For Kānaka ʻOiwi, our Aliʻi are so important. They symbolize us as a people, and the generations who forged the path on which we walk.
As Native Hawaiians, our kingdom was stolen, our lands reallocated under colonialist laws, blood quantum requirements were enacted by the American Congress to try and assure that we do not survive as a people for many more generations. Because of land mismanagement and invasive species introduction, many scientists have called us the endangered species capital of the world.
To add insult to injury, people can’t even let us keep the images of our beloved Queen who strove to do so much for her people. Emalani sold her personal jewels and hit up her friends to do the same to build the Queen’s Hospital so that Hawaiians could have proper health care.
And people can’t even let us have her image without appropriating it and giving it to someone else! Honestly, it is hurtful on a personal AND A CULTURAL level.
Below is one of the images often misrepresented as Mary Ellen Pleasant (August 19, 1814 – January 11, 1904), a Black entrepreneur who lived many years in San Francisco. It does a disservice to BOTH women to steal Emalani’s image and use it for Mrs. Pleasant. Mrs. Pleasant does not need to be represented by a Hawaiian. And Queen Emma is OUR beloved Emalani, not a San Francisco businesswoman. Please respect BOTH women and stop using Emalani’s image to represent Mrs. Pleasant, and please speak up when you see others do so.
One of the images claimed to be Mary Ellen Pleasant. It is heavily documented as being an image of Dowager Queen Emma of Hawaiʻi.
The below standing portrait was made based on a photograph taken after August of 1862. We know this because the original photo has the christening cup of her son, Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Leiopapa a Kamehameha. The cup was a gift from Queen Victoria. Tragically, the little prince died on August 27, shortly before the cup arrived. I expect it was a mourning photo and that there is symbolism to the flowers.
The photo may even be after the death of her husband, Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku, whom she lost a little over a year later, November 30, 1863.
For more images of Queen Emma which have been misidentified as Mary Ellen Pleasant, visit this web page.
In response to a question about “haole” being modern slang, or a traditional Hawaiian word:
The word “haole” is actually a fully Hawaiian word pre-dating the arrival of Capt Cook. Its etymology is lost in time. What linguists do agree on is that it is not a compound word. Polynesian linguistic shifts do not support the words “hā” and ” ‘ole” morphing to “haole.”
Also, the word is found in chants which predate Capt. Cook’s 1778 arrival.
PAUMAKUA
Westervelt records in “Hawaiian Historical Legends”:
“…
PAUMAKUA was one of the great voyagers among the ocean-rovers of over eight hundred years ago. Fornander in his “Account of the Polynesian Race” says: “One of the legends relates that Paumakua, on his return from one of his foreign voyages, brought back with him to Oahu two white men said to have been priests A-ua-ka-hinu and A-ua-ka-mea, afterwards named Kae-kae and Ma-liu, from whom several priestly families in after ages claimed descent and authority.” These persons were described as:
“Ka haole nui maka ʻālohilohi
(A large foreigner, bright sparkling eyes)
A āholehole maka ʻaʻā
(White cheeks, roguish staring eyes)
Ka puaʻa keokeo nui maka ʻulaʻula!
(A great white pig with reddish eyes).”
In the later years of Hawaiian history, two of the most prominent high priests in all the islands were among the descendants of these foreigners.
…”
“…
Line 505 – Hanau ke Po’ohaole, he haole kela
…”
“…
born was the stranger’s head, that was strange.
…”
KUALIʻI
In the genealogy of Kualiʻi (born around 1710), the chant states:
“…
Hoʻokahi o Tahiti kānaka, he haole
…”
“…
only one people in Tahiti, foreigners.
…”
The word began referring more commonly to North Americans during the overthrow of the Monarchy.
Sometimes translating Hawaiian can be challenging because you first have to determine if the person is actually using the word with its Hawaiian meaning, or if the person is using the word with its Pidgin meaning.
In Hawaiian, I was taught never to say ” ʻōkole” in polite company, because it can mean “anus.” In pidgin, the word generally refers to the buttocks.
