“America’s” Islands Under Attack: U.S. Destruction, Exploitation and Colonialism
INTRODUCTION —
One of the biggest issues facing the world’s islands today are rising sea levels due to climate change all over the world. The rise of sea levels in Hawai’i and the Marshall Islands could result in the destruction of homes and the erasure of entire islands after being swallowed by the vast ocean. The most obvious cause of climate change and global warming is the emission of gasses into the earth’s atmosphere as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. What may not be so obvious is the reason for rising sea levels that is specific to the Marshall Islands — the detonation of nuclear weapons at their center. Furthermore, the island of Hawai’i may have its policies, culture, and way of life erased long before the sea rises to a dangerous level, stemming from the native’s lack of full sovereignty. Despite any concerns over climate change, Islanders face an even greater threat to their livelihood — the United States.
According to the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, nearly 630,000 people arrived at the island of Hawai’i in May of 2021 (2021). This number is more than 25% lower than May arrivals of the year 2019, pre COVID-19 pandemic. An overwhelming majority of these visitors arrived by airlines from the United States. This trend has resulted in a tourist to resident ratio of 6:1 in Hawai’i (2021). While thousands of ignorant American tourists visit Hawai’i everyday to enjoy a relaxing, care-free tropical vacation, native Hawaiian residents are left to endure the harsh realities of the exploitation and colonization of their home land.
The visitor trends of Hawai’i differ greatly from that of the Marshall Islands of Oceania. This is due, in large part, to the destruction of several islands at the hands of the United States government. After many instances of nuclear and biochemical testing took place in the Marshall Islands, orchestrated by Americans between the years 1948 and 1956, many of the islands have been poisoned and therefore left unlivable.
Just like any culture, Marshallese and Hawaiian literature often reflects the real world issues being faced in one’s own backyard. This is true in the case of several writings by native Marshallese woman, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner in Iep Jaltok: Poems From a Marshallese Daughter. The “History Project” section of Iep Jaltok speaks to the nuclear testing performed in the Marshall Islands. The personal accounts in Kijiner’s poem, Lessons From Hawai’i intensify the history of the United States’ involvement in the destruction of both the Marshall Islands and the Island of Hawai’i. The same can be said for Hawaiian writer Haunani-Kay Trask. In her works such as Women’s Mana and Hawaiian Sovereignty, Trask speaks a bit to the so-called “rights” given to Hawaiians by America, and how they do not allow Hawaiians to control their own affairs. In From a Native Daughter, Trask offers readers a personal account of a native Hawaiian appreciating the beauty and culture of the island for what it is, which is often overlooked by the United States government and its ignorant tourists.
Both the Marshall Islands and the Island of Hawai’i have been colonized, exploited, damaged, and ignored by The United States government and its citizens. Whether it be through the blissful ignorance of tourists, or the “out of sight, out of mind” stance assumed by government. The result is the lack of native representation in Hawai’i and the destruction of homes in Marshall Islands.
BACKGROUND —
The Marshall Islands
The functionality of life on the Marshall Islands was first interrupted in the year 1914 when Japanese military bases were built on it’s soil. While they were first owned by the Japanese government, these bases came into the possession of the United States in the year 1944. The United States government saw the bases on the Marshall Islands to be desolate enough to begin building and testing nuclear weapons on the Enewetak and Bikini Atolls. One of the first hydrogen bombs was tested on the Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands, directed by Major General Percy Clarkson and Dr. Alvin C. Graves. United States government allowed surrounding native Marshallese life to go on as normal, despite the risks they were aware of taking with this Castle Bravo test. They went as far as allowing the children to play in the “snow” caused by the white radioactive fallout. This event would become the single most disastrous radiological event in the history of the United States.
As radioactive testing continued in the Marshall Islands, United States officials began to receive more and more backlash as the Marshallese grew sicker. In a quick attempt to conceal the radiation on the damaged Atolls of the islands, the United States administered the construction of the Runit Dome on the Enewetak Toll. The dome contains the debris and radioactive waste from the copious amounts of testing done during the early 20th century. This is a clear example of America’s often-adopted “out of sight, out of mind” trope. The dome, which locals now refer to as “The Tomb” remains as some of the only efforts by the United States to rectify their actions in the Marshall Islands.
