Hawai'i the Melting Pot

[D'Alani]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

Thank you Kimo and Glenn for the clarification.

[alohabear]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

Yes.

Being a native Hawaiian is an ethnic classification. It means that you're a descendant of those Polynesian peoples who colonized the Hawaiian Islands pre-1778.

Being a "native of Hawai‘i" describes your personal history: you've been born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands. For example, I am a native of Hawai‘i but I am not and never will be a native Hawaiian.

There are some people whose native Hawaiian ancestors left Hawai‘i and moved elsewhere... say, Las Vegas. They're native Hawaiian by blood, but they're natives of Nevada by the circumstances of their birth.

This puts me in mind of the classic Brother Noland song Are We Native? We're all natives of the planet Earth, aren't we?

[drewb]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

Ok, take a person of Hawaiian ancestry and he is born in California wouldn't he be a Californian? Of course he would. Anyone born in the state of Hawaii will be Hawaiian, anyone born in Arizona will be an Arizonian and anyone born in Texas will be a Texan and so on. Get it? Good.

10 more charactors...why does it ask for this?

[sinjin]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

Ok, take a person of Hawaiian ancestry and he is born in California wouldn't he be a Californian? Of course he would. Anyone born in the state of Hawaii will be Hawaiian, anyone born in Arizona will be an Arizonian and anyone born in Texas will be a Texan and so on. Get it? Good.

Californian is not an ethnicity, Hawaiian is, albeit more properly Polynesian.
I was born in California but I'm of Irish/English/French/Dutch/Spanish/Indian ancestry.

[drewb]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

who ever said Californian was an ethnicity? I certainly did not. I simply said born in California, you're a Californian, born in Texas, you're a Texan, born in Arizona, you're an Arizonian, born on Mars, you're a Martian and born in Hawaii, you're a Hawaiian. My son Liam (Irsih) is Hawaiian though not of any polynesian blood. Remember the Hawaiian islands were here long before any humans settled on them so............

[kimo55]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

weeellll..... cuz Hawaiian is a race as well as a locale, (state) it is not considered appropriate, correct, usual, seemly or in any way pono to say, fer example: "well, as a haole, I was born here, therefore, I am Hawaiian"

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

What does it mean to be Hawaiian? I have heard people claim that it's:

Residency. I live in Hawai‘i. That makes me Hawaiian.

Citizenship (1). My ancestors were citizens of the Hawaiian Kingdom. That makes me Hawaiian.

Citizenship (2). I vote in Hawai‘i elections, either in person or by absentee ballot. That makes me Hawaiian.

Race. I can trace my ancestry back to the Polynesians who colonized Hawai‘i before European contact. That makes me Hawaiian.

Upbringing (1). I was born and raised in Hawai‘i. That makes me Hawaiian.

Upbringing (2). I was brought up by Hawaiian people. That makes me Hawaiian.

Upbringing (3). I lived in Hawai‘i for a few years and went to school there. That makes me Hawaiian.

Attitude. I love Hawai‘i. That makes me Hawaiian... at heart!

[kimo55]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

ask Kanaka Maoli.
You will hear many things, including:
You are not Hawaiian unless you have Hawaiian blood.
"Hawaiian at heart" that hackneyed phrase, should be killed right now, before it multiplies any more. We have gone through the ringer with this ever so dumb phrase before, here on HT...

[Sindahrella808]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

Being a native Hawaiian is an ethnic classification. It means that you're a descendant of those Polynesian peoples who colonized the Hawaiian Islands pre-1778.

Unless......you are in line for Homestead Land, then being a native Hawaiian means 50% blood quantum or more....according to the feds anthing less than 50%, you just Hawaiian...how sad is that...

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

Ahh but if you work for Aloha, den you no stay Hawaiian!

So what is Hawaiian?

If the Kingdom of Hawaii was still around to issue citizenship (is it?) then can a foreigner become Hawaiian by the process of citizenship thru naturalization?

