Proud Polynesian, our cultural dance costumes are so beautiful!

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@historialoha
Proud Polynesian, our cultural dance costumes are so beautiful!
“Lucky” in Hawaiian
I received the following message from a loyal follower (who’s sent some equally interesting questions in the past!) and since I had to work on this one for a bit, I figured I’d post the reply publicly for others to see:
I wondered if you could help me. Is there a word for 'luck' or 'good fortune' in Hawaiian? Either as in telling someone they are lucky or fortunate, or just as a noun for luck/good fortune. I thought this would be easy to find out, but I have come across several different versions, and now I'm doubly intrigued (as a linguist!) because I didn't think it would be so difficult to translate 😳 I found 'laki' for lucky, but I assume that's a borrowing from English. The most likely words seem to be either loaa or pōmaika'i, but I don't know if one or the other is more appropriate to a given situation, and like I say... linguist. Language puzzles like this intrigue me even more when they aren't easily solved! Mahalo in advance for any help you can offer ☺️
This is a great question!
It seems that pre-contact Hawaiians didn’t have a concrete term for the concept of “luck” as we understand it today.
"Laki” is indeed a loanword from English, meaning “lucky.” What this indicates to me, then, is that there was not a directly translatable word for the concept prior to English arrival.
The second term, loa’a could mean lucky, but it would be in a very specific application. Typically, loa’a means to find, obtain, succeed, profit, etc. So I guess if you’re laki (adj), you’d be more likely to loa’a (verb). It could be argued that it portrays the meaning, but I’d say it’s a stretch.
The third term that you brought up, pōmaika'i, is your best bet, I think. Pōmaika'i means “blessings” but can also be translated to mean “good fortune.” This translation brings with it a religious connotation, but the ancient Hawaiians had a very dedicated view of the role of the gods in their lives and their well-being, so this would make more sense than the more secular “laki.”
Now for a phrase:
“E pili mau nā pōmaikaʻi me ʻoe”
May you always have good fortune.
The Royal Hawaiian Navy was created solely as a result of King Kalākaua ‘s plan for a confederation of Polynesian nations.
The High Commissioner was a special Hawaiian envoy tasked with traveling to the various island nations of the Pacific to enlist them into the confederation.
In anticipation of the High Commissioner’s transportation needs, the Hawaiian government purchased a three-masted steamship named the “Explorer.” The ship was refitted as a gunboat and armed with Gatling guns and cannons. The name “Explorer” was translated into Hawaiian and the ship was renamed the “Kaimiloa”.
His Hawaiian Majesty’s Ship Kaimiloa was commissioned on March 28, 1887, for the naval service of the Kingdom and comprised the whole of the Hawaiian Navy.
x
I was wondering if it would be inappropriate for a non-Hawaiian to learn the Hawaiian language? I know that the Hawaiian people have had to fight to prevent the language from going extinct, so I don't want to do anything inconsiderate.
In my opinion, it would be completely fine for someone of non-Hawaiian descent to learn the Hawaiian language. Languages are not exclusive to the cultures from which they are derived, and because of the efforts to bring the language back from the brink of extinction, the more people who know it and can pass it along to future generations, the better.
Seaplane towing surfers, 1920s
via
Hotels at Waikiki, looking mauka
15 Dec 1934
Useful Hawaiian Phrases for the Early 20th Century Traveler
Above: A group of tourists from the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce poses near the summit of Kilaeua. via
From John Harris Soper’s Hawaiian Phrase Book, 1906
From the steamer to the Hawaiian Hotel:
• Halloa, boat boy! will you take us ashore? — Halo keiki-waapa! e lawe no ia maua i uka?
• Convey this parcel to the Hawaiian hotel. — Lawe i keia puolo i ka hokele Hawaii.
• Take out the wash-bowl and pitcher. — Lawe i ke pa holoi me ka pika ia waho.
Getting along in town:
• Where is the office of the English consul? — Auhea ke keena o ke kanikela Pelekane?
