you know... I can’t be quiet about this already. hope my kupuna forgive me. (1/?)
Disclaimer: Yes my name is Sarah Kamakawiwo’ole. Yes it’s a big family at this point. No I am not his daughter Wehi. No I did not meet him - he died when I was four. No I’m not speaking for his family—our family. I’m speaking as a kānaka. (2/?)
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole was a musician. From all stories I have been gifted by those who knew and worked with or were otherwise connected, he was as depicted in this video. Gentle. Kind. Thoughtful. (3/?) But do you know what else he was?
HE WAS AN ACTIVIST! Yeah I’m saying it. He wanted sovereignty. He wanted kānaka to be self-governing. He saw the struggles of his people and he used his platform to call for political action. You know his Over the Rainbow but have you listened to Hawai’i ‘78???? (4/?)
It is EXHAUSTING to see his legacy as a Hawaiian activist erased by these H A O L E made, haole funded, haole haole haole productions. Especially given what is happening to Hawaiians (and all other Natives) EVERY DAY since his passing. (5/?)
I’m speaking up because it is erasure of Native stories and a Native man’s legacy that all people ever want to remember of him is his uke and his parts that can be subjugated to white supremacy and colonial/settler structures. How dare you—shame on you. (6/?)
We are HERE. We are ALIVE. We are fighting every day for betterment because we believe in ‘āina and ea and pilina and unquantifiable amounts of wisdom from countless stories of our ancestors that are systematically cut out of decisionmaking in our ancestral home. (7/?)
So tonight I’m here to say: it is wrong if someone only listens to the one song and closes their eyes and ears to the cries of the people and places he loved - that is EXTRACTIVE. That supports the SILENCING of kānaka. (8/?)
Because his legacy is more than just dumb haole wet dreams about islands. And to reduce his life and work and mana to serve haole, tourist interests is antithetical to what he believed in. (9/?)
We are fighting to defend so many places now. Mauna a Wakea a me Hunananiho. And still even Leahi, Pu’uloa. And around the world, Indigenous struggles are present every day to decolonize generations of damage and destruction. (10/?)
Why is this such a fuss? Well, one reason is that storytelling is a powerful concept in many cultures, Hawaiian included. And controlling someone’s story is thus a pretty tricky area to get into. (11/?)
And NO I’m not going to be grateful for the “exposure” that a platform like a G**gle doodle brings if the cost is CONTROL OF NATIVE STORIES. Do you want my kupuna to reach out to slap me from pō? (12/?)
If you are upset at this thread calling people out for enjoying something they thought was innocent fun music made by a fat brown person, kindly vibe check ya self. I’m tired too!! Unfortunately I do not have the privilege to be Unaffected by these erasures. (13/?)
Mālama pono. (14/?)
There are a billion more threads to pull from here but I’m gonna stop. TL;DR - Stop supporting colonizers. (15/15) #decolonizehawaii #kanakatwitter #sovereignty #ea #izkamakawiwoole #Nativeeerasure
wow didn’t expect dis... 1. I’m not saying people can’t enjoy the music or trying to fight anyone 2. I’m also not saying this is the only opinion out there it obviously isn’t 3. I do not keep notifications on so mahalo everyone for kind words. OCEANIA WILL RISE 💛
***yet another note: like this entire thread, this is my assumption/opinion, but in all seriousness I hope that kānaka artists were involved in the making. That would be nice. Also the mauna imagery is there I’m not discounting it fam #kuhaaheo
