Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1982 / Pacific Islands Studies

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003 / Pacific Islands Studies

Thesis (M.A.)--Edith Cowan University, 2006. / Submitted to the Faculty of Education and Arts. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Theses (M.S.)--University of Hawai'i at Hilo, 2010. / Advisor : Wilson, William H. Bibliography : p.89-91.

Master of Arts / Department of English / Katherine Karlin / By the year 2037, climate change has destabilized the world’s ecology, politics, and culture. Hawaii has seceded from the United States, instituting the Cultural Reaffirmation, which champions a sustainable, traditional way of life. Eenie is an astronomer on the Big Island of Hawaii. In order to keep the observatory on Mauna Kea operational, she must appease the newly independent island nation by reenacting a mythical sled race between Poliahu, the Hawaiian snow goddess of Maunakea, and Pele, the fierce goddess of lava, personified by a rival geoscientist from Maunaloa’s volcanic laboratory. Once an Olympic contender in the women’s luge, Eenie has won this race twice before. This year, though, the greenhouse effect has caught up with her; there is no snow on Maunakea. Without it, she cannot prevail, and if she doesn’t, the priests of Hawaii’s Cultural Reaffirmation will pull the telescopes down from their most sacred mountain. Eenie struggles against nature’s increasing wrath, gods, monsters, pigs, and political rivals, though her biggest struggle is within herself. Fire and water must live together takes place in an ecodystopic future, though its story pulls from Hawaiian myth. The story’s projection into the future is based on current events, including the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, climate change science, and technology. An accompanying essay frames the novella through three critical lenses: ecocriticism, eco-politics, and post-colonial hybridity. The essay includes a focused look at the setting of Hawaii as it stands today in terms of environment, politics, and people.

Haole is a contested, multi-faceted word in Hawaii. It generally means “foreigner,” or “white person.” It is used to refer to both tourists, and haoles like me, or those who are born and raised in Hawaii. In either case, it is always negative, referring to something “other” and really, colonial. Paraphrasing rhetorician Kenneth Burke, this thesis analyzes how this word “works in the world,” and from there, explores how identity, culture, and belonging are constructed through language. The essential questions become: are culture and identity constructed and performed, through language, tradition, and cultural engagement? Or is some blood content or ethnicity warranted to claim cultural belonging, and in this case, a Hawaiian identity? The method for this research began with seven interviews with people from Hawaii—a mix of haoles, hapa (mixed race) people, and ethnic Hawaiians—followed by the analyzing of these interviews, and ending with my personal engagement with these findings autoethnographically. Writing this thesis has changed how I see my own identity in Hawaii. I have used this autoethnographic method to share this transformation, explore it, and through it, mimic the in-flux nature of identity construction and language at large. I see this thesis as fluid and subject to change; as a jumping off point for future research on an otherwise “silent” topic, silent in that people in Hawaii do not openly discuss this issue; as the beginning of a necessary dialogue on what it means to be haole, what it means to be Hawaiian, and the nature of identity and cultural construction at large.

In 1960, Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii erupted, destroying most of the village of Kapoho and forcing evacuation of its approximately 300 residents. A large and unprecedented social science survey was undertaken during the eruption to develop an understanding of human behavior, beliefs, and coping strategies among the adult evacuees (n = 160). Identical studies were also performed in three control towns located at varying distances from the eruption site (n = 478). During these studies data were collected that characterized ethnic grouping and attitudes toward Hawaiian cultural issues such as belief in Pele and two lava flow mitigation measures-use of barriers and bombs to influence the flow of lava, but the data were never published. Using these forgotten data, we examined the relationship between Hawaiian cultural issues and attitudes toward the use of barriers and bombs as mitigation strategies to protect Kapoho. On average, 72% of respondents favored the construction of earthen barriers to hold back or divert lava and protect Kapoho, but far fewer agreed with the military's use of bombs (14%) to protect Kapoho. In contrast, about one-third of respondents conditionally agreed with the use of bombs. It is suggested that local participation in the bombing strategy may explain the increased conditional acceptance of bombs as a mitigation tool, although this can not be conclusively demonstrated. Belief in Pele and being of Hawaiian ethnicity did not reduce support for the use of barriers, but did reduce support for bombs in both bombing scenarios. The disparity in levels of acceptance of barriers versus bombing and of one bombing strategy versus another suggests that historically public attitudes toward lava flow hazard mitigation strategies were complex. A modern comparative study is needed before the next damaging eruption to inform debates and decisions about whether or not to interfere with the flow of lava. Recent changes in the current eruption of Kīlauea make this a timely topic.

No description available.

The Laysan teal, an endangered species, is restricted to a single population on Laysan Island, a remote atoll of the Hawaiian archipelago. Little is known of the Laysan teal's ecology, therefore, I examined food habits, habitat use, and population dynamics. These aspects of its ecology are fundamental to the species management and conservation. I described diel and nocturnal habitat use, home range, and foraging with radio telemetry in 1998-2000. Most individuals showed strong site fidelity during the tracking period, but habitat selection varied between individuals. Mean home range size was 9.78 ha (SE 2.6) using the fixed kernel estimator (95% kernel; 15 birds with >25 locations). Foraging was strongly influenced by time of day: birds spent only 4% of their time foraging in the day, but spent 45% of their time foraging at night. Time activity budgets from the island's four habitat zones indicated that the coastal zone was rarely used for foraging. The birds foraged 42% of the time they spent in the terrestrial zone at night, but foraged only 4-6% of the time they spent there during other times. Fecal analysis and behavioral observations revealed that the Laysan teal is not a 100% macro-insectivore as previously reported, but consumed seeds, succulent leaves, and algae, in addition to adult diptera, diptera larvae and pupae, ants, seeds, lepidoptera, coleoptera, and Artemia. I concluded that this species exhibits high plasiticity in foraging behavior. Laysan teal appear to opportunistically select abundant, high energy prey for the breeding season, due to constrained resources on Laysan Island. I also studied the parameters influencing the Laysan teal's population dynamics. Adult survival is high, but duckling survival on Laysan is low, and is a primary demographic parameter limiting population growth. Estimates indicate the population density was high (between 546-827) from 1991 until August 1993, prior to a population crash that occurred between September and December 1993. The most current population estimate (Sept-Nov 2001) is 444 (SE 181) adults. Additional populations (translocation), along with control of non-native mammalian predators, are needed to reduce extinction risks to the Laysan teal. / Ph. D.