THE COST OF BEING HAWAIIAN: DEFENDING OUR IDENTITY
A beautiful Polynesian woman moves her hips from side to side, a flower adorning her ear as her
hands glide across her body in harmony with the music. She looks like a photograph come to
life. Beside her is a dark and handsome man smiling and playing the ukulele*. He sings through
his gigantic smile a beautiful love song to the dancing girl. After a time, the man stops playing
5 and the woman stops dancing. The two stare lovingly into each other’s eyes and jump into their
canoe, disappearing into the sunset.
This misconception about the Hawaiian culture has always been around, and although I do not
profess to be an expert in Hawaiian studies by any means, I know that these ideas are only cheap
imitations and generic stereotypes created more to appeal to tourists than to perpetuate and
10 preserve the Hawaiian way of life. The more people are exposed to these misconceptions, the
less they understand the true beauty of the Hawaiian people and the richness of their culture
steeped in politics, agriculture, aquaculture, dance, storytelling and an oral tradition that include
both extensive genealogies and mythology.
Imagine the reaction of our Hawaiian forefathers if they were to view one of the many dinner/
15 cocktail shows that litter the pages of our tourist guides. What would they think? Would they
proudly applaud our efforts to preserve their contributions to history? Or would they laugh at
its absurdity? Is the need to be an economically viable state causing us to compromise our true
identity as Hawaiians in exchange for the luxuries that come with being a tourist destination?
As a boy, I took trips to the Big Island. Visiting there reminded me that Hawaiians had their own
20 place in history and a proper culture complete with its own form of government, its own form
of religion and its own legal system. These discoveries about my heritage filled me with equal
portions of pride and wonderment.
The most concerning thing to me as a Hawaiian is the growing commercialization of our culture
and its possible consequences. Simplifying the culture merely for financial gain may actually
25 cost Hawaiians more than they think. I do not dispute the fact that the tourism industry brings
in much needed revenue to the state, but how long can we tolerate the integrity of our culture
being violated simply to earn money? How much longer can we sell these fabricated ideas of the
islands before they imbue themselves upon the cultural consciousness of all Hawaiians?
I am not suggesting that we shut down every hula show that makes a profit off of reinforcing
30 stereotypes, but that Hawaiians as a people with a rich heritage and a long cultural history need
to be more active in understanding our cultural identity. As western influence grows, we need to
take steps to preserve our culture so that our children don’t grow up believing the stereotypes
that are so readily conditioned into the mind of every tourist. Tourism will not go away, but
we need to take steps as Hawaiians to ensure our traditions are not swallowed up by these
superficial shadows.
pupuaoewa.org
*ukulele - Hawaiian musical instrument
In the last paragraph, the author refers to the hula show to reinforce the following idea: