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GRCWlhlG {-lp in a part-Hawaiian family, it wasn't
uncommon to feel I had somehow gotten the short end of
the genetic stick, distinguished from my oldest brother bylight skin,hazel eyes and'ehu hair. I developed emotional armor to deflect classmates adding an expletive before haole
when teasing me. I tried as hard as I could to smile whensomeone told me I couldn't possibly be Hawaiian. But indifference only gets you so far. By the time I was r6, I faced themost difficult challenge to my identity as a kanaka maoli.
I was a sophomore

at Kamehameha Schools

Kapalama when I faced nearly weekly exchanges
with friends and strangers who asked me "areyou really Hawaiian?" A rumor had circulated
that I had gotten into the school as a non-Hawaiian through a conspiracy theory-like numberof loopholes. Not only did I have to defend myown identity, but for the first time I felt theexperiences of my two part-Hawaiian parents
were threatened. I became quickly adept at
explaining my genealogr from both my motherand my father's kupuna - and talented at doing
it without showing an ounce of .the 'eha thatfilled me.
You can imagine how confusing it must havebeen then to enter graduate school on theContinent and have classmates refer to me notby my given name, but simply by my ethnicity "the Hawaiian," they would call me. What was l?
Haole or Hawaiian? Could the two ever coexist?

Would I ever be Hawaiian enough?
These questions have followed me for most of
my life as a part-Hawaiian who looked somewhere between the zoth century tourist dePic-tions of Hawaiians and the Committee of Safety
They followed me as they follow so many otherkanaka maoli whether on the Continent or here
in the lslands.
To understand how a kanaka'6iwi comes to callhimself or herself Hawaiian, we found that weneeded to refer to our k[puna, to our interactions with the world outside of Hawai'i, to theadvances we've made in the past 5o years and toconversations we're still having today. Because,
as San Jose State University professor and self-

proclaimed diasporic Hawaiian, Rona Halualani,
writes: "ldentities are legacies in the making."

Thr)\t dedmtittnW
Sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists
have spent more than 50 years evaluating how
individuals assume, present and assert theiridentities. Ethnic studies offered an additional
voice to the discussion as we struggled toexpress how our racial experiences affected theway we see and express ourselves.

What much of the academic world has managed to provide us is a framework to decipher
how exactly our identities are formed. The workof psychologists and sociologists has acknowledged that identity goes beyond what we see inthe mirror - there is an added layer of social in-teraction. Halualani writes that "identity stands
as a larger social arena, in which specific mean-

ings of who we are connect to and combine

with" a number of external factors, including
practices, power interests, and history.
Aside from complex equations of interactlons
between what we see on the inside and what1

others see from the outside, scholars havestruggled to integrate how our race affects ouridentity. But to include that additional racialsEpT_/0cT. a0t3 Mniln MnGnzlilt

component, academics focused on experiences in ahighly racialized United States.
Dr. Brandon Ledward, a maoli cultural anthropologist, notes, "America, in a very general sense, is highly
iacially divided ... The one drop rule makes you blackor white." lt is through this lens scholars have sought
to understand how race alfects one's identity' What
Ledward and other scholars call the "mono-classification of race" suggests we can only ever see ourselves
as one race or another. And that either-or approachaffects how we see ourselves. lt also affects how

others see us and categorize us - as black, white orsome form of brown. ln short, it affects our identity'

But how does that approach really measure up in
our lsland home, where mixed race is the norm?
How did that foreign approach arrive on our shores
in the first place?

"#kttlailnfr)' at, htJItNW
Although concepts of race existed in the Hawaiian
Kingdom, an individual's identity was often linked
to political loyalties and ancestry Ledward believes
from his research that "what mattered most to::

government-backed tourism industry thai seem€csexuallze and silence Hawaiians in order to bring visitors to a booming Waikrkl (which was developed inpartnership with the "Big 5" that also controlled theagricultural industry in the lslands at the time).

