Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 6, 1 June 2006 — Know the true bloodline [ARTICLE]

Know the true bloodline

For some time I have been hearing things said by people who are angry over the pre-empting of Hawaiian culture by non-Hawaiians. A recent example is Eric Konohia's April letter. He expresses anger about a haole woman with a "Maui Maoli" bumper sticker and a young haole boy with a kākau niho manō. He rightly states: "When will they know that our culture cannot be hijacked and that any derivative of it does not produce a magical blood quantum." While I fully agree with the basis of his sentiments, I urge that we all consider the wise saying of our kūpuna: 'A'ohe 'oe no ko'u hālau. Unless one has had a discussion with a person and gotten to know him or

her, how does one know the true bloodline? I am hapa. When I took my hālau on a field trip to gather hau for our pā'ū, a loeal fisherman who met us chatted with one of my haumāna. He called me a haole and turned his back on me to speak with my haumāna. His assumption that she was the kumu and Maoli and that I was a haole haumāna was based on our appearances. I am 'ilikea with auburn hair and green eyes. She is a lovely brown-skinned young woman with hlaek hair and beautiful dark eyes. She is Mexican. Perhaps the haole-appearing woman with the bumper sticker was driving her husband or father's car? Perhaps when Maoli see a person they feel has no right to something of Hawaiian culture, it could be a teaching moment. It would have been a benefit to the

young haole-appearing boy to have a knowledgable Maoli man speak with him, perhaps saying something like, "That is a fine kākau. What is its significance? Are you of a manō 'ohana?" Then the boy would have a ehanee to learn and possibly later help his friends, haole or Maoli, make good choices in their participation in the Maoli culture. We are so fortunate to have so many wise sayings passed on to us from our kūpuna. On behalf of nā haole and those of us who look haole, "Mai ho'ohalahala iā kākou. E a'o iā kākou ka mea kūpono e ho 'ohulu 'ole ai mākou." Leilehua Yuen Via the lnternet

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