what makes you kama'aina?

[hawaiideborah]

I have noticed from a few posts on punaweb an attitude of "I am less mainlander than you".
I would be interested in punawebbers take on what makes you kama'aina?
Thought this would be an interesting discussion.

hawaiideborah

[DanielP]

Deb,

Sounds trollish. Try an on line Hawaiian dictionary.

[hawaiideborah]

Dan,
In what way is it trollish?
I don't want an on-line dictionary definition. I posted this because I am interested in what puna webbers think makes a person kama'aina.
Thought this fit within keepin it Hawaii and for me it is relevant since I have seen several comments implying someone is too mainland on this website.
Please, if it is trollish, let me know how and I will adjust.
Or Rob, please intervene.
I absolutely do not want to troll (not being sarcastic here, for real).

[Guest]

Let me ask you this Deborha? Tell me how it feels being call a troll because you asked a question and started a thread? Must you and the rest here that comment clear our post with DanialP, Rob, or run it thru a committee before to find out it is proper Punaweb material? This DanialP person surely has self appointed himself the new sheriff in town.

The Lack

The Lack Toons

[DanielP]

Perhaps trollish, perhaps not; - refering to "attitudes".

One simple definition: Resident of Hawaii or "of the land".

[lquade]

hi hawaiideborah. yes sometimes there is quite the attitude here. punaweb ebbs and flows and lately people seem quite testy. but... as to your question. i think the stats remain fairly consistent, that most people move here, then return in about 2 years. usually ratio something like 2 out of 3 follow this pattern. so, again this is not scientific, but if you pass over the two year hump, chances are better than average you might stay awhile. now americans seem to move alot anyway, but chances are they will stay on the island if they make it that long. then there is the" local" version of kama aina, there you gotta make it about 10-20 years and if you adopt hawaiian values and dont try to turn hawaii into a mainland suburb, then you are welcomed into the fold... so enjoy punaweb for what it is and you can call yourself whatever you please!

[Kapohocat]

I'll bite.

Kama'aina doesn't have to do with "less mainlander" than someone else.

In the positive view, I think it means connecting.

if you say things like "you know where the old JC Penny's stay, thats where the Car licensing stay now". (And of course that was back two locations. The new JC Penny's building is now Macy's men/children and furnishings! haha

Or people who live in Hi acres, (you used to just say the "acres"), remember when 8 rd was only paved one lane to C Rd. And then remember when you had to pay Augie a buck, a Beer, or a bud to use his "pass through" is even newer. Now people dont even know there was a gate there. 9&F is no longer the "back of the Acres".

I think part is the changes - as the Big Island changes, if you were here before whatever change. There are many people on PunaWeb who lived here before either bypass existed. So in a few years those who moved here before Long's went in, can say "remember when the lot stay empty, before Long's"? []

or the big one is when the waitress knows your dad, and comes into your office and knew you didnt screw something up because your dad told her you were on vacation. My DAD (??) told you, a waitress at a resturant in Hilo, that I was on vacation??? haha

We joke about the connections but it is truly kama'aina when a friend of a friend's relative's auntie knows you, and you have made enough friends so that no matter where you go on the Big Island (or Las Vegas) you run into someone you know. The connectivity is what makes the kama'aina. You have connected to the Big Island world and not just a tourist or recent transplant.

You understand that when people tell you oh the drought will end the week of the county fair, it usually does. You tell your family to not try visit the week of Merrie Monarch as they wont get a rental car and airfare is not discounted. You learn how to make a ti leaf lei. You know that a sumo is too much food unless you are a 12-15 yr old growing boy!! [] You know where they serve sumo's! And Ken's is a part of every trip to the Big Island.

You finally refer to the Big Island as home. Home is no longer where you moved from.

[Guest]

Deborah,

You can be kama’aina if you are FOB [Fresh Off the Boat] as the local saying goes. Some never make it even if they live here twenty years, the bottom line is respect and live aloha. Some have that when they take the first island step many have to learn it and others never get it.

The Lack

The Lack Toons

[hawaiideborah]

great answers from both the lack, kapahocat and lquade.
That's what I was looking for when I posted.
Thanks for the examples.

hawaiideborah

[missydog1]

quote:

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what makes you kama'aina?

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you would nevah think to ask this question.
(not meant to have attitude, simple truth)
Or in other words, if you are still concerned with how you fit in or to what level belong, you are not there yet.

For purposes of discounts -- when you get a Hawai'i driver's license.

I think it takes time and immersion. When my husband got here this time, he already had it because he lived here in the 70's and worked side by side with locals, learned how to speak perfect pidgin, knew the entire mindset. All he needed to do was catch up on a few changes, but in his heart he had never left. So he was FOB but kama'aina.

I think that passing the five year point I felt a difference, at eight years I feel a difference, at twelve or fifteen it will be more. I'll never be like Cat and have everyone know what I'm doing, because I've lived a more secluded life here. But in my interactions with people, that feeling of difference has gone away. People don't need to explain stuff to me, and I know what to say to make the conversation relaxed, to show that I'm from here.

What else?
At some point of settling in, you know what you can complain about and what you can't, in front of which people.

At a later point, you don't even have the complaint inside you that no one wants to hear, much less think about getting into it.