The spirit of aloha: Indigenous Governance exchange

Having never been to Hawai’i before, I had a typical vision of the tropical paradise: sandy beaches lined with palm trees, a coconut drink decorated with a miniature umbrella in hand, the occasional hula dancer in sight, and a plethora of tourists. This distant, magical place seemed breathtakingly beautiful, but it also seemed a little too conventional for my liking. But when the opportunity came for me to complete an elective course in Hawai’i, I jumped at the chance not knowing that a transformative, life-changing experience awaited me.

The course (IGOV 595) was a two-week intensive academic and cultural exchange between UVic’s Indigenous Governance (IGOV) and the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Indigenous Politics Program (UHIP). This was the sixth course in a series of ongoing graduate seminars that began in 2006, with locations alternating between Canada and Hawai’i. The March 2012 exchange brought 24 IGOV MA students, PhD candidates, faculty, alumni and Local Advisory Council representatives to Honolulu.

Entitled Restoring Kuleana: Contemporary Native Hawaiian Politics, the course focused on community, place-based experiential learning. For four days the class split into two groups: I was with the group that went to the island of Kaho’olawe, while a smaller group went to the island of Moloka’i. Both of these locations represented two case studies that were intended to teach us about Native Hawaiian efforts to reclaim traditional land and Hawaiian land practices.

In the 1950s Kaho’olawe had been expropriated by the US military and used for bomb testing. Brave Hawaiians like George Helm, Kimo Mitchell and the Ritte family were part of the Hawaiian Renaissance movement in the 1970s and occupied the island in protest. By the 1990s the military ceased bombing and gave the island to the state of Hawai’i.

Today the Protect Kaho’olawe Ohana (PKO) organization brings people to the island who are willing to learn about Kaho’olawe and practice aloha aina (love the land) through clean ups, ceremonies and hard work. Accessing the island is a privileged experience because it represents the intersection of Native Hawaiian resistance, spiritual practice and aloha aina.

The PKO members and Hawaiian youth present during our visit demonstrated an immense amount of aloha (love, warmth and friendship) to us, to their culture and for their land. Young people spoke to each other in Hawaiian, listened intently to the wisdom imparted from the adults, and sang their mele (chants) with confidence. Youth asked us about our words, songs and homelands. By the end of the trip I found myself using Hawaiian words properly and heard some Hawaiians joking in my language, Anishinaabemowin, with the newfound vocabulary I had taught them.

The exchange that happened made it clear that although from different places and from different walks of life, we are united in our struggle to protect our land and remain inherently Indigenous on it. I returned from Hawai’i knowing that aloha is more than a tourist commodity, it is a sacred way of life, and if lived like a true Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) then Hawai’i can be authentic, not conventional.

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Jessica Nanagiishkung Benson is a graduate student in the Masters of Indigenous Governance program and is Anishinaabe from the Chippewas of Rama First Nation and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation.