Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa
Encyclopedia
Lilikala K. Kameeleihiwa is a Hawaii
an historian and director and professor at the University of Hawaii
's Center for Hawaiian Studies. Her earliest work was published under the name of Lilikala L. Dorton.
Trained as a historian, she is also an expert in Hawaiian cultural traditions and in the issues driving the Hawaiian sovereignty movement
. She served as a co-scriptwriter of the 1993 award winning documentary An Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation.
Fluent in the Hawaiian language
, she has served as protocol officer and crew for the double hulled Polynesian voyaging canoes Hōkūlea
and Hawaiiloa, and has written the first year long course in traditional navigation offered at any university in the world. Since 1987, she has written another dozen courses in Hawaiian history, mythology and culture for the Center for Hawaiian Studies.
Currently, she is working on a book on Hawaiian sexuality as reflected in Hawaiian mythology, history, poetry and literature, wherein multiple partners, brother-sister mating, and bisexuality were considered a celebration of life.
", the winner was the producer of a slack-key guitar anthology, Seattle-born Charles Michael Brotman. Kameeleihiwa reportedly told a local television news reporter that the choice of Brotman was a case of "non-Hawaiians honoring a non-Hawaiian for packaging Hawaiian culture". http://starbulletin.com/2005/03/17/features/index3.html
She also criticized the portrayal of Kamehameha the Great
by a non-Hawaiian:
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an historian and director and professor at the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
's Center for Hawaiian Studies. Her earliest work was published under the name of Lilikala L. Dorton.
Trained as a historian, she is also an expert in Hawaiian cultural traditions and in the issues driving the Hawaiian sovereignty movement
Hawaiian sovereignty movement
The Hawaiian sovereignty movement is a political movement seeking some form of sovereignty for Hawai'i. Generally, the movement's focus is on self-determination and self-governance, either for Hawaiʻi as an independent nation, or for people of whole or part native Hawaiian ancestry, or for...
. She served as a co-scriptwriter of the 1993 award winning documentary An Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation.
Fluent in the Hawaiian language
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
, she has served as protocol officer and crew for the double hulled Polynesian voyaging canoes Hōkūlea
Hokulea
Hōkūlea is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a waa kaulua, a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. Launched on 8 March 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, she is best known for her 1976 Hawaii to Tahiti voyage performed with Polynesian navigation techniques, without modern...
and Hawaiiloa, and has written the first year long course in traditional navigation offered at any university in the world. Since 1987, she has written another dozen courses in Hawaiian history, mythology and culture for the Center for Hawaiian Studies.
Currently, she is working on a book on Hawaiian sexuality as reflected in Hawaiian mythology, history, poetry and literature, wherein multiple partners, brother-sister mating, and bisexuality were considered a celebration of life.
Recent activism
In 2005, when for the first time a Grammy was awarded for the separate category "Hawaiian Album of the YearGrammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists from 2005 to 2011 for quality Hawaiian music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of...
", the winner was the producer of a slack-key guitar anthology, Seattle-born Charles Michael Brotman. Kameeleihiwa reportedly told a local television news reporter that the choice of Brotman was a case of "non-Hawaiians honoring a non-Hawaiian for packaging Hawaiian culture". http://starbulletin.com/2005/03/17/features/index3.html
She also criticized the portrayal of Kamehameha the Great
Kamehameha I
Kamehameha I , also known as Kamehameha the Great, conquered the Hawaiian Islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha preserved Hawaii's independence under his rule...
by a non-Hawaiian:
- "I don't want bad relations between Samoans and Hawaiians, and I would like to ask Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to withdraw from doing this role. [Screenwriter] Greg Poirier contacted me about consulting on historical aspects of his script, and I agreed to meet. He paid me, but it was for a two-hour consultation. He's made a lot of headway with that consultation, using it as a stamp of approval. But I told him he is going to have challenges because King Kamehameha is a sacred chief and the intellectual property of the Hawaiian people, and that Hawaiians are outraged that a Samoan is going to play him. Polynesians are not all the same: Are the French and Russians the same? Greg was honest when we met. He said that after he writes the script it will go to the studio and they will do what they want, and he won't be surprised if they change it. I suggested that they may want to get elders from the Samoan community to ask descendants of Kamehameha for permission to tell this story and Greg's response was, 'What if they say no?' I don’t think Hollywood has the right to make this movie. Hawaiians should tell this story."
Books
- Nā Wāhine Kapu (Sacred Hawaiian Women). Honolulu: Ai Pōhaku Press (1999). ISBN 1-883528-11-9
- He Moolelo Kaao o Kamapuaa: The Hawaiian Pig-God. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press (1996). ISBN 0-930897-60-9
- Native Land and Foreign Desires: Pehea Lā E Pono Ai? How Shall We Live in Harmony?. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press (1992). ISBN 0-930897-59-5
- Maui: The Mischief Maker. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press (1991). ISBN 0-930897-53-6