Hawaiian Psychology: Ka Lama Kukui: Kūkakūka (Talking Story) Hawaiian Historical and Racial Trauma

Can humanity face the truth that our Euro-American civilizations have inflicted violence, oppression, racism, and genocidal actions to conquer, capture, and enslave groups of human beings? The suffering experienced by the victims of these actions is unimaginable and needs to be addressed to enhance peace and stability on the planet.

We are two psychologists—a native Hawaiian and a New England Haole (foreigner of European ancestry)—who see the Kingdom of Hawai’i as a microcosm of the macrocosm of historical trauma (HT), racial trauma(RT), and Western oppression. We write in hopes of raising consciousness about Hawai’i’s singular profile, namely that Hawai’i is a recognized nation-state, overthrown by Western invaders. The Haole “overthrowers,” occupiers, or perpetrators applied and continue to apply colonization techniques to Hawaiian citizens who

demonstrate remarkable resistance, continued to survive, live in their overthrown kingdom, and preserve their narrative. We provide an example of the Hawaiian story, or Kūka¯kūka¯, to reveal the root causes of native Hawaiians’ current turmoil and discuss how the overthrow caused Hawaiian victims to suffer from Kaumaha Syndrome, and Haole perpetrators to suffer from Ha¯’ole Syndrome. We share our mo’olelo in Kūka¯kūka¯, as perpetrator–victim descendants, and discuss how a Hawaiian psychology, Ka Lama Kukui, can be useful in healing the effects of HT and RT if the current Western psychological science research paradigm embraces a methodology that encourages voices that have been silenced to be heard.