The Colonization of Hawaii and Tourism
Since 1840 the Hawaiian Islands have been an escape to a tropical paradise for millions of tourists. People all over the world encounter alluring, romanticized pictures of Hawai'i's lush, tropical vegetation, exotic animals, beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, and fantastical women. This is the Hawai'i tourists know. This is the Hawai’i they visit. However, this Hawai'i is a state of mind, a corporate-produced image existing on the surface. More precisely, it is an aftermath of relentless colonization of the islands' native inhabitants by the United States. These native Hawaiians experience a completely different Hawai'i from the paradise tourists enjoy. No one makes this as clear as
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They (discourses) operate in relation to power" (Hall 205). In a post-colonial setting, such as Hawai’i, the knowledge and principles conveyed by the colonizing discourse dominates society and becomes a colonizing power. The "effect" is the suppression of native culture. Hall points out that discourses often contradict one another. Discourses conflict because they are produced by different societies that have different interests, and therefore, reflect different interests. For example, the native Hawaiian communal society does not place interest on the personal gain that is the foundation of capitalism. Therefore, it is not surprising that the native Hawaiian discourse of tourism is different from the United States' capitalist discourse of tourism.
To fully understand the native Hawaiian discourse of tourism, it is necessary to know how it has developed. The suffering produced by the tourist industry began with the emergence of the "haole", or white settler. The first explorer to discover and colonize Hawai'i was Captain James Cook in 1778. With him he brought capitalism, modern political ideas, Christianity, and the most devastating of all, diseases. "The West" (Europe) imposed its "superior" ideology on the native Hawaiian, "primitive" culture. Hall explains that when "Europe brought its own cultural categories, languages, images, and ideas to the New World, it tried to fit the New World into existing frameworks, classifying it according to its (European)
According to the information present in the speech given by a man named, Sanford J Dole, the Americans imperializing Hawai’i was a constructive motion. This is due to the fact that throughout the speech, Dole informs his audience on the benefits both the Hawaiians and Hawai’i would gain through Hawai’i being a territory of the United States(US). The speech was given on June 10th, 1900, at Iolani Palace, after Dole was elected to be the governor of the Territory of Hawai’i. As the speech is an original document, it is a primary source. Based on the information provided in the speech, the message Dole is trying to convey is that the day Hawai’i became a territory of the US, is one of the most important days in Hawaiian history. This is because
The Ancient Hawaiian life was based around the ahupua‘a land management system which is used to maintain human life and protecting the upland resources that extends to the coral reef. Overtime, much of this has changed due to major development and modern technology that were introduced to the Hawaiian Island after the arrival of Captain Cook. The Hawaiians lost their connection to the land by no longer perpetuating the Hawaiian values and the idea of being independent. Furthermore, everyone who lives in Hawai‘i lives in an ahupua‘a. Many of the ahupua‘a original names are being used today, but not many people knows its history about the land they are resided in.
The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.
In the 1820’s Missionaries have been starting to visit Hawaii inspired by Henry Obookiah who the first Hawaiian Missionary. Henry Obookiah was a Hawaiian missionary that told the English about the Hawaiian religion and how it works, and it convinced the English to go and spread their religion. But not everything ended well according to the plan for the Hawaiians. People only notice the negative effects that the missionaries cause the Hawaiians to go through, but they miss the benefits that the missionaries gave the Hawaiians. Although the missionaries have brought negative effects to the Hawaiians, they also have given the Hawaiians some benefits with the new religion, new language, and new technology.
