I have heard this story from the locals forever. If they want to take the risks and open tourist related businesses they can share in the revenues.
If you have no skin in the game do not expect a large piece of the pie. We all go to Hawii to relax and enjoy our vacation time and are constantly geting ripped for higher room rates especially during the periods the kids are out of school.
My kids are adults now and we look to Europe for a less expensive getaway and look to stay out of the sun like many boomers. I remember when 911 hit the world and everyone stopped traveling to places like Hawii the loss of revenue was very painful to the locals. My advise, keep those fire dancers and pig roasts coming.
28
So you find it entirely reasonable that locals should have to work multiple jobs just to get by? Because they don’t have “skin in the game”? If you and your family are now finding the islands too expensive and are vacationing in Europe to save money, what must it be like for those who actually live in Hawaii, for whom the inflated expense of being there is just their daily cost of living?
63
I have spent a couple of years in Hawaii a month or two at a time and have visited all of the islands. White people in Hawaii are less than 35% of the population in all five counties. It is the most diverse of America's 50 states but probably one of the worst run states. Start with the public school failures which are legend. Despite huge per student spending the schools have some of the worst results in America. The state is largely held hostage to the public school teacher's unions.
Unlike Louisiana, Hawaii's problem is not corruption. It is incompetence. Huge tax revenue is squandered and the politicians continue to ask for more revenue. It is one of the highest tax states and has the highest cost of living.
Hawaii is not a good place to be a member of the working poor but that is the category most native Hawaiians (at least those who work) find themselves in. The rest are just poor and struggling with multiple disease problems like morbid obesity, diabetes and kidney failure. Hawaiians as a group are some of the most racist people I've ever met. They have negative slang words for black and white people; look down on people from the Philipines and Japan and seem to hate just about anyone outside their circle.
The concept of "Aloha" is a marketing joke. There is very little Aloha in Hawaii today. I would never choose to live in Hawaii because dealing with the government would drive any organized person to drink. It's a great place to visit but that's all.
27
@JW
And yet you spent 2 years there over multiple visits. With privilege comes responsibility.
8
@JW
I'm part Hawaiian, my grandmother was Hawaiian/Chinese. My dad's from Indiana so you guess correctly I look like one of the Osmond family. I took some grief growing up in Hawaii at times, but I took it in stride, no regrets or recriminations.
I lived there in the mid 20th century till I left for California in the early 80s'. I still have a lot of Aloha for my home, and root for the native Hawaiians and their project for the future. The odds are stacked against them, and have been since Captain Cook. But I think there's hope, I believe that they are on the right side of history....
Having said that, I have to comment on the many posts here that point out "racist" native Hawaiians and "hostile" natives. I grew up in Hawaii , and after living on the "mainland" for over half my life I have a perspective. Really folks!.....your white privilege was challenged and you got a little uncomfortable. The islands are like a small town, if you put in a little effort, you can deal with the local culture and thrive, show some respect, listen.. It's not racism!! Racism exists, I think I'll reserve that term (racists) for events here on the mainland and the legacy of slavery around the world.
Sometimes perceived hostility has a message that can enhance your perspective. Hawaii is still a welcoming environment, with really kind people.
I'm encouraged by the efforts to modify the tourism industry to show respect for the "Aina" (land) and Hawaiian culture.
Aloha
11
We spent our honeymoon there 15 years ago. The only people who weren’t outright hostile to us were people who had moved there from the mainland. A few times, waiters practically threw our food onto the table with a scowl. When we went to try a “local” eatery, the owner yelled angrily in Hawaiian, gesturing toward us whiteys at table 9. We are quiet, bookish people; hardly obnoxious partiers. It was beautiful but we’ll never go back. The world is full of kinder places to explore.
22
@A Sorry to hear about that. We haven't experienced anything like that during our time here (almost three years).
2
@A I saw something just like that, an hour ago at my local McDonalds with this white lady telling this carribean lady to go back to her homeland.
8
@A, my experiences were similar to yours over a period of 15 years. I went to Hawaii for work requirements on three occasions. Always behaving with respect to the people I met, attempting to tread lightly on the earth, patronizing local businesses where possible, and attempting to learn from and understand the culture, I found I too was treated with scorn that bordered on hostility. A seasoned traveler with positive experiences in many lands and places, who has experienced kindness from local persons in many countries, I resolved to never return as a tourist to Hawaii.
10
The article states:
"‘It’s great that this company is providing jobs, but what kind of jobs are they? Are they good jobs? Are they paying a livable wage?”"
It is one thing to negotiate education and training benefits for the people of the Big Island and other residents so they can participate in the construction, operation, and data analysis from the telescopes, including TMT. This seems reasonable. Killing TMT in the name of Polynesian Hawaiian rights is not going to help bring good jobs to Hawaii. Quite the opposite.
The TMT protesters are using the issue to cloak their real intent, which is to declare some sort of Hawaiian Kingdom whose only citizens would be those of Polynesian descent. This is a reactionary and racist, not a progressive, viewpoint, and it is not shared by most Hawaiian residents whether they have some Polynesian genetic inheritance or not.
Hawaii has a beautiful mixture of peoples from many places, and preserving and protecting Aloha among all of them should be a priority. Getting and keeping good education and great jobs, such as those from TMT, is another.
19
Hawaii is ours. In the sense that Hawaii is part of the 50 UNITED States, there is unfettered travel for citizens. If a property is private, it is private to its owners. If the land or street or space is public, it is public and open to all.
2
@Suburban Cowboy
Hawaii is ours? A US backed overthrow of the government is how it became ours.
12
Right, I am not explaining the how. I am answering the question in the headline.
Not everything has to be packaged as a history lesson. Tourism money can fund a whole lot of good for locals and that can be enough of a win. I personally have enjoyed Oahu through years and still like taking the Bus everywhere even with more mentally disturbed people onboard than just a few years ago.
3
I visited Oahu for a delayed honeymoon in 2012 and was very disturbed at the number of homeless people I encountered and I came from New York. We did the Ilolani Palace tour and I raised my hand mid-speech and asked the guide for clarification on USA's over-throwing the Royal family. I asked why this was done, were they dictators, were the people ill-treated, was it for the greater good. After some stuttering he quietly said it was a power-play, done with more shade than is usual even in politics. So the opposite of a revolution. The food was very expensive and not at all what I expected. I thought I would be eating and drinking a lot more fruit and vegetables but that was not the case. Other than pineapple I was spending more on fruit than I was in NY. The few restaurants we could find that served 'local' food was very heavy with pork which we don't eat. We visited a friend who was in the Army at their more-than-my-monthly-mortgage rental and it was disheartening to see that the locals had no way to afford these places. I get that progress is usually seen as a good step but when there is no respect for whatever local culture exists and no way for locals to rise with the country then this is exploitation. I am from a tourist dependent country in the Caribbean and when I travel I try to find small local businesses to spend my money with. I know how it feels to get priced out of your home.
10
I'm Native Hawaiian and I've lived on the Big Island all my life (56 years.) I've grown up with the telescopes on Mauna Kea. I grew up proud of them; proud that Hawaii was part of exploring our skies, gathering and providing new discoveries to the world. The Astronomy Program has provided our island a much needed industry.
I've also been around the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement all my life. In my younger years, i was on the fence with them. Some of their points made sense, but a lot of them didn't. I came to the conclusion that it's a very narrowminded group who do not look at the bigger picture when dealing with releveant issues. They have one goal: restoring the Hawaiian Nation. They don't really weigh the pros against the cons, have any plan for after the fact, or take other points into consideration. They are more than willing to cut the nose to spite the face.
Their narrowmindedness prevents them from seeing the forest for the trees. Endeavors like the Astronomy Program reflect the adventurous exploration spirit of our ancestors, for without that spirit of exploration and discovery, they would have never left their shores to discover these islands in the first place.
20
@Gardner
You are absolutely right. Thanks for your level headedness. BTW, I have 3 or 4 casual friends who work for the the observatories in Waimea. They all make a decent living including the admin person I know. It’s the only good paying jobs I know of on the island other than being in the medical field.
7
This is all so unsettling. I lived on the Big Island for 10 years recently returning to the mainland for healthcare reasons. I have been visiting for over 35 years so I am familiar with the place. I have a friend who is a native Hawaiian who grew up in Hilo. He tells me no one went up to Mauna Kea until the telescopes were built. It was inaccessible. He says to say it was sacred is crazy. But the some of the native Hawaiians have tried to draw a line in the lava to stop what they see as their exploitation. I wish they had picked a different target like the hotels. Most of these people want to see Hawaii as a separate country. They don’t realize that won’t happen so it’s an awful situation. I hope it all works out. I attended several meetings some years ago when the group that was building the telescope was working with the community to address all the locals concerns. They bent over backwards. If I were they, I would drop the whole thing and move someplace else. The natives won’t be happy until they leave the US and take ownership of all the land. And I mean that. And native is sort of hard to define. Many of the people who consider themselves native are of mostly Japanese, Chinese, or Philippine heritage with maybe a little Hawaiian blood. I am happy I now visit now and don’t own property there.
7
During a slow day on Maui I looked up the labor department statistics for pay and earnings and was surprised that less than 5 % of people on Maui earn $100,000 a year or more. Jobs in the tourist or service industry are not particularly high paying jobs. There are almost no manufacturing jobs in Hawaii and the pineapple and sugar cane production has been pretty much shut down. So it's hard to get a good job in Hawaii that will support a middle class lifestyle. Most people live a working class lifestyle especially those without a college degree. Service industry workers have almost no chance of accumulating the wealth needed to buy an average house. Something like 40% of single family residence sales on Maui last year were to people from the mainland who will own them as a second home. So the people of Hawaii are in direct competition with wealthy folks from all over the world for real estate. Hawaii is a great place to enjoy accumulated wealth and there are a number of gated communities of expensive homes beyond the reach of local people. It is increasingly class divided, more so than racially divided. With the arrival of scores of mainland homeless people it is taking on a very class divided appearance. Unfortunately for those with a low paying job things aren't likely to get any better.
