Michael Kaulana Ing: Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Indiana University

While Christianity has often functioned as a tool of colonialism, it is essential to consider the ways that it has also been used as a tool to counter colonialism. In the 19th century, foreigners in Hawaiʻi put forth many theories about the origin of Kanaka Hawaiʻi (Native Hawaiians)—theories that forwarded colonial aims. In response, Kanaka developed counter narratives that often integrated ideas brought from foreign lands. Some of these ideas came from the Bible, particularly the narratives of creation in its opening pages. The 19th century Kanaka historian Samuel Mānaiakalani Kamakau recounts a few of these narratives of creation and positions them as traditional narratives known throughout the islands. In one of these accounts, the entire world is patterned after Hawaiʻi, and all humanity originates from Hawaiʻi. Thus, rather than Hawaiʻi being on the margins of the known world, it is positioned as the center; and rather than Kanaka simply being the first settlers of Hawaiʻi, they are instead literally made from its land (by a tri-fold god). This presentation will explore these syncretic projects to show how Kanaka used Christianity as but another foreign tool that could galvanize Kanaka political consciousness in the face of colonialism.

Presented by the Department of American Indian Studies. Co-sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Study, the Religious Studies Program, the Department of History, the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and the Center for Premodern Studies.