From top, Kaimana Gomes (seated in chair), Nikki-Mae Chun and Autumn Akiu participate in the Ka 'Ōpio Kiakahi program in the Winona K. Rubin Children's Room at the Alu Like library in Kaka'ako, O'ahu. Photo: Kalehua Mueller, courtesy Alu Like.

Librarians lead effort to
protect native knowledge

Partnerships between Hawaiians and
American Indians bolster preservation

By Liza Simon / Ka Wai Ola Loa

Sometimes it's not so much what you know, but how you get to know it. Context of knowledge, in short, matters, especially for native peoples who for centuries learned about their world via a rich oral heritage long before westerners arrived on the scene with the written page as the chosen means for transmitting knowledge.

In recognition of this, some Native Hawaiian library professionals have begun to plan the first-ever organization to support a repository of Kanaka Maoli language and literature, which will make knowledge available in a meaningful cultural context.

Keikilani Meyer, interim director of the Native Hawaiian Library at Alu Like, Inc., said the group is concerned that Hawaiian 'ike becomes less meaningful when it is adapted into non-cultural framework. She cited, for example, a recent display of the Native Hawaiian Kingdom seal at the Hawai'i State Archives. "It was locked away in a case out of view and out of touch with our Hawaiian community. This does not offer Hawaiian knowledge which is very practical hands-on.

"More and more, Hawaiians are faced with concerns about who controls and benefits from presentations of our knowledge," said Meyer, who reports that Native Hawaiian library workers are formulating a new plan to ensure that Hawaiian cultural narratives and artifacts are interpreted or presented as their native authors intended and not through the lens of an outsider's agenda.

The growing prospect of Congress passing the Akaka Bill is also motivating the librarians in their new effort, Meyer noted. "As we look forward to political self-determination, we also need to look at determining access and decision-making when it comes to our 'ike."

The new organization will boost support for kahu 'ike 'ōiwi—stewards of native knowledge, said Kamehameha Schools Librarian Kawika Makanani. "We already have a body of Native Hawaiians librarians and archivists who are skilled in preserving and making traditional knowledge available in a culturally appropriate way," said Makanani. He encourages library professionals of Native Hawaiian ancestry to get involved in the planning stages of the new group. Makanani can be reached at kamakana@live.com.

In a midst of a recession that has forced the nation's public libraries to struggle to retain staff and open hours, Makanani and Meyer say that library shelves with volumes of Native Hawaiian continue to expand.

Beginning in the 1970s, the Hawaiian cultural renaissance ushered in a surge of Native Hawaiian-authored publications and the revival of 'ōlelo Hawai'i. Since opening in 1985, Alu Like Inc.'s Native Hawaiian Library has made these materials available in its Honolulu location and four satellite facilities and now incorporates the OHA-funded Ulukau, a digitized on-line repository of 'ike available in English and 'ōlelo Hawai'i. (Click here for Ulukau article)

Despite the growth spurt, library sources of Native Hawaiian 'ike have never been supported by an umbrella organization, said Meyer. She said something akin to the American Indian Library Association (AILA) would improve Native Hawaiians chances of raising funds for projects such as the digitizing of archival material for use by the next generation.

Native Hawaiian librarians are meeting with their counterparts in native groups on the U.S. continent at this month's National Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums Conference in Portland, Oregon. Meyer is attending the annual gathering, sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a major funder of Alu Like's Native Hawaiian Library.

The need to re-claim native knowledge from outsiders' distortions is a persistent theme for native populations throughout the globe, said Malissa Minthorn, a member of the Cayuse tribe in Pendleton, Oregon, where she also works as an organizer of the annual conference.

"Native Hawaiians share a lot of issues with our American Indian tribes as a result of experiencing loss of language. Most of our histories have been written about us by outsiders, and we have been working to change this," said Minthorn.

Many American Indian tribes are racing against time to keep alive some of the hundreds of American Indian languages, a prime vehicle of native culture, only very recently transposed on paper phonetically by non-natives, said Minthorn. "In some instances, only a few dozen native speakers are left. Our elders are passing on and we can't wait for our young people to return with college degrees to help out."

Nevertheless, Minthorn said American Indian libraries and museums have been able to come to the rescue. "In many instances, economic success from gaming has enabled tribes to build these institutions, hire linguistic experts and preserve culture that would otherwise be lost."

Before departing for the Portland conference, Keikilani Meyer said that she expected to network with native organizations that could serve as models for the new Native Hawaiian effort to protect and preserve the future of 'ike Hawai'i. She also had plans to share samples of Native Hawaiian literature in English and 'ōlelo Hawai'i.

"(American Indian librarians) have seen the revival of the Hawaiian language and we are inspired by it," said Minthorn.