands of cultivating strong cultural identification with developing support for a broader issue. Thus, a new understanding of the role of cultural revitalization in a modern social movement context also emerged.