Potent Mana

Wende Elizabeth Marshall

Description

Brilliantly elucidating and weaving together the forces of indigenous sovereignty, colonialism, and personal health, Potent Mana offers a uniquely holistic and intimate portrait of the long-term effects of colonialism on an indigenous people., the kānaka maoli (Native Hawaiians). An ethnographic exploration based on fifteen months of research, the book moves the conversation on the dangerous effects of colonialism forward by exploring the theories and practices of Native Hawaiians engaged in decolonization. Decades of substance abuse, mental illness, depression, language loss, and the concomitant dispossession from sacred lands have accompanied colonialism. Consequently, healing, both mental and physical, are essential to decolonization and indigenous sovereignty in twenty-first century Hawai'i. Native Hawaiian-run treatment centers and clinics more than political rallies are centers for healing and decolonization on O'ahu today. The effects of colonialism and the measures taken to counter and move beyond it, as Wende Marshall convincingly argues, do not take place solely on a supralocal level but shatteringly involve the physical and emotional well-being of real individuals. Becoming decolonized is about overcoming the shame of colonialism, and requires a process of remembering the traditions of ancestors and reinterpreting and rewriting histories that have only been told from a colonial point of view. Decolonization is an indigenous perspective, and an understanding that health was impossible without political power and cultural integrity.
Acknowledgments/Genealogy

Introduction: Ethnography of Decolonization in Hawai‘i

1. Ka Po‘e Kahiko: The People of Old

2. Wai‘anae: A Space of Resistance

3. Mana: What the Data Hide

4. The Stench of Mauna Ala, Colonialism, and Mental Health

5. Ka Leo: Remembering Hawaiian

6. Dreaming Change

Conclusion: “Ropes of Resistance” and Alternative Futures

Notes
Glossary
References
Index

Sujets

• Ethnic studies

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 02 janvier 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781438434360
• Langue: English

Extrait

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P OT E N T M A N A

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POTENT M A N A

Lessons in Power and Healing

W E N D E E L I Z A B E T H M A R S H A L L

Cover image: Taro fields in Kauai’s Hanalei River Valley, Hawaii; courtesy of iStockphoto/Jim Kruger

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2011 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Marshall, Wende Elizabeth, 1961– Potent mana : lessons in power and healing / Wende Elizabeth Marshall. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-3435-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Hawaii—History—1959– 2. Colonization—Psychological aspects. 3. Self-determination, National—Hawaii. 4. Hawaii—Colonization. 5. Hawaiians—Ethnic identity. 6. Hawaiians—Social conditions. 7. Indigenous peoples—Ethnic identity. 8. Indigenous peoples—Government relations. I. Title. DU627.8.M37 2011 996.9'04—dc22 2010018155

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For

Adelaide Austin 1906–2003

Bunch Hammond 1930–1989

Julie Adelaide Marshall 1940–2007

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C ONTENTS

Acknowledgments/Genealogy

Introduction: Ethnography of Decolonization in Hawai‘i

Ka Po‘e Kahiko: The People of Old

Wai‘anae: A Space of Resistance

Mana: What the Data Hide

The Stench of Mauna Ala, Colonialism, and Mental Health

Ka Leo: Remembering Hawaiian

Dreaming Change

Conclusion: “Ropes of Resistance” and Alternative Futures

Notes

Glossary

References

Index

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A CKNOWLEDGMENTS /G ENEALOGY

n author’s opportunity to acknowledge the support that made book writing A possible is not simply about public recognition and gratitude. Acknowledg- ing is also an enactment of genealogy, a statement of origins, and a record of familial, political, and academic kinship. I hoped to write a book that honored my kinship ties, as well as the lessons I learned from my Kānaka Maoli teachers. It helped to imagine that I was writ- ing a love poem that, although filtered through the particulars of my training and experience, would be worthy of my Hawaiian guides and expressive of my profound solidarity with the project of decolonization in Hawai‘i. In the com- munity of Wai`anae, I was blessed by many wise teachers, in particular Ho`oipo DeCambra, Puanani Burgess, and Pōkā Laenui. They invited me into their offices, classrooms, and homes and trusted me to interpret the work of their lives and their love for Hawai‘i. Their tremendous faith in the project of decoloniza- tion has remained a great source of my inspiration as a scholar and as a commu- nity organizer. I am grateful for the guidance of Kaimi Chung, Kamana`opono Crabbe, Palama Lee, Randall Like, Vicky Milles, Mari Ono, Dixie Padello, Jim Winters, and others who I cannot name because of concerns with confidential- ity. I hope thatPotent Manacontributes in some small way to the struggle for decolonization and the powerful resurgence of Kānaka Maoli. I wanted to explain decolonization and the struggle of Native Hawaiians in a way that made sense for people who were not aware that such a struggle existed in the fiftieth state, so, I conjured up various mothers of my many students and explained Hawaiian decolonization to them. For trusting me to teach their chil- dren and to summon their spirits as collective muse, I thank Lynnette F. Ham- mond, Barbara Ann Miller, Caroline Sahni, Karen Shaw, Marti Snell, Ruth Stewart, Kiljai Taylor, Doris Thomas, Mayra Y. Vargas, and Mariel York. I am grateful for the community of graduate and undergraduate students, as they are my primary interlocutors. I thank current and former graduate students Helen Chapple, Holly Donohue-Singh, Ann Githinji, Abby Holeman, Anjana

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