Living Aloha

300 Pages·2017·7.78 MB·English

Antioch University
AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive
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Dissertations & Theses
Dissertations & Theses
2015
Living Aloha: Portraits of Resilience, Renewal,
Reclamation, and Resistance
Camilla G. Wengler Vignoe
Antioch University - PhD Program in Leadership and Change
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Recommended Citation
Vignoe, Camilla G. Wengler, "Living Aloha: Portraits of Resilience, Renewal, Reclamation, and Resistance" (2015).Dissertations &
Theses. 204.
http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/204
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LIVING ALOHA: PORTRAITS OF RESILIENCE, RENEWAL,
RECLAMATION, AND RESISTANCE

CAMILLA G. WENGLER VIGNOE

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program
of Antioch University
in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

May, 2015
This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled:
LIVING ALOHA: PORTRAITS OF RESILIENCE, RENEWAL, RECLAMTION, AND
RESISTANCE

prepared by
Camilla G. Vignoe

is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
Leadership and Change.

Approved by:

Carolyn B. Kenny, Ph.D., Chair date

Lize Booysen, DBL, Committee Member date

Peter Hanohano, Jr., Ph.D., Committee Member date

Maenette Ah Nee-Benham, Ph.D., External Reader date
Copyright 2015 Camilla G. Vignoe
All rights reserved
Acknowledgements
It is with eternal gratitude that I thank Carolyn Kenny, my committee chair, faculty
advisor, and mentor. Mahalo piha for your wisdom, guidance, and nurturing support for me as
well as all the students in the Ph.D. in Leadership program—past and present. You are a beam
of goodness and light! Your extraordinary dedication to your students is unprecedented. Thank
you Aunty Carolyn, for believing in me, for encouraging me to trust my intuition, for helping me
to honor the shy inner artist inside, and for seeing me through this dissertation. Your kindness,
incredible generosity, and Native Spirit have made this journey a healing one for me.
Dr. Peter Hanohano, Jr., Dr. Lize Booysen, and Dr. Maenette Ah Nee-Benham, thank you
for serving on my committee, and offering me your expert knowledge, guidance, and feedback. I
have learned so very much from each one of you. Thank you Deb Baldwin, our Librarian, for
your talent and expertise, the incredible Ph.D. in Leadership faculty and staff, and my editors
Alexia Currie and Jayne Alexandre. I couln’t have completed this journey without you.
To my participants, keiki ‘o ka ʻāina living far away from our beloved Hawai‘i nui who
live each day with Aloha, mahalo to each of you for allowing me to share your heartfelt,
courageous journey. Hopefully your stories will inspire dislocated Hawaiians and others who
read this dissertation to continue to mālama each other, mālama ‘āina, mālama kūpuna, mālama
keiki, and to honor who they are and where they come from.
To the C-6ers, my writing partners and friends forever Naomi Nightingale, Janet Bell,
and Norman Dale for your hours of consult and continued support in seeing me through the
finish line; Wayne, Martha, Rick and Angel, for your friendship and all the resources you shared.
Mahalo to my dear ‘ohana, starting with my incredible husband Dave! No way could I
have done this work without your help! I am blessed to have the best family in the world! You
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are so very precious to me: Aunty Paulie, Uncle Stan, Ka ‘Ohana Wengler, Suganuma, Akiona,
Yuen, Flagg, and Vignoe, all the nieces and nephews. A special mahalo to Robi and Dad for a
peaceful place to stay, Fay for a vehicle to get around in, and the entire ‘ohana for the ono
kaukau you lovingly prepared for me every time I came home to research.
Me ke aloha pumehana for the countless hours of patience and wisdom my cultural
experts Uncle Teenie, Uncle Peter, Ka‘umi, Kealoha, Na‘alehu, and James Vegas you gave so
generously; Aunty Pat, Aunty Dodie and Uncle Sean … I am humbled by your individual and
collective knowledge. Aloha to the Lindseys, especially Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa. My
adopted ‘ohana, how do I begin to thank you for helping me find my way back home? Your
unwavering Aloha and giving spirit is beyond measure.
Bonnie Chavez, my dear professor and mentor at Santa Barbara City College, I am so
grateful for the hope and inspiration you sparked in me over 20 years ago. You believed in me
when I had failed in college so many times before … On behalf of the thousands of students
whose lives are better and whose careers flourish because you gave us hope . . . Thanks.
Angelita, my dear kumu, mentor and friend, you are appreciated beyond words, for
providing hula as a grounding mechanism and vehicle for my personal transformation. Mahalo
Hula Anyone; Sandy, Mona, and Na Mele ‘o ke Kai; to Welmoet Glover (Moet Photography)
and Derrek Miyahara (Island Digital Imaging) for the beautiful pictures! Your incredible talent,
eye for capturing beauty and generous makana are timeless; you are appreciated beyond the
depths of my heart. Mahalo piha to the Maoli artists whose heart-felt lyrics and music featured
in this paper inspire me to no end.
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Thank you Chris and my co-workers at SBCC for generously giving me time off to
complete this work; thanks to our extended family, friends, and communities of support in Santa
Barbara, Hawai‘i, Vermont, and New England for contributing to my success.
Mahalo Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop for the Kamehameha Schools, for selflessly
giving scholarship and a world-class education to your children, the keiki ‘o ka ʻāina. We love
you dearly.
Finally, thank you Heavenly Father for the incredible gifts you’ve given me! To my
guardian angels for protecting me, and to St. Jude, my very powerful and patron saint, for
helping me during my hours of desperation. Mahalo Tutu, for your invaluable contributions of
ʻōlelo Hawai‘i for all of us to enjoy; our lovely culture of Aloha would have vanished had you
not had the courage, wisdom, and foresight to do your work. Eternally grateful to you Grandma,
Grandpa, and Mom for your visits and guidance from heaven … and my dear ‘aumākua, for
re-kindling the warrior spirit within in me, for challenging me, and even trusting me to do this
work! What an incredible success team I have! Your endless love knows no bounds.
Dedication
To all the keiki ‘o ka ʻāina in Hawai‘i, and wherever you are in the world. May you discover
your special birthright and responsibility, our legacy of Aloha to cherish and pass forward.
This dissertation is also dedicated to my dearest kūpuna and mākua who have passed away on
my Ph.D. journey:
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Great-grandmother Tūtū Mary Kawena Pukui (1895–1986) on her 90th birthday. Grandparents—Faith “Lottie” Charlotte Kalama
Wiggin Ukishima (1915–2007) and Edwin Osamu Ukishima (1917–1993). Photo from the Wengler / Ukishima Family album.

