BLOOD AND REPRODUCTION OF (THE) RACE IN THE NAME OF HO‘OULU LĀHUI—A HAWAIIAN FEMINIST CRITIQUE

Authors

J. Kehaulani KauanuiFollow

Abstract

This essay interrogates the colonial legacy and contemporary consequences of blood quantum laws in defining Native Hawaiian identity, focusing on the exclusionary impact of the 1921 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act’s 50% rule. Through personal reflection and political critique, it examines how these policies fragment genealogical connection, displace indigenous knowledge systems, and fuel internalized anxieties about authenticity and extinction. Drawing on statements by sovereignty leaders Mililani Trask and Lynette Cruz, the essay explores how nationalist calls to ho‘oulu lāhui (reproduce the nation) place disproportionate reproductive burdens on Hawaiian women, often framed within heteronormative, racialized, and even eugenicist logics. While Trask emphasizes population recovery through same-blood mating, Cruz urges the documentation of full-blood Hawaiian births as a survival strategy, both revealing how cultural preservation narratives can marginalize non-traditional families and queer identities. The essay challenges the fetishization of “pure” bodies and calls instead for a return to Hawaiian genealogical practices grounded in ancestry, land, and relationality. Ultimately, it advocates for a sovereignty movement that embraces reproductive justice, affirms bodily autonomy, and resists colonial definitions of belonging—insisting that Hawaiian identity cannot be reduced to fractions, but must be rooted in connection, community, and collective care.

Recommended Citation

Kauanui, J. Kehaulani (2007) "BLOOD AND REPRODUCTION OF (THE) RACE IN THE NAME OF HO‘OULU LĀHUI—A HAWAIIAN FEMINIST CRITIQUE," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 30: No. 1, Article 22.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol30/iss1/22