LiC - Joseph Nawahi

I attended the Joseph Nawahi biography viewing that was put on by PBS and with interviews and discussion by Victoria Knuebuhl, Jon Osorio, and Noenoe Silva. I chose to see this film because it seemed like it would be really interesting and because I knew nothing of Joseph Nawahi, nor had I ever heard the name (which is sad considering I've lived in Hawaii my entire life). This film was a typical PBS/A&E type documentary that included somewhat biased interviews with people about the life of Joseph Nawahi and many actual facts. This film really interested me because it was about someone who worked hard to make a difference in the life of Hawaiians during the time when the US was attempting to annex Hawaii.

Joseph Nawahi was a kind man, as described by people who know much about him, was extremely intelligent and somewhat reclusive. He enjoyed doing things such as painting and reading, and was extremely well educated. Even his teachers from his childhood described him as a very intelligent boy. He went to school in Hilo, at a CHristian Missionary boarding school. He married twice, his second wife seeming to be a more significant person in Hawaiian society, because she helped to fight for independence as well. Joseph went through much schooling, learning both Hawaiian and English fluently. He served as a lawyer, published a local newspaper, and a legislator. He took a very active, yet a peaceful role in the fight for Hawaii's independence. He served as the Minister of Foreign affairs to queen Lili`uokalani and also served in the Hawaiian legislature for most of his life, until he was sent to jail and subsequently died of tuberculosis.

Language played a very significant role in the life of Joseph Nawahi, because he was educated in both the old Hawaiian ways as well as the modern American/CHristian ways. There were not many native hawaiians during his time who could fight for their kingdom during this time of political and social turmoil. Because of his education at a Christian school, he was able to help the Hawaiian people appeal intelligently to America. His fluency in Hawaiian also helped him to keep a very close connection to his Hawaiian people. In this sense, it seemed to me that his biggest strength was his ability to appeal to both sides. A hawaiian, who spoke pidgin and was uneducated, obviously wouldn't have been as effective in fighting for their country as Mr. Nawahi was. THis documentary shows how important language acquisition is to communication between nations. Without people such as Mr. Nawahi (who were able to communicate to a broad spectrum of people) Hawaii as a whole would have probably been overtaken by America much earlier than when it actually was. Language is extremely important to cultural understanding and empathy, and Joseph Nawahi was a prime example of someone who used their language acquisition greatly to the advantage of his people.