Mau Piailug is from the island of Satawal. A master navigator, he taught his craft to the sailors of the Hokule’a, bringing celestial navigation back to the Hawaiian Islands for the first time in hundreds of years.
Through his works, the Hawaiian Renaissance made some of its greatest leaps, bringing a sense of pride and accomplishment to all of Hawai’i.
But that doesn’t matter according to the Akaka Bill. Since Mau cannot trace his ancestry to people in the Hawaiian Islands before 1778, no matter how instrumental he was in the recovery of Hawaiian culture, he can never be considered “Hawaiian.â€
The Akaka bill will tell Mau Piailug, and all other Micronesians in Hawai’i, that they cannot have the same rights as the Native Hawaiians he taught to navigate by the stars.
He Hawai’i au; he mau Hawai’i kakou a pau. I am Hawaiian; we are all Hawaiians.
He Hawaii au - Not enough (2) - MP3 (unknown, 4,065 hits)
