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A review by yourfriendtorie
From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai'i by Haunani-Kay Trask
4.0
I had been meaning to read this book for years, and I'm glad I finally did so while spending a month in Hawai'i.
I can see how many people, especially white people of more moderate political leanings, would bristle at Trask's well-founded invective. Like Ward Churchill, Trask straight up lays down all of the reasons a white person, or any foreigner, may not be made to feel welcome on these mythologically friendly islands. More than any other place of former or current colonial possession that I've ever visited, the Hawai'i all around me carries a heavy vibe of paradise lost. Runaway development, tourist culture, Native dispossession, and a host of other ills not unfamiliar to Natives on the mainland U.S. can all be historically linked to the theft of the islands by various European and eventually, Euro-American powers. With all of this evident all around me while I waited for surf, delving into the theory behind Hawai'ian political and cultural resistance made my vacation an even more eye-opening experience than I bargained for.
I can see how many people, especially white people of more moderate political leanings, would bristle at Trask's well-founded invective. Like Ward Churchill, Trask straight up lays down all of the reasons a white person, or any foreigner, may not be made to feel welcome on these mythologically friendly islands. More than any other place of former or current colonial possession that I've ever visited, the Hawai'i all around me carries a heavy vibe of paradise lost. Runaway development, tourist culture, Native dispossession, and a host of other ills not unfamiliar to Natives on the mainland U.S. can all be historically linked to the theft of the islands by various European and eventually, Euro-American powers. With all of this evident all around me while I waited for surf, delving into the theory behind Hawai'ian political and cultural resistance made my vacation an even more eye-opening experience than I bargained for.