Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 8, 1 August 2013 — WHAT WILL OUR LEGACY BE? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WHAT WILL OUR LEGACY BE?

By Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, Dr. PH„ R.D. The first Hawaiians had to get to work, immediately, with farming, fishing, hunting and building, to survive. Their ancestors had done the same in other Pacific islands. Hawai'i's weather, fertile lands, abundant rains and water, as well as its ocean's bounty supported our Hawaiian ancestors with creating a productive, orderly, self-sustaining community and culture ... and, ultimately, a very special plaee to live. Kanaka Maoli flourished. Our ancestors' achievements, after

l,500-plus years of toil, in farming, building, cultural customs and orderly community development, were greatly admired by early visitors. That admiration is reflected in descriptions by early visitors, such as by Archibald Menzies, a naturalist, who accompanied Captain Vancouver to Hawai'i in 1792-94: "We could not indeed but admire the laudable ingenuity of these people in cultivating their soil with so mueh economy. The indefatigable (tireless) labor in making these little fields in so rugged a situation, the care and industry with whieh they were transplanted, watered and kept in order, surpassed anything of the kind we had ever seen before. It showed in a conspicuous manner the ingenuity of the inhabitants in modifying their husbandry to different situations of soil and exposure, and with no small degree of pleasure we here beheld theirlaborrewarded." (Handy, Native

Pīanters in 0\dHcmaVi, 1972.) Dr. E.S Handy, an anthropologist, collaborated with Mary Kawena Pukui to document mueh about our Hawaiian ancestors' labors and practices and, in 1931, expressed admiration for Kanaka Maoli achievements, saying: "If a culture may be judged by its fruits, it is evident that on the whole, for the native people in the Hawaiian environment, the old Hawaiian civilization had mueh to its credit. An inferior and ill adapted civilization does not produce superior physical and cultural fruits. The fruits of the old Hawaiian system appear on the whole to have been good, if we may judge by ... the high development of agriculture by means of intensive irrigation, whieh made a relatively large population possible; a similarly intensive and skillful fishing industry with great development of artificial fish preserves where the nature of coasts and inlets made these fish practicable; technical perfection of crafts. ... These and many other phases and details of the

Hawaiian life attest superior racial inheritance and cultural heritage, intelligently and naturally adapted to a unique and on the whole beneficent, although in many ways difficult and exacting environment." (Kanahele, Kū Kanaka, 1986.) After 2,000-plus years, Kanaka Maoli now share Hawai'i with many thousands who have chosen to eome here to improve their lives. And, although the Native Hawaiian

community is growing in numbers, our lāhui (community) struggles with many aspects of living. A tlurry of political and community activity by Native Hawaiians in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in raising issues and solutions to state and national levels, relating to Hawaiian governance, heahh, education, identity and land. However, without champions to continue these efforts, change has stagnated in an environment of indifference. Our elders taught us, "That we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors who lived seven generations before us and it is our kuleana to work to create a better Hawai'i for the seven generations to eome." What will be the achievements of this generation? Will there be an extension or dismantling and/or loss of the work and achievements of previous generations? What words will describe the work of Kanaka Maoli of this and the previous generation? We need to get to work ... focusing on areas of greatest need within the lāhui. ■

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In aneienl Hawai'i, a highly developed agricultural system made a relatively large populahon possible. - Photo: KW0file