A Breath of Ea: Submergent Strategies for Deepening the Hawaiian Diaspora

Abstract

Kanaka Maoli diasporic transmotions have often been imagined as diluted impersonations of Hawaiian indigeneity that fluctuate between settler elimination and Native perpetuation. When interpreted solely by the ebb and flow of this conflict, Hawaiian diasporaneity can be problematically perceived as entirely dependent on settler removal and on-islander permanence for fathomability. This torrential relation between settlers and on-islanders can produce a dialectic that drags the off-islander beneath undercurrents of invasion and resistance, attempting to drown the ea of the diaspora in its depths. In this article, we ask how the settler and on-islander tidalectic might be transformed through unsettling memories of movement that draw Hawaiian indigeneity into the depths of the diaspora. In exploring this question, we suggest that the conception of Hawaiian diasporaneity need not be limited by the antagonism between settler removal and on-island permanence. We argue instead that Hawaiian diasporaneity can be traced to our cosmogonic genealogy chant He Kumulipo and the submergent strategies and adaptations our pre-human ancestors used to navigate the sea, land, and sky for millions of years.