Updates from Summer 2023
Maile here, with a number of updates from this past summer!
First, you may notice some new names and faces associated with this project. See all new additions on our Team page, and stay tuned for more on this blog from our other researchers.
During the summer of 2023, I had the opportunity spend a few weeks in Hawaiʻi, conducting archival research at the Hawaiʻi State Archives, as well as visiting with community folks who have significant ties or expertise related to the history of reformatory and training schools in Hawaiʻi. Several of those folks have graciously agreed to be on a community advisory board that will assist in strengthening public engagement with this history and building a website that provides more access to historical documents about these schools. Our board members are also listed on our Team page, and we will add more information about them shortly.
Two undergraduate students researchers, Eliana Massey and Callie Avondet, from the University of Utah were able to join me for a week in Hawaiʻi to assist with this research. You will hear directly from them soon about their experiences, and we will share more about the results of our research on the blog over the next few months.
We also had the opportunity to connect with Dr. Derek Taira, in the College of Education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, who is coming on board to help build a website about the history of the reformatory and training schools. Dr. Taira has valuable experience building websites: check out his existing website Imua, Me Ka Hopo Ole, Forward Without Fear: Understanding the Native Hawaiian experience during the territorial period (1900-1959).
One highlight from the summer for me was participating in an event at Kawailoa on June 26th, where the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, visited Hawaiʻi as part of her “Road to Healing” tour. This tour was in response to the federal report on Indian boarding schools, released in May 2022, which included several institutions in Hawaiʻi. Mark Kāwika Patterson, warden of the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center, invited me to come speak briefly about the history of Kawailoa and other similar institutions in Hawaiʻi to provide some historical context for understanding the similarities and differences with boarding schools in the Native American context. It was a great honor to present in front of Secretary Haaland, as well as many important leaders from our Native Hawaiian community. My auntie Georgie Awo (pictured with myself and Secretary Haaland below) was also there, and shared her own experiences of coming to Kawailoa as a child when her mother (my tūtū) worked there as well as visiting later when she was a social work student. Secretary Haaland seemed moved by the stories folks in the audience shared with her.
This semester, Eliana, Callie and I continue to work on organizing and analyzing archival materials we collected from the Hawaiʻi State Archives. Derek and I are beginning to draft proposals for a few grants that could support further community engagement and a digital database related to these histories. Avis (one of our community advisory board members), Eliana and I plan to attend the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums conference next month as a way to better understand how other Indigenous communities create meaningful public and digital history projects on similar topics. In the spring, Derek and I will present some of our research at the Organization of American Historians conference.
There is much more to say about all I have learned over the past few months about this history - our team hopes to provide more regular updates and reflections on this blog over the next few months. Mahalo for reading!
At Kawailoa with Secretary Haaland and Auntie Georgie