Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 10, 1 December 1984 — Polynesian Identity Reaffirmed [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Polynesian Identity Reaffirmed

By Bill Tagupa Cultural Affairs Officer A meeting of Paeilie writers was held Oct. 5-12 on the I aueala campus ol the Univcrsity of the South Paeil ie. Su\a. Fiji. to discuss the state of \\riting and publishing in thc Pacific islands. Attending were writers. scholars an poets from host island Fiji as well as from Tonga. Western Samoa. the Cook lslands. \ew Zealand. Papua, New Guinea, I inalu. Kiribati. the Solomons. Vanuatu. Australia and Hawaii. I he Hawaii delegation included Richard Hamasaki, poet publisher and lecturer at the University of Hawaii: Imaikalani Kalahele, poet and artist; and Ruby ,lohnson, associate professor of lndo-Pacific l.anguages at UH. They are all members of Hui Imi Pak ipika (We Who Seek the Paeilie). I ogether with Dr. Ueialoha Apo Pcrkins. currently teaching at Atenisi University in Tonga, thegroup was assigned to give the "Pacific Way" lecture. the centerpieee event of the meeting. Professor Johnson opened the presentation with a chant and demonstralion ol Hawaii's genealogical relationship with Polynesia. Dr. Perkins then rcad selections of hcr published poetry. l.ikewise. Hamasaki and Kalahele recited compositions dcpicting the conditions ol Hawaii's immigrants and other elhnie poetry.

Hosted by Albert Wendt, a well-known Samoan author, the meeting was part of the Pacific Week activities whieh included cultural exhibitions and performances from the l'aeihie region. Among the other important topics discussed at the writer's meeting were "Oral l.iterature and Writing in the Vernaculars," "Poetry in the Pacific,""Prose in the Pacific," "Drama, Television and Film," "Maori Radio and TeIevision," "Women's Writing in the Paeilie," and "Editing, Publishing and Small Maga/ines." In refiecting on the purposesand resultsofthe meeting. Johnson and Kalahele felt they were successful in reaffirming Hawaii's Polynesian indentity whieh has often been omitted or discounted in regional events and conferences. Moreover. the\ \\ere surprised at the nature and scope of literary writing in many other parts of the Pacific whieh is slowly forming a body of nanonal literature for the new island nations. Hamasaki was also surprised at audience understanding of Hawaii pidgin English humor. In addition to being a means of literar\ expression, Paeilie poetr\ is often critical of certain indigenous institutions. I he interaction helween Hui Imi Pakipika and other island representatives produced the exchange necessary to the progressive growth of the literary craft.

Dr. Ruby Johnson. assistant professor ofIndo-Pacific languages at the l'niversity of Hawaii, and Iniaikalani Kalahele, poet and artist, look over some of their material in preparation for the Pacific writers meeting.