• Has the mail arrived from San Francisco? — Ua hiki mai anei ke ele leka mai Kapalakiko mai?
• What is the price of the hog? Heaha ke kumukuai no ka puaa?
• Isaac, return to the stable and fetch my whip. — Aikake, hoi oe i ka halelio a lawe mai i kuu huipa.
• Guide me to a liquor saloon. — Alaka‘i i a‘u a hiki i ka hale inu lama.
For casual chats:
• When the quarantine is raised I will go to Hilo. — Ke wehe ia ka hoomalu, e hele ana au i Hilo.
• My father is afflicted with leprosy. — Ua loohia ia kuu makuakane i ka ma‘i lepela.
• A man was stabbed in the breast last night. — Ua hou pahi ia he kanaka ma ka umauma i ka po nei.
• He fisted me. — Ua kui kela i a‘u.
• My feet are sore from walking. — Ua eha na wawae o‘u i ka hele ana.
Night fishing in Hawai’i, 1948
Eight miles from Pearl Harbor, shrapnel from a Japanese bomb riddled this car and killed three civilians in the attack. Two of the victims can be seen in the front seat, December 7, 1941.
via reddit
I am so over people thinking that Leis look like this:
A lei takes hard time and vigorous work. We (Hawaiians) wake up at the crack of dawn to gather whats needed to make the lei that we want. It can take hours or days to make the leis and Hawaiian’s make leis with only good intentions and love because they believe that if you make a lei with malicious intent it will come out into the lei. There is many different ways to make leis and we also make leis from shells and feathers. It isn’t only Hawai’i that makes leis but throughout Polynesia fellow Polynesians make leis in their own style.
To call the above image a lei is disrespectful to my culture and I want that shit to stop. That isn’t a lei, the images in the photoset are leis.
#Hawai'i #indigenous #flowers #art
John Webber, A series of engravings depicting the events which transpired during the Third Voyage of the Atlas into the Hawai’ian Islands [Captain James Cook], London, c. 1784.
Not pictured
Tor Kologlu
Wao akua
The islands of Hawai'i are home to some of the most beautiful elevations on the planet. Technically considered, Mauna Kea on Moku Nui is actually the tallest mountain on the planet, dwarfing Mount Everest by nearly 1500 meters. The fact that roughly 6000 of its meters are below sea level, though, puts it much further down the list of tallest mountains above sea level.
The summit of Mauna Kea is covered in snow during the winter months, which made it virtually uninhabitable to early Hawaiians. Although Hawaii's other islands do not boast snow-capped mountaintops, most of them possess elevations that would not have been suitable for human life.
The lower elevations where people lived were called the wao kanaka ("wao" meaning zone, and "kanaka" meaning people), while the higher elevations, where the life that existed was not a product of any man's work, were known as wao akua ("akua" meaning "gods").
The summit of the islands' highest peaks were known as "piko." Piko were considered wao akua, sacred places where humans should not go. Any place where clouds touched was considered a cover so the akua could walk on the land without being seen.
Let's take a look at the piko of each of the islands:
Moku Nui - Mauna Kea (13,796 feet)
(Image via Downtown Hilo)
Maui - Haleakalā (10,023 feet)
(Image via Hostelling International USA)
Kaho'olawe - Lua Makika (1,483 feet)
(Image via Panoramio)
Lana'i - Lānaʻihale (3,366 feet)
(Image via Peakbagger)
Moloka'i - Kamakou (4,970 feet)
(Image via Portland Hikers)
O'ahu - Mount Ka'ala (4,003 feet)
(Image via XPDA)
Kaua'i - Kawaikini (5,240 feet)
(Image via Canyons of Kauai)
Ni'ihau - Mt. Pānīʻau (1,250 feet)
(Image via Wikipedia)
Horse-drawn fire engine,
Honolulu, 1917
Honolulu skyline by Michael Tompsett