Institute for the Advancement
of Hawaiian Affairs
86-649 Pu`uhulu Rd.
Wai`anae, HI 96792-2723
Tel: (808)696-5157 Fax:(808)696-7774
email: plaenui@pixi.com
June 27, 1998
Poka Laenui
TO
Association for
ASIAN-AMERICAN STUDIES CONFERENCE
ILIKAI HOTEL
HONOLULU, HAWAI`I
`Ano `ai me ke aloha e na hulu manu like `ole:
Asian (Pacific) -American studies, as I understand it, is an engagement in the inquiry and explication on the integrity of the people and cultures of Asia (Pacific) within the U.S. society.
But when the venue of the conference is held in Hawai`i and not in America, I suggest the examination of the case should be broadened to the integrity of the people, cultures and territory without the U.S. society.
The point is somewhat like the similarities and differences between the Asian immigrants to the U.S. and the Native Americans whose ancestors living in North America predate the arrival of European settlement after Columbus. The Native Hawaiians are treated with some similarity to the Native Americans, of course. But the similarities quickly ends. The difference is great - Hawai`i, an independent nation, so recognized in the international community, including the U.S., was simply invaded by that foreign power - the U.S.. It was a sneak attack upon our shores, a breach of the rules of international law. The U.S. aided in the creation of a puppet government whose ultimate design, publicly declared, was to cede Hawai`i to the United States.
The national memory of Hawai`i remains strong today, displayed in the political rhetoric, in the expressions of hula and oli, in the songs, poetry, namings of children, streets, in the food, in the humor, in the general style of living. The governmental form, our constitutional monarchy, is today a wreck, but the national consciousness which forms the taproot to the life of a nation, is strong and only getting stronger. The nation is seriously engaged in peeling off the mask of America to look into its deeper self in a search for its rightful place as a nation. It is engaged in the process of decolonization.
The civil rights experience which saw Dr. Martin Luther King as its head, and the human rights experience which saw Mahatma Gandhi as its head, could serve as a helpful comparison between the struggle for equality within the Colonial society and the struggle for equality through decolonization within the International society. Hawaiian sovereignty, for me, is the path of decolonization, the path about which I would like to share a few ideas with you.
It may be helpful to discuss decolonization and the Hawai`i experience by first, briefly examining the process of colonization. For this, I turn to a friend who has now gone over the bridge of life, Virgilio Enriquez, a Filipino, a psychologist, and author of the book, from colonial to liberation psychology. Professor Enriquez suggests six steps in the process of colonization:
1) Denial & Withdrawal in which the colonizer denies the validity or even existence of "culture" of the indigenous people, accompanied by indigenous people withdrawing from the practice and identification with that culture;
2) Destruction/Eradication consisting of direct physical destruction of elements of the culture;
3) Denigration/Belittlement/Insult in which any practice, observation, or acknowledgement of the traditional culture is treated with contempt and even criminality. Here, even symbols of evil must be imported by the colonizer in order to gain legitimacy, e.g., importation of a Dracula or other representatives of evil into indigenous communities while alluding to indigenous representatives of evil as ignorant superstitions.
4) Surface Accommodation/Tokenism: Whatever remnants of a culture survives, they are merely accommodated in an atmosphere of folkorism, of "showing respect to the old folks and to tradition."
5) Transformation: The cultural practice is transformed into the culture of the dominating society, for instance, a Christian church may use an indigenous person and incorporate some indigenous religious terms and practices within the Christian expression of religion.
6) Exploitation: The final stage where the cultural practice of the indigenous people is sought for its commercial, artistic or political value.
THE FIVE PHASES OF DECOLONIZATION
I suggest five distinct phases of a people's decolonization. These are: 1) Rediscovery and Recovery, 2) Mourning, 3) Dreaming, 4) Commitment, and 5) Action. Each phase can be experienced at the same time or in various combinations.
Phase I: REDISCOVERY AND RECOVERY
This is the first step to emancipation. This phase must be seen as setting the foundation, the root, in fact, of the process of decolonization.
People who have undergone colonization are inevitably suffering from concepts of inferiority in relation to their historical cultural/social background. Even those who continue the spirit of rebellion are limited in their struggle against the oppression of the colonizer because the rebellious spirit, in and of itself, is insufficient to provide permanent growth in a movement.
Oftentimes, a people experiencing this initial phase will undergo many emotionally traumatic experiences. Discovering a long standing fraud, finding one's true ancestry, uncovering a cache of cultural treasures never known to have existed, are experiences which can bring out a wide range of responses. Such responses can be seen in individual cases where one discovers unexpected fraud of marital infidelity, of discovering who one's real parents are, or coming upon real property documents showing one's title to land never known before. Responses range from deep anger to exceeding joy. Multiply those experiences and responses thousands of times over and the result will be an impact upon a whole society, especially in terms of rediscovery and recovery from the loss of an independent nation, a heritage, a history.
