Keep Hawaii Hawaiian
Hawai'i natives struggle to keep their culture and land
It’s a slice of paradise for some but behind the postcard façade, native Hawaiians have a different story to tell. Theirs is a struggle for land, language and culture, forcibly taken from them by the USA.
Housing prices in Hawai'i were already sky high, but in the midst of the pandemic they exploded as mainland Americans bought up island boltholes. The housing crisis is hitting native Hawaiians hardest, forcing many out of their own homes. ‘The only jobs they provide for people in Hawai’i is tourism jobs which are like servant jobs. It’s like you’re servicing a population, providing them with entertainment and an experience’, says Chris Kahunahana. The state of Hawai'i now has the third highest homeless rate in the USA. This is one of many problems facing native locals who are fighting to ʻKeep Hawai'i Hawaiian’. ‘I try to speak Hawaiian to my daughter as much as I can’, says Pomai. ‘We are a people who don’t abandon the natural laws of our island’, says Kalehua, a headteacher.
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