Hawaii Books

Na Mea Makamae is a book about Hawaiian artifacts. Author David Young writes "Artifacts are representations of a culture, and studying Hawaiian artifacts can lead to an interest in the ancient Hawaiian culture" (p. viii). But he also notes "Because of the passage of time, an anthropologist often can only speculate on the answers to... questions" (p. viii). As an example, he notes the inability to know the translation of tapa and tattoo designs, and petroglyph drawings. I recognized this when I asked USFWS managers about petroglyphs of whales (or the apparent lack thereof); their guess was as good as mine.

This book combines exceptionally well-reproduced photographs, drawings, and illustrations, as well as modern photographs of artifacts in collections and museums, with interpretations and text from the limited sources of Hawaiians like David Malo who attempted to record their disappearing culture, even through the biased lens of a missionary education.

Interspersed throughout are reproductions of photographs on a translucent "vellum"; very attractive.

Young notes "The years 1820-1870 were most devastating to the Hawaiian people. Their social oder and religious system had been overthrown, their population was in decline as a result of disease, their forests and farms had been stripped and neglected, and family unity was threatened as a result of the emergence of towns catering to the commercial interests of the foreigners. Their faith in their culture suffered as they were made by the newcomers to feel ashamed of their religion, language, and lifestyle, and in many homes the Hawaiian language was forbidden and reference to Hawaiian ways punished" (p. 7).

Young presents artifacts relating to:

- food
- shelter
- the use of trees
- textiles
- clothing
- canoes and trails
- fishing
- games and recreation
- musical instruments
- war and weapons
- religion
- ornaments

Since I'm particularly interested in honu, Young reports that James King, on one of Cook's voyages, noted "At Atooi [Kauai], some of the women wore little figures of the turtle, neatly formed of wood or ivory, tied to their fingers in the manner we wear rings" (p. 91).

Young, in an afterward, writes "This suppression of traditional culture, which began in the early 1800s, resulted in the loss not only of traditional Hawaiian religion, language, and lifestyle, but also of the art forms represented by Hawaiian artifacts" (p. 97). The existing artifacts, and the minimal descriptions that exist in Hawaiians' own words and in the journals of early explorers and missionaries, is all that exists. When Young uses the word "loss", he means exactly that... it is gone. Our recreations, and interpretations, are our attempts to describe a past that is unrecorded, and lost.

A terrific book for people interested in Hawaiiana.

David Young was born and raised in Hawai`i by a kama`aina family with a keen appreciation for both the Hawaiian culture and Hawaii's natural environment. It is obvious from both his introduction and from the book itself that Na Mea Makamae is a work of love and respect. Most of the material in Young's book has been taken from other published material. As a result, Hawaiian Treasures is primarily a compilation of knowledge from other sources. However, Young openly acknowledges that and he provides very complete notes about his sources for each chapter and an excellent bibliography.

One could easily dismiss Young's book as just another "me too" collection of things Hawaiian - but that would be a BIG mistake.

Books about collections of artifacts can be terribly boring and bear a close resemblance to reading a catalog, but Young's beautiful book is about as far away from that category as you can get. He has assembled a varied and amazingly representative collection of Hawaiian artifacts, took high quality photographs of them and then added rich commentary to weave a totally captivating book. As he explains in the introduction, "artifacts are representations of a culture." Young has chosen a cross-section of Hawaiian artifacts that clearly portrays both the richness of artistic achievement and the simultaneous practicality with which Hawaiians dealt with their environment. Many of the artifacts that he has chosen are from the Kailua-Kona area, which makes this book especially interesting to Big Island residents or visitors.

One of the unique features of Hawaiian Treasures that elevates it to "coffee table" status (in addition to the photographs) is that many of the chapters are preceded by semi-transparent vellum pages which are printed with an historical photograph or drawing, or a Hawaiian kapa or fish-netting pattern. The effect is stunning. In the case of the natural materials, you can almost feel the textures! Chapters include such subjects as: early collectors, food, shelter, trees, textiles, clothing, travel, fishing, recreation, musical instruments, weapons, religion, ornaments, etc.

