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International Journal of Humanity Studies 

 http://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/IJHS 

Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 
 

123 
 

 

HAWAII’S ECOLOGICAL IMPERIALISM: POSTCOLONIAL 

ECOCRITICISM READING ON KIANA DAVENPORT’S SHARK 

DIALOGUES 

 

Kristiawan Indriyanto  

Universitas Gadjah Mada 
kristiawan.i@mail.ugm.ac.id 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/ijhs.2019.020202 

Received 2 January 2019; revised 21 February 2019; accepted 2 March 2019 

 

 

Abstract  

Recent studies of postcolonialism have explored the interconnection between 

postcolonial and environmental/eco-criticism. Studies from Huggan (2004), 

Nixon (2005), Cilano and DeLoughrey (2007) counter the underlying assumption 

that these criticisms stand in opposition toward each other by pointing out the 

overlapping areas of interest between postcolonial and ecocriticism and the 

complementary aspect of these two criticisms (Buell, 2011). Postcolonial 

ecocriticism, as theorized by Huggan and Tiffin (2010) and DeLoughrey and 

Handley (2011) asserts the intertwined correlation between environmental 

degradation and the marginalization of the minority/indigenous ethic groups 

which inhabit a particular place. The underlying capitalist and mechanistic 

ideologies in which nature is perceived only of their intrinsic values and 
usefulness toward (Western) humans illustrates total disregard to the original 

owner of the colonized land, the indigenous people. This perspective is underlined 

by Serpil Oppermann’s (2007) concept of ecological imperialism to underline the 

anthropocentric perspective that legitimate Western domination toward the 

colonies’ natural resources. Although discussion of postcolonial ecocriticism has 

encompassed diverse regions such as Caribbean, Africa and Asia, scant attention 

has been given toward Pacific archipelago especially Hawai’i. Through reading on 

Kiana Davenport’s Shark Dialogues (1994), this paper explores how American 

colonialism results in ecological imperialism in this island chain. It is hoped that 

this analysis can contribute toward enriching the discussion on postcolonial 

ecocriticism.  

 

Keyword: Postcolonial ecocriticism, ecological imperialism, Hawai’ian literature. 

 

Introduction  

Locating Postcolonial Ecocriticism 

One of the latest developments in literary criticism is the recognition that 

environmental problems are inseparable with the marginalization of the people 

which inhabit a particular region. Several environmental issues such as climate 

change, deforestation, food and water shortages, and also the steady increase in 



 

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nuclear and chemical pollutants remains linked with the question of race, how the 

minorities and indigenous people are more prone in facing this environmental 

problem (Feldman and Hsu, 2007, pp. 199). This increasing ecological awareness 

calls for further refinement in literary criticism to better represent this problem. 

Although one branch of literature criticism, ecocriticism which emerged since the 

publication of The Ecocriticism Reader (1996) by Glotfelty and Fromm is 

motivated by the assertion that “scholar of human culture can no longer ignore the 

environment” (in James, 2015, pp. 23), it is only in the recent years that the 

question of environmentalism from the minorities has been represented. This 

white-sided bias is criticized by one foremost scholar of ecocriticism, Cheryll 

Glotfelty. She argues that “as a predominantly white-movement, ecocriticism will 

only become a multi-ethnic movement after it begin to incorporate diverse voices 

in their discussion.” (1996, pp. xxv) The increasing scope of environmental 

criticism by incorporation of third-world literature and also ethnic minorities lead 

into intersection with postcolonial criticism which has represent the socio-political 

dimension of minorities’ marginalization and Othering. 

Postcolonial ecocriticism as the intersection between postcolonialism and 

ecocriticism emerges in the early 2010’s through publication of two seminal 

works, Postcolonial Ecocriticism (2010) by Huggan and Tiffin and also 

Postcolonial Ecologies: Literature of the Environment by De Loughrey and 

Handley (2011). Although these aforementioned books become the forerunners of 

postcolonial ecocriticism, several studies, either books or academic articles 

already explore the connection between colonialism and environmental injustice. 