8
Any tensions between native Hawaiians and mainlanders is hugely unfortunate because even if some in the islands sense negative impacts from those of us who love Hawaii, we are all also fellow Americans. While there are economic considerations such as the quality of employment and the high cost of living, I am curious about whether those challenges are worse in Hawaii than other Pacific islands that are not part of the United States. On balance, does being a US state provide a better quality of life for those with a long lineage in Hawaii than native peers on other islands, or not? That would provide an important reference point given that groceries and fuel are expensive in other island communities due to their remote location, not just Hawaii. On trips out there, I and those I travel with don't want to be in any vehicle for a long period of time so a long tour or drive is not something we would do. However, if there are singular places to visit that would be educational about Hawaiian culture, life, and history or if there are establishments owned by native Hawaiians that would benefit from our patronage such as restaurants, galleries, or shops, I would love to have an umbrella resource pointing us to those on all the Hawaiian Islands. The Aloha State should be a paradise for all.
3
This article makes me sad but hopeful at the same time. I have been a frequent visitor in the past for both work and pleasure. Hawaii is one of those very special places in the world where the culture is palpable, unbelievably beautiful, and nurturing to the soul.
I am glad to see native Hawaiians standing up to the greedy interests of capitalists. There are arguments here supporting socialism - where legislation favors the people (and the environment).
As a long-term strategy, I suggest two things:
1) Create state legislation that insures public and environmental benefits henceforward (and maybe remedies for past, ill-informed decisions).
2) As reported here, management tends to come from elsewhere. Because tourism is the primary industry, create a world-class tourism and hotel management training curriculum that grooms native talent. Keeping management local will insure more compassionate and Hawaii-centric decisions.
I wish Hawaiians nothing but the best. Their culture is admirable and altruistic. We could learn from them.
11
Okay, right now: The U.S. government at the time was NOT onboard with throwing the Queen into house arrest and taking over Hawaii. The president at the time was a friend of hers, and decried the navy's part in aiding the renegade businessmen who orchestrated the deed. They were rogue, not acting on policies of the United States, and they were ordered down.
2
@Giulia Nelken You correctly describe only the first part of the story. Grover Cleveland spoke against the actions of Dole and the rest of the haole business factions that arrested the Queen; but the business men achieved their coup with the help of the US Marines anchored in the harbor and Congress annexed the Island a few years later. Just like Texas and California; Americans were welcomed to settle, sell their religion, buy land and build businesses, then arrogantly decide to take over. All the while they were waving their flag and complaining about the behavior of their hosts, the Hawaiians, high and low. It was a an accident of fate that 4 months after Ka'ahumanu and Kamehaha II ate together and destroyed the old kapus that the Congregational New England missionaries landed. Both Hawaiians and foreigners had a hand in what happened. It was the beginning of the end.
5
Having lived in Hawaii for some ten years in the 60s and 70s, I well remember the "Kill a Haole" days in the public schools. Seems like not much has changed except the locals' victimhood (real a hundred years ago) is now tied in with mainland victimhood organizations, which explains the election of people like Hirono and Schatz instead of people like Daniel Inouye and Hiram Fong.
As with everywhere else in the USA (depending on the amount of wealth transfer via taxes from earners to welfare recipients), Hawaii is a land of opportunity for those who are willing to work hard.
3
My company will soon be taking ~500 high-performance employees to Honolulu for its annual Recognition trip. Thanks to the awareness made in this interesting and informative article, we will now look into offering employees some activities to help understand and support local Hawaiian culture in addition to the proverbial snorkeling, sunset cruise, swim-with- dolphins excursions.
5
@Miles McMillin Contact the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Start with learning how the Hawaiians got to the islands and how the traditions of the greatest voyaging people in the history of the WORLD, the Polynesians, are being revived.
5
A 'matai' is a 'Samoan chief bearing a hereditary title who is head of an extended family or of a village'. A 'mai tai' is a sweet rum cocktail.
4
So much haole splaining in these comments. Perhaps closing your mouth and opening your mind and heart to understand the perspectives of an indigenous population and locals who are being crushed by corporations who refuse to pay a living wage would allow you to experience empathy instead of smug superiority.
10
The TMT provide scholarships to native Hawaiians and funds many STEM programs that all the schools participate in. They have gone through ten years of careful environmental scrutiny and had numerous testimony from Hawaiians both pro and con re: the TMT. Many Hawaiians welcome and support the building of this telescope and actually hold the perspective that it is an extension of their exploration skills and astronomical expertise. Many support the braiding of indigenous knowledge and western science to create a new hybrid of discovery of the heavens. A program to name newly discovered celestial objects with hawaiian names has been initiated and education of the public regarding the extraordinary knowledge of the skies held by ancient Hawaiians has been the mission of an astronomy museum that incorporates both. Every exhibit is explained in English and Hawaiian and the parallels are evident in the exhibits and planetarium shows. This combined knowledge is a trend that other indigenous people throughout the planet are embracing. The old adversarial contentious approach has proven non-productive and the new approach of joining the wisdom of both will empower humanity. Many forward thinking Hawaiians have embraced this new thinking.
12
It is always a challenge to find ways to interact with locals and have meaningful conversations with them about their lives and the things that concern them. We were able to spend a month on the various islands of Hawaii. One of our most loved experiences was talking with a member of the Holo Holo Crew on our cruise to the Napali Coast. We learned about his life; his wife who works at a military base; and the challenges facing young people there. Life for people there is not all beaches and sunshine and in talking with others we learned that they have reasons to resent the mainland United States. Every traveler should make an effort to connect; if you faile at this you are simply a tourist. Best of wishes to all who are fighting so Hawaii doesn't become an overrun resort and mahalo for sharing it with us.
7
A telescope is a scientific instrument, not a tourist destination. The idea that putting a telescope on Mauna Kea desecrates the environment is a quaint but frankly bullheaded idea. Nobody is talking about building Disneyland there. Folks should be celebrating the prospect of exploring the universe from atop Mauna Kea with its crystal clear skies. What a fantastic tribute to the Hawaiian gods who created this mountain.
33
Tourism is in my opinion only a stepping-stone toward self-sustainable economies.
Many places get stuck on tourism and forget about other economic models for communities, like making things to export.
Tourism will always foster a need for unlimited growth, needing more and more people to come to grow.
With the production of products for export, the important factor to growth is education, tooling-up, supporting the visionaries with new ideas for sustainable products to produce and export.
Then you can let tourism reach a comfortable percentage of the economy, and prevent it from demanding more land for hotels and restaurants and throngs of tourists.
Hawaii needs to remember the other economic models aside from Tourism - and start educating and supporting your young entrepreneurs that can support a sustainable, unique model of production, "Make It Hawaiian", export, ...and stop construction of hotels.
4
I just returned from a week in Germany and Austria. We stayed in 3 different hotels and not one was owned by one of the multi national chains, even in Munich. We didn’t see any chains in either of the towns we visited outside of Munich. Why is this significant? Because none of the profit was being sent outside the community the hotels serviced. Additionally, the union benefits and universal and or significantly cheaper healthcare was apparent in the overall “vibe” of the hotels and their employees. It was clear none of these people were working 3 jobs to survive.
18
Telescopes Needed.
Let's try a telescope on Mt Kataden, Mt Rushmore, Mt Blanc, Mt Mckinely, Mt Fuji, Mt Baker, Matterhorn, Mt Rainier, Kilimanjaro, and Mt Everest.
All would like the view from the lowlands- a nice round blob on top of nature's work!
TMT partner from India has endorsed an alternate site-La Palma in Canary Islands-West Hawaii Today, Feb 2020
4
Why do I have the feeling that half those flags are being flown by transplanted Californians that ‘self identify’ as native Hawaiians?
11
Unlike the protests against Target coming to Kailua or the protest against the Super Ferry, the protests against the telescope have been largely led by Native Hawaiians, with the support of many local non-native Hawaiians.
I'm born and raised on Oahu but not Native Hawaiian. I know that if anyone who had no koko (Native Hawaiian blood) tried to "self identify as Hawaiian" they would be disabused of that fantasy fairly quickly in a very compelling manner.
12
Not to put too fine a point on it but....Hawaii is a state, transplanted Californians are citizens, and ALL citizens are equal.
2
It's really sad to hear the negative space that many Hawaiians live in. I have visited a few times.....mainly on government business but chose to vacation there with my wife this past December........as we were leaving the airport I turned to my wife and laughed "This is why we don't come to Hawaii"............the work ethic is perhaps the worst that I have experienced in any of the continental states........and the racism I have felt there is worst than any southern state......I'm perfectly willing to leave the island alone and spend my vacation dollar elsewhere............
8
As I read the comments from those who do not, or do not want, to understand the issues discussed in this article, it demonstrates just how far apart we are. The main issue is not wanting to return to times of the Monarchy or a similar political system, it is that Hawaii and Hawaiians continued to be used and abused by those that refused to open their eyes to what happened, historically and recently. Abuses and theft by overthrowing a sovereign kingdom and its ruler, not truly for the betterment of the residents, but for a specific special interest group of businessmen to gain greater power and money. Sound familiar ??? The Native American Indian has suffered similarly, except they were killed for standing up to those that wanted to Take. Special Interest Business people. Sound Familiar, again ??? The United States has acknowledged that they wrongfully aided in this action, but little to nothing has been done to improve or correct. Land grabbers, resorts and large businesses that continue to stretch their boundaries and take more and more, not giving back, being good neighbors or stewards of the land. No one is attempting to restrict travelers from coming to Hawaii, but to insure that the visitors understand how to be respectful of Hawaii, its people and the Hawaiian Culture. Hopefully some that have shared less than favorable ideas about the content of this article will reread it and comprehend with objectivity what is being shared.
19
@Crusader1980
As I am sure you know, the privatization and division of Hawaiian lands was done in the 1840's, during the time of the Hawaiian Kingdom, not after the declaration of the Hawaiian Republic or the subsequent annexation by the United States. Most of the land was deeded to the King and to the Hawaiian Aristocracy. To this day, the trusts that own this land are the largest landowner in Hawaii, and much of the income from these trusts are dedicated to the Kamahamaha Schools, which educate children who have some Polynesian ancestry.
