When I was growing up, my Filipino dad used to refer to me as "hapa." In our predominantly white community, most people who saw me assumed both my parents were Filipino, but my mother was white. "Hapa" was the word Dad used to explain my bi-ethnicity.
I came across a website recently that suggests the word "hapa" has a very specific meaning--half-Hawaiian, half-something else. In this case, my dad would have been incorrect in applying the term to us.
What's correct? Do most people simply say "mixed" or "half-_____/half-______"? Is Pukui's definition outdated? Does "hapa" have a different meaning than it did, say, 50-, 100 years ago?
I came across a website recently that suggests the word "hapa" has a very specific meaning--half-Hawaiian, half-something else. In this case, my dad would have been incorrect in applying the term to us.
What's correct? Do most people simply say "mixed" or "half-_____/half-______"? Is Pukui's definition outdated? Does "hapa" have a different meaning than it did, say, 50-, 100 years ago?
Comment