Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 9, 1 September 2021 — University of Hawai'i Public Apology to Dr. Trask [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
University of Hawai'i Public Apology to Dr. Trask
Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask. - Photo: Kapulani Landgraf
The Department of Philosophy at Mānoa is saddened by the news of the passing of Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask, Professor Emerita and co-founder of the Hawai'inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. The Department recognizes her trail-blazing scholarship and visionary leadership and apologizes sincerely for the attacks she suffered from philosophers at Mānoa in the past. Professor Trask's work has been crucial in foregrounding the systemic injustices that have plagued the practice of our discipline. We should have listened to her when she tried to teach us that these injustices had their roots in the history and power dynamics of colonial oppression both within the University of Hawai'i and outside of it. That is a history the Department of Philosophy is prepared to study and confront. Also, it understands the need to bring down barriers preventing Indigenous research from receiving academic recognition. We acknowledge that our apology is long overdue and regret we did not convey it to Professor Trask in person while there was time. We are aware that our shortcomings have also affected the wider community of Kānaka 'Ōiwi faculty and students. This apology is therefore also addressed to them. Today, the Department of Philosophy is eager to pursue philosophy self-critically and explore the rich and complex sources of Hawaiian Knowledge in our class-
rooms and research in comparative i philosophy. We are also commit- : ted to seeking partnerships with ] the School of Hawaiian Knowledge : and supporting Native Hawaiian projects aiming at articulating Ha- : waiian values and ways of inquiry as philosophy. Finally, we are not l forgetting that the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa was erected on ; Hawaiian land. We acknowledge the need to respect our host eul- ] ture. ; : He Mihi i Mua o Nā Kānaka a Pau : Unuhi 'ia e Scott Kaua Neumann : Lu'ulu'u kaumaha ka Māhele : Kālaimana'o o Ke Kulanui o Hawai'i ma Mānoa i ka hele ho'i 'ole 'ana mai o Ke Kauka Haunani Kay- ] Trask, Polopeka Welo, kekahi mea ho'okahua ho'i nāna i ho'okumu iā : Hawai'inuiākea, Ke Kula 'Ike Ha- : wai'i. Ua 'ike 'ia a ua mahalo 'ia ho'i : i kāna waele mua 'ana i ke ala 'imi < na'auao ma ke kulanui me kāna al- : aka'i 'ana ma loko o ia māhele, a ke mihi minamina nei me ka 'oia'i' o a me ka 'eha'eha no ka hana 'ino 'ia ona e nā kumu kālaimana'o ma Mānoa i kona wā e noho polopeka ana ma Ke Kulanui o Hawai'i ma ; Mānoa. Ua hu'e 'ia a maka ka hana ho'o- i kae pono 'ole a ka māhele kālaim- 1 ana'o e ua Polopeka Trask nei ma o i kāna hana ko'iko'i. 'O ka pololei a ' me ka pono, he lohe mai nō kā ka māhele kālaimana'o i ke a'o āna no ia mau hana ho'okae i hele a laha i loko o ka mo'olelo o kona lāhui Hawai'i ponoT a me ka ho'omāhuahua 'ia o ia mau hana ho'okae ho'okolonaio ma loko a ma waho ho'i o ke Kulanui o Hawai'i. 'O ia aku nei ke 'ano o ka hana a ka Māhele Kālaimana'o e ho'oponopono ai. Eia hou, ua 'ike 'ia iho ho'i ke kuleana e wāwahi i nā ālaina o ka 'imi na'auao 'ana ma ke 'ano e kūpono ai no ka po'e 'ōiwi a e mahalo 'ia nō ho'i e ke Kulanui. Ua hala loa akula ka manawa i pono ai kēia mihi 'ana me ka minamina 'ana 'a'ole i waiho 'ia nei mihi i mua pono ona nāna ho'okahi wale nō e huikala mai i kona wā
e noho honua ana. Ua 'ike nō ho'i mākou i ka ho'ohemahema 'ia o nā kumu 'ōiwi kanaka a pēlā pū ho'i nā haumāna 'ōiwi kanaka e mākou. Iā lākou ho'i kēia mihi. E huikala mai. I kēia au na'e e holo nei, ke ho'oikaika nei a ke ho'oulu nei mākou, ka Māhele Kālaimana'o, i ke kālaimana'o ma ka hikaloi 'ana iho me ka 'imi 'ana aku i loko o ka lehu a me ka mano o nā kumu 'ike Hawai'i, a pēlā ho'i ke kālailai ho'okūkū a me ka ho'ohālikelike ma loko o kā mākou a'o 'ana a me kā mākou noi' i 'ana. E ho'opa'a ana nō ho'i mākou i ke ku'ikahi me ka ho'olōkahi aku me Hawai'inuiākea-Ke Kula 'Ike Hawai' i-ma nā hana e ulu ai ka Hawai' i ma ke kālaimana'o. 'A'ole nō ho'i mākou e ho'opoina i ke kūkulu 'ia o ke Kulanui o Hawai' i ma Mānoa ma luna o ka 'āina o nā Hawai' i no lākou nō ke kuleana. Ke 'ike maopopo iho nei mākou i ko mākou kuleana e hō'ihi' ihi a e ho'oponopono me nā Hawai'i. The Department of PhiIosophy at Mānoa Dr. Tamara Albertini (Po'o), Dr. Arindam Chakrabarti, Dr. Chungying Cheng, Dr. Vrinda Dalmiya, Dr. Jonathan Fine, Dr. Masato Ishida, Dr. Thomas Jackson, Dr. Steve Odin, Dr. Franklin Perkins, Dr. Sean Smith, Dr. Joseph Tanke, Dr. George Tsai Affiliate Faculty and Lecturers Dr. David Falgout Dr. Sharon Rowe University of Hawai'i West O'ahu Dr. Lisa Rosenlee Kapi'olani Community College Dr. Kuang-Hung Chen Dr. Kyle Takaki Leeward Community College Dr. Steven W. Laycock 27 July 2021 ■