The Hawaiian society has been in this phase since the latter 1960s as greater sensitivity for racial identity and pride as well as the growth of distrust for the government of the United States of America developed. The black struggle for equality and the American Indian struggle for fundamental freedoms and recognition as the first people of the land, even the growing challenge to the righteousness of the U.S. war in Viet Nam played a major part in bringing home to Hawaii since the 60s this recovery and rediscovery stage.
This phase has continued, not only in the historical and political awareness of the U.S. armed invasion and overthrow of the Hawaiian nation. New vigor in Hawaiian music and literature, both traditional and modern, added substantially to this recovery. Social and political activities took on new momentum, challenging certain trustee appointments by members of Hawai‘i's Supreme Court to the Bishop Estate, challenging evictions of native Hawaiians from beaches and valleys, challenging the abuse of the island of Kaho‘olawe as a bombing range. As this platform of discontent and awareness began to build, a plethora of new organizations emerged, pushing to the forefront the illegality of the overthrow of Hawaii.
This phase of rediscovery and recovery has not ended. Many people are still "getting up to speed", knowing full well, however, of the overall theme of a grand illegality having occurred in Hawaii 100 years ago.
One of the dangers in this phase is the elevation of form over substance, of dealing with a traditional culture from the perspective of a foreign culture. Indigenous people themselves can abuse their own culture, especially when they have been so long and completely separated from the practice or appreciation of their traditional culture that they now treat this culture from the perspective of the foreign one. This danger may include those who have taken on the trappings of their "traditional" culture, wearing forests of leaves and flowers on their heads, speaking the indigenous language which they learned at colonial colleges, and otherwise playing the foreigner's concept of the indigenous person, especially those able to speak in evening news sound bites and who may present pleasing images to still and movie cameras. Theatrics which make good media clips could eventually substitute for substance.
The difference, therefore, between the final stage of colonization - exploitation, and the initial stage of decolonization - rediscovery & recovery, must be carefully distinguished. Too often, the media works in tandem with those who makes their ancestry a career, both exploiting a serious social movement for decolonization.
Phase II: MOURNING
A natural outgrowth of the first phase is the mourning - a time when a people is able to lament their victimization. This is an essential phase of proper healing of a people. Even in individual tragedies where one is a victim of some crime, the victim must be permitted a time of mourning.
In Hawai‘i, the symbolic mourning of the loss of a nation has taken place in the centennial observation of the overthrow at ‘Iolani Palace. The observations over the week-end of January 16 and 17, 1993 in which people came from all parts of Hawai‘i and returned from parts of the world served as a focal point for mourning of most of those touched in one or another way by the overthrow.
It is difficult to generalize how long a people remain in the mourning phase. Like individual responses to tragedies, societal mourning depends on the circumstances. Perhaps, when there does not seem to be any alternative to the present condition, the mourning seems to be the only thing to do. Thus, an extended period of mourning may be experienced.
The mourning stage can also accelerate the earlier stage of rediscovery and recovery. People in mourning oftentimes immerse themselves totally in the rediscovery of their history making for an interesting interplay between these two phases.
This phase may also be expressed in great anger and a lashing out at all symbols of the colonizer. A sense of justified violence, either in words or action, can lull some into remaining in this phase, milking every advantage of the innocence of one's victimization. This abuse of the mourning phase can turn into an attempt to entrench the colonization in order to continue the mourning, the anger, the hating and the division of people. Some people are happy to go no further than the mourning, finding sufficient satisfaction in long term grumbling.
Phase III: DREAMING
This phase is one of the most crucial for the process of decolonization. It is in this phase where the full panorama of possibilities are expressed, considered through debate, consultation, and building dreams on further dreams which eventually becomes the flooring for the creation of a new social order.
It is during this phase where the people colonized are able to explore their own cultures, their own aspirations for their future, the building of their own structures of government and social order which encompass and expresses their hopes. It is during this phase where a people colonized can explore what facets of the colonial culture they wish to retain or reject.
So crucial is this phase that it must be allowed to run its full course. If the dreaming is cut short by any action plan or program designed to create a remedy meeting the perception of the issue at a premature stage, the result can prove disastrous.
I liken this phase to the formation of a fetus in a mother's womb. That fetus must be allowed its time to develop and grow to its full potential. To attempt to rush the process of development, to rush the birthing process by bringing the child out earlier than its natural time, could prove dangerous if not disastrous to the child.
An examination of the Pacific as well as the world's decolonization experiences as they relate to the dreaming may be helpful here. There are several cases in which people who underwent "decolonization" merely underwent a change in position of the colonizer. Examine, for example, the constitutions of the newly emerged Pacific island national constitutions and see if it reflects more closely the social and legal culture of the immediate preceding colonizer or of the indigenous culture. Are those documents truly reflective of the hopes and aspirations of the people previously colonized? Or do they represent the colonial mentality which pervades the society?
