This talk offers an overview of the fraught politics of contemporary Hawaiian sovereignty claims with a focus on the contestation over indigeneity and independent statehood. The Hawaiian case is particularly instructive for showing both the possibilities and limitations of indigenous practices within and against U.S. settler colonialism and imperialism. Exploring the ways Hawai'I is apprehended within conflicting paradigms for comprehending its hybrid status - simply seen as the 50th state under the domestic jurisdiction of the U.S. government. As an occupied independent kingdom, and as the homeland of an indigenous people who are supposedly awaiting U.S. recognition as a native Hawaiian governing entity - the lecture advances a critique of statist nationalism.
All are welcome.
Sponsored by the Department of American Studies.
Originally published at americanstudies.nd.edu.