Quote by Haunani-Kay Trask: “Our history has been stolen, our language suppressed, our culture defamed.”

This quote powerfully describes the devastating impact of colonization on indigenous people. It highlights how native identity is dismantled through the loss of historical narratives, the suppression of traditional languages, and the disrespect of cultural practices.

Trask articulated the profound sense of loss and injustice felt by Native Hawaiians due to generations of American colonization, as part of a global awakening to indigenous rights and the critique of colonial legacies.

Native Hawaiian scholar, poet, and activist who was a professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a leading voice for Hawaiian sovereignty. Her 1993 book From a Native Daughter challenged Western academic accounts of Hawaiian history. She co-founded the Kamana Hawaiian Studies program.