Ancestors of the 'Āina: Exploring the Anthropocene Through Native Hawaiian Values

Abstract

Amidst the challenges that humans face with the environmental crisis, it has been increasingly apparent that cultures and communities must reevaluate their values as they relate to land that has been revolutionized through history. The Anthropocene places agency in the hands of humans, cultivating a responsibility to consider post-humanist relationships in mapping out the future of our generational survival. One avenue is looking towards indigenous knowledge systems that exist, fundamentally returning to the time humans cultivated a relationship with the Earth without the material objects, industrial developments, or other characteristics of a capitalistic system. In this thesis, I seek to uncover a community that inspires a relationship with their past through being culturally rooted, establishing a natural and considerate connection in order to protect the earth. This is an important inspiration that can be examined in larger communities around the world.