Several early works of postcolonial ecocriticism are Ecological Imperialism 

(1986) by Crosby, Green Imperialism (1995) by Grove and Romanticism and 

Colonial Diseases (1999) which underline the “historical embeddedness of 

ecology in European imperial enterprise” (Huggan and Tiffin, 2010, pp. 3). These 

studies reveal how colonialism also transform the ecology in New World 

(America) through exploitation of the non-human materials for the benefits of the 

metropolitan centre. Regarding academic articles, there are two notable articles, 

first is “Greening Postcolonialism” (2004) by Huggan that explores the 

devastation of Narmada Valley and the resulting uprooting of the local Adivasis 

ethnic group. Second article, “Environmentalism and Postcolonialism (2005) by 

Nixon argues more sceptically concerning the seemingly polar opposite nature of 

postcolonialism and environmental/eco-criticism. Nixon (2005, pp. 247-249) 

underlines several contrasting premises, (1) postcolonialism focuses more on 

hybridity and cross-cultural interaction instead of the ‘pure’ nature which is 

stressed by ecocritic –mainly of Romantic tradition- (2) postcolonialism 

underlines the displacement of people and their alienation while ecocriticism 
focuses on reconnecting people to the world around them and lastly (3) 

postcolonialism excavates the forgotten pre-colonial past, while ecocriticism is 

more ahistorical and timeless in outlook. 

The antipathy and hostility towards reconciling postcolonialism and 

ecocriticism actually failed to recognize that even the forerunners of postcolonial 

theory has addressed the aftermath of colonialism in the exploitation of the 

landscape for the benefit of the Western imperial power. As stated by Estok 

(2014, pp. 22), postcolonialism has underlined “the joint oppression of the 

original owner of the land and of that the land itself”. This perspective is further 



 

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highlighted through Edward Said’s statement that “imperialism after all is an act 

of geographical violence, though which virtually every space in the world is 

explored, charted, and finally brought under control” (1993, pp. 77). Moreover, 

Said stresses also that “the main battle of imperialism is over land.” (1993, pp. 

xiii). Summarizing prior opinions from prominent postcolonial scholars, it is 

proved that the scepticism addressed by Nixon is incorrect, as postcolonialism 

already concern with environmental issues especially relating it with colonialism. 

To restate, “the easy assertion that the postcolonial field is inherently 

anthropocentric (human-centred) overlooks a long history of ecological concern in 

postcolonial criticism” (Huggan and Tiffin, 2010, pp. 2). 

Contextualizing postcolonial ecocriticism, it can be underlined that this 

theoretical perspective has developed into a well-developed paradigm which 

encompasses premises from both its parental disciplines. Postcolonial ecocriticism 

stresses that “postcolonialism and ecocriticism is more as complementary as 

contrary forms of activist (or proto-activist) intervention” (Buell, 2011, pp. 98), 

this illustration negates the worrying spectre that surrounding the advent of 

postcolonial ecocriticism. Instead of standing in opposite spectrum through the 

assumption that postcolonialism only advocates human issues while ecocriticism 

places more emphasis on non-human, postcolonial ecocriticism asserts the 

connection between situation of marginalization and othering of minorities and 

the degradation of their environment. This interconnectedness is aptly 

summarized by DeLoughrey and Handley statement that “biotic and political 

ecologies are materially and imaginatively intertwined” (2011, pp. 13). 

 

Why Hawai’ian Literature? 

This paper aims to contribute in enriching the discussion of postcolonial 

ecocriticism through the reading of a Hawai’ian novel, Shark Dialogues (1994) 

written by Kiana Davenport. Although the analysis of postcolonial ecocriticism 

has encompassed various regions such as minority groups in United States 

(Adamson, 2001 and Reed, 2009) Caribbean (James, 2015), and Asia especially 

India (Mukherjee, 2006) scant attention has been given toward the impact of 

colonialism through environmental degradation in Pacific region. The isolated 

locations of several island chains in Pacific oceans conceal the fact that this region 

is highly affected by colonialism of Western powers that persist into the present 

day in which Hawai’i is not excepted. (Kay-Trask,1993, pp. 25). As a by-product 

of colonialism, it can be underlined that the ecology in Pacific islands especially 

Hawai’i is an example of postcolonial ecology, an ecology which was and still is 

shaped by colonialism (DeLoughrey and Handley, 2011). 

