Customer Reviews

Native Land and Foreign Desires: Pehea LA E Pono Ai? How Shall We Live in Harmony?

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Compelling and unforgettable historical account of ancient Hawai`i from pre-Captain Cook up to the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, by prominent historian and Native Hawaiian Lilikala Kame`eleihiwa. Moving and detailed description of the devastating impact American imperialism exacts upon the minds, culture, and lives of the Native Hawaiian people. A must for those interested in a true history of Hawai`i.

In response to: "Then, in a display of conspicuous consumption well-grounded in traditional Polynesian culture, most of them splurged their new wealth and went bust." -- a reader

Actually, traditionally, splurging wealth is a much westernized approach to living life. Self-interest is a concept that does not even exist in the Hawaiian language. Don't forget that Native Hawaiians inhabited the islands for thousands of years before good ol' Cap'n Cook even set his stinky, white feet on the sand of Kealakekua. You cry conspiracy, I pronounce truth. Indeed, the land WAS STOLEN BY GUNPOINT (annexed) under President Benjamin Harrison, by, you guessed it, conspirators. Namely, Lorrin Thurston and John L. Stevens.

For you, maybe no grand conspiracy is relevant because the way you see life is just as you describe... "people act in their own self-interest." Sorry, that is not the Hawaiian way, but the haole way.

native land and foreign desires is the best book i've ever read on hawaiian history and the history of the mahele. using hawaiian language sources, lilikala kame'eleihiwa opens the book with several chapters that introduce the reader to hawaiian cosmology. she clearly and eloquently explains how hawaiian society was politically, culturally, spiritually, economically, and socially structured by reciprocal relationships among the land, animals, plants, and people. given this understanding, she describes how that system was transformed by relationships with US colonizers, businessmen, and missionaries and analyzes its dramatic consequences. this book is one of the few books that offers history from a native hawaiian perspective. it is an absolute treasure and a brilliant contribution to critical historical scholarship.

The internet exposed me to a lot of anti Hawaiian sentiment that I had not seen so blatantly before. As a person of native Hawaiian ancestry, I was distressed by the things I read and saw (e.g. others trying to rewrite our history). After expending much energy on the matter I decided that instead of focusing on the haters and the internet trolls I would take it upon myself to take a look at what other Hawaiians were doing in regard to our history. I am pleased to have this book and would recommend it to anyone (Hawaiians and non Hawaiians alike) who want to know our history from our persepctive and with some scholarly rigor to go along with it. After all if Hawaiians don't care about or look after their own legacy who will?

Prof. Kame`eleihiwa did a lot of donkey work in the archives but advances an implausible explanation of the privatization of land in Hawaii in the mid-19th century. Her thesis of a vast multi-generational conspiracy is no more plausible than any other conspiratorial explanation of complex historical events. Never explain by conspiracy what can be explained by stupidity. The theory that foreign conspirators "stole" Hawaiian land is not improved by combining it with the claim that hereditary aristocrats who had spent decades ruthlessly pursuing their self-interest suddenly and generously gave up wealth and power. The Hawaiian king and aristocracy decided to privatize the land of Hawaii because the old system based on forced peasant labor was collapsing as the peasants died or left the land to take better jobs. By privatizing and partitioning the land among themselves, the king and aristocrats made themselves rich: they converted undevelopable land into valuable private property in their own hands. Then, in a display of conspicuous consumption well-grounded in traditional Polynesian culture, most of them splurged their new wealth and went bust. On the other hand, people, including peasants, who wanted to invest in land could buy plenty of land cheap. Those who invested wisely for the long term generally did well. No grand conspiracy theory is needed to explain that people act in their own self-interest and that people who act in their long-run self-interest usually do better than those who seek immediate gratification.