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Joy Schulz highlights four Polynesian women rulers who held enormous domestic and foreign power and expertly governed their people amid shifting loyalties, outright betrayals, and the ascendancy of imperial racism.

Image courtesy of interviewee. August 30, 2024

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In this text, Joy discusses her motivations and research process for writing a book on women in politics in the context of the Hawaiian Revolution and the role of Polynesian women in history. She began her exploration with a focus on the Hawaiian monarchy, particularly the story of Queen Liliʻuokalani, seeking to tell her side and to deeply understand her life. Joy reflects on how the rhetoric surrounding gender and women's roles in politics seemed to be regressing during her research, which inspired her to investigate the intersection of gender, politics, and religion. Joy highlights her research methodologies, which involved accessing a variety of historical records from American and British missionaries, and the Royal Navy, and emphasized the challenge of reconstructing the stories of Polynesian women who were less documented. She emphasizes the significance of understanding the women’s political power within their cultures, especially during periods of European and American expansion and colonialism. She draws attention to the historical context, wherein Captain Cook's arrival and subsequent British and American interests in the Pacific Islands shaped the dynamics of power. Joy outlines the evolving landscape of women's political power as influenced by the introduction of Christianity and changes in cultural norms, noting that although Polynesian women initially held more power compared to their Western counterparts, this shifted under colonial pressures. Joy expresses her hopes that readers will recognize the brilliance and political acumen of these women, encouraging their inclusion in historical discussions. She also discusses the need for further research into the broader connections between Polynesian societies and international history. Her work aims to elevate the profiles of significant Polynesian women in history, advocating that their legacies be recognized in academic studies and textbooks.

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Here are five key points from the video:

1. **Research Focus on Hawaiian Monarchy**: The author discusses their research project centered on the Hawaiian Revolution and the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani, emphasizing the perspective of American missionaries who helped facilitate her overthrow while identifying as culturally Hawaiian. The author expresses a desire to tell the Queen's story and explore her life in more depth.

2. **Gender and Politics Convideo**: The author notes a perceived regression in the discourse surrounding women in politics in the U.S. They aim to examine the influence of religion on women's political roles and achievements, specifically through the lens of Hawaiian and Tahitian queens during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

3. **Historical Records Accessibility**: The author highlights the accessibility of missionary records and other historical documentation from various perspectives (American, British, Tahitian) due to the missionaries’ efforts in teaching Polynesian societies literacy, enabling the reconstruction of women's stories despite their absence in formal records.

4. **Women Leaders During Colonial Encounters**: The video underscores how Polynesian women, particularly chiefs like Queen Pērā and Queen Lili'uokalani, navigated political challenges posed by European and American colonization. The author discusses how these women leveraged their positions during negotiations with foreign powers, contrasting their experiences with later female political leaders who faced diminishing influence.

5. **Call for Inclusion of Women's Stories in History**: The author expresses a desire for the contributions and stories of Polynesian women to be recognized and included in world history videobooks. They highlight the importance of understanding the roles these women played in shaping their societies and the broader international convideo, advocating for increased recognition of Polynesian history.

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Here are some key quotes extracted from your video that capture the main themes and ideas:

1. **On the Hawaiian Revolution and Perspective:**
- "I was telling the story from the other side... I wanted to tell the Queen's side, and I really wanted to look at her life in greater depth."

2. **On Gender and Politics:**
- "I really wanted to have a larger project that looked at gender and politics from a religious perspective."
- "How does religion influence the interaction of women in politics and their reception and their ultimate achievements throughout their political careers?"

3. **On Research Challenges:**
- "The difficult part was to look at these women and try to recreate their legacies... how can I reconstruct their stories in a way that honors them, who they were?"

4. **On Sources and Histories:**
- "A lot of American and London missionary records are fully accessible... that's the key from their perspective."

5. **On Political Power:**
- "They used it to their advantage as women, as women political leaders... but they didn't have total power."

6. **On the Impact of Christianity:**
- "You have the Christianization of laws, which affects culture, including family, property, marriage, all of that, as well as political status."

7. **On Women's Historical Presence:**
- "What I want to accomplish is I want each of these women's names in every world history videobook."

8. **On Polynesian Connections:**
- "There are so many Polynesian connections with the wider world that just haven't been made yet for the broader audience."

These quotes encapsulate the unique perspectives on women's roles in politics, the research process, and the historical narratives surrounding Hawaiian and Polynesian culture.