The arrival of the white settlers (haole) which started from James Cook’s 
expedition in the 1778 irrevocably changed the landscape and political situation in 

Hawai’i. While in the bygone era the interaction among the islands were limited 

through small canoes, the arrival of the whites (haole), first as traders, later as 

missionaries, settlers, and colonizers shaped the demographics in Hawai’i through 

diseases that devastated the indigenous islanders. (Kuykendall, 1965, pp. 1) This 

situation in Hawai’i is firmly illustrated by Said’s quotation: “a changed ecology 

also introduced a changed political system that, in the eyes of the nationalist poet 

or visionary, seemed retrospectively to have alienated the people from their 

authentic traditions.” (1993, pp. 77) American colonialism does not only 



 

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permanently alters the Hawai’ian landscape but they also introducing Western 

epistemology of human and non-human relationship that threatened the Hawai’ian 

ancestral alona aina (love and respect towards the land and their entities). This is 

primarily underlined by how tourist brochures and pamphlets only emphasise 

Hawai’ian hospitality to the foreigners through aloha (Sasaki, 2016, pp. 643) 

instead of promoting aloha aina as the more proper terminology. Sasaki marks 

that what is marketed into the outside world as Hawai’i is an idealized tropical 

paradise in the middle of the Pacific while foregrounding the ongoing racial and 

environmental problems in this archipelago.  

Criticism towards American colonialism especially regarding the forced 

appropriation of indigenous land for military, tourist, and industrial purposes is 

particularly addressed through Hawai’ian literature. Writers such as Kiana 

Davenport, Kristiana Kahakauwila and Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl challenges the 

stereotypical depiction of Hawai’i as South Seas paradise by asserting the impact 

of American domination both on Hawai’ian ecology and the marginalization of 

indigenous islanders. Davenport in both her Shark Dialogues (1994) and the 

House of Many Gods (2006) explores the degraded and putrid environment in 

Wainae coast and O’ahu islands where the locals are forced to live in shanties 

while their ancestral homeland in Makua Valley is being used by American navy 

to test heavy artillery from its battleships. The conflict between Western 

epistemology and traditional Hawai’ian way of living as a result of American 

imperialism also becomes a prevalent subject matter in Hawai’ian literature. 

Davenport highlights how the anthropocentric bias concerning environment 

propagated by the Western colonial irreparably transform the Hawai’ian 

landscape. To conclude this section, this paper asserts that reading of Kiana 

Davenport’s Shark Dialogues can provide further insight regarding postcolonial 

ecocriticism as a discipline. 

The rising number of criminal cases is no longer a strange matter in 

Indonesia. Criminal cases might happen anywhere. Along with this issue, the duty 

of the police officers increases as well. Conducting investigations is one of them. 

In conducting investigations special abilities are needed by investigators. The 

ability to communicate, the ability to make questions that can reveal the motives 

of the crimes committed, and the ability to disclose the secrets of the suspects are 

included in the category of capabilities that must be possessed by investigators. 

Investigation processes are done to uncover the motives for crimes committed. 

Investigation is not an easy thing to do because the reported party does not always 

disclose the motives. Therefore, the researchers examined the investigation 

processes of several criminal cases Situbondo Police Station. 

Investigation processes are related to the question and answer processes that 
are carried out by investigators and interviewees. In this study, the investigation 

processes were examined with pragmatics, a branch of linguistics that discusses 

languages in their application. 

This research focused on speech acts carried out by investigators and 

interviewees. Therefore, the research problems were formulated in a number of 

ways, namely the types of illocutionary acts found during the investigation 

processes and how the use of illocutionary acts influences the interviewee’s 

trustworthiness. 



