Prisons throughout the state and even Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona offer prisoners a plethora of Hawaiian cultural opportunities, including hula, Makahiki games, and music.
“Rather than stripping away indigenous identity, which is what we kind of expect total institutions to do, it’s returned to indigenous people in this highly restrictive and highly surveilled setting,” Columbia Ph.D candidate LeShea Henderson said.
Henderson, a Kamehameha Schools alumni, returned home to share her research on how correctional facilities have allowed prisoners the chance to find some identity while incarcerated.
The benefits of practicing Native Hawaiian traditions while incarcerated are becoming more known and many agree that it is beneficial.
“A lot of people who are in a pretty dark place are able to find something to stick to and build their identity on,” said Shayla Spotkaeff, a Native Hawaiian business student who attended Henderson’s speech.
According to Henderson, Native Hawaiians are the largest incarcerated group of people in the state of Hawaiʻi, standing at roughly 37%, while Native Hawaiians make up around 25% of the state’s general population.
In the speech, when Henderson deconstructed the term “Hawaiian,” it had a much deeper meaning than most would see.
“By leveraging the racial, ethnic religious and political meanings embedded in the term, Hawaiian, incarcerated people challenge the disciplinary power of the prison, in doing so they reclaim, in some cases discover, for the first time their Hawaiian identity,” Henderson explained in her lecture.
Henderson went on to talk about various incarcerated individuals she met throughout her research, one of them being a Hawaiian man named Kaleo.
In an interview with Kaleo, Henderson asked about identifying and connecting with other Hawaiians in prison. Kaleo spoke about markers associated within ethnic groups and the instant connection between each other rather than talking about the challenges.
“It’s in their language. It’s an instant bond. So it’s not just a person’s ethno-racial identity, but their ability to be able to express that identity in prison that allowed this guy walking down Main Street to claim Luke’s group membership with another Samoan guy,” Henderson said.
As Henderson seeks to land a faculty position in the department of ethics, Henderson hopes to see her thoughts and optimism on racial and gender discrimination in Hawai’i shine through in her teaching.
“I think the problem can feel really big and insurmountable, but I think what I’ve really appreciated about this work is getting to hear about ways that people are resisting and pushing back and creating change and finding pockets of light in a really dark space,” Henderson said.
Despite the serious nature of Henderson’s topic, Spotkaeff said the speech left her feeling optimistic about the growing representation for Native Hawaiians.
“These talks that center around Native Hawaiian, especially women of power and Native Hawaiian women, I think it’s great,” Spotkaeff said.
