March 24

History Workshop: Prof. Noelani Arista

How the Archives are Transforming the Writing of Hawaiian History
“Waihona Palapala Kahiko: Research in a Time of Plenty”
Friday, March 24
2:30 – 4:00 PM
Sakamaki Hall A-201, History Department Seminar Room

The idea for this talk began with a conversation I had with one of my colleagues who offered to give me comments on my essay, “Ka Waihona Palapala Manaleo: Research in a time of Plenty.” After reading it he basically said, “You are telling people they have to be able to read the ʻarchives.’ Thatʻs not even an argument.” The aftershocks of colonialism supply our history a kind of urgency. Many kanaka maoli scholars are attempting to articulate this urgency by substituting this idea of “kuleana,” but kuleana or responsibility for what settler colonists did to our ʻāina, language, culture and people is something we cannot shoulder. My talk will address how our work is larger than being a cheerleader for a set of papers written in a native language. I will discuss the methods and approaches that shape my practice as a historian, that arose from my interaction with the oral now written and published word, and from my work as a working translator and writer.

Image Source: Prof. Noelani Arista