Young uses a very nice combination of photographs (many historical), dictionary-like text entries and interview material to present a surprisingly complete, if brief, overview of the Hawaiian culture. In only 109 pages, he does an excellent job of portraying the complexity, richness and beauty of early Hawaiian life. I've read a lot about Hawai`i, but I learned a lot of new things here (and read about some locations that I have to snoop around now). There is some especially interesting material on the uses of lava caves that I haven't seen before. The only significant way that I think the book might be improved would be to lengthen the descriptions and discussions about some of the artifacts. But then, I suspect that one of Young's purposes in creating this book was to whet people's appetites for more information about the Hawaiians' amazing culture. Hawaiian Treasurers is beautiful, quite remarkable and definitely belongs in everyone's Hawaiian library.

Myrna Ericksen's Nalani Of Hawaii is an evocative, engaging novel of Nalani, an Hawaiian woman who has deferred marriage to further her career - yet when she opens her heart to love at last, an unexpected tragedy leaves her faced with stark choices for her new life. Written very much in tune with the natural rhythms and beauty of Hawaii itself, Nalani Of Hawaii is a compelling and highly entertaining novel focusing on the quandary of a woman striving to find balance in the present and the future.

I want to go to Hawaii and find Nalani. I just loved her. Her people come first in her life, and her virtues are not traits readily found in today's world. Very refreshing and informative to read, and I couldn't put it down till I found out who got Nalani in marriage, for I thought they were great men. The Author, Myrna Ericksen, certainly knows how to pick her subjects, which are also portrayed in her other books: "Onward Peregrinos", and "Silent No More". I look forward to Myrna's next book. I know she won't disappoint me. Louise McGowan

in his empathic and diverse oral histories of some mahu and transgender individuals on Oahu, andrew matzner opens a window on hawai'i lesser known cultural features. of great interest to the academic community in gender studies, as well as non-specialists interested in Hawaiian culture.

I recently had the opportunity to read "'O Au No Keia: Voice's From Hawaii's Mahu and Transgender Community". As someone with no transgender feelings, it was a glimpse into a part of our community that I knew very little about. Its a very real book, written by the transgendered people themselves. Mr. Matzner interviewed a number of transgendered people on O'ahu, edited what they had wrote and then gave them a chance to review, correct and add to what they had said. So rather than being a book about transgender people, its really a book by transgendered people.

Their stories were real and often touching. Their feelings and lives, while outwardly very different than what I've ever experienced, were so real and human that it would be almost impossible to not understand and feel for them. They openly share both the good and bad parts of the lives in an effort to get those of us outside the transgender community to see how their stories could be anyone's story. They succeed. Its not an cheap book (almost [$$$]) but its worth every penny if you want to better understand our friends in the trangender community.

Delightful read! My husband & I contemplating a trip to the Oahu, to celebrate our 60th Birthdays, so we have been searching for a Dining Guide. We hit the jack pot when we found this little treasure. In addition to providing all of the practical information: dress code, price range, type of cuisine, the authors have given each dining establishment a personality in the Impression Section. With so many possibilities, it will help us narrow down our choices. The book is well organized and user friendly. Jacquelyn Tarpy

Very well written and an excellent guide for this island. I wish they had included St. Germaines (great homemade bread sandwiches). These authors are the BEST. I wish them continued success and I hope that book and department stores will think strongly about having MEET THE AUTHORS day with book signings.....I have met them and they are a delightful couple that truly cares about the islands.

This book is absolutely astounding. The sights in this book are magnificent and will definitely make you want to visit Hawaii!! All the pictures are rich in color and detail. It feels like some of these sights are but a few feet in front of you and you could touch them. Wow, absolutely awesome! I highly recommend this book!

This book has all aerial shots of all of the islands. You will not be disappointed with this book. It also documents the geological origins of the islands (the first inhabitants and the first immigrant settlers) It includes 220 photographs and has 256 pages. They spent more than 200 hours in the air taking these wonderful photographs. This one is a absolute must for all of you Hawaii lovers.

The Pacific Ocean is Earth's largest single feature and covers a third of the planet's surface. But photographer Peter Hendrie has found inspiration enough to add a whole new dimension to the beauty and power of its landscape and the richness of its cultures. It's a dimension that allows him to transform landscape and lifestyle from the merely pictorial to a vibrant experience of the Pacific legend. His pictures capture the piquancy of the moment the image was taken,prompting envy of the photographer's vision plus a valuable insight into how to read such evocative images. No other places on Earth possess the enduring magic of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia, and Hendrie powerfully reinforces their merger of romance and reality.
I rate Pacific Journeys - 5/5

