More Research And Transcribing

Lately I have been reading the book, Shoal Of Time: A History Of The Hawaiian Islands by Gavan Daws. This is a great book that is easy to read. But at the same time it is heavy and packed with information. Retaining it all is impossible. I am starting to make connections with my interviews and research. What I find the most intriguing is the consistent desire through out history for native Hawaiians to have a progressive and integrative relationship with the rest of the world. When King Kamehameha the first ruled he worked toward unifying the islands and preparing them for a broad world view. He traded with all sorts of merchants from all over the globe, at the same time being true to his ancient traditions. Daws writes, "With all this traffic back and forth Honolulu produced some strange juxtapositions of old and new. Kamehameha lounged in all but naked outside a European house being built for him. Native chiefs had Western names tattooed on their arms.... The American traders held Fourth of July celebrations with rickets and fireworks in the royal yam patch," (pg 48). Its very interesting to see a society that has been isolated from the Western World for hundreds of years, embrace it while holding true to their own ideologies. Many interesting coincidences took place through out Hawaiian history to prepare for the integration of the two societies. One example of this was the doing away with the ancient kapu system that Hawaiians lived by. In Pre-European times, Hawaiians had different kapus or taboos that were strictly enforced by Hawaiian priests known as Kapunas. One kapu was that men and women were forbidden to eat with each other. After king Kamehameha the first died, his wife Queen Kaahumanu challenged this kapu by persuading Kamehameha the first's son, Liholiho the new king, to dine with her. After doing so, the entire religious system was broken. Priests no longer had the same authority. The women's role in society took a complete 180 degree turn, and idols and temples all over the islands were destroyed. The Hawaiian islands were without a national religion. Within just a few months of this happening the Protestant missionaries arrived. Naturally, the general population of Hawaii embraced Christianity with great enthusiasm. Unfortunately the diplomatic hospitality of the native Hawaiian's was abused by secular and non-secular foreigners alike.
What is fascinating to me is the progressiveness of the society, but at the same time their ability to preserve their traditions. This is spoken of in the two interviews that I have done so far. Both narrators talk about using modern technologies in a culturally minded way. Mike Nahoopi'i used the example of building houses out of modern resources while using traditional chants and blessings during the building process. This could be described as living in a modern world with a native mindset so to speak.
I have finished transcribing my second interview. This interview is filled with thoughts and ideas on culture and tradition. I hope you enjoy it.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg48z7r4_12dds74wht