Should the land trusts care about taking care of the land? Of course. But stopping TMT will do nothing to advance this cause.
7
@GetAlong In 1842 Kamehameha III divided the lands in the Mahele. A third was for the Chiefs, a third was for the commoners (makaainana) and the rest he held as government or crown lands. Even as King (Moi) he could not alienate the lands. All lands belonged to the gods and held in trust for the people. He had to step down so the lands could be awarded to recipients. He was succumbing to pressure from the missionary party to own fee rights to land so that they could borrow $ from the banks. Some of the chiefs held the land and they became the large land trusts. Very few of the makaainana registered their claim. This was a foreign concept. How could you own lands? The land was here before you and would last after you are gone. As a Hawaiian citizen you were allowed to use the land, but not own, usufruct. There are still a few of the original awards with the original families that registered their claim.
The native population was in steep decline when the missionaries came. Much land lay empty
There are two types of title in Hawaii:Regular system and Land Court system. Both systems can guarantee clear title. Clear title means the chain of ownership can be traced through legal succession of title to when title was created, 1842. But title can be obtained under adverse possession. Adverse possession means that someone was able to adversely possess land for 25 years, prevent anyone from taking possession, he could sue, petition the court, for legal title. I guess that's okay.
1
English Common Law meets Hawaiian Royal Law. Makes for a good treatise.
1
What's most unfortunate is that when Aloha is given, it has not, in far too many instances, been returned .... and some of the comments are a sad reality of this.
14
Careful what you wish for. At least on the Big Island (the one with which I am most familiar) the resorts have the benefit of trapping tourists. If all of those peopel were traipsing around the rest of the island looking for authenticity, you would be overrun, like Barcelona.
4
Tourism is a cultural tradition for native Hawaiians. It is called Aloha. So, it will likely continue. The conflict between natives and visitors lies in the history of Hawaii. Hawaii was a Kingdom with diplomatic relations aroud the world. In 1893, US marines were landed in Honolulu, an invasion. US representative Stevens recognized the Republic of Hawaii as the main government of Hawaii. Crown Lands were given to the US in an agreement with the US to annex Hawaii. In 1898, Congress annexed Hawaii by joint resolution, unconstitutional. All of the crown lands, now ceded lands, is held in trust for the benefit of native Hawaiians and the general public. Native Hawaiians are excluded from the management of their native trust lands. Discussions about management of Maunakea has been ongoing. The community disagrees with the so-called Mauna Kea Management Plan which does not regulate the number of telescopes, does not address the poor management of the site by the University of Hawaii, and has no standards for the decommissioning of old and obsolete telescopes. It's a junkyard on a sacred mountain top. The effort by the state is to deny native Hawaiians the right to manage their own trust assets.
Hawaii was annexed by resolution because the Congress did not have enough support for full, legal annexation and the resistance is the reason the crown lands were put in trust for the benefit of native Hawaiians and other public uses. History bites.
7
@CMK
What was the alternative history for the Hawaiian Kingdom? Subjugation by Imperial Japan? There were alternative consequences for the Hawaiian Islands when Japan decided to expand eastward, without American military power to keep them in check...like the citizens of Singapore or Manchuria, it would not have ended well for the native population.
6
@J House Interesting questions. The Kingdom had diplomatic relations with Japan and there were plans to link the two kingdoms through an arranged marriage.
If you look at the larger historic context. The US was pretty late to the colonization game abd wanted a stake in the Pacific. Eiurope - Britain, Spain, France, Germany - were already in the Pacific, and in Hawaii. American planters had established, through the Kingdom, a reciprocity treaty with the US to get their sugar to the US by trading access to Pearl Harbor (Puuloa) to the US as a Naval base. They wanted to export sugar to the US without tariff. This conflicted with the Southern sugar planters. The US soon reneged on the agreement but kept Pearl Harbor. The sugar harvest was worth over $100 million at the time, the biggest economic engine in Hawaii. It was during this period of history that the US Pacific Fleet sank the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay and began the Spanish-American War with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. They had established a coaling station at Pagopago in Eastern Samoa, through the Deeds of Cession signed with the high chiefs of East Samoa. Spain was the main force in the Pacific until that time.
We talk about the native Hawaiians as a group, but ignore that the Kingdom was made up of citizens of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Portuguese and people from islands all over the Pacific. A multi-ethnic citizenry. Citizens of a nation dispossessed by the actions of another nation.
4
Hawaii feels like my heart home even though I'm haole, because my parents met and married there, when both were living there during and after WWII. (Without Hawaii, my sibs and I wouldn't exist!)
After several wonderful trips to the other islands over many years, I finally visited Oahu and Honolulu. And I was absolutely staggered at how awful it was compared to the rest of Hawaii -- like Las Vegas with a beach. And a terrible beach at that. The fact that most visitors visit little else in the islands is horrifying to me. There are so many staggeringly beautiful and wonderful places to visit in Hawaii if you just get off the tourist path.
And the most important place to visit in Honolulu is one that most tourists skip (and this article strangely doesn't mention): the Bishop Museum, which powerfully illustrates the history of Hawaii, both pre-and post-contact (with whites). Learning the little-known facts of how Hawaiians lived pre-contact is essential to understanding their yearning for respect and independence now. As with other Native Americans, their culture has great beauty and their history great tragedy.
28
@Nelle Engoron Many parts of the island of Oahu are gorgeous. If this is your take on Oahu you didn't look around very much.
4
Hawaii has been exploited by private interests and big corporations for too long. Cultural tourism is a start but to have long lasting change, laws and regs need to be updated to protect the public interest and to develop cultural stewardship for all who live in Hawaii. Here are a couple of ideas that could help institute reduce exploitation and foster inclusion and cultural awareness: in New Zealand, all kiwis must learn the Maori language in grade school alongside English; in California, we have the Coastal Commission to protect beach access for the public. Language/cultural knowledge and public access/ownership to natural resources would help change the exploitative dynamic that Hawaii is in today.
14
Dear Tariro Mzezewa, thank you for writing this! Visitors would do themselves a great favor by investing some time to meet with local people and "talk story" with them. As you note, the stories are sometimes uncomfortable to hear, but they are important, and they deepen one's appreciation for this very special place, its people, and its culture.
6
What a lot of people may not realize is that the 1960 tsunami that devastated much of Hilo gave birth to modern astronomy in Hawaii. It was viewed as a much-needed clean and high tech industry in a state with limited natural resources.
The 2008 recession was one of the worst for nearly all Hawaii residents, resulting in ~1/4 drop in visitor expenditures, and a gaping deficit in the state budget that critically affected teachers’ pay. On Big Island specifically, the rate of hotel occupancy dropped by a staggering 25%, which traditionally feels the slowdown first and recovers last.
The 2018 Kilauea eruption is another very recent example, compared to 2017, total visitors to Big Island halved, as did the number of local jobs and total economic output. Unfortunately this threat is ever-present as Kilauea and its much bigger neighbor Maunaloa are always at risk of erupting.
A 2014 study done by the University of Hawaii determined that annual Hawaii astronomy related expenditures totaled $88 million. When including indirect economic benefits this figure increases to $168 million, of which$ 91 million is attributed to Big Island alone. As a result astronomy is within the top 5 industries in the state, which is incredible given how little space it uses compared to the other 4 top industries (agriculture, hospitality, educational services, military). A fully mature high tech industry in Hawaii can provide higher living wages and resiliency to economic fluctuations.
14
@Jason
In your first sentence you touched on exactly what / where the issue(s) began with the Telescopes on Mauna Kea. There were no Public Hearings, No Discussion, Just Pushed Through. And that was for only the first one ... Look what has happened since. More and More Taking. No Planning, No EIS, continued oversight by an entity ill-equipped to do so, Limited or No Cultural Access (which is a given Right - By Law) .... Again .... you see where I'm going with this ??? ..... The Taking continues.
2
@Crusader1980 To be fair, you can't judge past actions by current standards. If that were true, some things we do that we find acceptable now, will be abhorred in the future. We can only judge today's actions by today's standards. That's exactly what the Comprehensive Management Plan of 2009 addresses, so now there is an EIS, there is a process, there is community input, and all of them have favored, whether protesters like it or not, the building of TMT.
Instead of just focusing on my first sentence, did you read the rest of my comment?
And, can you please give me a specific, credible evidence that any of the telescopes are restricting cultural access? That accusation is baseless, the road up is only closed in severe weather (as it is the past few days). Again, do you see where I'm going with this? The false claims and false narrative continues...
5
Here's an inconvenient truth. Without tourism, Hawaii would be much worse off. Guam without a military base. Third World living conditions. Hawaiians can actually get a good idea of what life without tourism would look like on Niʻihau or the Forbidden island which is the westernmost inhabited island in Hawaiʻi. It is 17 miles southwest of Kauaʻi. Niihau has rejected the use of today’s technologies. It survives without electricity, running water, internet, shops, restaurants, paved roads, cars, grocery stores or hotels. Because they have no infrastructure there're zero good-paying jobs. Also no hospitals, no doctors, few healthcare providers. So try not to get sick. Electricity on the Forbidden Island is produced by a generator, as opposed to an electric utility. If you run out of gasoline good luck. There are few to no cars on the island, and most people get around by bike or on foot. Residents on the island hunt and fish using age-old methods passed down from their ancestors' hundreds of years ago. Residents aren’t allowed to drink alcohol or own guns either. I realize we should respect native traditions when possible. And there are some serious problems that need to be addressed. But there's no going back. It is what it is. Hawaii is a tourist destination. Big changes at this point are unlikely. Be grateful for what you have. Many islands in the Pacific would do anything to be in Hawaii's position. People there live a hand to mouth existence with no hope for the future.
20
@Bill Brown
You seem to be implying that if your claim of "there is no going back" then "anything goes". Why the false dichotomy?
It seems to me that the people of Hawaii are simply seeking to be involved in the decisions that affect their lives and recognizing that tourism corporations and tourism is the source of many of the issues they face. Using their collective power to shape policy and decisions isn't "going back" it's taking agency to direct the future.
12
@Please Read
It's more than just being involved in the decision. Hawaiians are not taken seriously when invited to "the table". They have not, and in continued instances, are not a viable part of the discussion, planning, execution, implementation and oversight.
