From a press release:
Inette Miller and ‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Imaikalani
Inette Miller and ‘Iokepa Hanalei ‘Imaikalani, champions of Hawaii’s native people and the indigenous cultures of the world, will speak at the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County on Sunday, March 13, 11 a.m.
“For too long, we have allowed others to define us, to discount us, and to commercialize our culture,” states ‘Imaikalani. “For too long, we have allowed others to divide us.”
The couple describe the awakening of oppressed natives reclaiming a world that was stolen sequentially by: missionaries, sugar cane barons, and finally, capitalism and its off-spring, tourism – the ubiquitous rape of indigenous peoples across this earth.
In 1997, at the age of 46, ‘Imaikalani gave up his successful life as a contractor in Washington State, left his family, friends, and hobbies and went to live in his native Hawaii to study, and to work for the revival of Hawaiian culture. He was inspired by the words of his deceased grandmothers: “In every culture on Earth, God gave keys to survival. Hawaiians will return to theirs. It is about reminding every soul what they were given at the beginning of time.” He returned home to Hawaii with one small duffel, $100 in his pocket, “and the light of my Grandmothers’ love inside me.”
‘Imaikalani met Miller later that year. Miller had been a high-powered international journalist and author and was a single mother of teenage sons living in Portland, when on vacation in Hawaii she met ‘Imaikalani — and changed her entire life.
Miller is an American author and award-winning journalist, who covered the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia for Time. She moved to Hawaii to join ‘Imaikalani in his struggle and married him. She is the author of Burning Bridges, which was produced as an ABC Movie of the Week, and taught writing workshops across the US. She also wrote Grandmothers Whisper and Return Voyage about the couple’s experiences together.
This event is free and open to the public.
The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, 516 Prospect St., Maplewood, NJ, 973-763-1905, www.essexethical.org, ecsec.nj@gmail.com.
