The first person that presented in this workshop was Chenae Bullock. This is her website and you can get in touch with her through email at [email protected]. Chenae is a Shinnecock Indian Nation Tribal Member and a descendant of the Montauk Tribe in Long Island, New York. The Shinnecock people are the “people of the stony shore.” She explained the relationship between her tribe and the land. These people were semi-nomadic and traveled the world by carbon neutral vessels. I found many similarities between their tribe and Hawaiians. Laws were created against her people and the way they lived. They were forced into institutions/indentured servitude, forced to sell or lease their land, forced to stop controlled burns, forced to stop speaking Shinnecock, and forced to have fishing permits. They used controlled burns to burn the vegetation at the bottom of trees to keep them healthy. They weren’t allowed to fish and, therefore, their water became polluted and dirty. Clamming and collecting shellfish kept their waters clean. The Shinnecock people ended up teaching the English how to whale. There were many things I learned from this workshop and I will try to keep my explanations short. They were pushed to live in a small portion of the land they own and that land is quickly shrinking, due to erosion. They have been making efforts to stop the process by adding sand to their beaches and bring awareness through pop-up reenactments around New York. One thing that I thought was strange was that they haven’t seen the effects of ocean acidification where they live. Their clams and shellfish are just as big and full as they always are. These topics relate to what we have been learning because these people are advocating for themselves and finding solutions to the problems in their environment. As aforementioned, they bring awareness through storytelling or, as she described it, tourism. They explain what has been going on to tourists who become interested in their past. As this tribe finds their land eroding, they find affordable solutions. This means that other people could learn from their hardships. They faced many hardships and came out strong on the other side. The next person that presented in this workshop was Sutej Hugu. I am not sure how to get in touch with him again. He spoke about indigenous Taiwan. It was a little difficult to understand him, as it seemed he had a hard time speaking English. I also found many similarities with Taiwan and Hawaiʻi as I did with the Shinnecock people. It turns out that people from Taiwan in ancient times visited Hawaiʻi, among many other places. Many traditions of Taiwan are deeply connected to Pacific traditions. There were loʻi in Ponso no Tao. The “canoe” foods of Hawaiʻi were very similar to their food. The people of Taiwan had a very similar story as us about the origin of taro and had very strong traditions tied to flying fish. They would plant in different areas with or without irrigation and would plant taro, yams, sugarcane, among a bountiful variety of other food. It turns out that most people from Taiwan are environmentally sensitive and resilient. One cultural disaster that happened during colonial modernization was when all 566 traditional eco-house-buildings in the six communities were torn down. An environmental disaster that occured was the dumping of nuclear waste from 1982 to 1994. They faced tourism with the average amount of annual tourists being over 100,000-200,000. This can relate to TMT because their buildings were torn down and they faced way too many tourists. The last person to speak was Kawika Winter. I am not sure how to get in touch with him again. He is the Reserve Manager at the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve. He explained that they are trying to complete biocultural restoration in two ahupuaʻa. Ahupuaʻa is a Hawaiian conceptualization of community. These two places are Hāʻena, Kauaʻi and Heʻeia, Oʻahu. He showed us first- and second-generation leaders. He wants to restore our indigenous food systems, restore our cultural landscapes, and for people to become involved in community events. He plans to remove invasive species, restore ecosystem function through agro-ecology, and to restore aquaculture. This sounds like what everyone is advocating for but don’t usually actually do it. References:
Bullock, C. (2021, May 14). Purple Maiʻa Conference. Zoom Meeting. https://whova.com/portal/webapp/biocu_202105/Agenda/1630984 The Shinnecock Curse | The East Hampton Star. (2018, June 21). Easthamptonstar.com. https://www.easthamptonstar.com/archive/shinnecock-curse
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My Kahiau topic issue is ocean pollution. To be more specific, we are discussing the effects of ocean pollution on wildlife. The impacts of colonization have caused many people unaware of the importance of our land in Hawaiʻi to live or visit here and litter, negatively impacting wildlife. The rise of factories and technology has worsened our oceans. Colonization is defined as “the action or process of setting among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area.” It is evident that colonization has caused Hawaiʻi to become a place where people aren’t sustainable. Our ancestors used to live off of the land without harming the environment whatsoever. Now, we eat the food that is shipped here and have no say in the matter. With colonization, came dangers to our environment. It has become harder to control the amount of litter found in the ocean, to the point where I don’t think we will ever be able to rid the ocean of this garbage.