 

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Related researches have been carried out by several researchers. Hadyani 

(2014) in her research, examined the types of questions, responses and 

presuppositions that emerged in investigative interview processes. The research 

findings show that in the case of fraud and embezzlement, most of the questions 

are open and a small number of questions are closed. Meanwhile, in the case of 

dump truck theft, most of the questions are open and a small number of questions 

are closed. Another research that is also still related to this study has been 

conducted by Aziz (2014). His research on forensic linguistics focuses on the 

quality of the question formulas put forward by police investigators and their 

relation to the potential for full and correct disclosure of information provided, the 

construction of discourse developed by police investigators to disclose 

information specifically in relation to the strategy of changing the topic of 

conversation during the investigation, and the level of compliance or regularity of 

police investigators in compiling BAP as a report containing complete 

information. 

 

Theoretical Review 

As a burgeoning discipline, one of the difficulties faced by postcolonial 

ecocriticism is the definition of key terminologies or concepts. To solve this 

polemic, postcolonial ecocriticism appropriates several terminologies that has 

previously been coined by other scholars. One notable example is ecological 

imperialism which is originally theorized by a botanist, Alfred Crosby through his 

book Ecological Imperialism : The Biological Expansion of Europe (1986). 

Crosby highlights how the European colonialism to the New World (America) is 

followed also by the introduction of non-Native biomes such as pigs, cows and 

horses, further ensued by the European way of domesticating animals, plantations 

and also farming. Crosby addresses how  

 

“the colonial practices of farming, plantation crops, livestock raising, 

clearance of tress, and the introduction of non-native species are the main 

component of biological expansion, which ultimately altered” (1986, pp. 

75)  

 

Crosby’s seminal work of ecological imperialism is further theorized by 

Serpil Oppermann through her article Ecological Imperialism in British Colonial 

Fictions (2007). Oppermann underlines how the European expansion to the New 

World which irrevocable alter the indigenous ecosystem is supported by 

anthropocentric Western paradigm that considers non-human merely as 

community. Ecological imperialism is not seen only as “apparently a simple 
pattern of invasion, land-clearing, and destruction” (Huggan and Tiffin, 2010, pp. 

8) but instead is an “intentional destruction through exploitation, extraction, and 

transfer of natural resources of the colonized lands in the interest of scientific and 

economic progress” (Oppermann, 2007, pp. 180). The view that nature exists only 

for the benefit for (Western) human empties nature of its intrinsic values and 

turned it into a wholesale commodity (2007, pp. 186). In Western epistemology 

which derives from John Locke and Rousseau, an uncultivated land is considered 

a wasteland (terra nihilus). Western settlers considered that their annexation and 

appropriation of indigenous land is justified, as the indigenous people were 



 

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considered unable to tame and cultivate nature based on Western way of 

agriculture, plantation, and animal husbandry. Thus, the land of indigenous people 

can be appropriated directly by the ‘industrious and rational’ colonist. (Benton, 

2007, pp. 37) 

The concept of ecological imperialism is closely linked with environmental 

racism as the guiding paradigm that places the indigenous people in the non-

human sphere. Hence inhumane treatment toward them is justified as they are 

considered in the same domain with nature. As illustrated by Val Plumwood, 

environmental racism is employed to “rationalize the exploitation of animal (and 

animalized human) ‘others’ in the name of a human –and reason centred culture 

that is as least a couple of millennia old” (2003, pp. 53). Plumwood derives her 

concept of environmental racism from the seminal work of Orientalism by 

Edward Said (1977) which asserts the necessity of an alter ego in constructing 

identity. Expanding on Said’s terminology of Orientalism, Plumwood underlines 

that Othering as a process is linked also with the indigenous people’s closeness 

with nature. Western epistemology strongly enforces the duality of nature and 

culture, in which “humans as a group were set apart as rational and mindful agents 

against mechanistically conceived nature elements of “nature”, reduced to mere 

matter” (Plumwood, 2007, pp. 251). The closeness of non-Western civilizations 

toward nature caused the West to regard the indigenous people as part of ‘nature’ 

instead of ‘culture’, as is exemplified by Plumwood’s assertion; “the sphere of 

‘nature’ has been taken to include women and supposedly ‘backward’ or 

‘primitive’ nature, who were exemplifying an earlier and more animal stages of 

human development” (2003, pp. 52). 

