We returned from our winter break in Kauai about a week ago. You can follow the day-to-day experiences of this trip on my travel blog. While I was there I decided to listen to Mitchner’s Hawaii which is historical fiction and I thought it would provide a little background to the present culture in which I have spent several months a year since retirement. I am a bit slow in commenting on the book as it relates to our trip because the audiobook version of the book requires more than 50 hours to complete and I had not quite finished it when we left. I purchase the book through Amazon, but I am guessing anyone could easily borrow the book/audiobook from a local library.
Hawaii was written in 1959 and like several of the Mitchner books I have read (Centennial, Chesapeake, Alaska) Hawaii traces history over multiple generations tied together in some way. The book begins with the geological formation of Hawaii, then in order the arrival of the Polynesians, the haole (white) missionaries, the Chinese, and then the Japanese. The thread throughout is the generations of the missionaries and their efforts to control/manipulate the native people and the others who followed them. The story is complex with “good guys and bad guys” within each group, but there is an underlying theme of exploitation based on perceptions of knowing what is best for others. The book ends with more equal footing for all groups but the native Hawaiians as Hawaii approaches statehood.
Present day Hawaii (at least Kauaii) no longer relies on sugar and pineapple as an economic engine. In fact, these groups are pretty much gone for the island where we stay. I am just guessing but tourism/real estate is the big economic driver. Coffee is the big crop.
I felt a certain tension related to native rights that reminded me of the time I have spent on Native American reservations. The fate of the whites, Chinese, Japanese, and others who came to work in Hawaii eventually all seemed to be more positive. The expression of native Hawaiian frustration centers on having your lands stolen by intruders generations ago and exclusion from opportunities since. This is kind of true, but stolen and being taken advantage of mean somewhat different things and depending on specific historical circumstances both can apply. In either case, present circumstances reflect differences in opportunities and economic reality. How to best address these circumstances is the issue. Compensation to people of the present for poor treatment of their ancestors in ways that involve taking from people of the present who had nothing to do with the past or any relationship beyond being from a given race with the historical oppressors has obvious limitations. Equal opportunities for education and employment in the present seem a reasonable position to take fo everyone whatever their race or culture. Achieving equal opportunities for people who as a group have fewer resources and poorer preparation for the benefits of education is very challenging to achieve.