Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm not surprised, a tourist recently insulted our culture by telling me that Hawaii doesn't have any important history aside from Pearl Harbor. While this upset me, I was curious if this ignorance was mainstream on the mainland. I don't expect many to know much (every state has its own interesting history and it would be difficult to teach children everywhere all of the states individual history). Another odd unrelated reason was that I hear they are trying to work on a film on King Kamehameha for nation-wide release (united the Hawaiian islands). I was curious if anyone on the mainland would know who he was or would care about the story of Hawaii.
Now you see the type of tourist who paved the way for me not to visit. Yes, that sort of ignorance is mainstream on the mainland. However, don't feel like your area's history was singled out for special ignoration. We're ignorant about most history and culture, even our own. As for Hawaii's, the best understanding will naturally be found on the West Coast and in Salt Lake, the regions where one is most likely to meet folks from Hawaii and learn something. In my case, I went to a university in Seattle with a significant Hawaiian presence, so I was exposed to a bit more of its various cultures.
I would care about King Kamehameha and the history of Hawaii (as I guess I made obvious by knowing at least a little of it). The answer to that question is no, most wouldn't know who he was (or would really offend you by cracking that he was a 'big kahuna, huh huh huh'), and most wouldn't care. What you'll get here will not be at all representative because no one posts here except those with a strong interest in history of some sort. We are a very small minority nationwide.
I don't recall being taught anything except that the Hawaiians are now a part of our big happy USA family and daily thank the European Christian God for shining so favorably on them. The rest of the tragic and humiliating story I found out for myself later on.
I was taught that everybody ridiculed Seward when we bought Alaska cheap from the stupid Russians, but never a word about how we stole Hawaii. The whole Philippine adventure was so shameful and hard to disguise, that there was no mention of that at all.
I'm just curious what children in the mainland United States are taught about Hawaiian history in your average public schools. I realize that many people here are history buffs and know a lot aboutt lots of different regions, but I just want to know what your average American knows about Hawaiian History...
In school we learned that Hawaii was admitted to the union in 1959 and that it was where Pearl Harbor was. Other than that, we didn't know anything about it. They didn't even teach us about the monarchy.
Slick, you could always post a series of essays here on Hawaiian history. People would read and appreciate them here. Of particular interest would be the unique issues involved with subsistence and commercial agriculture in the islands, which invasive species have impacted the islands most, the various ethnic waves that have become part of a diverse landscape, the sordid WWII internment of Issei and Nisei, how native Hawaiian culture diverged from its mother Polynesian culture and was shaped by the voyagers' new homeland, the proper meanings of Hawaiian terms misused on the mainland and the history behind them, how you at least escaped having your islands officially named something we end up having for lunch in a deli, the leper colony on (Maui? Molokai?), and so on. I'm as prone to curse the darkness as anyone, but even as I do, I realize it'd be doing more good if I lit a candle.
Kalaupapa, Molokai. It's a wonderful if not sad place to visit. There are still a handful of people suffering from Hansen's Disease (no longer called leprosy) living there in the settlement today.
King Kamehameha and Queen Liluokani (not sure of the spelling on that one). Was first a territory or possession of the United States in the 1800's, as I recall. How can I put this? One of the driving forces with making it a territory was pineapple exporters, the agricultural industry...
It's the story of another culture that was doomed to never advance because of superstition. After being discovered by Captain Cook, the evil americans snooped around and denied the glory of what they saw when brother and sister get married and smash their retarded babies with a rock. So then the US sent those horrible missionaries to teach them christianity and such and they were very bad for trying to make money at the same time. Later the kind and compassionate japanese tried to free the people and bathe them in sushi and gold but America won and forced them to become a state in 1959. The island was then ran by Steve McGarret and Thomas Magnum from the 60's to now.
Last edited by mofford; 12-02-2009 at 06:03 PM..
Reason: education
As I recall, the only things ever mentioned about Hawaii when I was in school were the fact that it was our 50th state, and the site of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Everything else about its history I learned by doing my own research.
The Island was then ran by Steve McGarret and Thomas Magnum from the 60's to now.
Bwhahahaha!!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
