In the case of the Shopper and the Vendor, I believe that the vendor was not used to the mixing of races and for someone who did not know English very well, Brian's explaination may have been a little confusing. The vendor identified Brian's features as "Filipine," to which Brian said no, that he was from Hawaii, but not Hawaiian, actually Chinese-Japanese. The Chinese and Japanese have had their fair share of tense times so the idea of someone belonging to both of these races may not be that common. The other possible explainations (2&3)don't really make much sense in the text of the vendor being confused as to which race he should classify Brian.
Prompt 5
In the Hawaiian culture, religion was a very important aspect of daily life. Ceremonies were held on the occasions of birth, death, war, planting and harvesting of crops and for the different seasons. Hawaiians felt that through ceremony and ritual they could win the favor of their gods and that they would be punished for not showing proper respect to their deities.
When westerners arrived having long before adopted Christianity, they saw the Hawaiian religion as ridiculous pagan worship of idols. How could a tree trunk turn into a god and cleanse the tribe and its lands of evil?
Yet the westerners could appreciate the kapu system of the Hawaiians which stressed separating and avoiding things that were inferior or sinful. Therefore the kapu kept society and social classes in order by religious mandate, as well, women were kept in their place because just as in Europe.
Prompt 6
I believe that the Polynesian Culture Center portrays the life of Polynesian cultures for tourists who cannot or presently are not visiting the islands in person. Although the Center has taken painstaking measures to imitate life in the islands, it is doubtful that the PCC is a true representation. I'm sure the islands do not get together a few times a day and have a boat parade in which they compete through dance, similarly, if I entered a village in New Zealand, I doubt I would be greeted with a nice Poi lesson. Webb sums up my feelings best by stating that, "the center is a forty-acre ethnic theme park" containing gift shops, restaurants and anything else a tourist could ask for. Yet this is understandable. In a world of commercialism, the Mormon church is selling a product, in this case the Polynesians. Who wants to watch actors doing everyday things such as disposing of waste and going to collect water? The PCC provides the entertaining points of these six cultures, gives the consumer a few replica grass huts and calls it culture.
Prompt 7
Captain James Cook was an English Explorer that is credited with finding the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands. Cook had sailed for around ten years searching for a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, hopefully somewhere between the North and South American continents. His find of the Hawaiian Islands and its peoples was unexpected and exciting for Cook, yet they would also be the source of his demise.
Horowitz's party saw Gary near some grafitti that contained a racial slur against caucasians and it was assumed that he was the responsible party. When a closer look was taken, Gary was actually cleaning the writing from the rocks. Gary's feelings towards Cook were mixed. His family had been in charge of the Cook monument for years and he could see the progress that westernization brought. Yet, Gary could also see the native's point of view that they were taken over, and much like the New England churchment, Gary believed that the Islands may have been better off not being discovered or adopted in by the western world. Through this story, Horowitz is showing the divisions that remain in the islands, would they have been better off if they had not been found? Would life be better if they were not a part of the Union? Then again, has westernization brought about a better life?
Sahlin makes the point that the Hawaiians viewed Cook as a god. That he came at the right time, fit the description and won the diety lottery. Obeyesekere on the other hand believes that the natives were not that naive. This strange white man and his crew of miscreants arrive, armed, and want to be buddy buddy, being smarter than given credit, the natives took these men in, treated them very well and made them comfortable as to hopefully avoid conflict. Obeyesekere makes a good point, I believe that as with much history, the arrival of Cook and his men in the Sandwich Islands was misconstrued to make the white westerner appear superior to these barberic natives.
Horowitz uses accounts given by the surviors of February 14 to tell of the battle. It seemed ironic that Cook had previously described the natives as so friendly and not the type to make war yet he set foot upon the island in the company of many of his men, who were armed, to retrieve a stolen boat. If the people were so friendly then why was he so prepared for a conflict? Yet there were strange circumstances that surrounded the battle. Cook was received as a god and sent off as such, yet he returns to the islands, which does not go with the native's myth. Why would their god unexpectedly return unless there was something very wrong? By killing Cook the natives may have been ridding themselves of the evil that he must be returning with or his returning may have proven that he was not in fact a god and his deception could only be paid for with his life.
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