Aloha mai kākou,
I trust this post has found you all in good health. "Indigenous Economies",  I agree with Corytaum. As an Indigenous peoples having lost their land, WE ourselves are being forced to deal with both the loss of our indigenous frame of minds AND the struggle to learn and function in another society. For me personally, living with the fruits of what happen 100's of years ago is bringing me to question my own ability to remain indigenous today. The system setup by the haole man, has pushed Indigenous peoples (our Kupuna) into the norm of society and confused them as to exactly what their place is IN society. Our kūpuna have come from long lines of kānaka that value genealogies, knowing this as a kanaka today, How does this help me? This is what I struggle with now. I love and value the ʻIke of our kūpuna, but is it really worth all that hassle. Do I really need to subject myself to the cruelty of a system that clearly doesnʻt share the consideration to allow a people the right to maintain their own form of economy.

Kanakas during the monarchy time have built, wrote, farmed, entertained, and many more. The people worked and lived a pretty comfortable life. They were kānaka that were able to juggle the two: the change in society & the maintenance of their traditions. Fathers would go to work while mothers stay home to take care of the keiki. Family was important and providing for them was not a choice, but your responsibility. The values in an old Hawaiian household are completely being changed in some Hawaiian households today. Families have completely cut off all ties with other family members and ʻohana isnʻt what it used to be.

Today, I feel a lot of us have lost the ability to think like that. I blame the change in society. Over many years of change, the values of kānakas have changed. We continue on in a society that constantly allows us to abandon our traditions.

But still, we move forward. The obvious things of a culture have disappeared from us (such as land, etc.), but there still remains something within us, pulling us back to the past. Though some may say that there is no value in thinking as our kūpuna did, there are many that say that our kūpuna thought in the most strategic of ways.

Our kūpuna knew exactly what was happening to them, and understood clearly what they needed to do in order to keep the traditions of the past. They understood the need of that balance in ones self. Colonization starts from within, and when "inside" starts to believe it, you become it. Our kūpuna continued living in both the past and the present, passing down as much ʻike as they could to the next generation. They looked to the past to those who have come before them for the answers. I loved their understanding that they couldn't do it all on their own. They ADD on to the work of their ancestors, although little bits at a time, they knew that in the end, it will be great. And they continue on these works by passing them on to their keiki. Imagine someones lifetime work, and THEN imagine many LIFETIMEʻS of works. Western thinking focuses on only ONE persons works, Hawaiians focus on many peoples works. Then reiterating the value of knowing your genealogy as well as that of those who are around you, to understand your kuleana.

Kānaka understanding this need in change today, go through the struggles to try and bring this way of thinking back. They have heard the stories of their kūpuna, and they understand their responsibilities. Although feelings of loss go through my body, I take peace in knowing that its going to get better. Hawaiian families WILL continue on, and they WILL succeed in whatever it is they put their mind to. That is one thing our kūpuna has given us. The ability to be so mind strong that nothing can stand in our way. Regardless of the many struggles they go through, they still continue, passing the knowledge down to their keiki and so on.

This is why I think it would be cool to listen to guest speakers that can share personal accounts just like this with us, such as the Hawaiian Nation group. I think it would be interesting to know how they are able to hold title as a "Hawaiian National" by being in that group. If they are a 501c, what exactly is it that allows them to do what they are doing? (Occupying Iolani Palace, maintaing acres out in Waimānalo, waiving all rights to U.S. citizenship...) What kind of organization are they? How do THEY sustain themselves (being an indigenous peoples in a now days society) today? Did they themselves attend school to acquire certain job skills? Are they qualified in anyway to do this on their own? and if they are, what value system do they follow? and how is it, dealing with the juggle of both societies?

Mahalo no ka hoʻolohe ʻana mai, hope I didn't go too far off track!

Ke aloha nui,
Punahele Kealanahele-Querubin