The Island of Hawai’i
Her Majesty Queen Lili‘uokalaniIn took the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai’i in the year 1891. This followed the death of her brother, King Kalakaua. One of the first motions that the queen pushed for the native citizens of Hawai’i was the proposal of a new Constitution that would lend them more rights to their sovereignty. Of course, this upset many white Americans and in the year 1893, the United States illegally annexed the Island of Hawai’i after overthrowing its kingdom. The annexation of the Kingdom of Hawai’i was performed with no probable cause, and from the year 1893 until 1959, Hawai’i became the so-called legal territory of the United States. 1959 marked the year that the Kingdom of Hawai’i officially became the 50th state in America.
After it’s induction into the United States, the Island of Hawai’i began to experience of influx of visitors into its land. While American citizens continued to take advantage of the beauty and blissfulness of the island, native Hawaiians were left to deal with the same issue that Queen Liliuokalani was prevented from resolving — political sovereignty. The Hawai‘i Sovereignty Movement was born out of this issue. The number of failed attempts to become a self-governing Island continues to grow, beginning since before the 1970s. Native Hawaiians remain the only U.S. indigenous group with no political sovereignty, and continue to fight to gain the right.
PERSONAL STORIES —
The Marshall Islands
If the facts themselves were not shocking and heart-wrenching enough to fully understand the magnitude of the vicious acts performed in the Marshall Islands, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner certainly brings some emotion to the issue in Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter. Specifically, her poems “History Project” and “Bursts of Bianca” exemplify what it meant to experience the aftermath of the nuclear destruction of much of the Marshall Islands first hand.
Some of the most captivating lines from Kijiner’s “History Project”:
“At fifteen I decide to do my history project on nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands time to learn my own history (pp. 30)”
“I sift through political jargon… quotes from american leaders like 90,000 people are out there. Who gives a damn (pp. 30)?”
“I glance at a photograph of a boy, peeled skin arms [and] legs suspended (pp.30)”
This graphic and explicit narrative of a young native Marshallese girl describing the horrors experienced by fellow natives serves exactly the purpose that Kijiner intended — to emblematize the damage done at the hand of the United States government and how it has been swept under the rug. The first quote suggests that the young girl had never been taught her own history by a teacher, hence why she works to do so herself. The second quote is indicative of American’s disregard for Marshallese life and well-being, as the large number of victims is written off.
In “Bursts of Bianca”, Kijiner states:
“Most Marshallese can say they’ve mastered the language of cancer. Bianca doesn’t know English and yet she knows what blood cells mean, what bone marrow, catheter and remission therapy means (pp. 30)
This quote is awestriking, as it is an example of the despair and grief that Marshallese children have become subject to. While many Marshallese natives may not know the extent of the English language, they have become familiarized with cancer. This is due to the radiation — caused by U.S. bombs — that has sickened natives with cancer.
The Island of Hawai’i
Haunani-Kay Trask’s writing offer the same effect as Kijiner’s, except in reference to native Hawaiians and their response to colonialism and the prostitution of their culture. Trask’s writings titled From a Native Daughter and Women’s Mana and Hawaiian Sovereignty, she details her personal experience with the colonization of her home land.
In “From a Native Daughter”, Trask states:
“When I was young the story of my people was told twice: once by my parents, then again by my school teachers”(pp. 113)”
“From years of living in a divided world, I knew the historian’s judgment: There is no value in things Hawaiian; all value comes from things haole (pp. 114)”
“A rich historical past became small and ignorant in the hands of Westerners. And we suffered a damaged sense of people and culture because of the distortion (pp. 115)”
The entire text speaks to the Westernized view of what was deemed a “primitive” Hawai’i, pre-colonization. The first of these quotes alludes to the fact that the true version of Hawaiian culture is skewed, a pretty picture to paint in history books. Readers are led to believe that Trask learned the truth from her parents. The term haole, used in the second quote means a non-native (typically white) person. Trask claims that the haole valued only their culture, and no respect for that of Hawaiians. The last quote speaks to the damage done by the haole in reference to modern Hawai’i. A part of their culture seems to be lost because Westerners deemed in miniscule.
