Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 8, 1 August 2021 — Honoring a Woman Warrior [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
Honoring a Woman Warrior
Remembering Haunani-KayTrask By Shane Pale and Healani Sonoda-Pale Mueh of our ancient Hawaiian lore recounts tales of leaders who are kupaianaha, individuals born with marvelous intellect and charisma who, by their words and actions, change the course of history for our people. Their stories are remembered in our genealogies and legends. Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask is one such leader. Haunani-Kay was born on Oct. 3, 1949, in San Francisco where her father, Bernard Trask, was attending law school. Her father and his family were active in
Hawai'i politics - her grandfather, David Trask, was a territorial legislator for 26 years. Her mother, Haunani Cooper, was a schoolteacher originally from Hāna, who hailed from the famous chiefly Pi'ilani line of Maui. Haunani-Kay was raised and lived mueh of her life on the windward side of O'ahu. Growing up in a politieal family, Haunani-Kay saw the inner workings of powerful political forces, namely the Democratie Party maehine, that for
decades worked against the interests of Kānaka Maoli. While attending university on the continent, she was exposed to radical nationalist thinkers such as Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Franz Fanon. Haunani-Kay was a supporter of the Black Panther movement and was active in the anti-Vietnam war struggle. She earned her doctorate in Political Science in 1981 writing a landmark feminist work titled Eros and Power: The Promise ofFeminist Theory as her dissertation. Her education, genealogy, and political family background culminated in the creation of one of the most important Indigenous intellectuals and leaders of our era. She returned home to Hawai'i from her studies abroad a few years before the first Hawaiian immersion school opened and at the height of the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana (PKOl movement where Aloha
Āina were occupying Kaho'olawe, an island long used as target practice by the U.S. military. Hawaiians were on the rise at the dawn of the 1980s calling for sovereignty and the return of our traditional lands. Haunani-Kay, who at the time was one of a handful of Kānaka Maoli Ph.D.s - and a woman no less - heeame instrumental in decolonizing the history of Hawaiian lands, eulture, and people, laying bare the injustices we endured for centuries that
were upheld by white supremacist beliefs. She heeame the voice that articulated our struggle; a voice that resounded globally and raised up a generation of politically conscious Hawaiian activists, educators, and leaders. Haunani-Kay was originally hired by the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa as an assistant professor of American Studies. However, she soon moved to the Hawaiian Studies department. Under her leadership, the program grew from a forgotten fourth floor corner of Moore Hall with single-digit enrollment to a brand new center with an enrollment of over 140 in a little more than a decade. As a professor, HaunaniKay set a high bar and opened new horizons for Hawaiian students. She was a fearless visionary who forged Hawaiian education forward while fighting off the white male status quo and racism that was, and still is, prevalent at Hawai'i's flagship institution of higher education. A pinnaele year for the Hawaiian movement was 1993, when Haunani-Kay published From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai'i, a foundational work that shifted the discussion on Hawaiian sovereignty and rights. It was also in that year on January 17, at the eommemoration of 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian ICingdom, when Haunani-Kay, along with her sister Mililani B. Trask, led over 20,000 people to the grounds of 'Iolani Palaee as leaders of Ka Lāhui Hawai'i, the largest Hawaiian sovereignty group. Haunani-Kay's unforgettable words that day, "We are not American," echoed through the decades and have nestled in the hearts and minds of a whole new generation of Aloha Āina protectors today. Haunani-Kay was a rigorous scholar and received SEE H0N0RING A WOMAN WARRI0R ON PAGE 18
On Jan. 17, 1993, Native Hawaiians marched on 'loloni Poloee to protest the illeaol overthrow of the Hawaiion Kinqdom 100 yeors eorlier. Pictured in tne front row (l-r) ore ottorney Milifoni B. Trosk, UH Hawaiion studies professor the lote Dr. Terry Konolu Young, ond Hounoni-Kay. - Photo: Ed Greevy
More thon 20,000 'Ōiwi ond supporters morched on 'loloni Poloee to protest the 100th onniversory of tne overthrow. In o possionote speech to the enormous crowd gothered there, Haunoni-Koy fomously declored, "We ore not Americon." - Photo: Ed Greevy
H0N0RING A WARRI0R WOMAN Continued from page 5
many awards and accolades for her substantial body of academic work. One of the most prestigious honors was her eleetion this year to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences whieh was founded in 1780 and whose membership includes Charles Darwin and Martin Luther King, Jr. As a sovereignty leader, scholar, educator, filmmaker, poet, and human rights advocate, Haunani-Kay was aeknowledged and recognized by Indigenous peoples around the world. Having dedicated her life's work to the uplifting of the lāhui (Hawaiian nation), Haunani-Kay passed away on July 3, 2021 after decades of working to change the course of history for Hawai' i's Indigenous people for the better. It was from her that we learned how to resist oppression, to break our silence,
to maintain courage against undefeatable odds, and to be inspired to take up the mantle of leadership. The lāhui mourns her passing but we celebrate and honor a woman warrior kupaianaha who now joins the ranks of other great Hawaiian leaders of legend who have passed on. ■ A puhlie celebration oflifefor HaunaniKay Trask will be planned at a later time, due to ongoing concerns about the spread ofthe coronavirus. In the meantime, ifyou would like to contribute, go to: https://gofundme/do2ofa36 Both Shane Pale and Healani Sonoda-Pale were students of Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask at the University ofHawai'i atMānoa.