The shift in the depictions of Hawaiians imposed a
new view, one that tried to neutralize the native andmake us seem a little more palatable than oppressedraces on the continental U.S. such as American
lndians and black Americans. This new view wasformalized in rgzr with the Hawaiian Homes
Commission Act.
ln r9zo, Prince K[hi6 introduced the Hawaiian Homes
Commission Act (HHCA) to the U.S. Congress. The
bill proposed to set aside more than 2oo,ooo acresof lands that were once controlled by the crown as
settlement for the Hawaiian people. Blood quantum
quickly became a focus of Congressional hearings The
original version of the bill allotted land to individuals
that were no less than r/32 Hawaiian. ln the end, Prince
Kuhio succeeded in convincing Congress to pass the
Hawaiian Homelands Commission Act but failed tomaintain a lower threshold for the blood quantum
requirement. Native Hawaiian by law now meant atleast one-half Hawaiian.

Hawaiians in the time of our monarchy was whether
you were kanaka Hawai'i. Not necessarily'6iwi or

Many mark the HHCA as a turning point in bringing
Hawaiians into the American racial fold. lt was the

kanaka maoli or hapa haole, but whether or not you

first time that a Hawaiian identity was established bylaw, and it was an identity that was defined in termsof a percentage of blood. Ledward considers this notjust a turning point, but a legacy that still presents
challenges to Hawaiians. "This inherited notion of
a racial identity that we get is from an Americancolonial history. lt's marked right there in our Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, this kind of blood edict
about who is and who is not Hawaiian."pledged your political life to the kingdom, whether
you were a kingdom subject and worked for the bet-terment of this place, this 'aina'"
Many scholars trace the racialization of Hawaiians
to the late t8oos and early t9oos. The time period isknown best for the overthrow of the monarchy' However, other key developments during that time directly
shaped our racial experience here in the lslands'

The late rBoos and earty tgoos marked a rise in
American influence and interest in the lslands The
shift from independent nation to territory of the
U.S. in turn changed the way Americans viewed
Hawai'i and Hawaiians. Americans' new way of seeing
Hawaiians is best exemplified by representations atinternational exhibitions and in the tourism industry

during this time.
During Kaldkaua's reign, Hawai'i participated as anindependent nation-state displayingthe dominantagriculture exPorts alongside culturally significant
items like kapa, lei, nets and other implements' In
contrast to a depiction of a living culture, the 19o1
Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY., Presented
the world with "hula hula" dancers performing in the
Hawaiian Village next to the display of wild animals

and other items collected during the U'S.'s extension into the Pacific with the Spanish-American War'ln combination with these representations was a

E8 MNNN MflGNZINE SEPT./OCT. EOISThe story of Hawaiian identity thankfully follows
closely a broader narrative of Hawaiians' resurgence'
By the 196os, Hawaiians had at least one voice to
speak to our identity. John Dominis Holt, a hapahaole writer, wrote a seminal essay. That essay, "On
Being Hawaiian," and Holt himself helped spur what
we now know as the Hawaiian Renaissance.

Holt broke ground in a couple of ways. "l think he -Imean this was Pre what we call Hawaiian renaissance- is writing about trying to reclaim a space just tocall yourself Hawaiian," says Ledward. ln addition to
opening the discussion on what it means to be a Hawaiian, Holt, who owned both his haole and Hawaiian
ancestries, expanded the conversation to include
what it meant to be mixed race Hawaiian. Holt rep-resented a reawakening of a Hawaiian identity thatparalleled a cultural, political, and social revival of
Hawaiians in general.

Holt's breakthrough work alongside that of his
contemporaries' political and cultural advances
paved the way for Hawaiians not lust to see ourselvesin a different light, but also gave the world a newview of what it meant to be Hawaiian' By zoot,Hawai'inuiakea professor and historian Jon Osorio
wasn't just making a space for us to talk about being
Hawaiian. He was asking us difficult questions about

our identity, like "What Kine Hawaiian Are You?" anessay published in the Contemporary Pacific'
I

ll
I

i

We have come a long way since the early days of
expositlons and the HHCA when it comes to understanding and discussing our identity But that iourneyhasn't been without growing pains Today, kdnaka
maoli continue to struggle with questions - questions
like the one Osorio asked, "What kine Hawaiian areyou?" or ones like those I faced, "Can I be Hawaiian enough?" While we thankfully survived a period
notwhere Hawaiianness was outlawed, it seems we'rein the clear Yet.

