Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 1, 1 October 1980 — Tales of Old Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Tales of Old Hawaiʻi

By Russ and Peg Apple

SAY OHA to most anyone in Hawai'i today and he thinks, correctly, that it's an acronym for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Say 'oha to almost any Hawaiian and a greatly enhanced image emerges. A Hawaiian puts 'oha in its modern political context, of course, but the cultural symbolism of 'oha expands that image back through Polynesian time to before the creation of man. That Hawaiian word 'Oha has several meanings. Literally, an 'oha is a bud of a taro corm. It's sort of a small taro corm growing on the side of an older, bigger corm. A taro corm is the starchy, underground part of the stem that is harvested, cooked and pounded into poi. As an 'oha is to its corm, so is a Hawaiian child to its parents. Same relationship. Figuratively, then, 'oha means offspring. Further, 'oha is the root word for the Hawaiian term for family, 'ohana. A Hawaiian 'ohana includes more than a father, mother and children, but reaches out to include all relatives — a large kin group. Tied in with all this is the traditional Hawaiian reverence for taro in any form. Even today, the eating of taro in the form of poi is a religious experience as well as a nutritional act to many Hawaiian families. Many 'ohana observe certain practices at home when eating poi. While the poi bowi is uncovered, there is only sociability, pleasantness and light talk out of respect for what the poi represents.