Native Land and Foreign Desires (Pehea La E Pono Ai?)
Lilikala Kame‘eleihiwa, a rigorous scholar and an impassioned writer, presents the first detailed analysis of the Mahele from a contemporary Hawaiian perspective. Her fascinating account of this pivotal period in the history of Hawai‘i offers historians material for reflection and interpretation and is bound to stir public debate.
Using Hawaiian language sources, Kame‘eleihiwa analyzes the traditional Hawaiian relationship, both spiritual and political, to the land. She traces the changes in that relationship, through Christian conversion and American colonization, to explain how Hawaiian land was wrongfully taken from the Chiefs as well as commoners.
With an admirable commitment to her people's future as well as past, Kame‘eleihiwa follows in the illustrious tradition of nineteenth century Hawaiian intellectuals David malo, John Papa ‘I‘i, and Samuel Kamakau.
Lilikala Kame‘eleihiwa is a professor at the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. A descendant of the Pi‘ilani lineage of Maui, she believes that her people will never be free frem the bonds of U.S. colonialisn until they know the true history of their ancestors.
$29.95
isbn 978-0-930897-59-8
softcover, 6x9, 424pp.
Available at Bishop Museum's Shop Pacifica (phone 808-848-4158, email at shop@bishopmuseum.org ) and other fine bookstores throughout the islands.
Tags: Bishop Museum Press, Hawaii history, Lilikala Kame‘eleihiwa, Mahele
