George Hueu Sanford Kanahele (October 17, 1930 – September 15, 2000) was a

native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

activist, historian and author.

Biography

George Hueu Sanford Kanahele was born October 17, 1930, in Kahuku on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Kanahele graduated from

Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

in 1948, and served as missionary for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

until 1954. He then served in the United States Army Security Agency in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Kanahele received his Bachelor's and master's degrees in political science from Brigham Young University Hawaii, and Ph.D. in Government and Southeast Asian Affairs from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1967, graduating from Cornell with academic honors. Kanahele published several books during his life relating to Hawaiian culture and history. As co-founder of the Hawaii Entrepreneurship Training & Development Institute, he trained indigenous people around the world in how to start sustainable businesses. Kanahele founded of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association in 1997. Despite being a valuable part of the Hawaiian activism movement, some of his ideas are controversial, such as his argument that native Hawaiians should embrace Hawaii's

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

by helping the visitor industry revive a "Hawaiianess," also described as "a Hawaiian sense of place," in visitor destinations such as Waikīkī. In 1998 he received the Living Treasures of Hawai'i award. He died in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

on September 14, 2000, after a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while teaching a seminar.

Publications

* Ph.D. Dissertation * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanahele, George 1930 births 2000 deaths Brigham Young University–Hawaii alumni Cornell University alumni Kamehameha Schools alumni Native Hawaiian writers