The Little Explorer Podcast: The History of Hawai'i

The podcast episode discusses the history and current issues in Hawaii. It explains that Hawaii used to be its own kingdom with a queen, but the United States gradually took over. Tourism has brought economic benefits but has also caused social and environmental problems. The episode encourages listeners to inform themselves about Hawaiian history and culture and to support local organizations. It also highlights the work of activists like Dr. David Keanu Sai and Kalehua Kruggs in preserving Hawaiian traditions. The episode concludes by recommending reading Hawaiian newspapers and staying engaged with the critical issues facing the community. hi kids welcome to another episode of the little explorer podcast where we unveil and discover new stories and adventures so are you ready for an island adventure this time buckle up because we're gonna go to Hawaii we're crossing the Pacific to this great volcanic archipelago with a great rainforest and multiple stories to be told great so let's start we're going to be looking at the question you guys sent me through social media we're going to start be starting off with Lily's question Lily's asking my friend told me Hawaii used to have a queen what happened to her well really that's a great question Hawaii actually used to be a country of its own and it was called the Hawaiian Kingdom and just like any kingdom it had Kings and Queens the last Queen in the Hawaiian Kingdom had was actually called very similar to you her name was Queen Lily Wakalani nevertheless some businessmen from the United States started making new rules and taking over a bit by bit the Hawaiian Kingdom imagine you have a sandbox and some older kids come to your backyard and you all start sharing your sandbox nevertheless the big kids start little by little pushing you aside and taking over the whole sandbox that's more or less what happened to Hawaii and that same feeling you would feel that's how native Hawaiians feel about the United States although it is important to acknowledge this side of history we can also look at the brightest things within this historical narrative which are the great cultural exchange that these two countries managed to have sort of like surfing who doesn't love surfing nowadays so just in a way a little bit more into the present Kai is asking us or well he's commenting us how much he loves Hawaii so Kai wrote I love going to the beaches and the hotels in Hawaii they're so fun I can't believe there are people that actually live there all year round they're so lucky I agree with you Kai they're very very lucky to live under the bright Sun and the beaches nevertheless there is this other side of sunny beaches and big hotels and luxurious swimming pools that we need to address so here it is okay so ever since Hawaii became a state within the United States there has been a lot of tourism and everybody wants to see this great island that is Hawaii and well no one can judge them and actually people want to invest in that tourism so big businessmen have just conquered the whole island and built big hotels roads attractions for people to go and explore and just enjoy the island in itself this is great and honestly economically it's also good it gives the area money which is ultimately good right guys well yes and no so this gives money to the big rich businessman and sort of leaves out part of the native Hawaiian community which is ultimately the ones who own the territory so we must keep that in mind whenever we visit Hawaii or this paradise locations that we absolutely love we need to see what's behind that sort of image of paradise and question ourselves if this is good for the local community so in the case of Hawaii very sadly some of the community of some of the community is having a bit of trouble economically and have been put aside by most of the society that has installed itself in Hawaii so it has this has not only social impact but also environmentally Hawaii has suffered a lot so we can see this through the example of different parts of the archipelago sort of like Kaho'olawe one of the islands near Honolulu which has been used as what was used by the military as military outpost so they used to train there which is great you know military has to train but it was also just destroying the island in itself and the animals and all of the plants that live there which are very very important for Hawaiian culture because Kaho'olawe is a sacred island for these native communities so here again we need to be mindful of our environment and just question a little bit more what our actions are so thanks to the work and very important activism of different Hawaiians Kaho'olawe is now back to the community and it's being restored you can actually go and visit it from time to time and do some work there you can plant and help the native environment being rewilded in Kaho'olawe which is great great so since we're talking about giving back to Hawaii and Hawaiians and its environment Kira here is asking how can we help out Hawaii well Kira there's multiple ways you can help and well my two favorite and mostly the most basic ones are just to inform yourself and just start getting off with the local community look up different nonprofit organizations and just start yeah engaging so for this I'm going to be talking about two of my favorite activists from Hawaii which are Dr. David Kanesai who has a PhD on Hawaiian history and has a great work all around what involves the relationship that Hawaii and the United States and different big powers have had with the territory of Hawaii furthermore I would like to discuss the work of Kalehua Kruggs who is a school principal and works at different universities around Hawaii and he's very engaged with bringing back Hawaiian language so let's talk about their work a bit more okay so Kianusai has done multiple articles written more multiple articles and books around the topic of the Hawaiian Kingdom and its sovereignty also the international relations that the Hawaiian Kingdom had and well most importantly the role that the US has had within the territory not only at a cultural level but also at a political and environmental level furthermore he has participated in multiple conventions in order to spread knowledge and awareness about this topic and even more impressively he participated at the AG convention at the permanent court of arbitration in the Netherlands in February 2000 from 1999 so from 1999 to 2001 where he advocated for the sovereignty of Hawaiian Kingdom of the Hawaiian Kingdom and he actually won the case but it's been a bit complicated on the impact of that specific convention furthermore we can talk also about the local effects so Dr. Kianusai has had a very international impact and has spread around a lot of knowledge and if we look a little bit more into what Kalehua Kruggs has done he's more focused on the revival of Hawaiian tradition within the local communities and well here it goes he's had a great impact in his local community he is a school principal and he aims to be bringing bringing back traditions, language, practices that native Hawaiians have forgotten due to the arrival of the US into the territory so this is my favorite message that when we're activists political activists we don't forcefully have to be adults children here are a big part of his project and they're actually not a big part they're the essential and key part of his project since kids are the ones reviving their own culture. Leaving you guys on this note there is also multiple newspapers that you can read from Hawaii and you can read them with your parents one of them is Kawai Ola and they publish a lot of topics and they're very aware of their local community and the critical issues that impact not only Hawaiians but also the community at a wider range so yes there's multiple ways to engage here. So here's a little sum up of today's episode we saw how are in history from the perspective of Hawaiians which is key to understanding what's happening in Hawaii today with mass terrorism and a certain sort of misuse of nature and furthermore we saw how we can engage with this and help out the local community in Hawaii. Hope you enjoyed today's episode and you learned as much as I did I really enjoyed the reading you guys's questions and hope to see you on the next episode. Bye!