You are right that this is not "going back" when we ask to be recognized and a key component in shaping the future.
3
Bravo! I'm clapping..Hawaii is a gem and to native Hawaiians it is their home. I have the utmost respect for the islands and the people who live there. Bring your interest and respect, take home respect, aloha and nothing else. It's about time...
9
Neither native nor transplanted Hawaiians can restrict Interstate travel. When in Honolulu, we enjoy the beaches, Ono sandwiches available in all corner stores, and occasional seafood in good restaurants. Do not get involved with the Hawaiians's denial of the less salubrious aspects on the former kingdom's history.
6
I have native Hawaiian family who have homestead land on the Big Island. Fortunately, as a white girl I’ve been in many areas that are still predominantly Hawaiian. The local farmers market in Waimea has many wonderful, locally made, goods being sold.. and it’s beautiful but rural, with horses and green fields. Oh my god the Lilykoi/“lemon” bars are out of this world. Especially, when paired with Kona coffee. There is the tourist culture and then the native Hawaiian culture. I’m just learning but starting to understand the deep seeded disgust Pacific Islanders have for those who don’t respect the history and culture of Hawaii.
3
The Hawaiians, and maybe even the authors, want their cake and eat it both. How about requiring a cultural passport that takes six months of cultural training to earn so that if you go to Hawaii as a tourist you will know all about the culture, treat every single person with the legacy respect they deserve and you won't even make a mess to clean up. You pay your Hawaiian Participation fee, at least $20,000, to the state coffers and for every day you do tourist type of things, you work on the highways.
Places with natural beauty and wonderful weather like the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, San Francisco, San Diego, the south of France, Italy, here, there everywhere, have this very problem and deal with it. Some deal with it well. Hawaii doesn't.
I will not go to Hawaii simply because I don't want to have to be challenged by some local who thinks I don't belong there, or that I have too much money, or that I am just a bad person and he is a holy native.
Let the holy natives have Hawaii. They really deserve it. Let them go back to the ways and customs of their ancient people. Grow their own food, cure their people's sickness and ills with traditional medicines, surf on those long ol' boards. God Bless Hawaii, give the land back to the people. Go to Mexico, go to Tahiti, go to the Caribbean, go to the Sierras. There are so many beautiful places to go in the world. Don't go where you are not wanted. C'mon now, we can find other places to put telescopes.
16
Real institutional change is needed in Hawaii. Resorts limit access to beaches
3
This article is just giving a voice to the small amount of the populace who many on the islands find annoying. Health effects from turbines?? That’s like interviewing a chem trail believer. I think the reality is the poorer populace feeling left behind in today’s economy. It just so happens that the drive along the eastern coast where the flags are upside down and Waimanalo are also the areas that people “in town” talk trash about and also avoid.
11
Last time I was in Hawaii I bought “local eggs”..from Willamette Valley, Oregon.
4
I went to middle school, high school and college in Hawaii and am ecstatic that the Hawaiians are taking a stand and protecting Hawaii -- finally -- from the rape of mainstream tourism and colonization.
Godspeed!
12
I suggest that it secede - and then try to make it on its own.
13
"An earlier version of this article misstated the cost of groceries in Hawaii. They cost 60 percent more than the national average, not more than 60 percent of the national average."
Not explaining this crushing expense is due to the Jones Act means this Article is cripplingly incomplete.
17
So come up with an alternative to the Jones Act to maintain an adequate sealift capacity to support our military. You are only looking selfishly at the aspect that affects you which is what nearly all critics of the act do.
The idea that only people with ethnic Hawaiian ancestry are true Hawaiians is racist bigotry.
All Americans have the right to live anywhere in the United States, and to share in that place.
23
@Jonathan Katz Would you please explain your stance to the many americans who view people of latin heritage who were born here, that those people are also americans? While I'm at it lets include East Indians, Chinese, Japanese and a whole slew of other nationalities who have all been born in America or are American citizens.
3
@Jonathan Katz Given that the Hawai'ian kingdom was illegally overthrown by the US government, the argument of the native people is not without merit.
10
Read "Unfamiliar Fishes" by Sarah Vowel for a fantastic account of the history of the Overthrow.
10
@samruben Thank you -- I'll look into this!
1
@samruben In addition to this, i would recommend the Offshore podcast from Hawai'i public radio for a more in-depth and nuanced discussion of some of these issues.
That was a fun project for Sara Vowel, in a luscious exotic locale, but there is far better written work on the subject than her “this American life” infused take on it. Blech.
I lived and worked in Hawaii for years at a time when "Kill a Haole Day" (a phrase for people of color attacking whites) was fading due to adverse effect on tourism. The racial hatred of 'all things white' remains in Hawaii. "Aloha" to your face and "Talk Story" behind your back. The most corrupt state government I have ever worked/lived in. "Brown" does not "Hawaiian" make, but you will never convince the wanna-be "Hawaiians" of that simple fact of life. Paradise? Hardly.
14
This is a problem of benefit distribution from tourism. Big corporations got the majority of the financial rewards and left little for the local working employees. Thus, locals suffer from inadequate income to support their original life style. The worst is that big companies don't re-invest the money into local economy to develop sustainable environment.
I am glad that local people wake up to resist the capitalistic and predatory practices by big commercial companies.
9
I’ve never felt any desire to visit Hawaii. The complete erasure of local culture from the “tourist” landscape always turned me off. If I wanted to go hang out with a bunch of ethnocentric, clueless Americans on a pretty beach, I’d just go to Florida or some other equally bland, whitewashed location on the mainland.
The eco- and culturally appropriate tourism options outlined in the article give me hope that maybe Hawaii might be saved from the forces that Disney-fied it in the first place. Perhaps I’ll give a responsible, culturally rich visit a thought after all.
Best of luck to all these local heroes. Keep fighting the good fight! Though I do believe there’s a really big difference between the development of green energy (windmills) and scientific advancement (telescope), vs the development of a water park. Maybe focus on stopping the latter a bit more than the formers?
15
Yes, Hawaiians, when I travel there to vacation, which I have done regularly since 1974, I bring dollars to spend. Is that not sufficient? Just tell me it is not and I will stop coming there.
7
@NOTATE REDMOND
It's not. Hawaii welcomes respectful guests whose visit ads to the lives of local people on ways other than economically. Sometimes Aloha means good bye
13
You need to unionize. There is strength in numbers, just ask us nurses, we wouldn’t get a dime in a raise bc the executives would take it all. Unionize and tax tourists.
6
A thought provoking piece that probably would be just as interesting and more effective elsewhere in the paper. Then, because it is a story about Hawaii, at the end there are links to past 36 Hours pieces (Honolulu and Kauai) plus another with a title that clearly states is it about moving to Hawaii. I think a digital editor at the Times either did not read the story or missed the point. Surely Hawaii is not alone in the two sides of tourism dilemma, why not links to stories or profiles about other places and people and what they are doing?
4
Hawaii is probably the only place in the U.S. I've visited where I felt a lot of hostility from the residents.
I remember going to visit a famous volcano/park and seeing signs that it was private property.
The signs were illegally posted and were intended to make tourists think they were not allowed to visit.
I got the feeling that there positions on the matter went beyond grievances about what kind of jobs they were getting.
It very much felt like a us vs. them mentality.
Not the best kind of attitude when most of your economy does rely on tourism.
17
The Hawaiian flag features the Union Jack because prior to US annexation the UK supported the Hawaiian royal family. If Hawaii had become British rather than American, it would now be an independent nation. Indeed, if America had remained British, it also would now be a Native American country. In fact the issues and sentiments the article described apply a fortiori to the other 49 States.
1
@Paul Adams If Hawaii had become British instead of American, there would be zero native Hawaiians alive today since the Japanese would have exterminated them after invasion, like they did in most places with native peoples (whom they considered subhuman). The history of the world would have continued despite what was happening in Hawaii, and the Japanese Empire intended to take over the Pacific. If you think Japan would have treated the royal family with kindness, you have no understanding of history.
8
A thought provoking piece that probably would be just as interesting and more effective elsewhere in the paper. Then, because it is a story about Hawaii, at the end there are links to past 36 Hours pieces (Honolulu and Kauai) plus another with a title that clearly states is it about moving to Hawaii. I think a digital editor at the Times either did not read the story or missed the point. Surely Hawaii is not alone in the two sides of tourism dilemma, why not links to stories or profiles about other places and people and what they are doing?
1
The telescope will certainly bring jobs, just that none of them will be for anyone currently living there.
10
@Monsp Perhaps partly true, but you may be unaware that the TMT gives about $1M to the Big Island schools and for scholarships, with a large part set aside for native students. This has been going on for several years -- it hasn't been contingent on beginning construction.
I grew up in Hilo and by the time I left to go to college (1960) there were no such scholarships and no prospects of interesting work on the BI. UH Hilo was a small 2-year feeder campus.
My view is that the protests, should they eventually be successful in blocking the TMT (and, it needs to be said very clearly, frightening all the funding agencies supporting the other observatories) will push the BI back into the 1950s. I knew many students at Hilo High who could have done very well at mainland universities -- but there was no way for them to get there, and they were stuck on an island with poor tertiary education, agriculture beginning its death throes, tourism, and the military.
11
@Monsp UH employs many of the scientists and they live and work in Hawaii. You mean jobs for indigenous Hawaiians? Sure, they have good paying jobs if they go to school and get astronomy degrees. Nah, they'd rather spend their time driving around with upside flags complaining how Haoles ruined Hawaii. I've lived in Hawaii for 11 years near the beach. Nearly every day I see people leave trash on the beach and walk away. 95% of the time it's a "local" that is responsible for leaving the rubbish. Tourists actually tend to be quieter and much more concerned with the environment that locals. Again- I see it nearly every day.
13
@Charlie Utter Thank you for this observation. A close friend of mine, retired to Paradise Park for nearly 30 years, made the same comments to me.
1
Hawaii has the right to choose how it is ran. It was stolen and recently. We can right that wrong.
