Living in Kalihi: Remembering Stories of Struggle and Resistance Kathleen Corpuz University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Mānoa Horizons Volume 2 | Issue 1 Article 2 9-22-2017 Living in Kalihi: Remembering Stories of Struggle and Resistance Kathleen Corpuz University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Follow this and additional works at: https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/horizons Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Corpuz, Kathleen (2017) "Living in Kalihi: Remembering Stories of Struggle and Resistance," Mānoa Horizons: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/horizons/vol2/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Kahualike. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mānoa Horizons by an authorized editor of Kahualike. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Living in Kalihi Remembering Stories of Struggle and Resistance Kathleen Corpuz Political Science 304 (Indigenous Politics) Mentor: Noenoe Silva This paper exposes the various ways American settlers remove traces of Kanaka Maoli history while exemplifying colonial narratives of immigrants who struggle to survive in the present colonial space of Kalihi. I will describe the historical and political transfor- mation of Kalihi through an analysis of devices that settlers use in the early twentieth century, such as maps and newspaper advertisements, to dispossess land from Kanaka Maoli. The evidence I have chosen illustrates how the transformation of land has shaped the experiences of residents of Kalihi. While settlers attempt to erase native history in the community, Kanaka Maoli continue to share their stories through their biographies and oral histories to oppose the dominant narrative of blankness forwarded by settler colonial- ism. Settler colonialism comes in different forms, and this paper reveals the importance of critiquing settler ideologies in order to return ancestral lands to Kanaka Maoli. Since many people are unaware of their participation and existence in colonialism, retrieving native histories will promote a better understanding of the current predicaments indige- nous peoples face and will help create alliances among residents to make decisions that will respect the right of Kanaka Maoli to self-determination. s the population in Hawai‘i continues to grow, more 388). The debate over the development of Hawai‘i is an Apeople demand space and begin to have desires for important issue to discuss because of its harmful effects land ownership. Private entities build luxurious condo- on the resurgence of Kanaka Maoli. Settlers dominate the miniums, shopping malls and other sites that appeal to conversation on land development today, and their deci- settlers. Settlers who support these projects live at the ex- sions cause the destruction of native land and people. pense of Kanaka Maoli, for they continue to perpetuate Land development projects are hegemonic because they the legacy of colonialism. They have no intention of re- perpetuate settler colonialism, and they deny the space turning ancestral lands to indigenous peoples since their for indigenous peoples to regain their sovereignty (Kosa- primary purpose is to stay and replace them (Wolfe 2006, sa 2009, 197). Settlers promote a concept of “blankness” This essay was written for my Indigenous Politics course with the help of my mentor, Noenoe Silva. As a Filipina immigrant settler, I was inspired to write about the history of Kalihi, my new home. This essay serves as a reminder of my responsibility to remember stories of resistance that will em- power my fellow community members to create change without harming the resurgence of Kanaka Maoli. I hope to inspire others to take action that will contribute to the decolonization of Hawai‘i. Mānoa Horizons, Vol. 2, 2017, pp. 1–6 Copyright © 2017 by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa 1 2 Mānoa Horizons Vol. 2, Fall 2017 in which the land they stake a claim on is uninhabited by values and rents, and politicians plan to expand and cre- indigenous peoples (Kosasa 2009, 197). This form of ac- ate more public housing units in the community to ac- tion erases native culture and history in order to justify commodate more families. With the expansion of the rail the presence of settlers and their claim to land. Kalihi, and public housing, more outsiders will desire to live in one of the many communities in Hawaiʻi, continues to Hawaiʻi. Settlers are attempting to appeal to others with face settler colonialism in different forms. the promise of space that they can easily obtain and oc- In this paper, I will describe the historical and po- cupy. This promise of space is a move to innocence that litical transformation of Kalihi from the nineteenth cen- does not restore the livelihoods of Kanaka Maoli, for it tury through an analysis of maps, biographies, and oral secures the power and wealth of settlers (Tuck and Yang histories. While Kalihi is known to have a high number 2012, 7). The denial of the inclusion of Kanaka Maoli in of low-income immigrants, it also has a rich Hawaiian development projects does not