6 - The Hawaiian Situation: An Overview of Hawaii's People, Politics, Religion, Spirituality, and Culture, Yesterday and Today

Summary

Introduction

This paper addresses the following questions: (a) what is happening to the indigenous Hawaii community, and (b) what is the role of spirituality or religion in the situation of the indigenous Hawaii community. Before the foregoing specific questions are answered, an overview about Hawaii will be provided. Section 2 will cover background and historical information and sections 3 to 6 will cover the specific topic and current conditions of the indigenous population of Hawaii.

Hawaii: An Overview

Hawaiian Oral Tradition

In ancient Hawaii, the Hawaiian people had no written language. However, down through the centuries, they composed rhythmic oral chants to preserve their history, myths, and legends and passed them down from generation to generation. Through these means, ancient knowledge of the birth of the Hawaiian Islands has survived to the present.

There is an old genealogical chant known as the Kumulipo that tells the Hawaiian story of creation. It describes how the world and everything in it came to be. The chant traces the genealogy of the ruling chiefs back through the ages to the first spark of life in the universe.