Simply Shekinah

Since its establishment as a state in 1959, the indigenous population of Hawaii has battled those not native to the land for the preservation of their cultural identity, ethnic identity and indigenous land. This video is a product of a textual analysis I conducted of the local news coverage by West Hawaii Today. The concept of expansionism is in reference to the movement, migration, different forms of outnumbering, and the appropriation of Native positionality through commercialized development. Specifically, I will focus on the power of expansionism as the exertion of power from the local government system in Hawai’i to conform Hawaiian land into capitalist developments, despite the cultural value of the land. West Hawaii Today’s heavy focus on governmental officials as a source, versus the inclusion of indigenous Hawaiians in regards to the issues of expansionism, acknowledges a hierarchy, diminishing the voice of the Hawaiians, supporting the government’s projects regarding expansion.