 

Findings and Discussion 
Davenport’s Shark Dialogues can be considered as an example of 

generational saga in which the scale –both regarding the characters and the plot- is 

epic. Although the primary point of view and the most memorable character in 

this story is Pono, a kahuna (shaman) who is also the grandmother of four 

granddaughters –Jess, Vanya, Rachel, and Ming –, Davenport also employs 

multiple narrations or polyvocality to narrate the situation in Hawai’ian 

archipelago in more details. Davenport also explores the spiritual dimension of 

Pono as a shaman in which she possesses the ability to peer into the life of her 

ancestors, a haole (white person) named Matthys Conradson as her great-great 

grandfather, Pono’s grandmother Emma and her maternal lineage from Lili. The 

shifting temporality regarding the plot of Shark Dialogues, in which the story 

moves back into past events before coming back into present era enables 

Davenport to chronicle the story of Hawai’i’s ecological imperialism from the 
arrival of the white Settlers.  

The first phase of Hawai’ian ecological imperialism by the Haole is 

underlined by two main factors, the establishment of Hawai’i as a major trading 

post in the middle of the Pasific ocean and also the forbidding of indigenous 

customs by Christian missionaries. Davenport employs Matthys as the primary 

point of view in this period through his relationship with Kelonikoa, a Kanaka 

Maoli (islanders). Their intended marriage is marred by the unwillingness of a 

Christian Congregationalist bishop who asserts that, “if you are sure you want to 

marry a kanaka, she must take introduction, become a Christian first…. they are 



 

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without morals, the women row out to ships, offering themselves” (Davenport, 

1994, pp. 56). Refused marriage sacrament in Christian rites, Matthys and 

Kelonika are married in Hawai’ian customs, by a kahuna. Their dialogues 

emphasize the disdain and hostility the Hawai’ians perceive towards the Christian 

missionary, the mikanele who “teach Hawai’ian forget language, gods, taboos. 

Even forget respect to the sea.” (Davenport, 1994, pp. 56). The temptation of 

wealth caused the Hawai’ians to lease, and then sell their vast land into the haole 

settlers, without realizing that the terms of the contrast is vastly disadvantaged for 

the indigenous people. “The terminology in the forms was so entangled and 

complex, even Matthys could not translate it. It was a ploy, a way to encourage 

natives to selling their land, which left more land available for haole.” 

(Davenport, 1994, pp. 58-59). 

The strategic location of Hawai’i in the middle of the Pacific causes 

commerce to flourish, first from trading and secondly by the establishment of 

sugar plantations. Both legal regulations or unsavoury acts such as smuggling of 

opium and human traffics are seen in ships from America, Europe and the Far 

East that docked in Hawa’ian archipelago.  

 

“In the early 1840’s, wealth was being accumulated overnight in 

Honolulu –human cargo smuggled in from the Orient as cheap labour, 

opium packed in champagne bottles, rare jade and gold slipped past 

immigration authorities.” (Davenport, 1994, pp. 58). 

 

Followed the vast interexchange of both people and goods, diseases struck the 

Hawai’ian isles. Trading and whaling ships from around the world spread 

syphilis, measles, typhoid, whooping cough and smallpox. The calls of general 

vaccination are too late to restrict the spread of diseases especially in the slums 

which killed thousands of Hawai’ians. Faced with this situation, the Hawai’ian 

government regulates a law which forbid the trading of opium. The decline of 

trading enables sugar industry to develop, all over the Hawai’ian landscape vast 

tract of lands are being converted into sugar plantations.  

 

“…. sugar was the real king in Hawai’i. A reciprocity treaty – which 

would later give the United States control of Pearl Harbour – allowed duty 

free access of Hawai’ian sugar into the mainland. New steamships and 

railroads moved sugar away from isolated plantations to the docks. But 

large amounts of capital were needed to finance the plantations. Sugar 

stock trading boomed, and Mathys invest heavily” (Davenport, 1994, pp. 