6
it's Mai Tai not matai…
More than a “play land”
The feeling of escape — of fleeing to a nearby paradise with stunning beaches and luxurious resorts — has long been Hawaii’s appeal to the traveling public. While the hottest trends in travel now are the search for authenticity and ways to experience local life, many people who visit Hawaii are looking to get away from daily life. They come to sit on the beach and drink a matai without thinking about much else. Their interaction with local culture is often limited to watching a hula show at the hotel luau.
5
The article just sounds like any other highlighting less ambitious less industrious less forward thinking people who are envious of those who are more ambitious more industrious more forward thinking.
9
Hawaii should be for the Hawaiians and not for the US, funny how history is always misrepresented, the local, native Hawaiians don’t really care for the US government and what it has done to their beautiful islands and the same can be said of Alaska. Two places where the US has always behaved like the Russians or the Chinese do in some of their territories (Chechnya, Tibet come to mind)
7
One can’t help but wonder what Hawaii would be like today had it been taken over by China. Would the Chinese have tolerated these protests? I think Hawaiians would’ve been sent to reeducation camps akin to the ongoing Uighur situation.
3
@AU The japanese would be the ones who would of taken over, even after WW2. And they would treat them just as bad as we do.
3
@Per Axel Considering how many Japanese there are there, that may already be the case.
I visited a couple of years ago, and was stunned by all the homeless people. Many, many, many "urban campers" as they are called. When you hit bottom in Hawaii, you're kinda stuck there.
1
One big reason why Hawaii is expensive is the monopoly Matson has on ocean freight to and from the mainland. Hawaiian lawmakers are in on this. Matson controls the ports and sets it own prices.
For example: it os cheaper to ship a car from the west coast to Europe then to Hawaii. Even though the cars to Europe have to be containerized. The ocean voyage is 28 days to Europe and 5 days to Honolulu.
13
@ianmacrostie Shipping to Hawaii is affected by container ship routing and the Jones Act. If a foreign shipper routes first to the mainland, but it still has cargo for Hawaii then because of the Jones Act that cargo must be offloaded and sent via a USA owned ship. Matson is obviously wedded to this law since they are the ones doing that shipping.
9
@Harvey
It doesnt change the fact that Matson has a unregulated monopoly. No other US owned shipping company gets access on that route. Matson ownes all the infrastructures. That is why everything is so expensive in Hawaii.
5
"Most people in Hawaii, especially in the tourism industry work more than one job to barely get by"
That beats unemployment, which is likely the only other option.
Honolulu seems unlikely to become a world financial center or the new Silicon Valley. That is where the big bucks are.
3
I'm totally on board with the labor movement in Hawaii, and the fight to ensure the financial benefit of tourism and investment is enjoyed by the working class people who actually live there. I also agree with efforts to keep wild spaces wild, and rural places rural.
But if your culture demands that you oppose telescopes and windmills, your culture needs to evolve and adapt. Humanity faces a crisis. We need all hands on deck to make it through. Science isn't colonialism, it's our way forward to a future that includes a livable planet. If a site is sacred, it can only be made more sacred by including it in that fight for humanity's future. Any cultural attitudes that say otherwise are regressive and anti-human.
19
@Revelwoodie
"Any cultural attitudes that say otherwise are regressive and anti-human." Really?
It seems to me that passing judgements on how other communities seek to care for their sacred sites, as you have done, is not only regressive, but anti-human.
1
In 90’s I was fortunate to live in a local neighborhood, befriending “choke” families over years. Discussing their issues, I didn’t want to be the preachy outsider, but always wished they would vote, that they would feel some agency in the community, where outsiders called the shots.
A majority of politicians were, though technically local, bought and sold (and at times, groomed) by mainland-based land developers, who often masquerade as locally-based themselves.
The promise/threat behind steady paving and lighting of their precious land was “jobs”. Agriculture was fading while development was excessive; big box stores beyond what the local and tourist population will ever need: Development for development’s sake.
As the last undeveloped beaches got swindled into private hands, generating millions in profits, in exchange for laughably small political contributions, Local folks seemed indifferent (too busy making ends meet?) to react to the theft and corruption.
It ought to be heartening that folks are becoming more engaged. But it’s sad that, rather than protesting yet another strip mall or gated community atop acres of prime ag land, they instead rally against a “clean” science project that is ostensibly for the betterment of humanity.
To many, Mauna Kea only became “sacred” (and the telescope, a bad thing) thanks to Facebook in the past 3-4 years. Much protest action today is staged for social media - with commemorative screen printed jackets for sale, hours after.
16
One of the biggest problems with this article is Ms. Tariro Mzezewa never spoke with a single Kanaka Maoli who supports the Thirty Meter Telescope. Hawaiians can be committed to our heritage and do physics, astronomy as well. I'm Kanaka Maoli and I support TMT, I have a deep abiding love for my culture; more importantly I am not alone. Mzezewa tries to present Hawaii's struggle as the marginalized natives, struggling under the oppression of remaining colonialism. But she missed the very important point that all the ritzy hotels and shops in Waikiki pay rent Kamehameha Schools, the Bishop Estate, a very Kanaka Maoli powerhouse. KSBE 'educates us' and leaves us with a showcase for tourists as a primary place of employment. Of course Mzezewa is merely a traveler, so it's difficult to fault her lack of understanding because it's based on a "trip to paradise". The Ki'ai are path dependent, following in the foot steps of the Big 5, plantation owners limited education to the 4th grade. My father's generation voted for statehood because we would never be equal any other way. There was fear of reprisal, many of us still had family on plantations. Kanaka Maoli have the right to use our natural resources to benefit ourselves. We have the right to the latest technology. Hawaii may not be paradise for Mzezewa but it is our home.
29
I grew up in Hawaii, but have live on the mainland for over half my life. I understand the arguments made here, as I have heard them before. I also hear the MAGA Americans, who blame everything on the "other", "If they just all went away. If they all just did what we want. Then the problems would go away."
The people of Hawaii are right to protest the inequality, as the 99% did. As other minorities on the mainland do. But the reality is that the people with the money have the power. And even if they all went away, that has little to do with where the problems come from, which is how our modern society is structured, as a whole. It is not the tourists. It is not the immigrants.
The solutions here are not realistic as it pretends the world is something that it is certainly not.
8
Two sides to this. On the one hand, the interests of native Americans are important. They merit special tools and mechanisms to uphold their way of life and social well being.
However; the notion that Native Americans alone can govern state policies is too far in the other direction. Hawai’i is a US state. One that is responsible to all its citizens, be they native Hawaiians, African Americans, etc. It is emphatically not a Polynesian kingdom. People who believe it is are mistaken.
9
I stayed in Hawaii 20 years ago as part of a company 'gift' to successful sales people. Expensive hotel, closed off. I was maybe the only to take a bicycle outside the 'compound'. A lot of poor people living a basic life style. Sorry to read it hasn't changed. I wish them success.
6
Thank you for this story Ms. Mzezewa. Visitors to Hawaii should not miss the very moving guided tour of the Iolani Palace. The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the imprisonment of Queen Lili’uokolani ranks as one of the most shameful episodes in American history.
10
Hotel and resort workers should unionize and strike.
I loved my visit to Oahu and look forward to returning to visit other islands. It’s true, I’m only interested in hiking mountains or reclining on a beach chair: I’m not visiting paradise to labor on a farm nor will I be attending any lectures to be scolded and “woke.” If I wanted to perform laborious tasks or be talked down to by know-it-all hipster kids, I’d stay home and go about my regular day-to-day life. What I am willing to do, however, is pay more if doing so directly benefits the people providing me service and those people are not among the investor class.
Strike. Hawaii could be a worker’s paradise because it would be dreadfully expensive to bring in strike breakers. When mainlanders start hearing about 4 hour waits to check into hotels with no room service or pool attendants or staff at the swim-up bar, they’ll find some other pretty place to visit. The problem isn’t the tourists coming with money to spend. The problem is the greedy resort owners who exploit workers for their obscene profits. But, isn’t this always so....
18
Mauna Kea is a sacred place for the Hawaiians. It's already been desecrated with bulbous telescopes that give jobs to people who are not Hawaiian.
Imagine if someone proposed building a solar farm on the fields of Gettysburg or atop the graves at Arlington National Cemetery. Does the fact that solar energy is clean and will benefit millions of people negate the obvious desecration?
Absolutely not!
When my wife and I lived in Hawaii, my heart broke for the Hawaiians who struggle with everyday living expenses, whose families have to pack onto smaller and smaller pieces of property because mainlanders want a piece of "paradise", whose children have to leave their ohanas to find good jobs.
The fix is complex and long term. The Hawaiians deserve to get their homeland back. Or, at a minimum they deserve to be paid enough to live a happy and fulfilling life with their families without leaving home.
9
@Kimo Thank you for illustrating the significance of sacred places. Your comparisons with mainland sites is appreciated.
I am so happy to read about the new brand of tourism in Hawaii. It's far more attractive to me than hanging around a resort all day with people who are just like me. It's much more rewarding to talk to people who live there and hear their points of view.
23
Tourists go to Hawaii for the climate and the beauty. Token cultural tourism isn't what is needed (it has been tried for decades) and can't provide enough good jobs. What is needed is better wages for the jobs that exist and better new real jobs. And better education for the Hawaiians so they can handle the jobs and opportunities. But the climate-and-beauty is also a problem because so many young people would rather go to the beach than study. I don't blame them. But it's one of the reasons the cultural/economic divide persists in paradise.
21
After 30 years in Hawaii, I am only starting to understand the meanings of the word “aloha”. It is more than a mere greeting, an invitation to hospitality, or even a declaration of love. It implies reciprocal obligation and responsibility. It invokes a profoundly interconnected sense of community.
Aloha is not a commodity. Of that I am sure.
23
I’ve been to the various Hawaiian islands four times in the last few years.
I never stayed in any of the big resorts, but chose small hotels and B&Bs to get a better flavor of the culture.
We also rented a car and simply drove around, stopping at out-of-the-way historic/religious/cultural spots.
Of course, we did the touristy luau as well, my least enjoyable experience on those trips.
As for Mauna Kea, I think a good compromise would be to tear down an existing obsolete facility, and erecting the new one on the same site, so no new land is taken.