The Pacific Ocean is Earth's single largest feature and covers a third of its surface. But photographer Peter Hendrie has found inspiration enough to apply a whole new dimension to the beauty and power of its panorama and the richness of its cultures. It is a dimension that allows him to transform landscape and lifestyle from the purely pictorial to a vibrant experience of the Pacific legend. His images possess the piquancy of the very moments he captured them, prompting an envy of his vision and a thoroughly-satisfying lesson in how to read evocative images. Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia have no equals when it comes to enduring magic, and Hendrie brilliantly reinforces their unique merger of romance and reality.
I rate Pacific Journeys - 5/5

I picked this book up at the library and was stunned by the pictures. It inspired me to become involved with the local paddling community on Oahu, a decision that has reaped more blessings than can be imagined. It also inspired me to relook at my own photography and strive for even more imaginative opportunities such as Joss has found. This is definitely a coffee table book, however, as the text is fairly light. For something more in depth on the local paddling scene I liked 'Molokai-O'ahu through the Years' by Peter Caldwell.

"Paddling in Hawai'i" is absolutely beautiful; the photographs are stunning! Not only is it an excellent collection of Joss's remarkable talents as a photographer, but a treasure of the ocean and Hawaiian culture too.

WOW! Great research. Book is packed with great info & facts the STATE & County don't want you to know. I live & farm on the Big Island in "Coqui central" (Puna) and I know these frogs provide a valuable service by consuming mosquitos, termites, fire ants even coqui eggs, they provide their own population control! Mr & Mrs Singer write with terrific humor & understanding of the subject matter.

The authors have done an excellent job exposing the flaws in the "coqui war" that has led to more environmental destruction than the "invasive species" it was intended to destroy. Hawaii's government and media have demonized a tiny frog that is beloved wherever it exists and have ignored many other, far worse "invasive" species. The authors put forth plausible explanations for this irrational behavior. Hopefully this little book will help Hawaiians to have some "aloha" when it comes to this peaceful little amphibian that wants nothing more than to coexist with humans and other organisms that love their new island home.

Sometimes the best way to learn about something is through photographs, and this book certainly delivers. There are many photographs in this book that I have never seen before. The captions that go along with each photograph describe in detail the action taking place in the photograph. This book also makes an excellent companion to other books about Pearl Harbor that contain text.

First of all you should be aware that this is primarily a picture book. There is NO unifying text from page to page or chapter to chapter. It IS a VISUAL history with many, many photographs, some classic some I have never seen before. All photos have a nice caption that some times runs to 60-70 words and does a fine job of placing the action in perspective. The author also accompanies the the photos with biographical sketches of the main figures in the PH story and gives a summary of the medal of honor winners at PH. All in all a very good book that is light years ahead of the movie by the same name and should NOT be confused with the Disney version. Of especially good interest are the maps and diagrams including one detailing the location and fate of all of the ships in PH. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

this book not only shows that roosevelt"s war cabinet knew about the impending attack on pearl harbor but actually invited and provoked japan to attack via diplomatic and economic sanctions.this book exposes deceit at the highest level of govt.a must read!excellent.

This text, with a 1946 copyright and published as a hardcover in 1947 (Devin-Adair), has now been released as a 50th Anniversary Edition in 1991 (Institute of Historical Review).

It remains today, in 2007, a quintessential source for any Pearl Harbor cognoscente. Facts is facts.

To be appreciated is that Morgenstern's effort is prior to almost all other Pearl Harbor works and is largely based on the flurry of "official" investigations and their findings which took place in the 1940s.

There are today obviously a number of revisions needed to this book based on the more recent research. For example, the efforts of authors such as Toland (e.g., Seaman "Z" and the Dutch officer Ranneft), Stinnett and Wilford (extensive use of FOIA materials on IJN codes and radio intelligence), and the far newer work of Victor (e.g., FDR ordered the Pacific Fleet to Hawaii, ordered Stark to begin the ABCD talks, ordered convoying in the Atlantic, ordered Hull to give the Japanese the ten-point ultimatum, whereabouts of FDR and War Cabinet the night of 12.6.41, foreknowledge that Germany would declare war on the US, ..., etc.) reveal much that Morgenstern did not uncover. But, such is the role of historical pursuit.

Of particular interest are his conclusions as presented in Chapter Twenty - "Who Was Guilty?" The ending sentences are : " ... The people were told that acts which were equivalent to war were intended to keep the nation out of war. Constitutional processes existed only to be circumvented, until finally the war-making power of Congress was reduced to the act of ratifying an accomplished fact."

This text makes so clear the obvious. And, for Americans, this, given their past history of wars since WWII, should be thought about.