Stereotypes

My name is Wahinenonoheonakai’akahai. I am from Hilo, Hawaii, and am of Hawaiian and African American descent. My Hawaiian name means “The adorable woman of the gentle sea”. I am the youngest of three children with two older brothers. I am currently in the 6th grade. I am really enjoying my middle school and learning a lot.

I love to learn about my Hawaiian heritage. I am a descendant of Hawaiian Royalty. My great-great grandmot her is Princess Owanaka’ohelelani La’anui. My greatgreat grandfather, Robert William Kalanihi’apo Wilcox was Hawai’i’s firs t delegate to Congress. In t he days when Hawai’i was illegally occupied by the American government, he led an insurrection against the so-called “reformed government” with intentions to restore the Monarchy to Nat ive Hawaiians, or Queen Lili’uokalani.

Even though I live far away from my home in Hawai’i, I am able to keep my cult ure alive through dancing hula, which I love, love, love to hula. I dance for a group called Indy Hula. Dancing with Indy Hula I have learned dances from Hawai’i as well as Tahiti, Samoa, New Zealand, and Cook Islands. I have had the opport unity to perform at the International Festival, with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, at IU Bloomington, and for various organizations around the city of Indianapolis. Hula is dance that tells a story to song or chant. I am able to learn more about my cult ure and language when learning hula. Dancing hula helps me to appreciate my Hawaiian cult ure.

I also love to sing. I am in my school's choir. I enjoy learning how to read music and notes. I also enjoy the time I spend in t he car wit h my dad because he t urns t he volume up and we have fun singing and dancing to my favorite songs. My oldest brother, who now attends the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, performed at Pike High School in the school’s show choir. He inspired me to want to sing and I look forward to one day being a par t of show choir also.

My parent s love to keep me active, so I played a little bit of basket ball, learned to swim and act ually swam in an act u- al swim meet, and ran track with the Indy Cheetahs. Over the summer I attended volleyball camps at T he Academy and recently made their top non-travel team for off-season volleyball. Now, I discovered that volleyball is a sport that I really enjoy and I now have a goal to, one day, play volleyball in college and in the Olympics. I know that it will take a lot of work and I am willing to work hard to reach my goals.

I LOVE pandas. I would do anything to have a panda. Now, I share a love for horses with my mom. I have gone to a horse camp and have been able to ride a few times at a nearby ranch. One day, I would love to own a ranch with my very own horses. I learned how to care for a horse at horse camp and learned the different riding techniques. I’ve been told by my instructor that I catch on pretty fast, so maybe t hat means I may also compete in horse shows too!

Although I specifically love pandas and horses, I really do have a love for animals in general. I hope to be able to, one day, work wit h animals. Who knows, maybe become a veterinarian! I’m still young and exploring the things I enjoy and love to do!! So, I’m sure I will have that all figured out when I grow up!!!

To stereotype is to make an assumption of a person or group of people based on how they look on the outside. Stereotypes come in different ways and can be considered another form of prejudice, which to me, can be very offensive.

An example of a stereotype is to have an opinion that the role of women is to be in the home raising children, cooking, and cleaning. Recently, in my fitness class, we were given the option of playing football or basketball. I chose to play basketball because I had recently participated in a YMCA basketball league. One of the boys in my class walked up to me and told me that I was going to weigh their team down because I am a girl and girls can’t play sports. He made an assumption based on my gender that I could not possibly be good at basketball. If he really stayed informed, he would see all the successful female athletes that are dominating in their sports like volleyball, basketball, and even gymnastics. For example, Simone Biles, a recent headline written by ABC News says, “Simone Biles makes history for winning the most world medals of any gymnast.” She also has a world record move that she landed perfectly, a triple twisting double. She now has four moves named after her. Simone Biles, a FEMALE gymnast, is dominating!!!

Another personal experience I had with stereotype was in regards to my race. I am Hawaiian and African American. A girl approached me at school and asked me if people in Hawai’i has beds or stores. The question did not surprise me at all because it happens often and usually as a statement. She assumed that because Hawai’i is made up of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that there are no beds, access to modern technology, or stores. She made an assumption based on my race and the location of the people of Hawai’i. Even before westerners arrived in Hawai’i, the people of Hawai’i were a thriving and self-sufficient people. They are farmers, fishermen, artists, navigators, warriors, dancers, and the list goes on. I am proud to be Hawaiian and I use these experiences to educate people on Hawai’i the islands and Hawai’i, my culture.

Personally, I believe that to stereotype is to form an uneducated or uninformed opinion. I believe that the world would be a much better place if we simply avoided stereotypes of any form.

Wahine, 11