Seeds of Resistance

Native Hawaiian Food Sovereignty & Water Rights

PKO holds a press conference outside the Bishop Museum. Leimomi Apoliona and Dr. Emmett Aluli featured in the foreground.

Abstract

This research explores how Native Hawaiian-led efforts to protect sacred lands and waters reveal forms of Indigenous refusal and resistance to the logics of settler colonialism. The Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s saw a reawakening of pride in Hawaiian culture, which took place in the context of rapid changes brought by statehood. As the thrust of Americanization and displacement of rural communities sparked uprisings on every island, young Native Hawaiians began to reassert their rights to live as Hawaiians in their own homeland. The island of Kaho‘olawe, which the United States military had used for target practice since World War II, soon became a centerpiece of organizing efforts and symbol of all the abuses done to the Hawaiian people. With the guidance of nā kupuna (the elders), the movement intensified and grew in spiritual meaning, reawakening seeds of resistance planted long before by a people who never relinquished their sovereignty. The 1978 Constitutional Convention (ConCon) reaffirmed Native Hawaiian rights previously codified by Kingdom law and a unique public trust doctrine grounded in Indigenous practice. My research is guided by the moʻolelo (oral histories) of nā kūpuna who were once the “radical” activists of the Hawaiian Renaissance. Their stories reveal a genealogy of resistance that was reawakened under the banner of Aloha ‘Āina (reciprocal love of land).

Keywords: Hawai‘i, Hawaiian Renaissance, Aloha ‘Āina, Kaho‘olawe, cultural practice, Native rights, food sovereignty, frontline movements, Indigenous resistance, politics of refusal, water rights, 1978 Constitutional Convention

Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana (PKO)

The Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana was named by Edith Kanakaʻole with the intention of re-establishing connection to land. The word for land, ‘Āina, literally translates to “that which feeds,” reminding us of the reciprocal kinship relationship that Hawaiians have to our elder sibling, Hāloa, the first kalo (taro) plant, and our responsibility to mālama (care for) ‘Āina as our elder who feeds and nourishes us in return. The root of the word ‘ohana (family) comes from the ‘ohā, the suckers that grow from the corm of the kalo plant that is pounded to make poi, the staple food of the Hawaiian people. The cultural tenet of Aloha ‘Āina (reciprocal love of land) was invoked by anti-annexationists at the turn of the century.

Kōkua Hawaiʻi

Statehood brought a swift transition from plantation agriculture to military and tourism. Kōkua Hawaiʻi led early anti-eviction protests on Oʻahu as rural communities were being replaced by new development.

Huli Kākou!

"Huli" (to overturn) was the slogan of Kōkua Hawaiʻi. Huli is also the name of the stem of the kalo plant used for propagation. The image of an upheld poi pounder invokes political solidarity and the Hawaiian alternative in agricultural terms.

Mele ʻAi Pōhaku (Stone Eating Song)

Written after the overthrow in 1893, Kaulana Na Pua (Famous are the Flowers) is a song of protest that memorializes the Hawaiian Nation’s refusal to relinquish its sovereignty to the United States. The words of this mele invoke Indigenous values that subvert western concepts of monetary wealth, prioritizing waiwai, wealth tied to “the food of the land.” This song is also titled Mele Ai Pōhaku (Stone Eating Song) and He Lei no ka Poe Aloha ‘Āina (A Lei for Those who Love the Land).

Research Biography

Puanani Apoliona-Brown (Pua) is a Food Studies MA candidate at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. The daughter of a Native Hawaiian rights activist and an environmental lawyer, Pua’s interest in Food Studies is closely tied to Indigenous rights and environmental justice. Her current research is building upon her undergraduate thesis on Native Hawaiian water rights, which won the 2018 Thesis Prize in Ethnicity, Migration, Rights at Harvard University. As a Tribal Food Systems Fellow with the First Nations Development Institute, Pua will be publishing this research in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Pua is also an NYU Social Sector Leadership Diversity Fellow, and a Graduate Assistant with the MLK Scholars Program, an honors program dedicated to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Puanani has a degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and danced professionally with American Ballet Theatre in her previous career.

This paper is dedicated to Dr. Noa Emmett Auwae Aluli who joined the ranks of na ʻaumākua (the ancestors) on November 30, 2022. A founding member of the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana and Hui Alaloa, Uncle Emmett dedicated his life to the lāhui and the protection of Kaho‘olawe.

"The health of the land is the health of our people, is the health of our nation."

On Moloka‘i, O‘ahu, and Māui, I gathered moʻolelo (oral histories) of nā kupuna who were active during the Hawaiian Renaissance and interviewed leaders continuing the work today. Below are some portraits of the many inspiring people I interviewed for this project.

Walter Ritte, Jr.

Tweetie Lind & Leimomi Apoliona

Stephen Kaneai Morse

Vivienne Lee & Charlie Reppun

Eric Enos

Hōkūao & Alana Kaopuiki Pellegrino

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