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In a recent interview, I was told I am “still American” even though I’m from Hawaii. This happens to me a lot. Hawaii has long been seen as a mystical tropical paradise, which has led to a harmful dynamic wherein people go to Hawaii to exploit the land and dehumanize its people. One of the clearest memories from my childhood is the “Clean Up the Beaches” campaign led by Governor Linda Lingle’s administration that led to several of my family members and friends being forced from their homes. Policies enacted to create a more “palatable and tourist-friendly” Hawai’i Nei leave Native Hawaiians with no choice but to leave their sacred land. Only 10.06% of Hawaii’s population is Native Hawaiian – what is wrong with this picture?

Policies enacted to create a more 'palatable and tourist-friendly' Hawai’i Nei leave Native Hawaiians w/ no choice but to leave sacred land. Only 10.06% of Hawaii’s population is Native Hawaiian – what is wrong with this picture? Click To Tweet

This colonization and gentrification is not new. Over the past few years, several protests around sacred lands and monuments have made national news, but still I am bombarded with stories of vacations to new resorts, water parks, and attractions being built anywhere and everywhere. Several Hawaiian Culture activists are leading the charge on the “anti-tourist experience” including Kyle Kajihiro and Terry Keko’olani of DeTours, an educational group. They hope to expose visitors to Hawaii’s history without the luaus, tikis, and small umbrella drinks. They hope to bring awareness to the long-term harm caused by the colonization that took place even before the forced annexation in July 1898.

I was taught the history of Queen Lili’uokalani at a very young age and it is still relevant to this day: Queen Lili’uokalani was the first woman ever to rule Hawaii and the last sovereign of the Kalākaua dynasty, which had ruled a unified Hawaiian kingdom since 1810. Queen Lili’uokalani fought against the U.S. annexation of Hawaii, but the U.S. forcibly overthrew her and annexed Hawaii anyway. Queen Lili’uokalani was imprisoned in the ‘Iolani Palace during the annexation of Hawaii and used her song Aloha ‘Oe to bid farewell to her beautiful Hawai’i Nei.

Queen Lili’uokalani was the first woman ever to rule Hawaii and the last sovereign of the Kalākaua dynasty. She fought against the U.S. annexation of Hawaii, but was forcibly overthrown and had to annex Hawaii anyway. Click To Tweet

Native Hawaiians continue to ask for their land back. As they continue to fight, celebrities are buying large amounts of land while touting Hawaii as the “it” place to live. If you find yourself wondering, “How is that fair?”, well, it isn’t. And, I repeat, this colonization and gentrification is also not new.

Native Hawaiians continue to fight for their land back, while celebrities buy large amounts of it and tout Hawaii as the 'it' place to live. If you're thinking, 'How is that fair?', well, it isn’t. But colonization and… Click To Tweet

The next time you think of Hawaii for your upcoming vacation, wedding, or getaway, please consider the impact. Think of all the Hawaiian history you don’t learn when engaging in typical tourist activities and the contributions your presence makes to sustaining the harm being caused. Instead, consider doing the following:

The next time you think of Hawaii for your upcoming getaway, think of the Hawaiian history you don’t learn when engaging in typical tourist activities and the contributions your presence makes to sustaining the harm being caused. Click To Tweet


In the future, I hope to see people stop taking unnecessary vacations to Hawaii and telling people from Hawaii about frivolous experiences there, and instead taking time to learn more about Hawaii’s history – without the luaus, fruity drinks, and tikis.