Tajiri is the historic mollifier for me — what greatest Haw’n linguist Puakea Nogelmeier is to intelligent sincerest Haw’ns. As you know, university course Haw’n Studies (transitioned at UHH to the 1st ever Global School of Haw’n Language, catalyzed via Tajiri’s UHH upper Nowelo St. Waiakea Creek infrastructure!) globally began as the 1st of its kind right here at UHH 53 yrs. ago when Hilo’s Ted Kelsey, who was raised w/the I’okepa (& Nalimu, Kekaualua) ohana along the terraced slope of Ponahawai (downtown today) — & acolyte June Gutmanis (WWII transport
pilot — among earliest female war pilots — she’s my mentor & was heterosexual ) had Don Pakele (Don’s great-grandpa was in Kalakaua’s & Liliu’s executive offices) (Don’s great great grandpa was the konohiki for Papa’i — Mamalahoe Splintered Paddle — 2 miles north of Kea’au Ha’ena, & then as Shipman’s konohiki) facilitate Edith Kanaka’ole as the head of the fledgling nascent Haw’n Studies program at UHH. Pua was mentored by Kelsey on O’ahu & then by Edith Kanaka’ole at UHH. My point is that IF YOU FROM WET SLIPPA’
HILO — YOU MO’ MELLOW ‘DAN HONOLULU. My UHH classmate (yes, 1970) Jon Osorio is the aberration because he carries a plank in his eye (& on his shoulder) from 1) his Luso tutu Emil Osorio getting disowned by the shit
no stink faladoo mamod Osorio bastion familia for marrying gorgeous HAW’N lass Kamakawiwo’ole of Waipi’o Valley & Kukuihaele (!); 2) the weight of shame from his rubber necker dad Elroy being the losingest politician before the advent of Bernard Akana & Wendell Kaehuaea. Tajirian mollifier? I impart fuck you to broken spirit Jon & Haunani (but I love her soulmate Dave Stannard for his factual history). Okay — here’s pu’iwa (stupefaction on account of wonder
) from correctly Hilo-mollified Puakea (watch & witness a Tajiri herein!) — “Research is slowly desconstructing some long-established historical rhetoric. Stories of Hawai’i’s
victimization are not holding up as we unpack the record. Without context, reports turn living history into data — we strive (now) to reveal history w/the actual voice of the people who lived it. There were fights w/some guys being nice & others jerks — some instigators were foreigners, some were Haw’ns. The concept (now) that the outside world dictated what was happening obscures Haw’n agency (self-determination & self-worth). Colonialism means being taken over by another culture. In Hawai’i, it turns out, nobody landed & stole the sandalwood. The price was set by Kamehameha & the chiefs on shore. Much of what went on — I assign to capitalism, not colonialism. It’s very shallow to say — ‘Of course we were colonized — look at Kalakaua — he’s wearing European royal garb!’ He’s the bloody King, he got to choose what he wore that day! (So) Kalakaua donned the royal attire of the Japanese in Japan. He had his own tailors who made his own clothes. He was the king. He was in charge. No one told him what to wear! A noted historical shift was the consequence of Hawai’i’s military overthrow & long-term occupation, not w/the coming of Capt. Cook. Designating him (Capt. Cook) as a colonialist allows the narrative that ‘everything a haole ever did is bad.’ There (then) follows a cumulative rolling on of the story. One might wonder — why, if missionaries existed all around the world — was literacy so successful in Hawai’i AND NOWHERE ELSE?! BECAUSE THE CHIEFS WERE RUNNING THE SHOW AND THEY WANTED READING AND WRITING FOR THEIR PEOPLE! SIX MONTHS INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HAW’N LANGUAGE WRITING SYSTEM — QUEEN KA’AHUMANU was writing in perfect Haw’n — ‘We want literacy. No. Cross out (this). We want the teaching of literacy. It will make us wise!’ (Twinkle
) It had to be a bother to teach this bunch of royals who were not an easy lot! What’s not to admire that Kamehameha III Kauikeaouli hired a special
teacher (Rev. William Richards) to teach him & the chiefs about how different nations handled their economies, their governments, their laws [like Tajiri teaches our round table of enthusiasts
]. This was in 1838! In 1839 Kauikeaouli designed a brand-new government system & turned an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy. And a bill of rights was established that made everyone equal! (A haole hat
trick, you say?) It’s absolutely a thundering
change! Sadly, the hand on the rudder got shaky over the next century, facing the forces of capitalism, money, national security, sugar, greed. All told, Hawai’i’s is a much grander story than one of outsiders trampling upon native plants
. It was a remarkable historical process — not a couple of centuries of oppression. And best told hearing the voices of those who lived it!” June Gutmanis-Puakea http://online.fliphtml5.com/rblc/jbkm/#p=36
Nogelmeier’s coming opus oeuvre Ke Kumu Aupuni has preview observants wondering — “The words of my own ancestors (incl. old sometimes indecipherable correspondence) have changed my thoughts about what I’m taught by my college professors (yup, UH Manoa Haw’n Studies Dept.).” Our periodic
round table communion meal at the Coconut Grill isn’t for naught. Tajiri is tingled to delight w/no end
in sight by the heart-stopper
beauty of `Dre & Corina. Poetry defined!
Puakea Nogelmeier approaches challenges in much the same way ancient Hawaiians did: Problem-solving is an intellectual sport — melding tried and true methods with creative alternatives to produce a practical outcome. He looks for simple answers, never takes his eye off the goal, and delights in the process along the way. https://generations808.com/puakea-nogelmeier-ascending-to-the-future/
Curtis Narimatsu 