Hawaiian Culture in Modern Hawaii - Kelli

It has come to my attention that many of the Muwekma residents think I am Native Hawaiian, so to start off this quick post I'd like to acknowledge that I am in fact 100% Asian (Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino to be exact). However, regardless of my true ethnic makeup, being born and raised in Hawaii in many ways made Hawaiian culture a part of my culture, which I truly didn't appreciate until now.

Personally, I find it an odd topic to think about - how Hawaiian culture played and continues to play a role in my personal identity as a Non-Native Hawaiian. To give you some context, as a third grader, one of our biggest events of the year was holding a traditional Hawaiian Lu'au for which my classmates and I dedicated weeks to learning and preparing for the big day. Moreover, in middle school, our social studies class was dedicated solely to Hawaiian culture. It was through this class that I learned about how the Hawaiian people found Hawaii. We learned and were taught to praise the story of Hokule'a, and laughed at white scientists' drift theories. 

Looking back at my education, it was ironically beautiful learning Hawaiian culture throughout elementary and middle school. Ironic because I am obviously not Hawaiian. Beautiful because it really shows how much Aloha everyone in the community had for each other regardless of ethnic identity. I personally think its nice that those who are not Native Hawaiian were taught to cherish the history of the place we all call home. I would love to hear Kawena's thoughts pertaining to this topic. 

- Kelli