Ko’u Mo’olelo: My Journey as a Kanaka Maoli Rediscovering Balance in Engineering Education (Experience)

Austin Peters

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Minorities in Engineering Division Technical Session 1
Page Count: 7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41000
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/41000
Download Count: 218

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Austin Peters University of San Diego

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Austin Morgan Kainoa Peters is a current B.S./B.A. Integrated Engineering student at the University of San Diego's Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering graduating Spring '22. Peters was born and raised in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaiʻi, and plans to attend Purdue University's PhD program in Engineering Education beginning Fall '23.

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Abstract

Kanaka Maoli or Native Hawaiians are underrepresented and their cultural knowledge is undervalued in Western engineering. Much of the discourse about the causes of this focuses on education inequality and financial accessibility, issues similar to other historically underrepresented racially minoritized groups. However, the historical context and effects of colonialism play a unique and essential role in the lack of Native Hawaiian representation and the undervaluing of Native Hawaiian wisdom. As a Kanaka Maoli born and raised in Maui, Hawaiʻi and currently enrolled in a predominantly white undergraduate engineering program, I believe I have a valuable perspective on these intersecting issues. Through the Hawaiian oral tradition of moʻolelo or storytelling, I reflect on the parallel histories of the rise and fall of Native Hawaiian engineering prowess and my own experience in Western engineering to illustrate the Hawaiian perspective of Duality. Similar to the Western definition, Hawaiian duality begins with having two extremes that are distinctly separate. However, the Hawaiian perspective adds another dimension that these extremes are fundamentally related. This paradoxical perspective is best understood through the Kumulipo, a Hawaiian genealogical origin story discussing when and how things are born. In the Kumulipo, light and dark, male and female, seaweed and grasses, and fish and terrestrial plants are examples of pairs of separate entities in nature. Although distinctly separate, these pairs are born at the same time through similar methods with similar characteristics. All of these pairs utilize a Hawaiian dualistic relationship that demonstrates how all natural entities have a symbiotic balance linking them. In Hawaiian culture, for something to be in balance also makes it righteous described by the value of pono. Being righteous or pono means to be in harmony in oneself and in relationships with other people and the natural world. Hawaiian duality and pono compliment each other in connecting ideas, people, and nature. Through my engineering experience and the effects of colonialism on engineering in Hawaiʻi, I will illustrate how the connection between Western engineering and Native Hawaiian culture has been tethered. Utilizing the Hawaiian version of duality, along with the value of pono, will shed a new light on the issue. Hopefully, changing this perspective can help rediscover the pono between Native Hawaiian culture and Western engineering. Reestablishing this connection through further research may motivate more Native Hawaiians to step into the engineering space while simultaneously pushing Western engineering culture to value the cultural knowledge of Native Hawaiians and other racially minoritized communities.

Citation
Format

Peters, A. (2022, August), Ko’u Mo’olelo: My Journey as a Kanaka Maoli Rediscovering Balance in Engineering Education (Experience) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41000

TY - CPAPER
AB - Kanaka Maoli or Native Hawaiians are underrepresented and their cultural knowledge is undervalued in Western engineering. Much of the discourse about the causes of this focuses on education inequality and financial accessibility, issues similar to other historically underrepresented racially minoritized groups. However, the historical context and effects of colonialism play a unique and essential role in the lack of Native Hawaiian representation and the undervaluing of Native Hawaiian wisdom. As a Kanaka Maoli born and raised in Maui, Hawaiʻi and currently enrolled in a predominantly white undergraduate engineering program, I believe I have a valuable perspective on these intersecting issues. Through the Hawaiian oral tradition of moʻolelo or storytelling, I reflect on the parallel histories of the rise and fall of Native Hawaiian engineering prowess and my own experience in Western engineering to illustrate the Hawaiian perspective of Duality. Similar to the Western definition, Hawaiian duality begins with having two extremes that are distinctly separate. However, the Hawaiian perspective adds another dimension that these extremes are fundamentally related. This paradoxical perspective is best understood through the Kumulipo, a Hawaiian genealogical origin story discussing when and how things are born. In the Kumulipo, light and dark, male and female, seaweed and grasses, and fish and terrestrial plants are examples of pairs of separate entities in nature. Although distinctly separate, these pairs are born at the same time through similar methods with similar characteristics. All of these pairs utilize a Hawaiian dualistic relationship that demonstrates how all natural entities have a symbiotic balance linking them. In Hawaiian culture, for something to be in balance also makes it righteous described by the value of pono. Being righteous or pono means to be in harmony in oneself and in relationships with other people and the natural world. Hawaiian duality and pono compliment each other in connecting ideas, people, and nature. Through my engineering experience and the effects of colonialism on engineering in Hawaiʻi, I will illustrate how the connection between Western engineering and Native Hawaiian culture has been tethered. Utilizing the Hawaiian version of duality, along with the value of pono, will shed a new light on the issue. Hopefully, changing this perspective can help rediscover the pono between Native Hawaiian culture and Western engineering. Reestablishing this connection through further research may motivate more Native Hawaiians to step into the engineering space while simultaneously pushing Western engineering culture to value the cultural knowledge of Native Hawaiians and other racially minoritized communities.

AU - Austin Peters
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Ko’u Mo’olelo: My Journey as a Kanaka Maoli Rediscovering Balance in Engineering Education (Experience)
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/41000
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41000
ER -