11-18-2007, 05:00 AM
shinykapoho said:
Unlike you, petah, I actually was born on Hawaii, and lived there for awhile as a keiki, though I have no pre-Cook Hawaiian blood in me. Also unlike you, I have spent most of my life on the mainland, unfortunately. I'll claim to be a Hawaiian, because if you look at my birth certificate, I really am. More importantly than a birth certificate, Hawaii has just been in my heart and my thoughts and even in my dreams for the last four decades. I just haven't returned, yet.
Is it possible to be Hawaiian at heart, for those tourists who weren't born there, and have never lived there? Are there "Hawaiians" out there who have never even been there, not even as a tourist, but have always dreamed of going there someday based on movies and National Geographic articles, and maybe just will never be able to afford it in their lifetimes? Are there "seniority" shades of being Hawaiian, where people with less than 20 years on the rocks are not qualified somehow? Are Oahu Hawaiians less Hawaiian than Big Islanders? I'd accept that Niihau Hawaiians, from what I understand of Niihau, are probably the closest to the ancient culture, which is a good thing, but are they somehow "better", or even more Hawaiian than a 20 year Puna veteran?
If I've offended anybody with this line of inquiry, I'll apologize in advance, because that's not my intent. To me, ideally, thinking and acting and believing with aloha, with compassion and a sense of community in ones' heart, is what makes one a Hawaiian. What does it mean to you to be Hawaiian?
How do I know?
Edited by - mgeary on 11/18/2007 09:15:47
quote:Before I read shiny's comment, I had thought of starting a new thread about this question. Please understand that I'm not inviting a flame war, I really speak with aloha and a desire to fit in with the customs and attitudes. Someone implied elsewhere in another thread that people with less than 20 years on the islands are somehow "less than", and it caused me to wonder.
...But I am sure that you can understand that the draws from whenever you moved-er-were born here are still the same. So what makes "fresh moves" worse then "old moves"? We'll never be Hawaiian, any of us.
Unlike you, petah, I actually was born on Hawaii, and lived there for awhile as a keiki, though I have no pre-Cook Hawaiian blood in me. Also unlike you, I have spent most of my life on the mainland, unfortunately. I'll claim to be a Hawaiian, because if you look at my birth certificate, I really am. More importantly than a birth certificate, Hawaii has just been in my heart and my thoughts and even in my dreams for the last four decades. I just haven't returned, yet.
Is it possible to be Hawaiian at heart, for those tourists who weren't born there, and have never lived there? Are there "Hawaiians" out there who have never even been there, not even as a tourist, but have always dreamed of going there someday based on movies and National Geographic articles, and maybe just will never be able to afford it in their lifetimes? Are there "seniority" shades of being Hawaiian, where people with less than 20 years on the rocks are not qualified somehow? Are Oahu Hawaiians less Hawaiian than Big Islanders? I'd accept that Niihau Hawaiians, from what I understand of Niihau, are probably the closest to the ancient culture, which is a good thing, but are they somehow "better", or even more Hawaiian than a 20 year Puna veteran?
If I've offended anybody with this line of inquiry, I'll apologize in advance, because that's not my intent. To me, ideally, thinking and acting and believing with aloha, with compassion and a sense of community in ones' heart, is what makes one a Hawaiian. What does it mean to you to be Hawaiian?
How do I know?
Edited by - mgeary on 11/18/2007 09:15:47
Aloha! ;-)