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2008-01-03  Cover Story
| Cover Story
In the melting pot that is Maui, what does it mean to be a 'local?'
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| | by Starr Begley | |  |
January 03, 2008
We work, play, love, raise families, eat and sleep in Hawai`i. We get the Augie T Show and laugh at Frank DeLima's jokes. We wear shirts that proclaim "Hawaiian," "Portuguese," "Filipino," "Haole" and "Samoan." We slap stickers on our cars saying, "Grown Here Not Flown Here" and "Pono—Do What is Right."
We're local.
But what is "local?" And why is it that what seems local to some isn't to others? Why is it that a person born and raised in Hawai'i who speaks proper English and fumbles with Pidgin is often deemed less local than a Polynesian from a completely different island chain who just arrived here a few years ago?
Is a person who's lived in Hawai'i, immersed herself in its culture, fought for the cause of Native Hawaiians and farmed its lands for decades local—even if she wasn't born here? What if this person's skin color is white? And if this white person happened to be born in Hawai'i, is she still a haole?
One major misconception of local is that it's interchangeable with Hawaiian. If local and Hawaiian are the same, then local food would consist of just taro, fish and pig: what we call "The Hawaiian Plate" in most Hawai'i establishments.
Local is a mixed plate–kalbi ribs from the Koreans, kalua pig from the Hawaiians, rice from the Japanese, dim sum from the Chinese and beef stew from the Caucasians. Don't forget adobo from the Filipinos and sweet bread from the Portuguese.
Local is a conglomeration of many different cultures, mixed together, heated up and ladled out onto the Hawaiian Islands. Local is controversial. It's organic and fluid–changing and adapting with every individual's unique perspective.
Over the next few months, we're going to be exploring this idea of what it means to be a local in Hawai'i. For our first installment, we decided to start by asking a wide variety of people on Maui what they mean when they say "local." Their answers are as diverse as the islands on which they make their home:
KATHY COLLINS
Owner, Mana`o Radio (91.5 FM)
Born in Chicago, IL
Tough question! I've been asked this before and have never been satisfied with the answers I've given. Small kid time, my definition of "local" was totally race-based. Anyone brown and living here was local to me. And the Portuguese, of course. Then in seventh grade, I transferred from Makawao to Lihikai School, where I met classmates who immigrated from the Philippines. First time I had been around Filipinos who clearly were not locals. So then I thought one had to be able to speak pidgin to be a local. Of course, that doesn't really cover it either. Although I do consider pidgin to be the native language of locals. Pidgin is still to me a BIG part of being local. Because like any language, it reflects the way we think and feel. I don't think you have to be born here to be local. I wasn't—neither was Pele! But I was raised here by parents who were born and raised here, and who instilled certain values in me, which I identify with being local. Like being non-confrontational, humble, considerate of others... all the qualities that are necessary when you have a lot of different cultures sharing very limited space. And I believe that pride in being local is a big part of being local. You can grumble and succumb to rock fever every so often, but a true local knows there is no better place on earth to live and love. I think it's like sexual attraction—you know it when you see/feel it.
KENDALL GROVE
UFC Fighter
Born in Wailuku, Maui
It's about aloha, the island spirit. It's being kind and nice. Local people are kind-hearted people. We'll give you the shirt off our back, you know? Local is, "Treat people how you want to be treated." [On being "local" while living on the mainland] I've been doing it for three years. I keep local not because I have to, but because that's how I was raised. I was born with that–to treat others with respect. On the other hand, there's haole. Haole isn't "white" or just 'cause you're white. I have white friends that aren't haole. Haole is bad vibes—guys who disrespect what's yours. The old school haoles were old school white guys who enslaved and took over. Haoles are people who think they own everything–they try to control. It's not God's way.
GREG TURNER
Ed & Greg Show (Wild 105.5 FM)
Born in Los Angeles, CA.
First of all, local isn't Hawaiian. It has nothing to do with heritage, skin color or culture. It's about how we take different cultures and indoctrinate them into a "local" lifestyle–bringing different ethnicities and cultures and making them work together. It sounds cheesey, but it's kind of like weaving a tapestry of different cultures. To say about things "This is Hawaiian," makes you sound like a stupid idiot. It's insulting. A lot of things that we consider local aren't. I mean, we're 5,000 miles from anything. We adopt things and say they're ours, but they're really not. As for "haole," nowadays the meaning has become someone Caucasian who's not from here. Lately when I hear it, it's in bad taste. You can say, "stupid haole," but I can't walk around and say, "stupid Hawaiian" or "stupid Chinese." But it's okay to bag on the white guy. Racial discrimination is flip-flopped. I wasn't born here, but I consider myself local. I'm half Filipino.
ERNIE CRUZ
Former member of the Ka`au Crater Boys
Born in Aiea, Oahu
There are so many different issues. One cool ways of saying what is local is to go surf today the last day of the year and go surf tomorrow. Surf the old year out and surf the New Year in. Basically, if you come to Hawai'i and you love Hawai'i, not just be here, but love it, then we love you. If you love Hawai'i, it shows in your actions. If you no love Hawai'i, just go and make room for someone who loves it. If you love Hawai'i, we love you. That's how it is.
LESLIE TRUGLIO
Manager, John Cruz
Born in Seattle, WA
The difference between local and haole is not where you're from or what color skin you have. It's an attitude and a way of being in your heart. Being local means you are easy-going, good-natured, humble, compassionate and full of aloha. Being haole means you are impatient, pushy, fearful, looking out for yourself first and not in the flow with Hawaiian culture.
