Land Acknowledgement

As a settler in Hawai‘i (Moku o Keawe), I acknowledge that I live and work on stolen Kanaka Maoli ‘āina in the Moku of Kohala. I moved from the Bay Area (Ohlone land)¹ in California to Hawai‘i Island with my husband in November 2021. I can trace my maternal Japanese family’s relationship to this ʻāina to the ʻAiea ahapuaʻa in Oʻahu where my great grandparents immigrated to (likely as plantation workers) in 1894 and where my maternal grandparents were both born before they moved to Los Angeles (Tongva land) as young adults.

I recognize that in 1893, under Queen Lili‘uokalani’s rule, the Hawaiian Kingdom was unlawfully overthrown with the support of the US military and that Hawai‘i is still an illegally occupied state of America².
 
I recognize and honor the generations of Kanaka who have protected the water, land and communities across the pae ʻāina sustainably and holistically through Indigenous knowledge and cultural practices despite historical and ongoing harm from colonization, militarism, tourism and racial capitalism.

As part of my commitment to live here as responsibly and respectfully as I can, I am continually educating myself on Hawaiian history, culture, sovereignty efforts and Asian Settler Colonialism and I share what I’m learning with folks in my circles. I participated in Hawai‘i People’s Fund’s Giving Project³ and remain in community with the HPF ‘ohana. My husband and I regularly participate in talk stories on the land at Māhukona and have committed to doing work days there at least quarterly to help steward the ʻāina. Our household contributes annually to HPF and HILT (Hawai‘i Land Trust) and other local organizations. 

I understand that being in solidarity is an ongoing and ever-evolving practice and I seek to continually expand the ways I can be in right relationship with people and place. I also understand that the harms and injustices here are inextricably linked with the harms to and injustices against Indigenous peoples⁴ and marginalized communities across planet Earth (and Mother Earth herself).

Learn more about the issues Hawaiʻi faces:

• Listen to Hawaiʻi People’s Fund’s Hawaiʻi Rising podcast and hear directly from progressive folks on the ground doing the work needed most to help communities here thrive.
• Listen to this insightful podcast episode with Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio from the Finding Our Way Podcast with Prentis Hemphill.
• Read this CNN article on impacts of tourism on Kanaka
• If you want to deepen your understanding of Hawaiian sovereignty and US imperialism, I highly recommend the book From a Native Daughter by Haunani-Kay Trask. No time for a book? Check out her powerful Lovely Hula Hands essay.
• Learn about the specific ways Asians hold racial, political and financial privilege in Hawaiʻi in Asian Settler Colonialism edited by Candace Fujikane and Jonathan Y. Okamura. No time for a book? Here’s an excerpt.

Support

• Donate to and follow Hawaiʻi People’s Fund
• Support HILT (Hawaiʻi Land Trust), an organization that protects the lands that sustain Hawaiʻi, and teaches future generations to do the same.
• Follow Mauna Kea Education and Information and sign their petition against building the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. Watch the short film Standing Above the Clouds on PBS and watch the full-length documentary.
• Support the Lahaina Community Land Trust

1. While living in the Bay Area on Ohlone land, we paid the Shuumi Land tax and I donate whenever I visit the Bay Area ↩︎
2. I have modeled part of my land acknowledgement after the suggested example provided by the The Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa ↩︎
3. You can view my HPF Giving Project fundshifting campaign here ↩︎
4. Visit https://native-land.ca/ to learn about what Indigenous land you’re on and about the Indigenous communities ↩︎