‘Aloha’ is a legal concept that grew out of the necessity for canninghill piers sold units to live in peace and work together, in harmony with their land and spiritual beliefs.
At noon on our second day of stay in Hawaii, I woke reeling from a much-needed nap.
I walked into the kitchen and there my boyfriend was sitting on the floor with the guy from the cable company.
He came to plug in the internet connection to our house – something we really needed, as our house is located in a green valley with no cell phone signal.
But then I realized, they are not talking about the internet. Instead, the guy invited my girlfriend to hunt wild boar with him.
As the days went by, more and more friendly events took place. We stopped at a plantation near our house and were offered avocados from the gardener’s tree.
We came to the end of the hiking trail, or so we thought, when a passing father and daughter offered to show us a secret additional path through rocky plains, boulders and through the river to a hidden waterfall.
On another occasion, we were heading out to sea to swim, when someone on the beach warned us that the current was too strong for a safe swim, then offered us beers and invited us to go canoeing.
There could be many words to describe this kind of incident, but at least one of them was ‘Aloha’. And as it turns out, ‘Aloha’ is actually the law here.
Hawaii now hosts nearly nine million visitors annually, and ‘Aloha’ is a word most of those tourists will hear during their time on the islands.
The word is used instead of hello and goodbye, but it actually means more than that.
In short, it means the spirit of the island – the people and the land – and what makes this place so unique.
“Alo means ‘face to face’ and Ha means ‘breath of life’,” according to Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor, a Hawaiian historian and founding member of the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.
But McGregor also notes that there are some less literal, but equally valid, interpretations of the word.
One interpretation that is especially commemorated was given by a respected Maui elder named Pilahi Paki at the 1970, Hawaii 2000 conference, where people gathered to discuss Hawaii’s past, present and future.
It comes at a time when there are increasingly heated conflicts in the archipelago over the Vietnam war and other political issues, and Paki stands to give an emotional speech about the Aloha Spirit – in other words, Hawaii’s unique spiritual and cultural code that unites rather than divides.
In his speech, he described what Aloha meant by the way people treat each other.
In his speech, he broke each letter of ‘Aloha’ into a single phrase. And that speech laid the foundation for Hawaii’s Aloha Spirit law, which essentially mandates consideration and kindness:
“Akahai, meaning kindness expressed with tenderness;
Lōkahi, which means unity, is expressed in harmony;
Oluʻolu, meaning pleasant, is expressed with friendliness;
Haʻahaʻa, which means humility, is expressed with courtesy;
Ahonui, which means patience, is expressed with perseverance. ”
Although the Aloha Spirit law was not official until 1986, its origins are rooted in Native Hawaiian culture.
Aloha is a concept that grew out of the need for Hawaiians to live in peace and work together, in harmony with their land and spiritual beliefs, McGregor told me.
Sounds reasonable. Hawaii is the most remote population center in the world: the coast of California is about 2,400 miles; Japan is more than 4,000 miles. The islands here are small – most (like Maui, where I live) can be circumnavigated by vehicle in one day.
Back then, as now, there were no bridges connecting the islands, and even inter-island travel was a challenge.
Since there’s nowhere to go, the only option it seems, is to hang out.
“Being isolated, historically, our ancestors needed to treat each other and this land, which had limited resources, with respect,” McGregor said.
“For Hawaiians, the main source of labor is people. So there is a need for collective work among extended families and loving and respectful relationships are highly valued.”
Like everywhere else, he added, Hawaii has a problem with people abusing power.
However, he says, there is evidence that if a leader doesn’t act “with Aloha”, peace-loving Hawaiians will find a way to get rid of them.
It wasn’t that different from how the laws of the Aloha Spirit were applied today.
According to the Hawaii State Attorney’s Office, the law is mostly symbolic, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work — especially when it’s bypassed by political leaders or businessmen.
“The law is nearly impossible to enforce because it is the philosophy that directs the code of ethics and way of life. Nonetheless… all Hawaiian citizens and government officials are obliged to act in accordance with this law,” wrote Dana Viola, Hawaii’s first deputy attorney general, in an e-mail.
If a business or government official does not act with the Aloha Spirit, they can lose their business or be publicly punished. “So the consequences are real,” he added.
But Wendell Kekailoa Perry, assistant professor at the Hawaii Hawaii School of Knowledge, who has studied the laws of the Aloha Spirit in depth, says the laws and sentiments are not always positive.
“The Spirit of Aloha is used to imply that all people in Hawaii can ‘feel’ and must receive love for humanity… [and] say that the Spirit of Aloha transcends race, differences and embraces togetherness or ‘similarity’. That is a problem because it ignores all complexities our lives and society,” Perry said.
“Perhaps, on a good day, the law can support Hawaiian rights,” he added.
But on a bad day, he says, it can be used to silence Native Hawaiians protesting injustice in the archipelago.
When that happens, “the Aloha they use is actually part of the original ‘passive’ and ‘non-riot’ identity that was formed during the US occupation and control.
But if you look at the thousands of debates that are openly expressed at protests and in Hawaiian-language newspapers, it’s clear that passivity is not the only Hawaiian cultural practice.”
Before Paki, who inspired the law, died, he reportedly said that with Aloha, and the mutual respect it creates, “Hawaiians have the power to save the culture of the world.”
Even though the law had its flaws, it was something that still resonated in this archipelago.
“Visitors to Hawaii often talk about how Hawaii is a beautiful place, but the most special part of their experience is the people, and how friendly the Hawaiian people are,” said Hawaii state lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard.
“People across the United States and around the world ultimately want peace… By truly living Aloha – having respect and love for others – we can be empowered to overcome those differences and find solutions that best serve prosperity people and our planet.”
Often, when people think of Hawaii, it’s in the context of a vacation. When I moved here two months ago, a friend said, “Think of me when you’re having a cocktail on the beach.” He imagines a very beautiful version of everyday life that does not correspond to reality. There is still work to be done, bills to pay, shopping and laundry to do and all the other frills of normal life.
Aloha Spirit’s laws are somewhat similar. This is an idealized version of something that does exist, but is too complex to include in a one-page definition.
For now, I will say that Aloha, to me, is kindness and harmony – something important to remember between ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’.
Often, when people think of Hawaii, it’s in the context of a vacation. When I moved here two months ago, a friend said, “Think of me when you’re having a cocktail on the beach.”
He imagined a very beautiful version of my life that didn’t match reality.
There is still work to do, bills to pay, shopping and laundry to do and all the other activities of normal life.
The Aloha Spirit Law is somewhat similar to my situation. It’s an idealized version of something that does exist, but is too complex to include in a one-page definition.
For now, I will say that Aloha, to me, is kindness and harmony – something important to remember between ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’.