But I truly hope that Hawaii doesn’t go the way of Jamaica, for example, where the locals are so hostile to tourists, I would never return.
12
@David G Part of the agreement reached to construct the telescope, is that (I believe) 3 existing telescopes are to be de-commissioned (taken down).
5
@David G
Three older telescopes are being taken down as part of the existing arrangement.
5
I have lived in a US tourist hotspot and thrived from the tourism. Maybe I didn’t love every single tourist but I knew they had as much right to be there as me. But when visiting Hawaii I was treated with extreme disrespect, what another characterized as racist. Kind of strange when these protesters make their living off tourists but call them pejoratives behind their back.
39
There is a reason for the reaction you experienced. Native Hawaiians have been disenfranchised, disrespected and ignored for centuries. Hotels and the U.S. military own most of the land, four generations live in an apartment, regular milk cost $7 a gallon and most people can’t even dream of buying a home. And that was back in 2005 when I lived and worked there. The resentment was uncomfortable, but I understand it.
33
Those that work in the service industry don't make their living off of tourists - they barely survive. They can't afford to live in Waikiki so they spend hours in traffic getting to and from work.
We're ok with having one less Boston tourist.
32
@Sarah and @Elli That Hawaii's economy is not thriving the way Boston's is is largely about state government and culture. If tourism left there would be no business.
2
I lived for six years in Hawaii, there is a lot to love about their culture. Some people are very selective in what they see as the advantages and disadvantages of western cultural impacts on the islands.
The surfboard is an Hawaiian invention, but the modern surfboard is a blend of technology and product that makes the sport much better. Two genders eating together is another treat westerners introduced. Do they wish to return to the days of slavery? All the islanders I knew who were filled with a romantic idea of returning to the lives of their ancestors, envisioned themselves as the allie, no one pictured themselves as a slave. If Hawaiian's want to gain more control over the profits of tourism, they need to take back the Bishop Estate that holds so much of the land that resorts are built on.
27
I’ve found Hawaii complex, interesting, practical, beautiful and tragic all at the same time. I understand the beef with the tourism industry, the poor pay, and its huge environmental footprint. The logical action would be: protest againt the tourism industry. Instead the focus is telescopes and windmills? These are small but definitely positive assets, not just to hawaii but to the world. This is pitchforks and torches reaction - hard to be sympathetic.
46
@Katie Clark
Actually, wind turbines. They don't mill anything (windmills grind grain or other substances), just make electricity.
9
Really interesting, insightful article. The truth is, Hawaiians have a symbiotic relationship with tourists. For better or worse, the reason we have big box stores, better hospitals and more, bigger roads is because of visitors, especially on the islands other than Oahu. Back in the 1970s when there was only one traffic light on our side of the Big island, my husband had to drive 100 miles to Hilo to buy blue jeans. And by the way, 80% of our food is imported from the Mainland.
38
@James and Sarah “ And by the way, 80% of our food is imported from the Mainland”
So the cost of food in Hawaii is astronomical and it is the “mainland” which profits.
3
Just got back from Hawai'i and married to a local. Outside of Waikiki, Hawai'i is unlike the rest of the mainland. Customs and cultures are deeply embedded in society. Hawai'i is predominately Asian/Pacific Islander ethnicity - unlike any other state in the US. Unless you grow up in that society, you will never really understand it. With that, most people do not believe that Hawai'i should be an independent government. However, they are pretty fed up with the lack of respect from the mainland. They are used by Washington for military purposes and nothing else and tourists don't care anything about the history and culture of the islands. Add in the fact that many of the tourists are buying million dollar homes and taking what little developmental land available and tensions are high. Let's not forget the mentally ill/homeless being dumped there are creating enormous problems. Also was really disappointed to see the mass, generic strip mall developments in Kapolei and elsewhere and insane traffic is looking more and more like a tropical Los Angeles or New York. Southwest recently entered the market with cheap fairs with much fanfare but it will only increase the problems of Oahu and Hawai'i - too many people crammed on a small island resulting in rising living costs and a rich persons playground - leaving locals with little alternatives but to leave the home of their ancestors.
60
@Drew They call Nevada the 9th island. It is the most popular place for people from Hawaii to go on vacation or to move.
4
@Drew How are the mentally ill and homeless being dumped on islands over 2,000 miles from the mainland in the Pacific Ocean? Which states are paying for plane tickets?
Hawaiians would have more choices and a better lifestyle if they themselves did something other than tourism. I don't see too many native businesses becoming nationally successful and create other jobs. Without the military and tourism, what would Hawaii's economy have?
4
@Drew
Yup.
The largest population of Polynesian-native Hawaiians lives in LA.
2
As a mainlander planning to move to the Big Island this is valuable information. The Hawaiians are experiencing what some many indigenous peoples have experienced all over the world. The less technological are suppressed by the more. Is it progress? Is it theft? Is it cultural and economic smothering? Hawaii has laws to protect the native Hawaiians but there are still things not protected and the question of just what should be protected. The telescope is a focal point. There are sincere and cynical on both sides.
I can tell you unequivocally that I will tread lightly when I get there. I will remember that I am on the porch of someone else's home. The locals on the Big Island treated me with great respect and kindness and I want to return the same to them. It is their home. I'm just a long-term visitor.
41
@Robert Noyes Unless you are a member of one of the tribal groupings in Oregon you have already had your feet up on the sofa in somebody else's living room and eaten their dinner.There was a campaign of exterminating indigenes in Oregon as recently as 1855.
4
Hawaii was stolen by the US Government for War. Its that simple. Many say another country would have done the same, if not the USA. But besides taking the best land and beaches for the US military ops in all Hawaiian Islands, the local population has gotten literally nothing in return. I am glad to see the Hawaiian community finally organizing itself coherently, even if I disagree that the telescope on Mauna Kea was the right cause. Just another part of the American White Privilege showing its true colors.
31
@RAnnBrunIsDumb: Hawaii was stolen, but not for war. At the end of the nineteenth century, many pineapple plantations were owned by Americans. They lobbied the US government to annex Hawaii so they would be able to avoid import duties. Hawaii was stolen for greed, and the Queen held prisoner in her own palace. It was only later that the US took advantage of the islands for military purposes. In either case, Hawaii was a victim of American imperialism.
11
"Wind turbines will have adverse long term health effects on the population"?
Please list citations from respected scientific and health journals that this claim is truthful - otherwise, I'll file it in the nonsense drawer along with Donald Trump's statements that wind turbines create "fumes" and "cause cancer".
74
@Fiddlesticks
With five minutes of web-searching, found dozens of medical research articles on adverse health effects from wind turbines (noise, electromagnetic fields, annoyance, infrasound, low-frequency noise, shadow flicker), including: ringing in ears, headaches, lack of concentration, vertigo, and sleep disruption.
My husband has built several wind farms in different parts of the country. The adverse health affects are real; he has purchased land outright and assisted in relocations, paid for alterations to buildings and properties, and paid homeowners just compensation for "annoyance".
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4063257/
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@Fiddlesticks
Have you ever been close to these turbines? It was not pleasant and I was just driving past them. The turbines create a kind of surreal experience and I can't imagine living anywhere close to them.
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Many options for sunshine and clear water in lieu of a Hawaiian Island vacation. Competition from other areas must be affecting the bottom line at most resorts resulting in layoffs.
Cost of living is very high as mentioned in the article. And, this includes housing sales and rentals. In short, not much opportunity for those working their way up.
Without the military in the islands, economics would be much worse.
Move to California you say ..average housing prices are $550,000 for a basic 3 bedroom track house. Rents now exceed 1900 for a basic two bedroom apartment.
For those in college now or who have been out for several years..many burdened with college loans (average is 40K)..the "climb" is and will be daunting.
5
A thousand years from now, we will probably still be talking about the discoveries revealed at Mauna Kea's telescopes. This is one of Hawaii's gift to humanity. It should not be used as a weapon in a culture war.
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@wlieu
Would be great if the telescope was the result of Hawaii deciding it would "gift" the use of Mauna Kea to the world. Instead the complex was a "gift" from outsiders inflicted upon the Hawaiians.
Yes, it was welcomed by a mayor of the closest city (he was descended from Japanese immigrants), and yes, the "native" Hawaiian population did not mount an effective protest at the time (this was before the renaissance of Hawaiian culture -- it wasn't until the 1960s and 70s that Polynesian Hawaiians were able to reconnect with their own history and recreate their culture, organize, and begin demanding their rights). It's also true that many Polynesian Hawaiians agree that exploring the universe is a good thing. For humanity. But they also ask, is the sacredness of the mountain being observed, and have they been justly recompensed for their loss?
I've been to the island and have seen, from sea-level, the cluster of white blobs on the mountain. The buildings stand out in stark contrast, rather a blight.
Guess you'd have to ask a religious Shinto-Japanese person what they'd think of a very visible blot on Mount Fuji to get an idea of the affront some Hawaiians experience.
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@maybemd Past native Hawaiian injustices and a telescope are two separate things. Telescopes don't impede access to religious/cultural practices, in fact the observatories manage the road up there. I know because I live here. Sacredness on the mountain is being observed every day. Except for the locals who go up there to snowboard that is, and that includes many against the telescopes. The protesters there right now offer so many inconsistencies it's baffling. For instance they purport to want to practice their culture and religion on the summit, and claim that building the telescope will destroy their culture forever. But they also made a video of one of the protest leaders singing "Mele Kalikimaka" at the protest camp this past Christmas. Many of the native Hawaiian protesters are Christian.
Also you say: "Guess you'd have to ask a religious Shinto-Japanese person what they'd think of a very visible blot on Mount Fuji to get an idea of the affront some Hawaiians experience." Actually the Japanese DID build a 1.2 meter telescope on Mt. Fuji, called the Mt. Fuji Submillimeter-wave Telescope (Google it). So please, I encourage you to "ask a Shinto-Japanese person what they think."
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@wlieu
" It should not be used as a weapon in a culture war."
It's pretty easy to see this telescope as an adjunct to the new "Space Force" gifted by Emperor Bone Spurs.
