"Indigenous Peoples... are best capable of, and morally empowered to... the right to tell their own story... It is important for any national or cultural group to have input into the documentation of itʻs history, philosophies, and reality as a basic matter of cultural integrity." 17

As a student under both Hawaiian History + Literature and Cinematic Arts, some semblance of this theory has popped up in one way or another throughout my educational pursuit. I agree that under the context of Moʻolelo ʻŌiwi, kānaka ʻōiwi are the most capable of understanding and conveying their own literature and historical significance. It has, in all honesty, been quite laughable and somewhat frustrating to continuously witness foreign attempts at striking a deeper chord heard only by those with ancestral ties to this ʻāina. Laughable because I can see so evidently their faux intent and yet, frustrating because they continue to succeed with their platforms built on cultural appropriation or misinformation.

This speaks to the resilience of our lāhui after centuries of cultural conflict. The words have been beaten out of us but they couldnʻt take the māna as they say. Iʻll use this foreign tongue but I will impose upon you my resistance just as this language was imposed on my people. Iʻm always inspired by the way Hawaiian writers and poets continue to create new moʻolelo in english while trying to stay as true to Noʻonoʻo Hawaiʻi as possible.

This excerpt stands out to me as someone in both Hawaiian Literature and Cinematic Arts. There is a huge interest in the "Indigenous Aesthetic" with only recent development in the thought and true kaona behind such aesthetics. Now that there are more kānaka in filmmaking, there have been subtle shifts in the representing Hawaiʻi on the screen in her true nature willfully ignored and destroyed by militourism.

It also reminds me of my History of Education in Hawaiʻi class that really recontextualized my understanding of education in Hawaiʻi and how much agency kānaka ʻōiwi truly had in matters regarding their own pursuits of knowledge.