When I was a girl, the following were in common use, with no pejorative meanings:
Hawaiian – Native Hawaiian.
Hapa [HAH-pah]- Part Hawaiian. Distinguished as hapa-haole, hapa-Keponi, hapa-Pākē, etc.
Kanaka [kah-NAH-kah] – Native Hawaiian. (kuh-NAAK-uh and NAAK-uh were highly perjorative)
Kamaʻāina [kah-mah-ah-EE-nah / kah-mah-AI-nah] – Non-Native Hawaiian person born in Hawaiʻi or very long time resident who was adopted into Hawaiian culture.
Malihini [mah-lee-HEE-nee] – Visitor or new resident.
Maoli [maOH-lee] – Native Hawaiian.
Sometimes, people will become upset that “haole” is not capitalized the way Kepani or Pākē is capitalized. Like “hapa,” “haole” is not an ethnic group. It is a description. One would not capitalize “continental” in describing someone, though one would capitalize “French.” If one wishes to say “hapa-Pelekane” (Hawaiian-British), then, certainly “Pelekane” is capitalized.
Last night I had an epiphany, a sudden moment of clarity brought on by the question of a haole* person I was sitting beside at a dinner. She asked, “What is the big deal about Moana, it’s just a cartoon for kids.”
I paused. (As a Hawaiian Cultural Advisor to a variety of entities, I’ve learned that any offhand remarks I make can (and often will) be taken literally. )
I thought. “”It’s just a cartoon for kids.” Aha. THAT is EXACTLY WHY it is a big deal.”
Now, I am not going to go into whether it is well done or not, who was insulted, who loved it, and all that. There are many blogs, articles, and comments available on-line and in print which are well thought out and make excellent reading for you to make up your own mind. I am only going to say a few words about WHY IT IS A BIG DEAL.
It is a big deal because kids are watching it.
If what kids see was not a big deal, advertisers would not be spending $17 billion (yes, $17,000,000,000!) annually to get keiki eye-tracks on their ads!
You see, kids/children/keiki, are rapidly absorbing everything that goes on around them. Whatever they see, hear, feel, smell, sense in any way is shaping the adults they will become. So it is critical that whatever is made for and marketed to children be true, honest, and healthful for their souls, minds, and bodies.
Movies, cartoons, and other media directed at children are far MORE important to produce to the highest possible standards than media directed to any other audience.
A child has no filters. Moana is targeted to children who are in that time of life in which they are most actively forming their perceptions of themselves and the world in which they live. What the child sees in Moana will largely inform that child’s perceptions of Polynesian people. If the child is Polynesian, this will have a direct effect on the child’s self-perception and view of his or her own history. If the child is not Polynesian, it will have a direct effect on how the child will see people who look like Polynesians.
If you let your child watch this (or any) movie, watch it with your child and use the movie as a starting point for discussion and exploration of your ʻohana‘s culture and values. It does not need to be heavy – simple questions like, “If you had been in _______’s place, what would you have done?” are a good starting point. Go to the library and borrow books about Maui and the Pacific. (And feel free to explain that it’s just a movie, Maui’s mother loved him very much. She didn’t throw him away because she didn’t love him. He looked like he was born dead, so she wrapped him in her hair and gave him to his ocean ancestors. Click here for a beautifully done video of the story!)
At the bottom of this post are links to resources, and to purchase books if you do not have a library available.
So, it is a big deal. Mahalo for asking a question that made me think!
Another question this lovely woman asked was, “Why are people so upset about a made-up character?”
The answer is, “He is not made-up.”
Maui is an ancestor figure, culture hero, and cultural archetype who defines much of how, as Polynesians, we see ourselves. Any perceived disrespect or attack is disrespect and attack which strikes at the self-perception of an entire people.
For an example of this in European culture, take a look at the stories of William Tell. Whether or not one pursues a literal interpretation of William Tell the Man, or is satisfied with the Legendary Figure of William Tell, again, he is an ancestor figure, culture hero, and cultural archetype. To disrespect or attack him is to disrespect and attack Swiss culture and self-perception.
