Historical Skills #2 Pacific Editiona

You’re studying the 1897 Kūʻē Petitions in Hawaiʻi, where over 21,000 Native Hawaiians signed to oppose U.S. annexation. You want to understand both the immediate reasons that led to the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

• Sourcing

• Causation

• Corroboration

• Contextualization

• Inquiry

You are reading speeches from Fijian leaders about land ownership during the 1970s Independence movement. You research the political, cultural, and economic climate in Fiji at the time to understand why land rights were such a key issue.

• Claim Testing

• Historical Empathy

• Corroboration

• Contextualization

• Claim Testing

You read oral histories from Marshallese elders describing being relocated for U.S. nuclear testing in the 1940s and 50s. You try to understand their feelings and values in that time without judging them by today’s standards.

• Inquiry

• Corroboration

• Contextualization

• Historical Empathy

• Claim Testing

You want to know how traditional voyaging knowledge was preserved and revived in Polynesia through projects like the Polynesian Voyaging Society. You write a research question: How have Hawaiian and other Pacific navigators used traditional knowledge to guide modern voyaging and strengthen cultural identity? Along the way, other questions begin to emerge.

• Causation

• Corroboration

• Claim Testing

• Inquiry

• Sourcing

You analyze a 1895 Hawaiian-language newspaper article defending Queen Liliʻuokalani. You focus on how certain words and phrases are used to inspire patriotism and resistance.

• Corroboration

• Claim Testing

• Close Reading

• Contextualization

• Causation

An online article says that the protests at Mauna Kea in 2019 were only about astronomy and had nothing to do with Hawaiian culture or land rights. You investigate primary sources, protest statements, and historical background to confirm if this statement is accurate.

• Sourcing

• Causation

• Historical Empathy

• Claim Testing

• Corroboration

You find a letter about the Banaban people’s forced relocation due to phosphate mining, written by a British mining company official in the 1940s. Before using it, you think about who wrote it, why, and what their point of view might be.

• Sourcing

• Causation

• Close Reading

• Corrorboration

• Inquiry

You read a government report and a Māori community newsletter about the 1975 Māori Land March, led by Dame Whina Cooper, protesting the loss of Māori land. You compare the two to see where their accounts agree and where they differ.

• Claim Testing

• Historical Inquiry

• Corroboration

• Sourcing

• Causation