gArt of the Hulaf
What is one thing that stands out in most peoples’ minds when they think of Hawaii? Most people would probably say the hula dance. The hula dance descended from, or can be traced to Polynesia and India. The Hula was a form of poetry for the Hawaiians in all of its sacred and ceremonial forms.
In hula dancing, the hands are very important: they tell a story. However, more important are the chants. Chanting is an extension of speaking that started as a means of communicating to the gods. The hula can be performed with or without music, but not without the chant. Bamboo sticks, drums, and gourds, are some of the instruments that are played to support the chanting. The chants are very poetic and have many levels of meaning. They believe chanting is a very personal way of expressing feelings and thoughts on a higher level of communication. The topics of the chants may include warfare, death, sex, birth, chiefs, gods, the beauty of the island and water, or even surfing.
This exotic culture was hidden from the world until 1778, when Captain James Cook and his men became the first westerners to discover the islands of Hawaii. When they arrived at Kaua’i, the islanders performed the hula dance as a way of greeting the strangers.
Later in 1820, Christian missionaries from New England came to the islands, armed with the Bible and narrow-minded thoughts. They were shocked by the “heathenish” hula, and tried to abolish the dance. The missionaries eventually convinced the royalty, which had been converted to Christianity, to make the hula dance illegal. It was hard for the Hawaiians to retain their culture because the missionaries banned the Hawaiian language from the schools. However, the Hawaiians treasured their culture and dance, and did not let them die.
In 1874, King David Kalakaua came to the throne. He is credited with returning the ancient hula dance to the people. European clad, he was known as the Merrie Monarch. He dined with prominent figures including the ever-corrupt President Grant. He had mastered ancient chants taught to him by his grandmother. During his reign, he brought a lot of European style to the hula dance. He integrated hymn singing and band music into traditional hula dance forms. The ukulele and steel guitar were also introduced. It was also during this period when the ti leaf skirt appeared as a hula dance costume.
Often times, the history that is being told is one of Hawaiian weakness, and defeat. The Bayonet Constitution of 1887, the Overthrow of 1893, and the Annexation of 1898, are all often used as examples of moments of powerlessness in the Hawaiian Kingdom. What about all history prior to, in between, and after, these major dates? Surely, it did not just disappear. In the last few decades, Hawaiian history has changed dramatically due to the works of many Hawaiian historians. The history that was lost has been found, and new discoveries are still being made. Hawaiʻi’s history is a story of resistance, pride, and unity. Included within this history is a man named Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox. Wilcox was a revolutionist, and a leader, but he enjoyed being a politician the most. Wilcox was the beacon of hope that helped guide the people of Hawaiʻi through darkness. Wilcox was and still is today a symbolic figure in Hawaiʻi’s political history.
A small company of thirty-four New England missionaries came to Hawaii between 1820 and 1930, were the first modern immigrants. (Lind p.59) Missionaries were powerful agents of cultural destruction, coming to Hawaii to settle and teach their ways and beliefs. Bloodthirsty priests and despotic chiefs had ruled one reason for missionaries arriving and settling in Hawaii, due to the fact that they believed ancient Hawaiians. (Trask p.14) Bringing along cultural havoc by establishing a western style educational system, which included the first textbook as the Bible. The most critical change was in the use of language as a tool of colonization. Language had once been inseparable from the Hawaiians and their history by communicating their heritage between and among many generations, now came to be used as the very vehicle of alienation from their habits of life.
...ills and built bomb shelters in preparation for possible nuclear warfare. The U.S. also built up its army and its air force, just to be prepared. Overseas, the U.S. enforced the Eisenhower Doctrine, which was a threat warning communist countries not to attack the Middle East, lest they wanted to begin and all out war. The United States also engaged in an Arms Race with the Soviet Union to see who could build the most powerful and destructive weapons and technologies. Brinkmanship was effective in preventing war because neither the United States or the Soviet Union was really prepared to fight yet another war.
The Hawaiian culture is known throughout the western world for their extravagant luaus, beautiful islands, and a language that comes nowhere near being pronounceable to anyone but a Hawaiian. Whenever someone wants to “get away” their first thought is to sit on the beach in Hawai’i with a Mai tai in their hand and watch the sun go down. Haunani-Kay Trask is a native Hawaiian educated on the mainland because it was believed to provide a better education. She questioned the stories of her heritage she heard as a child when she began learning of her ancestors in books at school. Confused by which story was correct, she returned to Hawai’i and discovered that the books of the mainland schools had been all wrong and her heritage was correctly told through the language and teachings of her own people. With her use of pathos and connotative language, Trask does a fine job of defending her argument that the western world destroyed her vibrant Hawaiian culture.
Jovik, Sonia P. and James O. Jovik. (1997). “History.” Atlas of Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p.408.
