The Pacific Island Fight Against Eurocentric Hegemony by Joseph Kohlhase of Auckland, New Zealand

The Pacific Island Fight Against Eurocentric Hegemony 

Joseph Kohlhase

Auckland, New Zealand

Hegemony is defined as: leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others, especially among smaller nations, through aggression or expansionism. Hegemony is rooted in ideology and is achieved through those in power who institute and influence the values, norms, ideas, expectations, worldview, and behaviors of their society to reflect the majority and dominant culture. Moving to America from New Zealand three years ago, I have been able to see firsthand the dogma that cultural hegemony breeds. Whilst I have not seen the extremes that many individuals face on a daily basis, I have been subjected to the expectation that my worldly beliefs are wrong, and that I must change the way I dress, speak and act to fit American Eurocentric standards. Although there is hegemonic influence in New Zealand, moving to the United States, opened my eyes wider to the everyday adversities that non-dominant cultural groups must face. ‘Eurocentric culture’ (a tendency to interpret the world in terms of European or Anglo-American values and experiences) is the reality for Hawaiʻian, Pasifika and Maori citizens who currently live in both the United States and New Zealand. Promotion of voice, education, history and cultural identity are the keys to transform the social Eurocentric constructs that these proud people and cultures are currently bound to. Raising awareness to the Eurocentric hegemony that is plaguing indigenous groups can give opportunities for growth, and acceptance of indigenous culture provides improved learning and health, increased tolerance, and opportunities to come together with others. 

Hegemony is a virus that has plagued indigenous people for many centuries. Hegemonic influence can be observed through ethnocentric language influences that dominate and slowly kill the cultural power of proud peoples. In Hawaii, this dominance is clearly displayed through the governmental and societal strangle on language by the weeding out of indigenous language,  Ōlelo Hawaiʻi and the multi-cultural amalgamation of Hawaiʻian Pidgin. There have been generations of speakers lost to both languages due to the enforcement of achieving and insistence on the use of “proper” English. 

In our class Literature of Hawaiʻi & the Pacific, we were assigned to read and select a story from the  Hawaii Review(http://hawaiireview.org/), I chose to look at and read the multilingual pieces I found on the site for a few reasons. Being from a multicultural background and hearing how language was lost in my family’s previous generations, due to social fear; it is a close understanding that there is a necessity to keep indigenous language alive and thriving. Multilingualism shows a respect for past generations whilst adapting to the current circumstances that the speaker or writer is in. The ability to speak to and understand different cultural and social viewpoints are vital for the development of people battling the ideology and dogma of hegemony. 

In Mālama nā Leo a Kuʻua nā ʻŌlelo: Hānai-ing a Native Hawaiʻian Creative Writing Curriculum,  Brandy Nālani McDougall, notes that understanding and acknowledging the role that colonization and hegemony has on educational curriculums in language development must be altered as the impact on the Native Hawaiʻian student is deeply concerning. As noted in the article, the battle against hegemony can be continued through the Native Hawaiʻian creative writing model, promoting cultural values and memory whilst developing the skills of the student. Being able to use your language and share history that is not Eurocentric is essential to the fight against hegemony. Listening to Living Moʻolelo: Brandy Nālani McDougall at TEDxManoa (https://youtu.be/K69_kuqBiX8) delivered a multilingual talk, mixing in Ōlelo Hawaiʻi into her presentation on the dispossession of Hawaiʻian culture and language, acknowledging the two different sides of history and the power that white society has over the Hawaiʻian people. She states that for Hawaiʻian culture to live on, the Hawaiʻian stories and history must be told and passed on, also expressing on how to internalize and enact damaging stories that were told by Europeans that were meant to shame and keep Hawaiʻians subordinate. A classic example of hegemony. Living Moʻolelo gives power to Hawaiʻians through the strength of Hawaiʻian, culture, language and history, fighting against oppressive Eurocentric hegemony. 

Language is the basis of culture, they are intertwined. The notion that “Language is culture and culture is language” is a direct representation of how heavily Pacific Island people rely on language to express their history and stories from the oral tradition of their past. Language is paramount to reduce the Eurocentric influences that dictate societal values, norms, ideals, expectations, worldview, and behavior related to hegemonic control. An example of this is in the story written by Gary Pak, “Language of the Geckos,” where fragments of old newspapers printed in Ōlelo Hawaiʻi, start to float up and swirl from the bottom of small lake that has formed in front of protagonist, Gabriel’s family home during a heavy rainstorm. The imagery of the fragments rising up in the murky lake are symbolic of how Hawaiʻian culture has been so disrupted that it must be gathered back from its dark history and put together piece meal. One facet of the gravity of work that still lays ahead in reclaiming the loss of cultural knowledge and history is illustrated in the Ted Talk “Hawaiʻi’s Legacy of Literature” (https://youtu.be/qx44JMlkxyk ) where the presenter, Pukea Noglemeier illustrates the exceptional legacy of publication, readership and distribution of Native Hawaiʻian newspapers. Nogelmeier’s talk features an archive discovered recently, a “lost library,” that has yet to be translated. Pak’s, Language of the Geckos is symbolic of reconciliation with the legacy of Hawaiʻian spiritually, their ancestors and reclamation of their culture. The “Lost Library,” is a trove of lost history and culture that has yet to be revealed and will further and deepen reclamation of what was disrupted.  

