Collection offers variety of Pacific views

Review by Misty-Lynn Sanico
Special to the Star-Advertiser

For generations, peoples of the Pacific have observed the movement of the stars and sea, collecting this knowledge and passing it down so that the principles of wayfinding not only enabled them to navigate the vast ocean, but also informed a core set of values that guided them through life.

In a similar vein, the anthology "Huihui: Navigating Art and Literature in the Pacific" collects essays, poetry and short fiction that explore the interconnections between Pacific rhetorical and aesthetic currents. In a modern world inundated by media, "Huihui" attempts to set a framework for "reading, writing, and seeing through a Pacific or Oceanic lens," asking us to observe and pass down.

Just as navigators take their bearings from the stars, the academic essays in this book argue the need for a literature that honors indigenous rhetoric. And much as navigators interpret the direction of currents and the heartbeat of waves, the poems and literary prose in this book give motion and urgency to surges of colonized discontent.

In essays such as "Stealing the Piko: (Re)placing Kanaka Maoli at Disney’s Aulani Resort," by Brandy Nalani McDougall and Georganne Nordstrom, as well as Lisa King’s "Sovereignty Out From Under Glass? Native Hawaiian Rhetorics at the Bishop Museum," we witness colonization of history and appropriation of culture happening in ways we’ve been conditioned to overlook and in places or forms we normally wouldn’t consider. The authors urge criticism and analysis of media and institutions that fetter indigenous peoples’ rhetorical and aesthetic sovereignty.

Literary pieces include Craig Santos Perez’s personal essay, "I lina’la’ Tataotao Ta’lo," about the cost of colonial militarism and the recognition of fallen Cha­morro soldiers. In his poem "Tiki Manifesto," Dan Taulapapa McMullin captures the sadness of stolen identity through the commodification of kii in popular tiki culture, with tiki mugs in tiki bars all over the world perpetuating a warped reflection and denigrated image of all Pacific peoples. Albert Wendt, celebrated novelist, educator and advocate of Pacific literature, is also included with his short story "First Class," about the complex role academia plays in shaping and reflecting place and culture.

While largely academic, "Huihui" offers plenty for general readers in the perspectives of 25 contributors from nations across the Pacific. Each piece in its own way challenges colonial indoctrination. Each is a star by which Pacific peoples can start their own journeys, taking ownership of their stories and creating their own unique content. "Huihui" is about finding one’s own way without a Western map or the need for one.

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Misty-Lynn Sanico is an editor of hawaiibookblog.com.