Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 2004 — Thinking About Hawaiian Identity [ARTICLE]

Thinking About Hawaiian Identity

By Maile Kehaulani Sing Thinking about Hawaiian identity I start to spin in circles easily Is identity belonging Or is belonging identity Do I meet the criteria A certain textbook definition Or is being Hawaiian my inheritance And from my ancestors Unconditionally given Full, half, quarter, or eighth It doesn't take long for The experts to proclaim Hawaiians are indeed A vanishing race Influenza, VD, and now We've contracted U.S. racial rhetoric That grounds us down To mere fractions

When my blood is measured And my features dissected I start to feel sick As if infected By reason and logic By science and politics All my life I have swallowed This blood quantum theory Eike pills from the eolonial pharmacy Prescription strength invisibility To cure this illness Of lingering indigeneity Hawai'i is paradise Up for grabs Full of aloha And hula dance An image of smiling natives That everyone would love to be The only obstacle that complicates Is the eall to discriminate For the sake of sovereignty Self determination fueled By genealogical identity Hawaiian entitlement to be free From the thick of American fantasy In collahoration with 'Ōiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal, Ka Wai Ola regularly showcases works by Kanaka Maoli writers. Submit your writings to 'Ōiwi Journal at P.O. Box 61218, Honolulu, Hl 96839-1218. For information, eall (808) 956-3031, or visit www. hawaii. edu/oiwi. I

'Ōiwi III coming soon!

The third edition of the Hawaiian literary magazine 'Ōiwi is due out soon. Watch your loeal bookshelves!