Celebration of Native American and Hawaiian cultures unites World War II enemies

By Kacie Miura

Native Americans and Hawaiians came together to celebrate their cultures. Click here to view the video By Jessica Hamamoto and Charlotte Marten
Watch the audio slideshow on this story. By Melissa Chua and April Randolph

Vendors from Native American tribes sold colorful dream catchers, sacred hoops and other spiritual remedies at Honolulu’s 33rd Annual Intertribal Powwow, but three Navajo Code Talkers found healing through ho’oponopono.  For these Native American veterans, this Hawaiian method of “making things right” mended old battle scars of hostility and showed that a simple dose of forgiveness can mend an historic animosity between two groups of people.

Nearly 63 years after fighting the Japanese at the Battle of Iwo Jima, Code Talkers Samuel Tso, Teddy Draper and Keith Little returned to the Pacific Ocean.  But instead of setting out on a warship, they embarked on a mission for peace and arrived in Hawaii, the na’au, or heart, of the Pacific, where they met their Japanese counterparts and participated in a weekend of celebrating the Native American heritage.

The festivities began in Thomas Square on Oct. 6, a damp Saturday morning, but the rain clouds dispersed as if in answer to the Hawaiian invocation given by Malia Craver, a revered ho’oponopono leader in the Hawaiian community. 

Spectators formed a ring around the soggy park to watch the opening hula dance performed in homage to the heavens, visible now that the dark clouds retreated.  But the highlight of the event was the recognition of the Code Talkers and other Native American veterans as part of this year’s theme of “Honoring Our Veterans.”  Drum groups and dancers from Hawaii, the mainland and Canada took turns performing songs of honor to the veterans while a line of spectators formed to shake hands with the Code Talkers.

In World War II, the Code Talkers were responsible for transmitting radio messages that the Japanese could not decipher.  The Navajo code is seen by many as instrumental in securing victory for the Allied Powers.

Among those who greeted the Code Talkers were Japanese guests and spectators, including veteran Tadahasi Megumi.  The American Indian Powwow Association, which hosted the event, invited Megumi and two other Japanese Imperial Forces veterans to engage in ho’oponopono with the Code Talkers.  Megumi was a kamikaze, a World War II suicide pilot, but his mission was cancelled when the war ended.

“The Japanese got in line, and when they shook the hands of the Code Talkers and looked into each other’s eyes, something very spiritually profound happened,” said Leon Siu, the minister of foreign affairs for the Hawaiian Kingdom, which is dedicated to conflict resolution. “It was the unspoken touch of healing and honor between former combatants now embracing peace,” he added.

The Hawaiian Kingdom facilitated the ho’oponopono between the Navajo and Japanese. 

Association board member Moanike’ala Sitch, who danced in the opening hula performance, said she and her hula group were moved by the reverence with which the Japanese greeted the Navajo. 

Photo by Trevor Atkins Navajo Code Talkers were honored alongside a veteran of the Japanese Imperial Forces at Honolulu's 33rd Annual Intertribal Powwow located in Thomas Square on Oct. 6 and 7. Photo by Trevor Atkins A Navajo codetalker watches as hula dancers from Ka Ohana O Ke Akua peform at the powwow's opening ceremony.

“It just brought us to tears,” she said.  “It was really a picture of reconciliation.”

The American Indian Powwow Association was also a major sponsor of the Code Talkers Peace Project, a reconciliation effort that culminated on Sunday, Oct. 7 with the signing of a peace accord by the Navajo and Japanese veterans. 

“I felt great joy to know that there was going to be new peace and reconciliation between two peoples who were once enemies,” said Brenda Wong, an American Indian Powwow Association board member.

The peace project meeting, held on the North Shore, was the first time the Navajo and Japanese officially reconciled wartime hostilities.  

“The men shared openly about their actions, their thoughts, their feelings, their cultural values and their spiritual beliefs that carried them through the war, and how their views have matured and developed over the years,” Siu said.  As a representative of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Siu led the process of ho’oponopono.

The veterans discussed the values they shared during the war, particularly the importance of honoring their commitments to their countries and their families, Siu said.

The peace project concluded with the signing of a statement of accord, in which the participating veterans declared, “Yesterday’s enemy is today’s friend.”

 “I think it’s a very powerful symbol of aloha,” Sitch said.  “Forgiveness is a gift from Akua (God).  It is the key to aloha.  The acts of humility, forgiveness and aloha these elders displayed brought deep healing and great hope.”

“By receiving and extending forgiveness, we are freed from the guilt, shame, anger and resentment that poisons our na’au (heart),” Sitch added.  “We can continue to move forward in lokahi (unity).”

As the powwow carried on throughout the weekend, Native American drum groups provided the heartbeat for the Pacific while dancers in intricately beaded costumes and feathered headdresses encouraged spectators to unite in celebration of the power of forgiveness.  The newly established friendship between the Navajo and Japanese veterans is testimony to the power of forgiveness, for it healed decades-old battle scars and softened war-hardened hearts.