Naka Nathaniel: We Need To Foster A Culture Of Belonging In A Land Of Inequality

After some follows on Instagram in the wake of FestPAC, my feed is full of reels of Maori haka. 

I love it.

I admire New Zealand for having a fierce international reputation. Our Pacific ohana in Aotearoa are without peers when it comes to greeting malahini (strangers) and adversaries.

Watching these posts, I was reminded of a previous conversation with a very wise uncle. He said that decades ago, Hawaii had become too welcoming. He said that most cultures prioritize protection first and hospitality second. 

Somehow, in Hawaii we had it flipped. Unlike the Maori, we put our dancers out in front and not the warriors.

He said he couldn’t understand it: When a stranger arrives on your shores you should determine if they’re there to invade you and take what you have. Instead, in Hawaii we sidelined our warriors and, to him, were too hospitable.

For too long, it has been easy for visitors to arrive in Hawaii and be welcomed with lei and a mai tai and not the truth of injustices past and present that have left Native Hawaiians sidelined. 

As I read through the comments on my column last week about John Oliver succinctly reporting out Hawaiian history and concluding that Hawaii was being run to benefit everyone but Hawaiians, I kept thinking about how we can figure out a better way forward for our discussions.

I don’t want the discussion to be reduced to one of victims versus villains. That just alienates everyone and causes more division.

I want Hawaii to have a culture of belonging. 

However, fostering a culture of belonging is tough given the harsh state of inequality here. The trend is for wealthy people to move here and for those with generational ties to Hawaii to move away.

I was thinking about another conversation I had awhile back with Ualani Davis, a kanaka maoli artist. We were discussing the idea of how to truly foster the notion of Hawaii being welcoming to all who would abide by the aloha spirit.

However, the notion of the welcoming aspect of aloha has been thrown askew by marketing messages.

“The whole monetization of the aloha spirit, they don’t need Hawaiians,” said Davis. “They just need the aloha spirit, and that’s free. You don’t need to pay anyone for aloha spirit, and that’s all they really need to sell Hawaii.” 

Extreme inequality is hampering our cohesiveness thanks to the island state’s desirability as a supposed paradise. 

We’ve seen it very starkly after the Maui wildfires last year. The haves are able to be patient and wait for a rebound. The have-nots have already left the island.

The haves are prominently displayed on a wall in the Kahalui airport. The “Kamaaina Proud to Call Maui Home” wall is adorned with photos of celebrities and musicians who took their riches and bought property on Maui as a reward for their success.

Unfortunately, the claiming of those rewards has come at the expense of those who grew up alongside those pictured on the accompanying wall celebrating the “Maui Nui Wall of Fame.” 

But again, I do not want to alienate anyone with the victims versus villains designation. 

The term a “culture of belonging” was popularized in the business world grappling with the racial reckoning in the summer of 2020.

As the Harvard Business Review wrote, “After all, belonging is essential to humans. Psychologists rank our need to belong on par with our need for love. Because the need to belong is universal and fundamental, focusing on it has the power to draw in the whole workforce, even those who might feel excluded from — or threatened by — current DEI conversations. When companies emphasize a culture of belonging, they call everyone in, creating space in the conversation to address our shared humanity and build a bridge to greater empathy and inclusion for the groups that are the most marginalized in the workplace today.”

How can we make that apply in cultures here in Hawaii that are often siloed by inequality? 

Starting with knowledge and understanding goes a long way. Being knowledgeable about the history of Hawaii helps. That’s why John Oliver’s history lesson on HBO resonated with so many audiences. His report was entertaining, educational and not laborious.

Should we have a culture that’s more challenging and less automatically welcoming? 

I’d vote for being welcoming, but I’m curious to hear others’ thoughts in the comments.

I don’t think we’re in an intractable place when it comes to facing the challenges of inequality here in Hawaii. We have tools at our disposal that we’re only just now starting to understand how to use. 

Our state constitution has strong provisions that could help: In this year alone, the Hawaii Supreme Court cited the Spirit of Aloha to rule against unfettered use of the second amendment. The right to a healthful environment also was successfully used by the plaintiffs in the Navahine settlement.

The most powerful tool could be the Law of the Splintered Paddle. The first written law of the Hawaiian kingdom, which provides for the protection of innocent people such as kupuna and keiki, is in the state constitution. I’m very interested to see how smart people in Hawaii could use it to tackle our toughest issues like inequality.

Nearly everyone who lives here understands that Hawaii is a unique place, deserving of appreciation and protection that should take priority over selfish and shortsighted interests to acquire and extract. Those selfish and shortsighted interests can serve one well in other places, but in Hawaii, it keeps the islands on a path to being the province of the ultra-wealthy, retirees and the low-wage earners who serve them.

We need to find aloha-driven leaders who can emphasize a common cause, bridge gaps and create belonging. That’s how we can solve our problems.