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A review by reads2cope
Local: A Memoir by Jessica Machado
3.75
A touching and difficult memoir about how Jessica Machado grew up largely severed from the culture of her ancestors because of colonialism and family dynamics.
One of my favorite parts of the memoir was how Machado finds her Hawai’ian traditions as an adult and is able to see some of those practices, like mana wahine/community of powerful women, in her childhood memories, even from other haole/white people and from foreigners/non-locals. “I was less intrigued by the women themselves than I was by their friendships with Shelle. How they all seemed saddled by responsibility yet made room for solace in each other. It wasn't moving mountains or ousting evil men, but it was the mana wahine I didn't know I was searching for.”
However, while she tied the history of Hawai’i in beautifully throughout her own story, I would have loved to see her reconnect with that history and heal. It was great to end the book with her in a better place in the epilogue, but it felt like quite a jump. I respect wanting to keep her young family private, but I wished there was more on the ways she reconnected with Hawaiian culture and got to that better place.
I also wish there was more space given to sovereignty. She touched on different Hawaiian movements and protests against different USA military and private land grabs, but it would have been powerful to hear more details or see those movements tied in to other indigenous sovereignty movements. For example, in one section explaining the difference between indigenous, tourist, and other groups in Hawaii she writes, “Some Hawaiian activists even warn about the overusage of the term local and its ability to hide Kanaka Maoli, their culture, and their fight for sovereignty” but doesn’t name those activists or go very in-depth into the struggle of those movements. At the same time, I appreciate that the book is a memoir and is more focused on her personal journey than the history of political movements.
There were many stories that made me cringe and ache with sadness for a woman who was so betrayed and so betrayed or acted poorly in return, and there were also many sections that made me reflect on how I also feel distance from the culture of my ancestors. Overall, a good read with a lot of great information on Hawaiian traditions. Freedom for all indigenous struggles!
There were many stories that made me cringe and ache with sadness for a woman who was so betrayed and so betrayed or acted poorly in return, and there were also many sections that made me reflect on how I also feel distance from the culture of my ancestors. Overall, a good read with a lot of great information on Hawaiian traditions. Freedom for all indigenous struggles!