77) 
 

One pivotal event that illustrate the beginning of Hawai’ian ecological 

imperialism in this early period is the signing of Great Mahele or Land Divisions 

by King Kamehameha III. The terms of Great Mahele abolishes the long-held 

feudalism of the clans and enables the haole to “buy lots in fee simple from the 

rest of the islands’ acreage.” (Davenport, 1994, pp. 58) Davenport underlines how 

the enforcement of this treaty symbolizes “the exact moment these islands had 

become an American colony, officially separating Hawai’ians from their land” 

(Davenport, 1994, pp. 71). This moment marks the vast seizure of Hawai’ian 



 

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landscape by the haoles and transform it through plantations and industry which 

remains in place decades later. “Rich haoles build huge plantation estates as the 

quality of life deteriorated for Hawai’ians.” (Davenport, 1994, pp. 63) While the 

haoles live extravagantly in excess, the indigenous people are driven away in 

shelters near the plantations or living in the slums’ back alley. This deteriorating 

situation worsen by the increasing needs of workforce to supplant the native 

islanders which lead into immigration from Asian countries. 

 

“Compounding the tension in Honolulu were the diverse ethnic groups 

imported for “slave work” on plantations. Chinese or Japanese. Each 

week groups of them went on strike for decent wages, humane living 

conditions, the constant threat of rebellion and revolution frightening 

away international trade, throwing the islands into chaos.” (Davenport, 

1994, pp. 82) 

 

Davenport’s depiction of Pono as a kahuna, symbol of the dying remnant of 

Hawai’ian old tradition further underlines the impact of ecological imperialism in 

Hawai’i. The ruined fortune of Matthys after Kelonika is caught helping the last 

disposed Hawai’ian queen Lili‘uokalani forces his descendants to live in poverty 

such as Pono and her mother, Lili who has to work in a plantation. Their life is 

marred by harsh works and harassments from the haole supervisors. It is depicted 

henceforth,  

 

SUNBAKED years. Machete chorus of workers hacking in unison, sickly 

sweet smell of pineapple clogging their pores. Years later, the smoke of 

cigars would float a remembrance of old wahine in baggy pants, googles 

and rubber boots, harvesting by hand, then squatting over cold tea, 

puffing cigars. (Davenport, 1994, pp. 102) 

 

Ironically, although Matthys is one of the earliest forerunners of vast 

plantations in Hawai’i, his descendants are forced to work in it. Davenport 

employs shifting focus in point of view to better explore the plight of Hawai’ian 

workers in the plantation in the form of Pono and her family. Previously, the 

deteriorating live of Hawai’ians is only mentioned in brief, and from Pono’s 

perspective Davenport is able to explore the harshness of plantation life in full 

spectrum. The kanaka workers are treated similar with their crops, merely as 

commodity that exist for the benefit of the haole owners. One event that 

underlines the parallelization of indigenous people with ‘nature’ is the false 

accusation that the kanaka labourers are running a distillery, selling bootleg 
liquor.  

 

“One day when she was thirteen, four haole cradling rifles rode towards 

the plantation. Workers ran for their pistols while the horses were still 

trotting specks….A man leaned down from his horse, whacking Ben with 

his rifle butt. Lili ran forward, swinging a machete, planting the blade in 

his forearm. Rifles exploded, soil shot up in their faces. Outnumbered, 

workers dropped their guns, were bound by rope in a circle.” (Davenport, 

1994, pp. 103) 



 

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Davenport portrays the shifting nature of Hawai’ian landscape, from vast 

plantations into the establishment of several metropolises through Pono’s journey 

into adulthood and later venerable years. From Pono’s venture across the islands, 

she recognizes the beauty of her native lands, “it was like gliding across an old, 

old tapestry –farmers guiding ox teams through emerald rice paddies…. the 

searching beauty and wealth of her birth-sands, that whites were stealing away.” 

(Davenport, 1994, pp. 105). Although the terms of the Great Mahele –Land 

Division – were finally repealed through the Hawai’ians Homes Commissions in 

1920, the old ways of living are already gone.  

 

“Instead of verdant little acres where people could plant small gardens 

and live on a fish-and poi-economy, what Pono saw were sad little home-

stead plots on barren lands, no irrigation, no forest, or running water.” 

