George Kanahele

George Hueu Sanford Kanahele (October 17, 1930 – September 15, 2000) was a native Hawaiian activist, historian and author.

Biography George Hueu Sanford Kanahele was born October 17, 1930, in Kahuku on the island of Oahu of Hawaii. Kanahele graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1948, and served as missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan until 1954. He then served in the United States Army Security Agency in Germany.

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 in 1967, graduating from Cornell with academic honors.

Kanahele published several books during his life relating to Hawaiian culture and history. 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 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 on September 14, 2000, after a heart attack while teaching a seminar.

Publications Ph.D. Dissertation