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Here are some articles that may explore similar themes to Joy's research on women in politics, particularly in the convideo of colonialism, gender roles, and historical narratives:

1. **"Women and the Politics of History: The Role of Women in Colonization"** - This article examines how women were both affected by and participated in colonization processes, highlighting their responses to geopolitical changes and their roles in shaping historical narratives.

2. **"The Impact of Colonialism on Indigenous Women's Leadership Roles"** - This study investigates the ways in which colonial powers altered the traditional roles of Indigenous women in politics and society, drawing parallels to the historical influences noted by Joy in her research.

3. **"Revisiting Queen Liliʻuokalani: A Feminist Perspective on Hawaiian Sovereignty"** - This article focuses specifically on Queen Liliʻuokalani’s life and reign, discussing her political strategies and the broader implications of her leadership in the face of colonial pressures.

4. **"Gender, Colonialism, and Resistance: Women’s Roles in Pacific History"** - This piece addresses the dynamic roles of women in the Pacific Islands' histories, particularly in resisting colonialism and maintaining cultural identity.

5. **"Power, Politics, and the Polynesian Woman: A Historical Overview"** - This article presents a comprehensive overview of the political roles of Polynesian women throughout history, from pre-colonial times to contemporary discussions, mirroring Joy’s exploration of political power dynamics.

6. **"Cultural Resilience among Polynesian Women: Stories from the Past"** - This research highlights how Polynesian women have historically navigated and resisted the challenges posed by colonialism, emphasizing their resilience and contributions to their societies.

7. **"The Evolution of Gender Roles in Post-Colonial Pacific Societies"** - This scholarly article discusses the shifts in gender roles following the colonial period, analyzing how these changes have impacted women's political engagement.

8. **"The Intersection of Gender, Culture, and Politics in Indigenous Hawaiian Histories"** - This article offers a focused look at how gender intersects with cultural and political narratives in Hawaii, similar to Joy's investigation of women in politics.

9. **"Narrating Women's Histories: The Importance of Inclusive Historical Discourse"** - This piece emphasizes the need for inclusive histories that recognize the contributions of women, aligning with Joy's advocacy for the acknowledgment of Polynesian women's legacy.

These articles provide broader convideos to understand the intersectionality of gender, politics, and colonial histories, much like Joy's work.

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During my first research project, I looked at the

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Hawaiian Revolution and the overthrow of the Queen,

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the Le Kani, the last monarch in Hawaii.

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And I was telling the story from the other side.

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Um, it was a childhood story of, children

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of American missionaries who grew up

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and then overthrew her even though they believed

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that they were culturally Hawaiian.

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And in doing that research, I realized very much so

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that I wanted to tell the other side.

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I wanted to tell the Queen's side,

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and I really wanted to look at her life in greater depth.

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But it was also during a period here in the United States

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where I just felt as if the rhetoric surrounding gender

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women, women in politics was

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almost moving backwards, if that makes sense.

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And so I really wanted to have a larger project

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that looked at gender

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and politics from a religious perspective.

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How does religion influence the interaction

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of women in politics and their reception

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and their ultimate, sort of,

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achievements throughout their political careers?

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And that's where I found such an interesting story in four

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Hawaiian Queens, Ali Rii from Tahiti

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and Polynesian Culture and Society,

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and sort of brought those four together

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for the first project.

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A lot of American

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and London missionary records are fully accessible

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because their main goal was

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to teach Polynesian societies how to read and write.

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So literally everything is written down

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and from their perspective,

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that's the key from their perspective.

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And so the missionary records are very accessible online in

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Australia, New Zealand, London, San Diego.

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And then you also of course have the Royal Navy

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and their records in London as well.

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And from the Tahitian perspective,

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the US records are accessible at Harvard

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and in Honolulu at various, deposit depositories.

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So I had a lot

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of knowledge from the French perspective,

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the English perspective,

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and the American perspective from both the government

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as well as the missionaries.

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The difficult part was to look at these women

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and try to recreate their legs par,

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particularly in the Tahitian case where neither

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of the two chiefs that I write about could reader write.

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Um, in that particular case,

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how can I reconstruct their stories in a way

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that honors them, who they were,

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what I can find out about who they were.

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And I was able to sort of read past the archives,

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in terms of what was not actually said in the archives,

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looking at what wasn't there,

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and then going about trying to find out,

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what was actually going on, in sort of those absences.

