Hawaiian Imperialism

In the film, Hawaiian: The Legend Of Eddie Aikau, imperialism played a major role. According to Dictionary.com, imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. Just like in the movie, Hawaii was taken over by people from various countries. All the surfing competitions only awarded non-Hawaiian competitors. Eddie, one of the best surfers of the time, was a Native, Hawaiian. He surfed everyday, trained really hard, and competed in all the competitions. For the longest time Hawaiians weren't even given a chance to be a part of the competitions.

A picture of Franklin Roosevelt Jr. (left) and John Roosevelt  (right) posing with  Duke Kahanamoku

They were held in Hawaii but the competitors were from California, Australia, etc. Other countries came into Hawaiian territory and took over, without even giving the Natives a chance to fight, or surf, for their country. Hawaiians were distraught with the idea of being unable to surf in their own country but were forced to allow other countries to come in and take over while the Natives just had to watch them. The Australians came in and overtook the competitions, beaches, and the ocean. But Eddie fought hard for his country to be recognized and he eventually was awarded and allowed to compete in the competitions. Just like in history, other countries were coming into Hawaii and taking over everything. Eventually we became a part of the same country as some of the people who had invaded the Native land.