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The identity narratives of the Hawaiian students givekeen insights into how our newest generation of
kanaka maoli continue to form and transform theiridentities. ln her dissertation, Makaiau analyzed thenarratives and found that "having a Hawaiian identity
is more complex than the stereotypes that have romanticized this grouP throughout U's history' Hawaiian identity is about being deeply connected to place'a larger group of people who are living and passed
on, a collective history and a vision for the future"
Many of the students tell stories of expressing theirideniities through language, music, food, sports andother traditional practices, telling of the strong legacyof the Hawaiian Renaissance, when exploration ofidentity first began. But students dove even deeper
into the questions they had about their identities andhow they stood uP to their own and others'definitions of what it means to be Hawaiian"You may have the Hawaiian blood, but if you do notknow the history or practices and traditions, you will
never know who you are as a Hawaiian," wrote one

student. Other students wrote similarly about theirpride in traditions and practices - dancing hula, playing music or cooking with family. The sense of pridein those people and things in our history that came

Amber Makaiau is an educator who has encouraged
students at Kailua High School to take a leadingrole in both asking and answering those questions
for themselves.

before and a responsibility to a greater community
were strong sources of Hawaiian identity in many of
the narratives.

Makaiau is no stranger to these questions Her
family has roots in the lslands from long before theou.rihro*. But because of her haole ancestry, she

But pride was not the only way these students
expressed their Hawaiian identity. One student
described her private elementary school where she

has faced her fair share of prejudices She has cometo call herself a kama'aina to honor her family's longlegacy in the lslands and the only place she and herfamily have known and loved as home for well overlOO years.

Makaiau and Kehau Glassco, both social studies
teachers at Kailua High School, designed and imple-

mented a culturally relevant ethnic studies course
in 2oo4. The high school partnered with the Asian
Pacific lslander Youth Violence Prevention Center'
which targeted the school as a place with strong Native Hawaiian rePresentation.
ln its very basic intentions, the class is meant to reduce vioience. HoweveG it became an experience thattransformed both Makaiau and her students evenmore than the objective; they tackled difficult questions of identity, assumptions, prejudice and racism in
most
Hawai'i while building relationships' One of thetelling transformation was the identity narratives
students were requlred to research and write, andwhich Makaiau analyzed to provide insights into thesestudents' identities.

30 Mniln MnGczlNE SEpT./0cT. e013

often felt like she was treated differently because shewas Hawaiian. Many other students described their
Hawaiian identity in direct contrast to haole' "Beinglt

Hawaiian, I feel like haoles have taken over Hawai'i'lseems to me they show no respect for ourforourrespect
same
the
have
feel that haoles don't

land

land as we do," wrote one student'

One unfortunate byproduct of this expression ofidentity was that some students felt swept up in thehaole versus Hawaiian dichotomy "Born Hawaiian'
but raised in the Mainland. When lwalk down thestreets of Kailua I look like a tourist to all the'locals,'
but if they knew the real me they would see a man
who bleeds blue like the Pacific Ocean he loves 'When you call me'haole'or'white boy' I will smileisand walk away... fto them] I am an outsider, but this
the
of
dirt
in
the
buriedaremy home, and my roots
island," wrote one student.