Archetypal figures, found in all cultures, are used to teach children and adults cultural values and truths that go deeper than those found in simple dates and role-calls.
Here in the world’s largest ocean, Maui is revered throughout Polynesia. His wondrous deeds as a culture hero have been told and re-told for over a thousand years. Though there are differences between island groups, that they have remained as consistent as they have is amazing, and demonstrates how important Maui is to Polynesians throughout the Pacific.
“The Maui legends form one of the strongest links in the mythological chain of evidence which binds the scattered inhabitants of the Pacific into one nation. An incomplete list aids in making clear the fact that groups of islands hundreds and even thousands of miles apart have been peopled centuries past by the same organic race.”
IMDb is now providing community-created parental guides for movies, including Moana.
Must-haves for the grownups
Hawaʻiki Rising is free on Kindle!
Classic collections of mythologies
*I point out that she is haole (in the sense of ʻforeign to Hawaiʻiʻ) so that you know she is has an American/Euro-centric cultural background, as opposed to someone reared in the islands. If she were Japanese or of any other ethnic/cultural background, I would have pointed that out so that readers would have a cultural referent for her.
Ok, Iʻm finally going to write it. I am NOT OK with the “hula-hula girl” costume.
“Halloween as a holiday has a history of being focused on inversion of power,” says professor Susan Scafidi of Fordham University. She is the author of Who Owns Culture: Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law. “It’s about turning the daily world on its head.” People dress up as celebrities, cops, politicians, and other powerful figures, and it’s funny! But when you dress up as a culture that you are currently oppressing, or have subjugated in the past, you’re not inverting anything, you’re just kicking them when they are down — or, as Scafidi says, “reinforcing current power structures in an offensive way.”
So, you realllllllly like hula, and you reallllllllly want to be a hula dancer for Halloween. Here is my suggestion. Learn something. This applies not only to hula dancers, but to any “ethnic” costume.
Let’s look at the word “costume.” Generally speaking, a costume is what you put on when you pretend to be someone or something other than who or what you are. When I dance hula, I am not in a costume. I am wearing regalia.
“Hula is like a breath of life exquisitely embodied and expressed in patterns of movement and sound.” Image by Kaleo Wheeler.
“Regalia” is special attire you wear for a specific purpose. Hula comes from a sacred source. Hula regalia, like the regalia of a minister or priest, is not used for common, everyday things. It is reserved for special, even sacred, occasions.
A generic costume, based on stereotypes of ethnicity, is inappropriate. The “Hulahula Girl,” the “Drunken Irishman,” the “China Doll,” all portray people from the viewpoint of the top of the power structure.
Instead, opportunities for learning and growth can come when a person finds an exemplary individual and chooses to portray that person. Take Back Halloween! is a wonderful website with great suggestions!
In short: Halloween (All Hallows Eve) is the eve (evening before) All Hallows Day (aka All Saints Day). Many old traditional calendars (the Hawaiian and Jewish among them) begin the new day at dusk, not midnight. We still remember this tradition in the celebration of Christmas Eve and Halloween.
Many years ago Halloween, Samhain, and Calan Gaeaf, were conflated. In earlier times, people dressed as Aos Sí (later deemed demons, goblins, etc. by the Christian church), and went about from dusk collecting offerings. The offerings were given in hopes of a safe passage through the dangers of winter. After the conflation, the costumes began to evolve.
Up into the early 20th Century, ghoulish and generally creepy costumes were the norm. Soon, in the US, costumes included Indians, Romini, and other marginalized people who were demonized by the dominant culture. By the mid-20th Century, costumes started including cartoon characters from the new-fangled TV shows.
Today, Halloween costumes are pretty much “anything goes.” But we CAN improve public discourse and dialog through our costumes, and still have fun!
Have a happy and safe All Hallows Eve!
Kumu Leilehua
