The faculty and staff of the Department of Theatre and Dance acknowledge Hawaiʻi as an Indigenous space where the descendants of the original people are today identified as Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian). We recognize that it was through coercion, force, and the breaking of formal treaties that this land was illegally seized. In 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani temporarily yielded the Hawaiian Kingdom under duress and protest to the United States to avoid the bloodshed of her people. We also recognize and express gratitude for the generations of Aboriginal Hawaiians and their knowledge systems that have shaped and continue to shape Hawaiʻi in a sustainable way that allows our department to provide instruction and learning today. We acknowledge the history of settler colonialism in Hawaiʻi and support our university’s goal and core principles of becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning.
