The Colonization of Hawaii and Tourism

In this essay, the author

• Analyzes how haunani-kay trask provides an intimate account of the tourist industry's impact on native hawaiian culture.
• Explains the importance of discourses in a post-colonial setting, such as hawai'i, as they influence social practices and have real consequences and effects.
• Explains how the native hawaiian discourse of tourism began with the emergence of the "haole", or white settler.

• Analyzes how haunani-kay trask provides an intimate account of the tourist industry's impact on native hawaiian culture.
• Explains the importance of discourses in a post-colonial setting, such as hawai'i, as they influence social practices and have real consequences and effects.
• Explains how the native hawaiian discourse of tourism began with the emergence of the "haole", or white settler.
• Explains how the manifest destiny justified the colonization of hawai'i as a right because it was within the "u.s.
• Describes how hawai'i was suppressed by u.s. colonization.
• Analyzes how a popular hawaiian song addressed to queen lili'uokalani was written after hawai'i was annexed by the united states and discloses the hostile attitude natives had towards american colonization.
• Explains that hawai’i's economy is the epitome of pacific island economies. the islands' small land area, isolated geographic location, and vulnerability to disastrous weather make them dependent on foreign aid and development assistance.
• Explains that the european invented "myth of paradise" influenced the tourism industry's development. the myth originated from explorers' visits to tahiti.
• Explains that hawai’i's location made it an easy target for american businessmen and missionaries. the native government built its first hotel in 1871-72 in honolulu.
• Analyzes how the american discourse of the mythical paradise advanced with the appearance of grass skirt, untraditional native attire which came to characterize hawaiian women, and men with a surfboard or canoe.
• Explains that hawai'i has been experiencing "mass" tourism since the 1950s. the economy is growing as gross and personal visitor expenditures have steadily increased.
• Explains that the modern political structure of hawaiian tourism is the creation of colonial "dependency." native hawaiians had little to do with the growth of tourism and the development of the mythical paradise except for the symbols.
• Explains that haunani-kay trask is an accomplished professor, author, poet, and activist. she is a member of ka lahui hawai'i, the native organization for self-government.
• Argues that tourism is a labor intensive industry that relies on low wages. hawai'i has the worst ratio of average family income to average household costs.
• Analyzes how trask defines exploitation as "the prostitution of hawaiian culture," which is an object of degraded and victimized sexual value for use and exchange.
• Analyzes how the tourist industry exploits hawaiian women, language, values, and land. the "hula dance" is a sacred dance, which has lost its significance through competitions and entertainment.
• Explains that hawaiians believe in i ka olelo ke ala, which incorporates spiritual and ancestral power that english cannot convey. aloha is a cultural term and practice used between people and land.
• Explains that hawaiians have a unique value of land. they believe that the "earth mother" and "sky father" created their land, hawai'i.
• Explains that tourists visit hawai'i because of the land's tropical environment. the beaches, lush vegetation, waterfalls, mountains, and volcanoes are enticed by tourism.
• Analyzes the environmental impacts of tourism in hawai'i, including the destruction of natural habitats and ecosystems by dynamite blasting and overfishing.
• Analyzes the pattern of tourism and crime in o'ahu, stating that tourism has been the single most leading factor in the crime rate.
• Explains that a conference in o'ahu in 1989 confirmed the devastation tourism has caused on native hawaiian culture. the conference called for churches to educate the public and resist tourism's aggression.
• Analyzes how trask boldly asks tourists not to visit hawai'i. the native hawaiians' experiences of poverty, crime, land abuse, and exploitation of the tourist industry have created a distinct native discourse of tourism.
• Explains that americans and foreign tourists visit hawai'i because it offers an escape to tropical islands. this discourse represents the economic interests of capitalist societies.
• Explains that capitalism is based on the accumulation of capital and encourages inequality and greed. hawaiian culture places deeper value on land, history, and nature.
• Analyzes how haunani-kay trask resembles what the tourist industry projects, as if this image created hawaiian culture.