Ke Ea o Ka ʻĀina (The Life of the Land)

7th-grade students in Hawaiʻi are required to learn about Hawaiian History. For a majority of 7th-graders, their last experience with Hawaiian history was in the 4th grade. As new scholarship emerges that accesses Hawaiian language and English language resources that were not available just a few years ago, our understanding of the events that occurred and their effect of the myriad of people inhabiting these islands has changed. It is much more nuanced. There are many voices that were not included in the story being told. Students werenʻt asked to critically think about any bias that might be present in the sources of information shared with them. There are many teachers who teach 7th-grade Social Studies, particular those recently from the mainland, who may not be comfortable with the topic. There are also students who are home-schooled. This course is designed to be asynchronous and assist teachers in delivering content on Hawaiian history in a way that exposes students to multiple viewpoints and encourages them to critically think about historic events and their effects on our society. In this course, students will use inquiry to explain the mahele (land division) from the perspective of aliʻi (chiefs), hoa ʻāina (indigenous Hawaiian commoners who work the land), and foreign-born residents.