References:
Adam, B. (2020, May 29). [Image]. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the garbage island as big as the USA. How Smart Technology Changing Lives; Lunar Media Ltd. https://webeenow.com/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-the-garbage-island-as-big-as-the-usa/ Oxford Languages and Google - English | Oxford Languages. (2020). Oup.com. https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/ Wikipedia Contributors. (2021, May 18). [Image]. Imperialism. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism The Industrial Revolution has had a profound impact on my Kahiau Project topic of ocean pollution. When humans started to use machines, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased significantly. According to the Ocean Health Index, the ocean has become 30% more acidic since 1750 due to absorbing larger amounts of CO₂. This article states, “This is due to the fact that seawater absorbs CO₂ in the atmosphere has been steadily rising owing primarily to the burning of coal, oil, and gas for transportation, heating, electricity generation, and other industrial activities.” (Ocean Acidification, 2011). As Native Hawaiians, it is very important to know where we come from which can be found by understanding our history. If you don’t know where you’ve been, you don’t know where you will go. If you understand your past, you will realize what makes you the way you are. When we understand why issues, such as ocean pollution, are so important to people here in Hawaiʻi, then we understand our culture. The more attached you are to your culture, the more empowered you will be and you will easily find your voice and advocate for Hawaiians. Native Hawaiians are deeply rooted to the land and we are invested in finding sustainable ways to use our resources. In ancient times, we were very capable of surviving off the land without harming the environment whatsoever. But, that has changed since we were stripped of our monarchy. References:
Līhau De Lima - Notes & Reflection On French Revolution. (2021). Līhau De Lima - Notes & Reflection On French Revolution. Google Docs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RxvC-AYUajQSq-ylEl59lgACMxvkX6BvHFI1s4v3h1c/edit Līhauikanoe De Lima - Impacts Industrial Revolution on Class Dichotomy & Scientific Revolution on Steam & Coal. (2021). Līhauikanoe De Lima - Impacts Industrial Revolution on Class Dichotomy & Scientific Revolution on Steam & Coal. Google Docs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1raZzb2uYIKX6LJkmKgG5UNWNsCLRSYk81ztcOk6AWd8/edit Ocean Acidification. (2011). Ocean Health Index. http://www.oceanhealthindex.org/methodology/components/ocean-acidification#:~:text=Since%20the%20beginning%20of%20the,result%20of%20carbon%20dioxide%20emissions https://www.facebook.com/Treehugger. (2021). What Is Ocean Acidification? Definition and Impact. Treehugger. https://www.treehugger.com/what-is-ocean-acidification-5116299 Ocean Acidification. (2017, May 4). [Image]. Ocean Acidification. IUCN. https://www.iucn.org/theme/marine-and-polar/our-work/climate-change-and-ocean/ocean-acidification Ku`uwehi Hiraishi. (2017). [Image]. What if the Great Māhele Wasn’t a Foreign Imposition? @Hipubradio. https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/post/what-if-great-m-hele-wasnt-foreign-imposition#stream/0
Pollution | One shared ocean. (2014). Onesharedocean.org. http://onesharedocean.org/open_ocean/pollution
Silk Road Climate Change Impacts - John Novis Photography. (2021). John Novis Photography. https://www.johnnovis.com/1664193-silk-road-in-the-age-of-climate-change Oceans at Risk. (2018). Oceans at Risk. Oceans at Risk. https://blog.rebellionresearch.com/blog/oceans-at-risk |
Līhau De Lima
Aloha, I'm Līhau. I am a sophomore at Kamehameha Schools. I like reading. Archives
May 2021
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