MINJI KIM

Our group presented about the history of African slaves in the U.S. The story All Gods’ Chillen Had Wing and other poems explain African slaves’ hope (freedom) in the U.S. They were exploited and treated as like animals than human itself under WHITES in the U.S. It is quite similar to Hawaiian folktale The Despotic Chief Of Kau that describes that Native Hawaiians were exploited as servants by their greedy chiefs.

Both of African slaves and Native Hawaiians were in difficult conditions by their chiefs and societies and have no freedom. Without any income or freedom for themselves, they had to work for what their chiefs wanted. In the story All Gods’ Chillen Had Wing, for instance, African slaves work in a very hard condition. They have no time to take a break and whether they are sick or not, they just go to work like animals and nothing is given to them as rewards. Likewise, in the story The Despotic Chiefs of Kau, Hawaiians go fishing or carry food for their chiefs, but there is nothing for them as rewards. Both of African slaves and Native Hawaiians are regarded as animals or servants, not human to their chiefs.

From the hard condition, both African slaves and Native Hawaiians seek freedom and make freedom by themselves as a revenge. At the end of the story All Gods’ Chillen Had Wing, African slave fly up from the ground they were in and they were animals than human by Whites to heaven that means their freedom and revenge against Whites. The story The Despotic Chiefs of Kau shows similar story too. In the Halaea of The Despotic Chiefs of Kau, for instance, a greedy chief named Ha-la-e-a order his fishermen to go fishing and bring fish to him every time. His fishermen follow his order for several times, but later they get mad at that situation and they carry and put all fish to the canoe to the chief. And, it causes the canoe to sink. By this revenge, they have freedom.

Although African slave were exploited in other country, not their homeland and Native Hawaiians were exploited  in their own homeland, Both had no freedom under their greedy chiefs and societies, but they were regarded as just servants.