The statement, "when a language dies, a possible world dies with it (20)," was presented in the reading from Vizenor, immediately caught my attention. I believe that language is key to understanding and reclaiming Native knowledge, land, culture and perspective. The continuity of language, to me, is a form of survivance seen in Native communities today. Furthermore, "as Vizenor has written, 'Native survivance is more than survival, more than endurance or mere response; the stories of survivance are an active presence.' This presence is one that can 'undermine the literature of dominance (107).'" The active presence I've seen in relation to language has helped to do such in our Hawaiian communities and am grateful for it.
The literature reviews for Smith and Alfred also supports this notion of survivance through Indigenous methodologies; and the need for Indigenous peoples to do research and retell their stories about their land as a way to break apart the colonial structures in Western institutions. As stated, "the purpose is to convey the validity of Indigenous knowledge and practices (284). The idea then is that, "...Indigenous communities must create a frame of mind and reference that is as scientifically rigorous as Western methods. However, unlike the self-serving and oppressive nature of those methods, the activity of research by Indigenous-minded researchers must be held accountable to the Native Communities under study (287)." Meaning, we need to make sure that we maintain the Native perspective and value of the things we research.
Pua Kamahele's piece actually gave me a better understanding of how to maintain cultural perspective while progressing in modern research. She explains that, "Hawaiian practitioners live comfortably in both worlds because they know who they are. They know why they are and they know what they are. And they know what they must continue to be (9)." She also shares this dream about how we can be a part of our ʻāina and culture while also being engaged in our modern society.
These ideas blend perfectly into Kekuewa Kikilo's article. While reading her piece, Rebirth of an Archipelago: Sustaining a Hawaiian Cultural Identity for People and Homeland, I found that Kekuewa was able to research, with a certain level of understanding for the Hawaiian language and culture, about the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Aside from Western perspective, Kekuewa clearly indicates in the introduction that, "Hawaiian well-being is tied first and foremost to a strong sense of cultural identity that links people to their homeland. At the core of this profound connection is the deep and educing sentiment of aloha ʻāina, or love for the land...These place names are important cultural signatures etched into Hawaiian landscape and are embedded with traditional histories and stories that document how our ancestors felt about a particular area, its features, or phenomena. They help to transform once-empty geographic spaces into cultural places enriched with meaning and significance (75)." Through work such as this, the Hawaiian community has been able to reclaim and validate our past as people of Hawaiʻi; people who are connected to this area.
This last piece was more so interesting to me because some of my co-workers just recently returned form a trip to Papahānaumokuākea. They went understanding the sacredness of these islands as well as the fact that very few people are able to journey and see the majestic islands first-hand. Therefore, they went and took still and video images of their journey as a means to educate others (through visual and audio media) about these areas. I thought that this trip was a great add on to this last reading, as well as an example of continued Native Hawaiian survivance, as well as perpetuating our past in our present time.
No laila, I tried adding a couple of short films they did and produced. NOAA actually went out as well, so some of the stories they did were dealing with what types of research NOAA was doing. One storyactually has Kekuewa Kikiloi being interviewed. Sorry, I don't know how to upload vimeo movies..
http://vimeo.com/oiwitv/review/49190866/f63bff9ffd
http://vimeo.com/oiwitv/review/50417943/9f9774b9cb
http://www.oiwi.tv/live/channels/news/huakai-papahanaumokuakea-2012-reaching-new-depths-nwhi2012/
http://www.oiwi.tv/live/channels/culture/huakaʻi-papahanaumokuakea-tern-island-french-frigate-shoals-nwhi2012/
Beautiful video footage!!!
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