Letter: Worldwide solidarity with Native Hawaiians

As a Native Hawaiian, I have been moved by the outpouring of support for the kia‘i Mauna Kea and other demonstrations. From the Igorot homelands in the Philippines to Micronesia to Samoa to Austria, many non-Hawaiians have sent messages of solidarity for Mauna Kea.

Mauna Kea has not just become a Native Hawaiian movement; it has become a catalyst worldwide for the idea that there are things more important than money — a people’s right to dignity and self-determination.

If one has been following #BeingMicronesian, there has been discrimination against Micronesians by the local community, including from Native Hawaiians. That being said, many local Micronesian leaders and students have expressed their aloha for their Hawaiian navigator cousins.

Whether one is Samoan, Maori, Chuukese, Chamorro, Fijian, kanaka maoli or from Southeast Asia, we are all family. Our hopes, dreams and anti- colonial struggles are the same. The show of support from Micronesians to Native Hawaiians is deeply moving and shows the dreams of many, like King Kalakaua, Papa Mau Piailug and Epeli Hau‘ofa, of “One People, One Oceania” is possible.

Adam Manalo-Camp

Nuuanu

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