Mom—Charlotte Patrice Hideko Kalʻāmanamana Ukishima Wengler (1937–2010);
photo courtesy of the Wengler Family album.

Reverend Joseph M. Vignoe “Uncle Joe” (1930–2010). Father-in-law Robert “Bobby” F. Vignoe (1932–2014).
Photos courtesy of the Vignoe Family album.

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“Dad Lindsey” Edwin Robert Naleilehua Lindsey Jr. (1939–2009); photo courtesy of the Lindsey ‘Ohana album.
(http://www.mauiculturallands.org)

Abstract
When Native Hawaiians move away from the islands, they risk losing their cultural identity and
heritage. This dissertation utilizes a Hawaiian theoretical framework based in Indigenous
research practices and uses phenomenology, ethnography, heuristics, and portraiture to tell the
stories of leadership, change, and resilience of five Native Hawaiians who as adults, chose to
permanently relocate to the United States mainland. It explores the reasons why Kanaka Maoli
(politically correct term for Native Hawaiians) leave the ʻāina (land; that which feeds) in the first
place and eventually become permanent mainland residents. Some Hawaiians lose their culture
after relocating to the United States mainland, giving in to societal pressures demanding
conformance, assimilation, and acculturation. Some who have lost their cultural identity are able
to later regain it, yet others, resilient, found a way to retain their cultural identity despite the
traumatic transition. This study focuses on those who have retained or regained their Native
Hawaiian identity after relocating to the United States mainland, and questions, “What caused
them to relocate?” and “How do they maintain cultural practices far away from the ʻāina?” I
begin by situating myself as the researcher, review the literature, offer an historical chronology
of events that occurred in Hawai‘i, and explain the research methodology. Four Native
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Hawaiians who have relocated to the mainland United States as adults and have continued Native
Hawaiian cultural practices were interviewed. I painted their individual portraits as well as my
own—using the art and science of portraiture—which includes aesthetic writing that focuses on
the “good” that is found in within context. I constructed the portraits with data from the
interviews, observations, pictures, music, poetic sayings, video clips, sound bites, and my own
reflections. The phenomenon of “walking in two worlds” is explored. This study provides
examples of leadership in portraying how Native Hawaiians perpetuate ʻōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian
language, poems, songs), mo‘olelo (stories, myths, folklore), moʻokūʻauhau (genealogy), hula
(Hawaiian dance), and many other cultural practices far away from home. The electronic version
of this dissertation is available in the open access OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd

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