Responsibility of heritage

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September 2, 2009

By ANDY GOODELL The Oskaloosa Herald Wed Sep 02, 2009, 09:36 AM CDT

OSKALOOSA — How does one get by in the information age?

William Penn University fall convocation speaker Jan E. Hanohano Dill said it’s all about having a cultural center while speaking to students at George Daily Auditorium Tuesday.

Dill began by noting that, despite all the information at people’s fingertips thanks to technology, there is a lack of “wisdom” going around modern society.

“We’re still here making mistakes,” said Dill. “We’re still here acting stupid. We’re still here taking advantage of people and marginalizing those that we should be honoring.”

A clear example of this can be found in Dill’s own people.

Dill recalled the most pivotal points in Hawaii’s history including the cultural downfall of its native people over the past century or so.

“For hundreds of years, Hawaiians sustained it and maintained it and developed a peaceful system of government,” said Dill. “In the last hundred years, the Hawaiian people have really been decimated both physically and socially.”

This cultural disconnect serves as a warning to all people, said Dill. He stressed the importance of knowing where you come from to achieve success in life. This is the only way to survive in a world of endless information via the media and Internet, he said.

“You cannot be something you’re not,” said Dill sternly. “We are not here alone. We come with all our ancestors, all their perspectives all of their values. With that comes a responsibility.”

From 1778 to 1920, the population of Native Hawaiians in Hawaii dropped from almost 800,000 to around 20,000, said Dill. Diseases from European settlers, for which Native Hawaiians had no natural immunity, played a large part in this, Dill noted. He said outside cultural influence served to “fracture” that of his people.

However, Dill went on to say that, by 1820, Native Hawaiians began to find what he called the “true God” after voluntarily turning away from their old gods. He said that in 1819 it was prophesied that the word of God would arrive in a black box the following spring. Missionaries arrived in April of 1820 with a black box containing the Christian Bible.

Not only did this provide Native Hawaiians with a new faith, it also allowed them to write down the history of their people after becoming literate because of the Bible.

“From 1820 on, the Hawaiian people became the most Christian people,” he said. “We did something marvelous for indigenous people. We are the second largest indigenous group in the United States after the Navajo and we were the first to have our own written language.”

Articles, books, journals and newspaper stories written in the 1830s through the 1850s where then able to capture the history of Native Hawaiians, said Dill. This gave them a wealth of information about the culture from which they came before European contact.

With this information being stored on computers over the past decade or so, Dill said there is great hope for the future of his people.

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City Editor Andy Goodell can be reached at news2@oskyherald.com

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