Or is being Hawaiian simply a race, meaning you cannot be of Hawaiian ancestry unless you have a blood lineage.

If the answer is no, then being Hawaiian is simply a nationality therefore anyone who could go thru the Hawaiian Monarchy's naturalization process could then be called Hawaiian invalidating the need for blood quantum when defining who is and who isn't Hawaiian.

But if the answer is yes, meaning there is a distinction between being Hawaiian and it's migratory origin, then being Hawaiian is truly a race limited to those of blood quantum of a definable amount based on its first settlers.

So when does one not become Tahitian and become a Hawaiian? What makes Tahitian blood any different than Hawaiian blood? If a Tahitian migrates to Hawaii and forms the Hawaiian Monarchy, are they still Tahitian? Or do they proclaim to become another race?

I think the only way one could claim being Hawaiian is when as a Tahitian you declare yourself independent of that nation and become the first to land on uninhabited lands and proclaim a new race. Then blood lineage begins from the moment the first settlers acknowledge independence from their motherland claiming to be a new race of Hawaiians.

Did Tahiti tell the Hawaiians, "Yeah go ahead and be your own race, we acknowledge your independence from us". If they didn't did the Hawaiians proclaim their independence from Tahiti?

If neither did then guess what, the Hawaiian Monarchy is illegal in itself and the true heirs to the ceded lands of Hawaii belong to the nation of Tahiti! Man I hope you like eating dog!

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

How long does it take for newcomers to a land to be considered of that land? Here in Hawai‘i, it obviously hasn't happened yet. We still spend lots of thought and effort talking about who's Hawaiian, and who's not. Two hundred years, then, isn't long enough. But if you look at the history of other countries, other lands, you can see that they're not always ethnically uniform and monolithic. Some have had several waves of colonization and settlements, and yet today they consider themselves one people. I mean, look at England. Nobody there still says, well, he's not a real Englishman, he's a Norman. So I guess if you've been there since 1066, then that's long enough.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

So then if a multitude of ethnicites immigrate to Hawaii then by that standard can all newcomers who call Hawaii home be considered Hawaiian? I mean the Tahitians did.

When does someone coming to Hawaii not considered an immigrant to the isles to become what Tahitians did when they came to Hawaii. Just because they're first does that mean they're the last? When was the door closed on others trying to come to Hawaii after the first settlers did? And what of the wave of Tahitians that followed the first group of Tahitians? They weren't the first and definately not the last, when did becoming Hawaiian become exclusive to only Tahitians?

Who knows but the definition as to what makes you Hawaiian can be argued for a long time.

[Miulang]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

So then if a multitude of ethnicites immigrate to Hawaii then by that standard can all newcomers who call Hawaii home be considered Hawaiian? I mean the Tahitians did.

Who knows but the definition as to what makes you Hawaiian can be argued for a long time.

Maybe the "first" Hawaiians were like the "first" Anglo Americans. They originally were Brits, but when they came to America they cast aside their identity with the Motherland and adopted America as their own. Maybe the "first" Hawaiians cast off their allegiance to Kahiki the Motherland when they landed in the 'aina. When did they first call themselves Hawaiians anyway, or was that an Anglo term?

Miulang

[Menehune Man]

Re: Hawai'i the Melting Pot

So then if a multitude of ethnicites immigrate to Hawaii then by that standard can all newcomers who call Hawaii home be considered Hawaiian? I mean the Tahitians did.

When does someone coming to Hawaii not considered an immigrant to the isles to become what Tahitians did when they came to Hawaii. Just because they're first does that mean they're the last? When was the door closed on others trying to come to Hawaii after the first settlers did? And what of the wave of Tahitians that followed the first group of Tahitians? They weren't the first and definately not the last, when did becoming Hawaiian become exclusive to only Tahitians?

Who knows but the definition as to what makes you Hawaiian can be argued for a long time.

It is believed by most who study this sort of thing, that the Marquesians beat the Tahitians by about 500 years. But the Tahitians eventually overpowered and or intermarried with them. That's how it goes in this world.