There is a growing concern among Pacific Islanders themselves, questioning the present systems which have become entrenched within their island societies as part of the process of "decolonization" under which they received political independence.
In Hawai‘i, the dreaming is now very vibrant. As the intensity in the debate of Hawai‘i's future gains greater momentum, there is a matching hunger for solid background information upon which the dreaming can be built. We have identified some of the areas of background information that are needed as:
a) Economic ramifications of Hawaiian Sovereignty upon the following:
- Tourism in Hawaii, -Population control - Military presence in Hawaii, -International trade & business - Diversified Agriculture -Control over ocean resources - Taxation -Land ownership modifications
b) International legal principles which apply to the Hawai‘i case, in particular, the principles of decolonization, indigenous peoples' rights, and ocean governance in a new economic, environmental and political world arrangement.
c) Review of other cases in which people have exercised self-determination, both as indigenous people's movements and as broader movements of decolonization.
d) Identification and description of various models of nationhood.
e) Methods and processes by which non-indigenous concerns and contributions can be incorporated into the overall study of Hawaiian sovereignty.
Hawai‘i however, continues to face the threat of rushing the dreaming. Now that the topic of Hawaiian Sovereignty has "caught on" as one of the foremost political issue of the day, many are demanding immediate action, with a belief that reflection and introspection are not worth the time and effort in the development of a new social order. Those expressing impatience and even ridicule over the dreaming process often call for very short-sighted goals, measured generally by materialistic gains. Thus, there is an immediate call for lands, dollars and a "sovereign" nation whose jurisdiction and powers are fully within the United States Congress or Supreme Court. Long term planning for the future of Hawai‘i in relation to the Pacific and the world is non-existent in such plans for an immediate remedy, merely a bandage for a major wound.
Phase IV: COMMITMENT
In the process of dreaming, the people will have the opportunity to weigh the voices rather than becoming caught up with counting votes. They will be able to wade through the cult of personalities, family histories, and release themselves from shackles of colonial patriotism. They will now be ready for commitment to a single direction in which the society must move. This phase will culminate in people combining their voices in a clear statement of their desired direction. There is no single "way" or process for a people's expression of the commitment. In fact, over time, the commitment will become so clear that a formal process merely becomes a pro forma expression of the people's will. That expression may be captured in a "puwalu", a constitutional convention, or a congress.
It can be difficult to distinguish between an early termination of the dreaming phase from the start of the commitment phase. In Hawai‘i, we hear the call for a Hawaiian convention to create a founding document of the Hawaiian nation. In several corners of the society, this call is being made by bodies that include the Hawai‘i legislature, semi-autonomous organizations such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and even the umbrella organization supporting Hawaiian sovereignty education, Hui Na‘auao. All such calls for a process must be carefully scrutinized and questioned as to whether these calls are consistent with the desire to allow the full process of decolonization to take place or do they cut the dreaming short and force a premature resolution of historical injustices, thus limiting the losses of those whose interests are threatened in the decolonization process.
Indeed, several organizations claim they now represent the Hawaiian Nation because they have already formed their organizational structure, emplaced their national leaders, and will now speak for the nation. Such claims, upon close examination, are easily seen to be nothing more than opportunists trying to substitute quick formula solutions for the decolonization process.
Phase V: ACTION
This phase can be taken only upon a consensus of commitment reached in the 4th phase. Of course, the traditional spectrum from a call to reason to a resort to arms in order to achieve one's exercise of self-determination are sanctioned by international law when used in appropriate times and manner.
The decolonization environment has so drastically changed in the last 30 years that the action phase must include consideration beyond what has been historically undertaken to achieve independence. While the first thought for independence would have been to grab the rifle and march against the colonizer, it seems the new weapons are dictated by technological development. The fax machine, television, radio and newsprint are perhaps more effective in executing the long battle plan. The rifle, it's been argued, may still be necessary to defend those other mediums of expressions.
Not only have the methods of executing upon these commitment changed, but the arenas of contests are now not as geographically defined as before. To speak before the United States Congress or an appropriate body of the United Nations may be far more effective than to storm a mountain top in an armed battle.
CONCLUSION
The process of colonization and of decolonization deserves closer consideration in attempting to refashion societies. This review is merely a broad observation of the decolonization process, taking a particularly Hawaiian bent, with minimal examination of the Pacific experiences. This observation may also benefit from a consideration of the African, Asian and current European experiences as well.
The study of Asian (and Pacific Islanders) - American people, politics, cultures, etc., when considered beyond the continental borders of the United States of America, must take into consideration the issues of colonization and decolonization. If not, it will have left out a crucial part of the relationship of such peoples with the United States.