Hawaiian blood : colonialism and the politics of sovereignty and indigeneity / J. Kēhaulani Kauanui.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kauanui, J. Kēhaulani, 1968-

Series:

Narrating native histories

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Homestead law--Hawaii.

Homestead law.

Hawaiians--Land tenure.

Hawaiians.

Hawaiians--Legal status, laws, etc.

Land tenure--Law and legislation--Hawaii.

Land tenure.

Land tenure--Law and legislation.

Hawaii.

Physical Description:

xvi, 241 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Durham : Duke University Press, 2008.

Summary:

In the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA) of 1921, the U.S. Congress defined "native Hawaiians" as those people "with at least one-half blood quantum of individuals inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778." This "blood logic" has since become an entrenched part of the legal system in Hawai'i. Hawaiian Blood is the first comprehensive history and analysis of this federal law that equates Hawaiian cultural identity with a quantifiable amount of blood. J. Kehaulani Kauanui explains how blood quantum classification emerged as a way to undermine Native Hawaiian (Kanaka Maoli) sovereignty. Within the framework of the 50-percent rule, intermarriage "dilutes" the number of state-recognized Native Hawaiians. Thus, rather than support Native claims to the Hawaiian islands, blood quantum reduces Hawaiians to a racial minority, reinforcing a system of white racial privilege bound to property ownership.

Kauanui provides an impassioned assessment of how the arbitrary correlation of ancestry and race imposed by the U.S. government on the indigenous people of Hawai'i has had far-reaching legal and cultural effects. With the HHCA, the federal government explicitly limited the number of Hawaiians included in land provisions, and it recast Hawaiians' land claims in terms of colonial welfare rather than collective entitlement. Moreover, the exclusionary logic of blood quantum has profoundly affected cultural definitions of indigeneity by undermining more inclusive Kanaka Maoli notions of kinship and belonging. Kauanui also addresses the ongoing significance of the 50-percent rule: Its criteria underlie recent court decisions that have subverted the Hawaiian sovereignty movement and brought to the fore charged questions about who counts as Hawaiian.

Contents:

Introduction : got blood?

Racialized beneficiaries and genealogical descendants

"Can you wonder that the Hawaiians did not get more?" : historical context for the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act

Under the guise of Hawaiian rehabilitation

The virile, prolific, and enterprising : part-Hawaiians and the problem with rehabilitation

Limiting Hawaiians, limiting the bill : rehabilitation recoded

Sovereignty struggles and the legacy of the 50-percent rule.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [211]-227) and index.

ISBN:

9780822340584

0822340585

9780822340799

0822340798

OCLC:

226361810