Ledward spent much of his doctoral research on theexperiences of Hawaiians like the student who bled
weblue. "lt just troubled me because it seemed likemeainternal
I
call,
what
these,
oflota
had inherited
suring sticks. What it means to be a Hawaiian easily

becomes racialized, with certain kinds of phenotypes,
a certain kind of skin color, a certain kind of hair."Ledward wanted to know where these measuring
sticks came from. "l traced them back to the anthropological and touristic depictions of Hawai'i that kindof endure," he says.
Both Ledward's and Makaiau's research seemed toshow that the identity of our community as a wholeis formed similarly to the way individuals find theirown identities: an interaction between what we see
within and what others see from the outside. lnaccurate and trivialized depictions of Hawaiians, both
historical and contemporary, still play a part in how
Hawaiians see ourselves - and, as a result, form ouridentity as a communitY.
Additionally, the way we see and treat each otherinside the community affects us. "lt became more
acceptable to have a Hawaiian identity and to look
and act Hawaiian. I think that actually put a strain onsome of our community that have those attributes
that sometimes resemble, at least at first glance tobe, what is believed to be the opposite of what we're
doing'says Ledward. And so it seems the questionsof identity are stlll left open even after all these
decades of searching for answers.

Awtlpax,o\*t!*(ut t"
Ledward's and Makaiau's work seems to suggestthat the questions themselves are the answers to

help Hawaiians build strong positive identities. "lnthe end what I think I found is that there are a lot ofsimilarities in experiences that we have as a community endured. We don't often talk about them until
you're finally in that closed safe environmentj'says
Ledward.
Safe spaces were key to get students to examine
themselves and each other in Makaiau's ethnic
studies class. "lt's creating an environment where
people are more receptive to hearing it. ln day-today interactions, people might not be ready to hearthings. So what we're really trying to do is create
this safe environment where we're asking questions
and we're being self-reflective and the whole point
is to be thinking about yourself, thinking about yourrelationships," says Makaiau.
Students in the ethnic studies class establish what
Makaiau calls a "community of inquiry." Makaiau describes the space as a place where students are "ableto listen and have emPathy and the tools for thinking
deeply about these issues so that you can question
your assumptions." Makaiau continues, "lf you havethese assumptions, is there evidence? ls this true? ls

there evidence to suPport that it's true? Or maybe
there are some counter-examples and being open tochanging your thinking about it."
But what kind of identity will these safe spaces bring us?

Ledward hopes ultimately we'll be more "comfortable in our Hawaiian skin." Ledward asks himsell"Can we ever be comfortable? I think it has to be thatbalance of comfortable in ourselves, embracing ourdiversity, and seeing that as a strength." He continues
later, "What's not okay is when we feel we can't sharethat experience, if for some reason someone feels
like that lessens their standing or commitment to thecause, if we can't talk about it."It give us more than the space Holt once opened for
us to talk about being Hawaiian. lt gives us even moreagency that scholars like Holt, Osorio and so manyothers fought for over the past 50 years. "At the very
least, I think we as Hawaiians should be making therules on or the ideas of what Hawaiians are. And as amixed ethnicity we should have discussions about it,"says Ledward.

Ledward acknowledges the work of predecessors
like Holt and Osorio in opening the space and asking
difficult questions about our political and cultural
identities. He hopes the discussion continues to ask
even more difficult questions about how we seeeach other. "We can't be any less vigilant on how wetreat each other. Are we policing our own borders of
Hawaiianness too stringentlY?"

lf identities are legacies, as Halualani suggests, thenwhat are the legacies we will leave our next generation? Will it be a new version of Hawaiian or still
more questions?
Many of us, including Makaiau and Ledward, whoare each raising part-Hawaiian children of their own,
hope to resolve these questions so the next generation won't have to ask themselves if they're Hawaiian
enough. We must admit that our hopes rely not on
the next generation but rather on us as adults being
able to talk about these issues today. We can takecomfort in Makaiau's observation: "These are things

that people think about on a day-to-day basis all
the time. People really do want to connect with one
another and talk about it:'As you read this article another fair-skinned, lighteyed, young part-Hawaiian just like me is trying not

to flinch as someone asks her if she's really Hawalian'
By the time she becomes an adult, maybe we will
have succeeded in creating those safe spaces that
Makaiau and Ledward discuss' By that time, hopefully
she will feel comfortable in her Hawaiian skin. And
eventually she will live and breathe Hawaiian ... andthat will be enough. a

sEpT./0cT

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