Pidgin English is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a simplified speech used for communication between people with different languages”. In Geckos, the protagonist Gabriel, uses Pidgin. We are meant to understand that the use of Pidgin is for at home and with family affirming the assimilative demands of monolingualism. This alludes to and also reaffirms the symbolism of the fragmented newspapers, with the Native Hawaiʻian language being banned from printing for decades. Native Hawaiʻians were subjected to a language ban that contributed to and continues to the breakdown and loss of Native Hawaiʻian culture and language. 

This form of oppressive monolingualism that was imposed by the United States government, as talked about in the TEDxManoa “Moʻolelo Refigured, Developing a new Hawaiʻian History Textbook,” featuring Umi Perkins, discusses the history of cultural and familial losses that are touched upon in Pak’s Geckos. The ability to keep language alive and pass it on through the generations are vital for the survival and growth for the entirety of Pacific Island cultures, in order to be able to write and communicate about the negative impacts hegemony and colonialism have exacted on indigenous cultures and peoples. It is necessary for future generations to understand the commitment to keeping the Native Hawaiʻian culture and all Pacific Island cultures alive and safe against attacks that could result in cultural genocide. 

Language is the main form of human interaction with our environment. Words preserve stories, traditions, culture and identity. Indigenous languages ​​represent the legacy of our forefathers. Our obligation is to cultivate the language because when an indigenous language disappears, the indigenous traditional knowledge of stories, legends, songs, values, myths, prayers also disappears. 

The prevention of Pidgin being accepted in schooling systems, reflects the ideological view that Pidgin is a crass dialect reserved for the uneducated and should be relegated to informal settings. This has been a long-standing view, and the Hawaiʻian State Board of Education even sought to outlaw Pidgin in schools in the late 1980s. Educators and administrators believe that by allowing it in schools, it weakens kids’ prospects in a globalized workforce. The use of Pidgin is blamed for weak testing scores rather than the lack of integrated curriculums. In the short story da word by Lee A. Tonouchi, he gives us a glimpse of the experience of fourth grade student, Barry, who uses Pidgin as his main form of language and the teacher and system that tries to oppress its use. 

“Barry, how many times must I tell you? You musn’t write like how you speak.” "Hah?" Barry's head jerked back. "Who can tell the class what is wrong with Barry's witing?, "Oh, Barry, he da kine. He stay abundantly writing in one freestyle kine manner using, I mean utilizing, large quantities of informal neologisms, ah?” Mits attempted trying fo’ incorporate as many of da new coconut-kine vocabulary words he could remembah into that one response. "The problem is that both Barry AND Mits use too many colloquialisms”, Laurie volunteered. Laurie being a mainland student from Oregon, "That was an excellent response Laurie. You speak very well” the teacher responds (p. 11). The writing of Tonouchi reinforces a long grassroots effort to break constructs and celebrate the language in an effort to encourage educators to integrate it into their teaching, potentially elevating the achievement of Pidgin-speaking students. Campaigners of Pidgin should continue to encourage teachers and educational policymakers to incorporate Pidgin into classrooms, connecting all students to their Hawaiʻian culture and opening from monolingualism to multilingualism in the classroom which improves language aptitude. The hegemonic structure in society gives educational boards permission to treat the Pidgin speakers as inferior because of their inability to recognize the value and critical importance of  the Pidgin form of language. By incorporating protocols that promote Pidgin, the corrosive forces of assimilation and hegemony can be greatly reduced.  

"Definition Of PIDGIN". Merriam-Webster.Com, 2020, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pidgin. 

Hawaii’s Legacy of Literature (15:56) : https://youtu.be/qx44JMlkxyk

McDougall, Brandy Nālani. Mālama nā Leo a Kuʻua nā ʻŌlelo: Hānai-ing A Native Hawaiian Creative Writing Curriculum 

Moolelo Refigured, Developing a new Hawaiian History Textbook (15:08), Umi Perkins: https://youtu.be/TVsk1O8KMBI

Newsroom.co.nz, Melanie Reid of. “New Zealand's Own 'Stolen Generation': The Babies Taken by Oranga Tamariki.” Stuff, 12 June 2019, www.stuff.co.nz/national/113395638/new-zealands-own-stolen-generation-the-babies-taken-by-oranga-tamariki. 

Pak, Gary. Language of the Gecko’s

Tonouchi, Lee A. “Da Word”

TedX:Ola (i) Na Moolelo, Living Moolelo Brandy Nālani McDougall:

https://youtu.be/K69_kuqBiX8