PAUL WOOD
Writer
Born in Los Angeles, CA
The word "local" means, "my family came out of the plantation camps." Those camps were the cultural cauldron, centers of transformation, where people and families changed from their home cultures (Japanese, Filipino, whatever) to bona fide, pidgin-speaking islanders. That shared experience must have been intensely bonding. If you don't have a grandparent or great grandparent who slaved away for agribusiness, you aren't local and never will be.
KILA KILA "THE BIG HAWAIIAN" KAMAU
DJ, 103.7 FM
Born in Wailuku, Maui
First of all, being born and raised in Hawai'i is local. Being Hawaiian helps. Always looking out for Hawai'i, the 'aina, ohana. Food is a big part: local style food–all the different cultures, the stuff we grew up with. It's the mentality of giving back to the community. It comes back to family. I'm all about my family, it's a huge part of my life.
LORILEE WATT
Registered Nurse, Maui Memorial Medical Center
Born in Wailuku, Maui
Being local isn't how long you've been living here, but being born and raised helps. It doesn't have to do with nationality. It's a culture thing. It's attitude and a mind set, a lifestyle–laidback. Guys that call off the street, "Hey sistah, how you?" My white looking kid will probably end up being called a "stupid haole" in grade school by "local" local kids even though my parents, grandparents and I were raised here. But it's a good attitude, too, like are you going to let the little old Japanese lady at Puk Sup take your parking space? A real local would let her have it. Oh, and if you're local you know that if you live in Kihei and there's an earthquake, you head Upcountry.
GIOVANNI 'STEVEN' CAPELLI
Owner, Casanova
Born in La Spezia, Italy
Local is certainly somebody who lives here since more than... say 20 years. Haole is certainly an Italian man with a thick accent and flirty eyes. What do you call an Italian man with a thick accent who lives here since more than 20 years? Bah. But, seriously, who cares? What cares is the "Aloha Spirit." You have it? You are local to me... and go Warriors!
LESLIE IKAWA
Homemaker
Born in Honolulu, Oahu
Local is T-shirt, shorts and rubber slipper. You just know. MTW
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Reader Feedback
What does it mean to be local?
January 04, 2008 | 05:12 PM
I agree with many of these answers from 'locals'. I am originally from Portland, Oregon and have been here 8 years. I believe I must have adapted to the Maui lifestyle well because I remember 'local' Hawaiian friends telling me years ago that I was very easy-going and was a good match with the Maui spirit. I lived on the west side for 4 years and then moved to Kahului - you definitely start to feel more local living here - closer to all of Maui's mixed cultures, away from the mass tourism.
I guess my family is a mixed-bag of locals :) My husband, Steve, has been on Maui 8 years too and before that 7 years on Oahu. Plus his dad grew up here in Kahului, with some of his childhood spent in the camps, before his family was able to purchase a home off of Puunene Street. Which is where we leave today, raising our 2 daughters, Kaia (age 3) and Sachi (2 months).
And you can't get any more local than my hapa daughters - 1/2 Japanese, 1/4 Norwegian, English and Scottish - we love Maui's diversity and wouldn't dream of living aywhere else!
Leslie Gibson-Seno 283-
January 05, 2008 | 03:49 PM
To me, locals are the kids that made fun of me because I was smarter than they were and made judgments about my sexual preference due to my short hair length. I still don't understand why I was called a "dumb dyke" when a) I was getting A's in classes some of them were barely passing, and b) I was dating an incredibly, physically masculine male. I know that not all locals are like this, but this is the strongest impression left on me, made by the local culture and by the kids that I considered "locals." Too many people have used their locality to justify concepts that in all other situations would have been deemed "discrimination." Too often, I have felt that this idea of "Aloha Spirit" that everyone is so proud of, was concocted by the tourism agencies, to draw people to the islands. Too often, I have felt that this "Aloha Spirit" is dead, killed off by the things it stood against: close-minded, bigoted cliques.
ASG
January 07, 2008 | 03:05 PM
After finishing reading Ms. Starr's article online, I have to say that what makes someone "local" is the respect you have for the way things are done here (or anywhere else for that matter). I know people who move here and act like we are beneath them because we are not like the mainland.
Conversely, I am encountering an increasing amount of Hawaii-born people who have an elitist attitude as well and look down on their own people for the same reason. There are not a TON of these people, but I do notice them more. That's why they have an attitude of, "I can't wait to get off this rock."
So bottom line, it's about understanding and respecting what the local culture is built on whether you are from here or not. You don't see me going to Italy thinking that all Italians are Mafioso.
The old adage still stands… "When in Rome…."
Darren
What does it mean to be a "local?"
January 11, 2008 | 10:24 PM
"A local" is merely someone who lives here...either born local, long-time local, or short-time local. That's it. It's sad that some people use the word to elevate their own status, or diminish the status of others. This "game" of who's a local and who isn't is played out anywhere one goes, on the mainland or here. We can only hope that all of us locals, of any ancestry (something none of us had anything to do with), can treat each other, and the land, with care and respect.
Melelani
staying local..
October 21, 2008 | 10:33 PM
being local is obviously many things. One is having one accent that can be used on and off when being around certain people. Clearly, when used around some nut job that graduated some private school best not use 'em or else dat guy get all lost, confused look. I know many crazies dat go punaho school. Many of dem not to happy with old school pidgin. Dey get all huffy and puffy. Den one beef going break out. I guarantee it. I would hate to see what would happen when new school pidgen is used. Da fur really going fo' fly.
scott s
Susan Welck
November 19, 2008 | 12:57 PM
Hello, I just found this site on the internet and hope this get a message to an old friend of mine that I miss and I know that she lives on Maui.
ellsta2002@yahoo.com
Ella
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