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Often we forget the heritage of the landscapes we enjoy. When profit over people exists the landscape we enjoy becomes an abomination called a telescope. While we look to the stars, we should admire the beauty of where we are and where we reside. We reside on the planet, not on the stars; call this reality.
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Thank you for this article. It gives me pause. It will change how I approach travel.
I was especially struck by the phrase of one of the interviewees - "commodification of culture." It forced me to thing about how I vacation and travel and the attitudes I bring to a place I visit, the expectations.
I have been to Hawaii several times over the past 30+ years.
The natural beauty is, of course, unsurpassed. The culture of pre-colonial times is fascinating. The art, the food, etc.
To a lesser degree, I've noticed this same effect in San Francisco, which I have visited since I was in high school in the early 80's. So much of what was unique to the city has been replaced by a sea of homogeneous commercial development - both in high-cost housing and cookie-cutter retail - surrounding the few landmark like islands waiting to be swamped by that rising sea.
I wish the Hawaiians you interview the very best in their endeavors to change the tone of tourism, and to better shape and participate in ways that support their culture.
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Given the price of resort rooms in Hawaii, it seems the staff could be paid more than a living wage. And Ms. Nuss, mentioned in this article, has the right idea of shaping tourism to benefit locals.
However, I think that opposition to wind turbines and a new telescope on Mauna Kea are knee-jerk nativist reactions that don't appreciate the larger benefits. I've seen plenty of wind turbines on the big island--they provide good jobs and clean electricity. Certainly the Hawaiians should appreciate an electricity source that doesn't despoil the environment. And how many of those opposed to the new telescope on Mauna Kea actually go up there? It's a long and challenging trip to the very top. And the practice of astronomy would seem to dovetail with the sacred, when you consider how ancient astronomers played a serious role in the development of early religion.
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@Wayne Cunningham
Please don't attempt to lecture the Hawaiians on the value of a western/white understanding the stars. They had a highly developed relationship and understanding of the celestial universe that does not include telescopes and what we'd consider "advanced" astronomy.
A thousand years ago, people from islands like Tahiti ventured onto the Pacific Ocean and used the stars to sail canoes across the equator to Hawaii, a journey of some 2,500 miles.
They had no written language, relying on their priests and master chanters and navigators to memorize and transmit across the generations their histories, legends, and songs.
Their knowledge and relationship with the heavens might be very different from ours, but it is just as amazing and beautiful. Their way of interacting with the stars is very human, and should be equally valued.
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@maybemd
Absolutely. In fact their knowledge of the stars was far superior to ours and they navigated vast stretches of ocean in small canoes to inhabit thousands of small islands scattered over the Pacific. Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island are the three points of the Polynesian Triangle. I would recommend the book Hokule’a by Sam Low for a breathtaking account of a successful voyage in a doublehulled canoe seeking to reproduce the ancient voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii without instruments, using only the ancient knowledge of the stars and tides and other natural phenomena to guide them.
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@maybemd I have been studying the language and culture of Hawai’i for a little over a year. The deep knowledge of nature and the universe found in Polynesia, through Hawai’i now also part of our national heritage, is belittled by our scientists who feel that they are the owners and keepers of Truth. We would do well do well to offer Hawaiian studies at other universities on the mainland. This would reconnect our scientific studies with a more complex understanding of nature and astronomy.
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Many people do not know it takes 300 tons of (meta) coal to make the steel for just one of the 8 wind turbines being erected.
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@J House That's a controversial figure, but even if it were true, the wind turbine would produce more electricity than would the coal used to manufacture the turbine, so there is an environmental benefit.
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@J House And your point is? I'm yet to come across the opinion that because burning thermal coal to make electricity is bad, metallurgical coal should not be used to make steel. Yes, the steelmaking process results in CO2 emissions, but currently such are far less than the CO2 emissions from burning thermal coal to make electricity. And we might need to use metallurgical coal to make steel, but we don't need to burn thermal coal to make electricity.
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@Richard And one of the things that makes living in Hawaii expensive: energy (i.e., electricity). Finding ways to produce clean energy that doesn't depend on something being boated over from the mainland should be a good thing.
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I've never felt that the US had any business taking the Hawaiian Islands. Its not because I'm a great student of history -- but because I grew up on the story of my great-grandfather. He came from England and settled on the Big Island as a young married man. He and my great-grandmother learned the Hawaiian language, raised 16 children and were loved and accepted by the Hawaiian people. My great-grandfather became the legislator in the Queen's court from the district of Hamakua. He fought for the Queen against the US and was arrested and tried for sedition and sentenced to hang by the neck until dead for providing ammunition for the Queen's protection. His death warrant was signed by Sanford Dole of the Dole Pineapple company. I grew up on this story and will never forget it. I've never felt the patriotism that other people may feel about the US. The islands were in good hands with their Queen and I applaud the people of Hawaii for attempting to re-claim their history.
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@k.c.rickard Very interesting family history in Hawaii, so happy your great-grandfather was so courageous and loyal to the native Queen and peoples.
I agree with you and after living in Hawaii as a teen and college student and mingling with locals, I never "fit" upon returning to the U.S. mainland as a young adult and still do not have that patriotic zeal for the USA. I moved to New Mexico in retirement, the other diverse and very indigenous and spiritual state, also stolen by U.S. leadership.
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@JoeyReader Thank's for your thoughtful and well-considered comment. Eliminated those grey area's entirely and reduced a complex issue down to black and white. Well done!
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@k.c.rickard Don't you remember that in January 1993 Bill Clinton apologized to the Hawaiian people for the Dole-led revolution of January 1893? Apparently restoring independence is not what he intended after the apology, which should suffice, right? He believed that the apology was all that was needed.
2
The article said:
"Locals say that resorts are often owned and run by non-Hawaiians....."
"Locals" as used in the sentence above sums up the complexity of Hawaii. For many people living here, "local" means a native Hawaiian person. But Hawaii is populated by significant numbers of Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, Samoans, Portuguese and of course Caucasians and when it comes to economic issues all of these groups have gripes with the cost of living and job situation so "local" also means working class people who live here, regardless of ancestry.
So the complain above about "non-Hawaiian" ownership is partly that the owner is not native Hawaiian, but probably more-so that the owner is not even a resident of Hawaii. The latter is a very sensitive issue since so many property owners in Hawaii are not residents.
For the outer islands, such as Maui where I live, a big issue is not just tourism but agriculture, which has been a key economic engine and land holder for 150 years but is undergoing change. It is unclear what role agriculture will play in the future of many outer islands. Agriculture is in tension with many native rights and practices but the feeling is if it isn't agriculture the island will be developed for tourism and retirement communities. The choices the community makes about the future are not easy ones.
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You have to sympathize with people who live in a desirable locale, all across the world. Rich developers are allowed to come in and trash the neighborhood, while promising "jobs" to the local politicians, who often are promised perks under the table, in exchange for zoning changes that you and I would never receive. Then they sell the time shares and leave with the profits, while the area that was once clean and quiet becomes a traffic and trash strewn eyesore, and the "jobs" that were created pay little to nothing. People on vacation tend to be on their worst behavior, drinking to excess, etc., since they are away from their own homes and jobs, and thinking they are entitled because they paid for a vacation in paradise. They think that the people who live there are there to help them have a good time, and nothing else. We have allowed developers to turn what were once paradise locations into cheesy destinations, at the locals, and the natural environments', expense.
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@Fred Rodgers I live in SE Florida and we are now experiencing the Honoluluization of our region. The profits go to Hilton an Marriott HQs far away. Wages here are very low. Old Florida is being Ruth-Chris’ed away from under our feet. None of us could afford a weekend at Mar-a-Lago or even Key West!
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@Robb Kvasnak
I left Miami in 1980. The population has doubled since then and become very expensive. Traffic was no fun in 1980 and has gotten a lot worse. Too many people there have ruined Miami and the whole state. Loved the weather but glad to be gone.
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It is a great idea that top tourist destinations should have a greater say in how they want tourism to contribute to their local economy. Volunteering, activities that showcase the real Hawaii, being paid what they deserve, respect for local traditions and cultures are all good. If Mauna Kea is a perfect spot to put a telescope, native Hawaiians should use their leverage to get the benefit they want. Perhaps they need savvy lawyers, environmentalists and other advisors who can obtain a good deal for them. Good people need to band together and be vocal, or corporations will ride roughshod over them.
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One fact is very clear in Native Hawaii... International corporate capitalism with its brutal profit-only modus-operandi owns the Hawaiian lands and is pumping foreign and mainland tourists through the islands as financial fodder.
Tourists understanding Native Hawaiian issues is wonderful for tourists and some businesses...but really does very little to assist Natives themselves. The cultural center in Laie is one of the most visited cultural sites in Hawaii. That same Polynesian cultural center is owned by the Mormon church.
Every aspect of Hawaii fits this same bizarre paradigm...hotels are owned offshore and the profits flow other places; wealthy people from elsewhere control the crushing rent market.
I find it hard to come up with one single example of corporatized culture benefitting Native/Indigenous peoples anywhere on the planet at anytime in history. That same critique applies to the natural ecologies which sustain us and future generations, which also suffer endless degradation. Native casinos, preying upon the greed and disconnect of corporatized culture are perhaps a rare (and distasteful) cultural exception.
Either way, unless the Native Hawaiians are given back ownership or stewardship, on a capital level, of their rightful Native lands, the experience of the Native Hawaiian people and their traditional culture will remain just one more degrading aspect of the crushing ugliness of monetizing humanity, nature, culture and meaning.
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@Jt On Lanai the native population is being displaced by the lack of jobs. The last couple corporate owners shut down the pineapple and sugar cane industries that employed a lot of people and they had to move away to find other employment since they weren't "suitable" for employment at the large resorts. In the last 15 years probably 60 to 75% of the population of Lanai has left. There is less crime now which is good. A lot of criminals who sponged off their families had to leave with the working members of their family because they had no one left to support them. It's actually a pretty nice place to visit now but the displacement is quite noticeable.
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@Jt why don’t you say the same about California? Should Natives be given back Beverly Hills and Silicon Valley? Should we confiscate property based upon heritage? Why or why not? I think your principles are admirable at first glance, but they are illegal under US law and could be quite disruptive if applied to your community.
