This book is a literary analysis of Pele and Hiʻiaka literature from an indigenous, specifically Hawaiian perspective, one inspired by the larger discussions of Indigenous Literary Nationalism by Native American scholars that seeks to add a Hawaiian voice to the conversation. It is also grounded in the Pacific and our continuing efforts within our own Indigenous Studies programs to negotiate our experiences and histories with settler colonialism and the misappropriations of our literatures that have been relegated to the realms of folklore, mythology, ethnography, and the postcolonial. Thus, t ... More

This book is a literary analysis of Pele and Hiʻiaka literature from an indigenous, specifically Hawaiian perspective, one inspired by the larger discussions of Indigenous Literary Nationalism by Native American scholars that seeks to add a Hawaiian voice to the conversation. It is also grounded in the Pacific and our continuing efforts within our own Indigenous Studies programs to negotiate our experiences and histories with settler colonialism and the misappropriations of our literatures that have been relegated to the realms of folklore, mythology, ethnography, and the postcolonial. Thus, this work also seeks to reweave the literary lei of Hawaiian traditions with the voices of our ancestors, unburdened by the often demeaning rhetoric of settler colonialism, articulating an understanding of Hawaiian Literary Nationalism through the analysis of one narrative and the application of complimentary indigenous approaches. Thus, basic questions that underlie this study are: what can an indigenous literary analysis of traditional literature look like? How is it different from what has been previously written within the context of disciplines closely associated with projects of settler colonialism, such as folklore studies, anthropology, and literary studies? What kind of positive effect can the recovery of our indigenous intellectual heritage have in understanding Hawaiian literary nationalism of the past, and its application for Hawaiian nationalism for today and the future?