Trask is able to use logos to prove how tourism has affected the Hawaiian culture. Trask refers to Hawaii as a “She” who “Rubs off” on the visitor with her magical presence. The beauty of Hawaii is used as an escape from “Rawness and violence” for most Americans though, Trask mentions that the land has a “Western sexual sickness” (Trask 1993). “Of course, all this hype is necessary to hide the truth about tourism, the awful exploitative truth that the industry is the major cause of environmental degradation, low wages, land dispossession, and the highest cost of living in the United States” (Trask 1993). Trask says that the areas of Hawaii which were “sacred” to the Hawaiian’s have now been turned into top of the line hotels. The beaches that were once full of fishermen and their nets are used for recreational activities like surfing getting a tan and jet skiing. On most of the beaches owned by resorts, the beaches are reserved for hotel residences only. In the essay, Trask gives the readers logos as to how tourism is changing the land. For example, thirty years ago the ratio of Hawaiians outnumbered the tourist 2:1. Today,
How did the Polynesians find their way to Hawaii, over two thousand miles from any other land? Was it over population at home, or political turmoil? Whatever reason for leaving these people used amazing knowledge and skill of the ocean and of the sky to navigate them to this new land. They faced the unknown and braved into the wide-open ocean for long periods of time. The real focus in this paper is on the navigation techniques that they used in these voyages throughout the Pacific.
John L. Stevens came to the island of Oahu in September 1889, acting as the U.S. Minister to Hawaii. While his mission in Hawaii was not clearly stated, his political actions on the islands clearly showed that Stevens thought that the annexation of Hawaii was proper and inevitable.
All of these acts take place at the expense and pain of Native Hawaiians who are struggling to survive. Here you have multimillion dollar revenue and none of that money is going to support and perpetuate the culture or recover of the language and heritage of Native Hawaiians. This reminds me of many stories we have covered during class of where cultures have been oppressed in order for other cultures to succeed. Most Hawaiians have witness that tourism, as a foreigner dominated enterprise, is the plague which an already oppressed people must endure with very few other economic options or alternatives in life. The plight of Native Hawaiians is only one example of the destructive impact tourism is having on indigenous people in communities around the world. All is not well in
American tourism to Hawaii has increased by 14.2 percent in just two years. This dramatic increase in tourism seems to be a beneficial boost for Hawaii's economy; however, the increasing rate of tourism is harming the native people of Hawaii. While the Hawaiian economy is experiencing one of its most fruitful years, the native Hawaiian people are suffering from job loss, poverty, depression, and an overall "cultural destruction" (Trask 260). Haunani-Kay Trask uses rhetoric to discuss these harmful effects in her essay "Tourist, Stay Home" in order to persuade her readers into believing that tourism can actually be a bad thing for an economy. On the other hand, in his article "Surf's Up for the Economy in Hawaii," Jim
and about 60 Japanese, (although it is tough to figure out how many Japanese), people
In the late 1600s, there were trials taking place that are now known as the Salem Witch Trials. The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based on these trials and events that took place in Salem. In the town of Salem this series of events is set off by a girl named Abigail Williams. In the first scene of the play, Abigail Williams and all of her friends go to the woods to dance. During that scene Reverend Parris walks into all of them dancing, singing, and supposedly “conjuring spirits”. Word gets out that all this happened, and it's all because of Abigail William’s jealousy towards Elizabeth Proctor.
As skiers, hikers, sightseers, beachgoers and travelers pack their bags and head out for their vacations, they probably never even consider that what they are about to embark upon happens to be the largest industry in the world. Millions of people travel domestically and internationally each year to experience places and things that are totally out of their ordinary lifestyle and to get their minds off the hustle bustle of everyday life. Because of Hawaii’s year-round tropical climates, cultural experiences and leisurely atmosphere, it is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations and attracts over 9 million visitors each year. Marine and
The annexation of Hawaii was an important event in the history of the world. It is still not easy for the Hawaiians to accept the fact that America had taken over a land 2500 miles away from the West Coast. In 1917 Hawaii was considered the 50th state supported by the islanders after a plebiscite. Queen Lydia Kamakaeha Liliuokalani was overthrown because of the support of the United States army as well as naval forces to a group of businessmen belonging to the sugar and pineapple industry. The Armed forces of the United States were ordered to provide this support on the directives of the minister of the United States to Hawaii. In reality they were missionaries who had been welcomed for several years by the
Paradise Remade: The Politics of Culture and History in Hawaii. Philidelphia: Temple Universtiry Press 1993. Print.
There has been a lot of controversy over use cell phones along with the positive and negative impacts that it has reflected on society. Today, cell phones are used for numerous amounts of things that could play a role into a person’s everyday life. Cell phones could also be overpowering when not being used for certain things. Therefore, it is truly up to the individual on how they interact with their cell phone or smart phone.