Module 4: Flourishing of Kānaka ʻŌiwi Culture
Can we learn from Kānaka ʻŌiwi and the practice of aloha to understand sovereignty among indigenous peoples around the world?
E Mau – Let’s Strive
E mau ko kākou lāhui e hoʻomau
E mau ko kākou ʻōlelo e hoʻomau
E mau ka hana pono o ka ʻāina
I mau ka ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono
I ka pono o ka ʻāina
Letʻs strive to keep our nation alive, letʻs strive
Letʻs strive to keep our language alive, letʻs strive
Letʻs strive to preserve the good and just work for
the land
Land is sighted
So that the life/sovereignty of the land and nation
will endure through judicious rule
Endure, through the judicious rule of the land and
the nation 1
The composer of this 1941 song, Alvin Kaleolani Isaacs, Sr., was a popular musician, singer, bandleader, and recording artist. While the lyrics of this song are Hawaiian and written in a traditional chant style, the melody is American jazz contemporary to 1941. “E Mau,” popular in its day, expressed the ongoing hope and aspiration of Kānaka ʻŌiwi to flourish and thrive as a distinct people, with a unique language, history, culture and ancestral land base. At the same time, the song shows how Kānaka ʻŌiwi found ways to express their aspiration to perpetuate the language and culture while adapting to American popular culture.
When Isaacs premiered the song at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel where his band played, he was fired, showing the lack of tolerance toward Kānaka ʻŌiwi by the Americans who dominated Hawaiʻi.
During the 1970s, there was a cultural renaissance sparked by the activism around Kahoʻolawe and inspired by the proven genius of ʻŌiwi ancestors who intentionally and repeatedly navigated across thousands of miles of ocean from and to Hawaiʻi. This renaissance celebrated ʻŌiwi language, music, culture, and songs with messages of resistance to American domination and promoted pride in being Hawaiian.
Hawaiian music and traditional hula flourished with an expansion of the annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival honoring King David Kalākaua, the Prince Lot Hula Festival, and the Kamehameha Day hula and oli (chant) competition. The popularity of Hawaiian music soared with concerts almost every week and Hawaiian music radio stations on each island. At the heart of this renaissance was the remarkable recovery of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi from the edge of extinction. This module explores the importance of Hawaiian language and culture, and how Kānaka ʻŌiwi have revived these practices.
What is the importance of language and culture for Kānaka ʻŌiwi?
What are the various ways that Kānaka ʻŌiwi have revived their language and cultural practices?
What does the Hawaiian renaissance demonstrate about the persistence and resilience of Indigenous peoples and cultures?