In “Women’s Mana and Hawaiian Sovereignty”, Trask states:
“Hawaiians in the isolated North Pacific have been working for nearly thirty years to assert our genealogical claims as the indigenous people of Hawai’i (pp. 87)”
“For us nationalist Hawaiians, the lesson of statehood is a lesson of loss and despair: the loss of land, of self-government, of language; the despair of political powerlessness, of cultural prostitution, of economic exploitation (pp. 89)”
Both of these quotes put the stakes into perspective for Trask and other native Hawaiians. They not only struggle with losing their geographical land, but their self-governance, language, and many aspects of their culture. Trask refers to herself as a nationalist Hawaiian, meaning she hoped for the reclaiming of the birthrights of her native land.
TODAY—
Both the Marshall Islands and the Island of Hawai’i continue to suffer from the impact of Americans and the United States government. Today in the Marshall Islands, most people have abandoned the area in which American officials detonated atomic weapons. The citizens were forced into new homes, and left to deal with their illness alone. Illness caused, of course, by the effects of radiation. Cancer and birth-defects are still prevalent in the Marshall Islands, while the affected area still contains double to amount of livable radiation. The last-ditch-effort Runit Dome built by Americans is still barely concealing the wreckage, having minor leaks every so often. The Marshallese celebrate Remembrance Day on March 2 in honor of victims of nuclear testing.
As for native Hawaiians, there is still no real solution. The fight for political sovereignty continues to rage on, even after the death of Haunani-Kay Trask. The movement continues to grow stronger today, gaining more prominence as nationalist Hawaiians ban together more now, than ever. Unfortunately, native Hawaiians still lack the means and rights to govern themselves as their land is crowded by foreigners.
But hey, there’s always climate change for Islanders to worry about.
Works Cited
Author Barbara Rose Johnston and Brooke Takala. (2016, September 1). Environmental disaster and resilience: The Marshall Islands experience continues to unfold. Cultural Survival. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/environmental-disaster-and-resilience-marshall-islands-0
Author Trask Haunani-Kay. (2000, March 1). Tourism and the prostitution of Hawaiian culture. Cultural Survival. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/tourism-and-prostitution-hawaiian-culture
Author Trask Mililani B. (2000, March 1). Hawaiian sovereignty. Cultural Survival. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/hawaiian-sovereignty
Hawaii Visitor Statistics released for May 2021. Hawaii Tourism Authority. (2021, June 29). Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/news/news-releases/2021/hawaii-visitor-statistics-released-for-may-2021/
Jetn̄il-Kijiner Kathy. (2017). Iep Jāltok: Poems from a Marshallese daughter. The University of Arizona Press.
Lyte, B. (2017, November 5). Native Hawaiians again seek political sovereignty with a new constitution. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/native-hawaiians-again-seek-political-sovereignty-with-a-new-constitution/2017/11/05/833842d2-b905-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html
Marshall Islands. Atomic Heritage Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.atomicheritage.org/location/marshall-islands#:~:text=The%20Marshallese%20have%20lived%20there,turned%20into%20U.S.%20military%20bases.
Network, T. L. (2012, January 17). Jan. 17, 1893 | Hawaiian monarchy overthrown by America-backed businessmen. The New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/jan-17-1893-hawaiian-monarchy-overthrown-by-america-backed-businessmen/#:~:text=In%201898%2C%20the%20United%20States,it%20became%20the%2050th%20state.
Ph.D., K. S. (n.d.). The illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government. NEA. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/illegal-overthrow-hawaiian-kingdom-government
Trask, H.-K. (1999). From a native daughter: Colonialism and sovereignty in Hawaiʻi. University of Hawaiʻi Press.
Trask, H.-K. (2005). From a native daughter: Colonialism and sovereignty in hawai’i. University of Hawai’i Press.
