Pearl Harbor Legacy

     The article "Stories Have Teeth" by Laurel is about the connection the native people of Hawaii had with the ocean and the animals living within it. The article focuses on a shark that was believed to be the protector of Pearl Harbor. The shark, Ka'ahupahau, was a bit of an urban legend in the waters. Children from Pearl Harbor were told that the shark would scare off foreign sharks or kill them, and that that was the reason there were no man-eating sharks in their waters. Ka'ahupahau and the people lived in harmony with an understanding that the shark would keep dangerous sharks out, and the people would respect his water. The article then goes into how the U.S. Military took over the land and waters and caused many different problems. Especially after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1937, the problems only got worse and eventually turned the area into a constant war-zone. 

    Reading this article really opened my eyes to look at Pearl Harbor from a different point of view. I found it interesting to hear about how the bombing of Pearl Harbor affected the natives of Hawaii. Whenever anybody hears the words "Pearl Harbor" they instantly think about the tragedy from 1937. I never even gave a single thought to the native people that lived there during it and still do today. This article made me realize that the bombing of Pearl Harbor not only caused a massive amount of loss of life, but it also affected the land and waters there, and the people living there. I do not think that the authors exaggerated the harm done to the land. I mostly think that because there wasn't a lot of information about harm to the land, only about a page length. The article focuses much more on the people of Pearl Harbor's connection to the land and the effect of the bombing on the people. 

    One action that I would recommend to the people of Keene in response to the issues raised in this article is to write to our elected officials. It said in the article that the goals set for the cleanup of Pearl Harbor have not yet been reached and are a long way from being reached. A nudge to our elected officials would let them know that this should be taken seriously and cannot keep being pushed away. Another thing I would recommend is just to get the word out about this subject. The vast majority of people (including myself) only thought about the bombing of 1937 and about what a tragedy that was. The land and waters of Pearl Harbor, and also the people of Hawaii seem to have been forgotten and pushed into the background. It seems like spreading awareness on this subject has to be done first before any change can come. 

                                                


     Image Via Historyextra



 

 

 

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