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And I found a

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Lot, and by looking at it that way, why wasn't,

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for example, queen Imada present

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during some very key discussions when the French were able

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to convince her advisors to give over great amounts

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of power while she was actually giving

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birth to one of her children.

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She was in labor at the time.

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So those types of things I was able to sort of

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recreate in a way that was written down

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what hasn't been written down before.

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I think most people have heard of Captain Cook

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and how he was basically the first

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English captain to arrive into, into Hawaii, excuse me.

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But he stopped in Tahiti before he arrived in Hawaii.

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So he's got this sort of,

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outsized personality in the histories of both islands.

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But the British were the first to arrive in Tahiti

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and looked at Tahiti as, a prime trading STA station

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for their larger project, which was Australia.

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And, the Americans of course looked at Hawaii as sort

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of in their pond.

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So of course, in their sphere of influence.

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And the American missionaries there really grabbed onto

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that project in reading about not only

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what the London missionaries were already doing in Tahiti,

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but reading accounts, of Hawaiian culture

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that was coming back from American captains

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and from Hawaiian students who were coming

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to learn in the US at the same time.

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So all of this is happening in the context of

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late 18th, early 19th century international history,

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where it's almost as if the nations of Europe

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and the United States are all

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of the sudden discovering Polynesian islands as being key

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to their sort of world power.

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And they're all doing it at the exact same time.

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You have their male counterparts, for example, in Tahiti,

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queen Pere,

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or she's not a queen in our,

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in our sense of the word, she's a queen.

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But obviously in Polynesian society,

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she's a very high chief,

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but you have in her situation her own husband being afraid

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of the new white arrivals to the island.

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And she is negotiating

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and navigating a totally foreign experience for both

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the British sailors and the Navy as well as her own people.

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And she does it with a great amount of intelligence in

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that she's able to look at the situation

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and say, how can I benefit from this?

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And how can my people benefit from this?

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But she's also in a gendered world

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where Polynesia women have a lot more political power than,

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American or European women at this time,

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but they didn't have total power.

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And so what's interesting about both of the Hawaiian

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chiefs and the Tahitian Chiefs who were the first

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to encounter Europeans

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and Americans, is that they used it to their advantage

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as women, as women political leaders.

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Um, but it's

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because there are later counterparts towards the end

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of this sort of period

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where there's no outright colonialism.

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And then all of a sudden there is,

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there's a French takeover, there's a US takeover.

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There are women in power at the exact same time

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who are not able to use their gender

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to their own political advantage

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and their people's advantage.

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And so the book is really looking at

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what is the religious context, what has changed?

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And the Christian world today, whether it's Protestantism

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or Catholicism, but the debates have are,

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are the exactly the same,

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and how much power can a female can we allow

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a woman to have?

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And when Hawaii essentially became a Christian,

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so Kme MEA iii in his very first constitution being

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influenced by his region, Kamanu, who is one

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of the women I discuss, she accepted Christianity

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for a whole bunch of complex reasons.

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But so did he. And he in his first constitution said,

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this is a Christian nation in Tahiti, the same thing.

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The missionaries felt like they had Christianized,

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the monarchy, the monarchy that they decided was going

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to be the monarchy.

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They essentially hand pitched the chiefs

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that they thought were going to be the most Christian

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and supported them and elevated them.

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So you have the christianization of laws,

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which affects culture, including family, property, marriage,

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all of that, as well as political status.

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And over the course of these histories,

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you have women receding in that political status,

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even though the women were the first

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to really open their arms

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and their minds to these new relat.

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I really tried to write the book for an academic audience,

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but also a general audience.

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It's short enough that you could read each

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of these women's lives individually.

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But my goal is that taken together, you see,

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you see a new world really.

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You see a new world that could have maybe been different.

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Um, you see paths that were not taken,

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but you also see in the middle of it, you see brilliance,

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you see compassion, you see political negotiations

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and savviness, and you see, all

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of this being done by women.

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And so what I want to accomplish is I want each

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of these women's names in every world history textbook.

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I mean, I want them part of the discussion.

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Personally, I want to go to Australia and New Zealand.

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I want to physically go there.

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So that's the, that is the, self-centered

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research policy that I have directed for myself.

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But I also think that there are so many

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Polynesian connections with the wider world

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that just haven't been made yet for,

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the broader audience.

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And so anything that I can do to encourage people

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to look at Polynesian society

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as really a focal point in international history, I want

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to do that.

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