(Davenport, 1994, pp. 105) 

 

The previous passage underlines the far-reaching impact of American 

ecological imperialism that displace the Hawai’ian from their ancestral living 

condition. It should be asserted that although the land itself are returned through 

the abolishment of Great Mahele, reconciliation with the past living of indigenous 

Hawai’ians prove to be impossible. It is not possible to sustain harmonious 

connection with nature through personal gardens in the rapidly growing Western 

settlements in Hawai’i. Honolulu, the capital of Hawai’i has become a Western 

city similar with the cities in mainland America, a symbol of the entrenching 

American colonialism in Hawai’i and the victory of anthropocentric way of living.   

The last phase of Hawai’ian ecological imperialism is continuation of military 

domination in Hawai’i which started since the Second World War. The attack on 

Pearl Harbour which lead to American intervention in the War causes the 

American Navy to keep on garrisoning Hawai’i in fear for future attacks. 

Although the second World War had ended decades ago, the continuing spectre of 

Soviet invasion during the Cold War causes the stockpiling of nuclear weaponry 

and nuclear-powered ships in Pearl Harbour. Toxic, pollution, and the danger of 

nuclear radiation keep on accumulating every year without any adequate means to 

dispel it. Davenport summarizes this ongoing ecological imperialism through this 

passage. 

 

Irreversible pollution of coral gardens at Kāneohe. Stockpiling of nuclear 

weapons at Waikele. Radiation of productive fishing grounds at Pu’uloa 

by nuclear submarines. A proposed rail transit system on O’ahu, that 

would devastate the tiny island’s fragile volcanic foundations, 
traumatizing Hawai ‘i’s entire ecological system. (Davenport, 1994, pp. 

364) 

 

Pono’s status as a kahuna which possesses close connection with her 

surroundings, both biotic and non-biotic material causes her to suffer from the 

destruction of the landscape near her home island in Keahole. She occasionally 

hears the land cries out in terror, “ainaaa…. ainaaaa…the land…the land” 

(Davenport,1994, pp. 214). She strongly denounces the disrespect shown by 

American government’s intention to build five power plants, just above the 



 

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ancient, burial shrines of local Hawai’ian ancestors. Moreover, the sacred trees all 

around the burial site will be “splintered into wood chips, burned to generate 

further electricity.” (Davenport, 1994, pp. 214) These acts illustrate the lack of 

respect the American has toward nature and the presence of sacred grounds as 

they merely consider the necessity of land-clearing in order to construct power 

plants for electrical usage.  

Toxic pollution and nuclear radiations due to the militarization of Hawai’ian 

archipelago marks the closure of Davenport’s narration in Shark Dialogues. 

Davenport contextualizes how her homeland in Hawai’i has undergo a far-ranging 

process of ecological imperialism since the arrival of American haoles which 

persists into the present era. Through the character of Pono, and her ability as a 

kahuna to recall her past ancestors Davenport chronicles the beginning of 

Hawai’ian colonialism until how it is depicted in the contemporary period through 

more recent issues. The anthropocentric perspective of the colonizers caused them 

to consider the richness of Hawai’i as merely commodity to be exploited for the 

benefits of the metropolitan centre. Modern Hawai’i, with all the environmental 

degradation that occurs is an aftermath of the ongoing American ecological 

imperialism, as it is depicted in Davenport’s Shark Dialogues. 

 

Conclusion 

To summarize, it can be stated that Davenport’s Shark Dialogues aptly 

chronicles the different phases of Hawai’i ecological imperialism. The shifting 

temporality and multiple protagonists in the narration enables Davenport to chart 

the beginning of ecological imperialism in Hawai’ian archipelago from the arrival 

of the haoles until the continuing presence of the whites in the contemporary era.  

This process started with the prohibition of indigenous way of living especially 

concerning nature, and is marked by the terms of Great Mahele or the Land 

Division. This unequal treaty causes Westerners to own vast land in Hawai’i and 

transform the landscape into vast plantation for the benefits of the whites. The 

kanaka maoli are forced to work harshly in the plantation in which their lives are 

considered not more important than the crops they yield. Moreover, other forms of 

ecological imperialism also manifest in the lingering presence of American 

military which pollute the nearby waters and also the desecration of sacred lands 

and grounds for electrical purpose. To restate, it can be asserted that reading of 

Hawa’ian literature in general and Shark Dialogues in general can provide further 

insight regarding postcolonial ecocriticism. 

 

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