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Been to Hawaii many, many times and understand the angst among the locals. However, without the tourist dollar they’re a third world country with the worlds most important Naval base. For the protesters pointing to the 1893 overthrow, be grateful it was the United States and not Japan or Russia. Those we’re your choices in the late 19th century. You could have done a lot worse.
There is no way the Northern Pacific’s most strategic Island chain was going to be left to tarro fields and fishing nets.
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@Norma Rae
With respect, I find your statement "be grateful it was the United States and not Japan or Russia. Those we’re your choices in the late 19th century. You could have done a lot worse." to be condescending and ethnocentric. Unless one lives a life in Hawaii as minority, it's difficult to feel all the pain many people endured.
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@Norma Rae I don’t think locals disagree that tourism is necessary for their economy. The question is who benefits from that economy and why?
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Says someone from New York... I’m sure many would take the “third world” status that they may - or may not- experience today if they had been left to decide their own self-determination.
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Too many tourists, spending too little money? Too many jobs paying too little? Very simple solution: raise prices via new fees at the airport and hotels (whatever their form).
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@Andy Deckman
The hotel and tourist fees are already high in Hawaii. But yes, far fewer tourists would be willing to pay the actual costs behind water and sewer treatment, air pollution credits (from the jets and cruise ships' exhaust), trash and waste remediation (impossible on an islands), traffic and sheer overpopulation health effects. And is there any just compensation for loss of indigenous flora and fauna species, through habitat loss and the introduction of invasive alien species?
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In general, we need more worker-owned cooperatives to support, while on vacation and in regular life.
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Now for the real truth behind it- the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of the protesters simply do not believe that the U.S. or the state of Hawaii are legitimate governments I'm still waiting for any reporter to go to a group of the protesters with upside down flags and ask the question: "Do you recognize that Hawaii belongs to the United States?" The reason the question isn't asked is that there will be a nearly unanimous "NO", with them citing the "illegal annexation" by the U.S. Of course, then the reality will be quite apparent- this isn't a debate over respecting the cultural heritage, it's a sovereignty movement in disguise. The general public wouldn't feel nearly as sorry for "sovereign citizens", so the narrative is pushed that this is a question of cultural respect, when it's actually a question of recognizing that the U.S. government has the right to make rules in Hawaii.
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@Charlie Utter Exactly, says this Hilo born-and-raised guy.
Explore what any of the TMT protest leaders have been saying (before the protests) and you'll easily see that the sovereignity movement is at its core.
They're trying to build a movement using TMT as a rallying point, which is a shame. There are far worse entities in the state.
Those of us who know Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and the Saddle well are quite aware that about 10k down the road from where the protests were is an Army training base (the Pohakuloa Training Area) sitting on both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa lands and routinely blowing them up, running over them with fighting vehicles, using enormous quantities of water, not being especially careful with their waste . . . but you see no protestors at the PTA gate.
Tourism and the military are two pillars of the Hawai'i economy and are both badly in need of rethinking, revising, downsizing.
Operations like DeTours are great, and much needed.
TMT is an easy target, but its effects are trivial, compared to T&M.
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There is indeed an active sovereignty movement in Hawaii, and I find its arguments compelling. What right did the US have in 1898 to annex Hawaii, which was at the time a sovereign nation? The US Congress voted to annex a foreign territory, without the consent of the people who inhabited that land, and proceeded to enforce its so called “legal annexation” with vastly superior military might.
The Hawaiian lands, which now are owned by agricultural or tourist businesses, were occupied for many centuries prior by native Hawaiians, many of whose descendants now benefit only marginally, if at all, by the resources of their ancestral lands. I wish only power and strength to Native Hawaiians who have the courage to name injustice and ask for better treatment a government that has mostly exploited them.
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@Charlie Utter What's wrong with them having a sovereignty movement? Nothing.
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The big problems in Hawai'i are the same as on Manhattan. Corrupt politics, too many cars, absentee property owners, drug addiction, and high cost of living. Focusing on tourism seems a bit off the mark. The idea of Hawai'ian sovereignty is also unworkable because there are fewer than 10,000 pure Hawai'ans left in a population of over 1.4 million in the islands. The dominant ethnic group is Japanese, and Japanese account for 20% of the tourists.
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How is this different than people from the other 49 states at Times Sq in NY, NY or a ski lift in Jackson Hole, Wyo.? Americans will move about the 50 states as migrants or tourists. Locals, regardless of family history will set up shop as employees and entrepreneurs.
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@Suburban Cowboy They just don't get it and don't necessarily believe in freedom of movement for all citizens of the United States.
2
Large scale taking over of the Hawaiian land and misused by outsiders certainly is detrimental to the Hawaiians traditions. There is, of course, numerous historical evidence of a large scale cultural genocide especially in continental America.
In the present world under the convulsions of fourth industrial revolution it’s undoubtedly imperative to take the native population in to confidence as accurately observed by Klaus Schwab “Shared understanding is particularly critical if we are to shape a collective future that reflects common objectives and values.”
Any unilateral action could be construed as cultural genocide.
Professor Raphael Lemkin says “Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups.”
―
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Perhaps before stating these jobs with regards to the windmill (that these folks are protesting so hard against) are not a living wage YOU SHOULD verify all your facts.
Please also explain ALL the existing health issues pertaining to said windmills. How many thousands are all over the world?! How many have experienced ANY health related issues?
Facts are important.
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@Jane
If you'll take five minutes to search on-line, you'll find links to dozens of research reports on the adverse health effects of wind turbines.
Here's one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4063257/
Can't help but notice, by that the names of almost all interlocutors in this article, that they are not of indigenous origin either.
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@Jim One thing you learn quickly in Hawaii is not to attempt to determine people's ethnic origins from their last names. The number of people of "purely indigenous origin" is relatively few; the number of people with *some* degree of indigenous heritage on one or both sides of their family is huge, a fact often not reflected in their birth or married names.
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@Jim
I grew up in Hawaii. Most of my classmates went through all our education, through high school, en masse. Many were of homogenous ethnicity, but the majority were of "mixed race".
My best friend's mother was half Polynesian Hawaiian and Chinese, her father French and Scottish. Another in our gang of four was Filipino, Chinese, and Polynesian Hawaiian. The third was German and English and Norwegian, I am of Japanese descent. We were all born in Hawaii and our grandchildren have begun having kids of their own.
At this point, asking for one's "race" in Hawaii is kinda silly.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/opinion/sunday/racism-hawaii.html?searchResultPosition=2
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@Jim Rookie mistake, Jim. You can’t judge by name only. Clearly you’ve not spent much time in the islands.
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Good for them! I am seeing more and more of this kind of thing, the realization that bigger is not always better. That perhaps one of the major reasons our cities have so many problems is that they are too big. We have lost our sense of community and now live in rabbit warrens, like Efrafa from Watership Down.
No I'm not advocating tearing everything down, what I am saying is that it is important to have a connection to a community, it is important to give back, that it should be OK to look around you and say "I like where I'm at, this is enough."
There is an analogy in the body for something that grows at the cost of all else, cells that do that are called "Cancer."
6
The first paper I wrote for my Graduate degree in American Studies was on Hawaiian Sovereignty. It was eye opening to discover how the US overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy and took control destroying the Hawaiian people, and they are still doing it.
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Hawaii is a state, not a country or territory, and therefore, U.S. laws should apply. Shouldn’t science that benefits all humankind be placed before volcano worshipping?
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@J House Yes, Hawaii is a state, illegally annexed by USA, also there is a freedom of religion in USA and that would( I presume) include protection for sacred land.
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@J House
Your flippant characterisation of indigenous beliefs and land rights as “volcano worshipping” is more than disrespectful, it is IMO, racist.
I agree with @Jt that the root cause of low pay, high prices, lack of affordable homes etc is global corporate capitalism. I was fortunate to live in Hawai’i for a large portion of my childhood. The experience shaped me for the better. Maybe it’s time I revisited my research from 2010 on the negative influence of the global corporate greed behind Turtle Bay resort. Callous and craven exploitation of native land, people, culture, and resources must end.
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@Denna Jones
I have a right to be disrespectful of the ceremonial human sacrifice the indigenous Mayans practiced, or the burning of ‘witches’ by the Pilgrims...that is in line with the age of enlightenment, not racism.
2
Love the thought behind this article —. that Native people’s would have some benefit-from and ownership-of their own land. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and a for-profit catamaran company and farm tour company aren’t going to change the harsh reality for Native Hawaiians anytime soon.
Native Hawaiians are barely represented at the political level, many live on nearly impoverished Hawaiian Homelands homesteads. Or are simply homeless. The cost of living on their island is crushing simply by the fact not every local can be a millionaire, and that much money is required for a normal standard of living in the country’s most expensive state.
The protest movement is being glamorized for bringing Native Hawaiians together, but isn’t that the same thing as saying the Standing Rock indigenous protestors benefitted from an illegal pipeline being constructed through their ancestral lands?!?! It is ridiculous to use Native reaction to financial/political oppression as a sign of improvement. Rather, the fact is more oppression...and ceaseless oppression, moves forever forward and people are thus forced to stand for even the barest remaining dignity.
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Can't help but notice, by that the names of almost all interlocutors in this article, that they are not of indigenous origin either.
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Why not just allow Hawaii to become independent with agreements to US to maintain military bases? Cannot but agree with the Hawaiian indigenous people that enough is enough.
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@Erik
Would non-indigenous people have the vote?
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@Erik People will fight and die to keep Hawaii as one of our 50 duly admitted states. Are you talking about secession again? There are 13 southern states that might want to join in that conversation at the same time. Be careful what you wish for.
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I'm skeptical about this article from the first sentence. Tourists drive the eastern coast to get to the North Shore, because they're looking at the scenery and don't care it takes an extra hour. Locals take the Pali Highway or H3...
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@Rosie Exactly what I thought!
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@Rosie My first thought exactly.
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@Rosie
Best way and quickest way are two different things. From here the fastest route to the SF Bay is 6 hours on the 5. In my opinion as a local the best North/South route is two days on the coast through Big Sur.
3