This paper explores the intersections of Okinawan identity, diaspora, and the realization of settler responsibility within the Hawaiʻi context. As Okinawan descendants in the diaspora,
our experiences are deeply tied to histories of colonization, assimilation, and displacement—both from Okinawa and within the occupied lands of Hawaiʻi. By engaging Indigenous land-based education and worldviews, the paper argues for re-Indigenization through ancestral values such as Nadayashiku—a pedagogy of conciliation and survival that
navigates the traumas of colonization and adaptation. This study critically examines how cultural literacy and performing arts can restore agency and belonging by grounding identity in
ancestral worldview, while addressing the danger of becoming “Asian settler colonizers” who perpetuate colonial ideologies. Through reflection and theoretical grounding in
Indigenous resilience and innovation (DeCaire et al., 2023; Leonard, 2017; Simpson, 2014), this work contributes to ongoing conversations of decolonization and solidarity between Okinawan and Native Hawaiian experiences.