As reported by several sources, the only Queen of Hawaii, Liliuokalani (1838 – 1917) admired British kingdom very much and she received a present from the Queen Victoria of England: a gold bracelet enameled in ebony with an old English lettering engraved on it. Queen Liliuokalani liked the bracelet so much, that she wore it all the time. Therefore, all Hawaiian jewelers were instructed to learn this technique, what opened the doors for the Hawaiian jewelry
In his book Cold War: The American Crusade against World Communism, James Warren discusses the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, its causes, its consequences, and its future. Warren also analyzes why the United States was so afraid of communism and how this fear controlled both U.S. domestic and foreign policy. In George Washington’s Farewell Address, he warned future leaders to avoid foreign entanglements. However, the United States strayed away from this policy in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. From then on, the United States realized that with its great power came great responsibility. The U.S. felt the responsibility to develop a strategy to combat the spread of world communism, which was viewed as the “Red menace.” The U.S. believed that communism would spread from the Soviet Union, across all of Europe; the U.S. understood that the spread of communism would not be very difficult because the destruction caused by World War II left many nations vulnerable to communism. Also, the Soviet Union had a highly-trained army, a ruthless leader, and a nation committed to Marxist-Leninism, which was a belief that human progress is the destruction of Western democracy and capitalism. The Cold War was a military, diplomatic, economic, and scientific struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. The rivalry between these two nations also affected places such as Korea, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Malaya, and Vietnam. The Cold War controlled many of the crises that occurred the last half of the 20th century. The major conflict of course was the threat of nuclear weapons. Thomas Larson wrote that “the vulnerability to weapons that could destroy entire countries...heightened fears and antagonisms and made th...
Hawaii is a top vacation destination by many tourists all over the world. When Hawaii comes to mind many people and different cultures imagine sandy beaches, warm, blue waters, lush green backdrops, Hula dancers in grass skirts with flowers in their hair and leis around their necks. These visual representations are iconic symbols of Hawaii and of what many have come to define as Hawaiian. These images and ideas painted by the visitor industry most often take place at the expense of the Hawaiians historic culture. These stereotypes conjured up by the tourist indus...
Biography: Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa Kuamanolani Mahinalani Kalaninuiwaiakua Keaweawe‘ulaokalani, also know as Kamehameha the III, was born at Keauhou, Kona on the island of Hawai‘i. Historians speculate that the Kauikeaouli’s birthday was around August 11th. Later in life Kauikeaouli chose March 17th as his birthday after learning about Saint Patrick from an irish friend. The name Kauikeaouli is believed to mean “Placed in Dark Clouds.” His father was Kamehameha the Great, and his mother was Keōpūolani. Both of his parents were very powerful; Keōpūolani was one of the highest ranking aliʻi in the kingdom. Kauikeaouli had two siblings: brother ʻIolani Liholiho
Hawaii’s economy started with trade. The first European trading ships that stopped at Hawaii to trade was in 1786. They were believed to be bringing furs from Oregon to China. However, the economy could not flourish so well without the help of pineapples and sugarcane fields. When the number of sugarcane fields started to increase, many immigrants were attracted because of the high amount of labour required for growing sugarcane. Plantations hired large numbers of Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, and Portuguese. However, the immigrants demanded their own food to be grown as well. This allowed the Chinese to replace poi, a thick gray paste from pounding...
All around the world, there are thousands of cultures. Although they are different, every culture partakes in dance. Dancing is something known worldwide. Every culture has traditional cultural dancing they partake in. Mexico has many cultural dances. La danza del venado is one traditional dance from Northern Mexico. La danza del venado, is known as the deer dance.
“Dance is movement aware of itself. Dance is purposeful movement that employs artful communication to express ideas and feelings, meaning that aesthetic intention is present” (Cornett, 2014, p 394). Art could be anywhere and anything it just needs to have creativity in order to make it unique and beautiful. One simple art form, could speak for a thousand words and convey many significant messages such as the art form of dance. Baile Folklorico is a great example of communicating in a unique and a stunning art form. Baile Folklorico is a folk dance that elaborates different dances, music and costumes to represent a Latin or Mexican culture.
...e" (Trask xix). This incident beautifully illustrates and signifies tourism's impact in American society. Like most Americans, this woman uses a discourse that has been shaped by tourist advertisements and souvenirs. The woman's statement implies that Trask resembles what the tourist industry projects, as if this image created Hawaiian culture. As Trask asserts, Hawaiian culture existed long before tourism and has been exploited by tourism in the form of advertisements and items such as postcards. Along with the violence, endangered environment, and poverty, this exploitation is what the tourist industry does not want to show. However, this is the Hawai'i Haunani-Kay Trask lives in everyday. "This is Hawai'i, once the most fragile and precious of sacred places, now transformed by the American behemoth into a dying land. Only a whispering spirit remains" (Trask 19).
To understand roman architecture one must understand from where the original ideas of what we consider roman. I will demonstrate how roman architecture is a synthesis of greek and etruscan styles and how they managed to survive till today.
When people think of Hawaii, some of the things that comes to mind are the hula dancers, coconuts, surfing, pineapples, and the beautiful weather. This beautiful place holds a lot of history and heritage. It was discovered by Captain James Cook who was the first European to discover Hawaii. This discovery made by James Cook sparked interest in the British government as well as the United States. What led to the annexation of Hawaii had a huge impact on those who inhabited it, and the United States. The annexation of Hawaii is significant because it increased the United States military power, allowed economic gains in Hawaii, and ultimately changed the culture and history of Hawaii.