Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 10, 1 Kekemapa 1984 — Hawaiians Coming Together [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiians Coming Together

By Hayden Burgess Trustee, Oahu

We often talk about the importance of the "Hawaiians coming together." We all know of Hawaiian fighting Hawaiian and agree it results in a defeat for all Hawaiians. But how do we overcome these fights and eome together? We should ean-

didly recognize that divisions exist, discuss it, settle it and put it aside. One di\ ision among those who work within this very broad Hawaiian movement is between the "intellectual" and the "grassroots" Hawaiian. Recently, an "intellectual" Hawaiian woman discussed her feelings about this division with me. She was upset because one who works closely with the 'Aina charged her with being too intellectual and analytical suggesting she was not Hawaiian. I share with you her words: Before 1 was 12, my family lived in at least 12 different places: ha\ing been e\icted because we couldn't make the rent. 1 was placed in relatives' homes because places where my parents could

afford wouldn't take children. Those were lonely and sad days. My parents were very hard workers. They suffered terribly because they could not provide the essentials of life for us at all times. Onee we lived at Damon Tract. There were 16 of us — 12 kids and four adults crammed into the bottom half of a two-story house. Two bedrooms only and the kids had to sleep sardine-can style on two double beds. We older kids had to sleep on benches or kitchen chairs pushed together. This story mūst be a eommon experience among many of our people. But, through it all, I survived because of one skill my mother — my very intelligent, intellectual, troubled Hawaiian mother — taught me. She instilled in me a love and a need to THINK. She said the way out of despair was by using the intelligence the Akua gave me. To think was to live. She said our Hawaiian ancestors were extraordinary intellectuals. They were farmers, they were fishermen, they were many things but foremost, they were intellectua!s. She said not to be ashamed or deny what 1 am. But she also taught me not to be too proud of my intellect, and to share my thoughts, just as those who ean grow vegetables or fish or hunt share their products. 1

have tried to be faithful to her teachings. But 1 am hurt when others criticize me for being too analytical, too smart, of being an intellectual — as if I am not also a Hawaiian. I'm told that I work haole-style and only good with the palapala. Some believe that you must work the lo'i kalo or fish to be truly Hawaiian. 1 disagree. I am a recorder of our history, of our dignity, of our struggles so that our children ean be proud to know our present struggles. I am a writer of modern poetry, weaving Hawaiian concepts into today's society. I am an advocate for Hawaiian causes. I am no better than any other Hawaiian who is working toward uplifting the Hawaiian spirit; working for Hawaiian justice. And I am no less a Hawaiian because I am an intellectual. I take comfort from the fact that many great oli like the Kumulipo were composed by intellectuals, that the healing arts, the fighting arts, the navigating arts and all the many other finely developed fields of study involved the intellectuals. We all have a plaee, a role, a responsibility in this quest for human justice we eall the "Hawaiian" movement. We should all strive hand in hand together. Thank you for these thoughts, kind woman, fellow Hawaiian. Onipa'a!