Hawaiian term for individuals who are not descendants of the ethnic native Hawaiians or other Polynesians.

Haole (; Hawaiian [ˈhɔule])[1] is a Hawaiian term that refers to individuals who are not Native Hawaiian or Polynesian, usually white people. In Hawaii, the term has been used to describe any foreigner or anything else introduced to the Hawaiian islands of foreign origin.[2]

The origins of the word predate the 1778 arrival of Captain James Cook, as recorded in several chants stemming from antiquity. Its connotations have ranged from merely descriptive to invective, while today it is considered to be mildly pejorative.

History [ edit ]

Haole first became associated with the children of European immigrants in the early 1820s. It unified the self-identity of these Hawaii-born children whose parents were as much culturally different as they were similar.[3] With the first three generations of Haole playing key roles in the rise of the economic and political power shifts that have lasted through the current day,[4] Haole evolved into a term that was often used in contempt especially after the missionaries imposed strict rules prohibiting games, singing, and playing. It evolved further to racial meaning, replacing "malihini" (newcomer)[5] in addressing people of Caucasian descent who move to Hawaii from the U.S. mainland by the 1860s.[6] A 1906 phrase book sometimes translates it to "English (language)".[7]

Etymology [ edit ]

The 1865 Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language, compiled by Lorrin Andrews, shows the pronunciation as ha-o-le. A popular belief is that the word is properly written and pronounced as hāʻole, literally meaning "no breath," because foreigners did not know or use the honi (hongi in Māori), a Polynesian greeting by touching nose to nose and inhaling or essentially sharing each other's breaths, and so the foreigners were described as breathless. The implication is not only that foreigners are aloof and ignorant of local ways, but also literally have no spirit or life within.[8]

St. Chad Piianaia, a Hawaiian educated in England, said the word haole implies thief or robber (from hao, thief, and le, lazy).[8] In 1944 Hawaiian scholar Charles Kenn wrote, "In the primary and esoteric meaning, haole indicates a race that has no relation to one's own; an outsider, one who does not conform to the mores of the group; one that is void of the life element because of inattention to natural laws which make for the goodness in man. In its secondary meaning, haole ... implies a thief, a robber, one not to be trusted.... During the course of time, meanings of words change, and today, in a very general way, haole does not necessarily connote a negative thought.... The word has come to refer to one of Nordic descent, whether born in Hawaii or elsewhere."[8]

Native Hawaiian Professor Fred Beckley said, "The white people came to be known as ha-ole (without breath) because after they said their prayers, they did not breathe three times as was customary in ancient Hawaii."[8]

New findings have proven all of these theories to be incorrect. The earliest use of the word "haole" in the Hawaiian language was in the chant of Kūaliʻi; in which a pre-European voyager from the island of Oʻahu describes Kahiki, a term used for all lands outside Hawaiʻi:

Ua ʻike hoʻi au iā Kahiki He moku leo pāhaʻohaʻo wale Kahiki ʻAʻohe o Kahiki kanaka Hoʻokahi o Kahiki kanaka – he Haole

This roughly translates to:

I have seen Kahiki Kahiki is an island with a puzzling language Kahiki has no people Except for one kind—a foreign kind

In this chant, the word "haole" has no glottal stops or elongated vowels. The pronunciation of the word to mean "breathless" is conjecture and should be disregarded as myth, as there is absolutely no evidence of anyone using the word "hāʻole" prior to Western contact.[9]

Discrimination [ edit ]

In Hawaii's "Rainbow" ethnic melange of peoples, "Haole" is the slang word used to describe Caucasians, and by itself is not a racial slur and has no pejorative connotations. Many visitors are haole, and may be targeted by criminals, but this is because they are vulnerable tourists, not because they are haole. There are rumors that in Hawaii the last day of school is called "Kill Haole Day". According to this rumor, on this day, "local" (nonwhite) children beat up, bully, and harass the "haole" or "white" children in their school. Some residents say there is little to no evidence or documentation of incidents involving "Kill Haole Day" or of Caucasian students being assaulted on specific days. Other residents dispute this. Hawaii schools have responded by saying that they take the initiative to achieve tolerance, safety, compassion, and acceptance for all students.[10]

The word "Haole" is used as a racial slur or insult in incidents of harassment and physical assaults by Native Hawaiians and members of other "minority" (nonwhite) groups on white people in Hawaii—tourists as well as residents and military personnel.[11]

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Further reading [ edit ]