lead to the restoration of history. The presence of Kanaka Maoli in Kalihi is cen- the islands of Hawai‘i as a sovereign nation. These land tral to opposing the dominant narrative of blankness development projects further secure a settler future. forwarded by settler colonialism. This essay exposes the Current residents of Kalihi are in financial struggles various ways American settlers remove traces of Kanaka and are racialized within American society. Friedheim Maoli history while exemplifying colonial narratives of hints that immigrants have trouble meeting the social immigrants and Kanaka Maoli who struggle to survive and political expectations of society. This is not unique in in the present colonial space. The evidence I have chosen the case of immigrants because immigrants often chal- illustrates how the transformation of land has shaped the lenge societal pressures of assimilation. Most immigrant experiences of residents of Kalihi. I argue that it is imper- assimilation narratives in America do not question their ative to show the relationship of the manner in which im- subjectivity that is deeply rooted in settler colonialism. migrants and native people struggle to survive in order to Denying the existence of settler colonialism in Hawaiʻi remove settlers’ claim to innocence, and to critique and contributes to the forgetfulness of settlers who have a to confront their actions that affect their everyday lives. particular “obligation to indigenous peoples” (Hall 2008, Since many people are unaware of their participation in 275). The current hegemonic political system truly sup- settler colonialism, retrieving native histories will allow ports white supremacy, in which white settlers have his- current residents to form alliances with indigenous peo- torically benefited from the racialization of people (Hall ples and to make decisions that will respect the right of 2008, 275). Friedheim’s article fails to unveil the problem native people to self-determination. that is caused by the American hegemonic culture, which The colonization of Hawai‘i has produced an uneven in turn reinforces racial hierarchies. It normalizes the social space for Hawaiians, for it further reinforces hier- presence of settlers in government institutions unless archies of power in regards to their social, political and more people begin to question their legitimacy. economic statuses. During my research, I came across a The media coverage on Kalihi addresses only the recent article published in Civil Beat about the need for surface of the problem without critiquing the unequal the state government to establish stops for the rail transit power relations of indigenous people to settlers within in Kalihi. It claims Kalihi as the “last working class neigh- these discussions on land development projects. While borhood in central Honolulu” (Friedheim, 2016). Most of some people may disagree with my analysis of the arti- its residents work in businesses and tourism industries. cle in Civil Beat, it is important to address and critique This article observes that Kalihi is currently home to im- settler colonialism in Hawaiʻi. As Linda Tuhiwai Smith migrants from the Philippines, Korea, Samoa and other observes, history is about power and indigenous peoples’ Pacific Islands (Friedheim, 2016). Friedheim, however, perspective is often neglected (1999, 32). Settlers wish to fails to mention the historical presence of Kanaka ʻŌi- develop land without seeking knowledge or consent from wi in the community. The absence of the recognition of indigenous peoples. They have accepted the common Kanaka Maoli in the article reveals the author’s historical fact that they live on American soil; therefore, their deci- and cultural amnesia, for the author has no interest in sions support American values. Settlers have a vision for stating why there are not many Kanaka Maoli in Kalihi. progress in Hawaiʻi in which they invoke American ideas As the rail project continues, there will be more des- of private property to claim native lands as their home ignated stops in Kalihi because of its proximity to the ur- and they solely rely on historical amnesia to accumulate ban core. The presence of the rail will increase property wealth (Tuck and Yang 2012, 5). They believe that the Corpuz Living in Kalihi 3 land they lived on was not taken from indigenous peo- to maintain and justify their control over land. The Pacif- ples who were forcefully removed and eradicated. The ic Commercial Advertiser reveals the eagerness of settlers federal government ignored the Hawaiian population to earn money from land sales. They believed that land until Hawaiian leaders helped create an initiative for the should be privately owned and that it is wasteful for it to restoration of their health and livelihood (Kauanui 2008, be left untouched (Dunbar-Ortiz, 55). Rather than return- 80). Americans feel entitled to land because of their so- ing land to Kanaka Maoli, they appeal to other settlers cial and political power, thus, the inclusion of Kanaka with the promise of space and argue that they can make Maoli in land development projects will challenge set- “good use” of the land.