The Significance of Kalo in Traditional and Modern Hawaiian Society

The Hawaiian Islands are well known for their beauty, tranquility, and unique culture that have shaped this state into what we see today. The special bond that the natives have formed between themselves and nature is not exactly one of a kind, but it is something that can truly be admired. Around approximately 300 AD, Hawaii was discovered by Polynesians who arrived by canoe from Tahiti. These migrants brought their polytheistic spirituality and formed a large intricate society with hierarchies consisting of many chiefs. Alongside the ruling of the chiefs, the newborn Hawaiians followed a strict belief system known as Kapu akua otherwise known as the “law of the gods”. The Kapu was a strict set of rules and restraints that dictated all

The most important Hawaiian cultural value I saw today was Malama ‘Aina. It means to take care of the land so the land can take care of us. We must nurture the land so it can give back all we need to sustain life for ourselves and our future generations. This value is a sustainable measure that everyone can learn from so we can all live a balanced (Pono) life. The lo’i provides us food to eat, such as the kalo plant, which nourishes our body. It is the kinolau of Kane, God of fresh water. Without Kane’s help, there wouldn’t be any crops for the community to feed on. On-hands learning is the best way to understanding more about our culture and learn why it is important to treat everything with respect. Taking care of the kalo plant made me look

This particular group did not perform any kahiko pieces, mainly performing modern hula and genres of hula stemming after the King Kalākaua’s Hawaiian Renaissance. Due to the lack of kahiko performance, there was no monophonic texture in the auditory portion of the performance. If anything, the one quality that alluded to the modern style of dance was the facial expressions of the dancers. With pleasant looks on their faces, it did not resemble the strictness of kahiko styled hula. The hula dancers did not use any instruments, instead, they relied on their portrayal of the text through their hand movements and gestures. They wore typical muʻumuʻu’s and wore their hair up, with local flora decorating

Kalo, considered by some, is the world's oldest cultivated crop. The first Kalo plant produced was from the child of Papa and Wakea, Hāloanaka. Hālonaka did not survive, and was buried. From the child’s body grew the first Kalo plant. Some believe that the Kalo plant, arising from the child’s body, is superior and more sacred than man. Taro plays an important role in Hawaiian culture. Growing Kalo was not an activity to the Hawaiians, but it bounded them to their culture and their beliefs about creation. Kalo is very nutritious for our health and bodies. According to Joy, Yamakawa, and Hollyer, from the University of Hawaii, “Kalo corm provides a good source of calcium and iron.” The Kalo leaves can also be “eaten

Tourism and commercialism doubtless played a role in hula 's development. I was surprised that Noelani – a Hawaiian herself – taught us a hula dance accompanied by an English song! Furthermore, the song 's lyrics presumptuously, albeit playfully, depicted the residents of Honolulu as the "Other" with repetitive use of the word "they." Noelani explained that tourists encouraged the hula to develop in certain ways rather than

The main goal for watching this video is to better our perspective on why it is significant keeping the Hawaiian language and culture alive and why there are so little Native Hawaiian speakers. As the Overthrow of the Kingdom in 1893 happened, the Native Hawaiian Language and the culture itself was starting to decline. Over time there was some people who refused to let it die with the overthrow and did something about it. The ‘E Ola Ka ‘Olelo Hawai‘i video lets

This history of the Island of Hawaii has it that the island is one of the few places in the world where people can see the origin of land. The culture practices and beliefs on the island explain

While researching the country of Hawaii’s musical culture and history I was able to find some very interesting things that are present in modern Hawaii. From the causes of musical oppression, fight for independence and revival of Hawaiian culture I will talk about how all of these contributed to the current culture of Hawaiian drum dance.

For my Makana Research Project, I chose to focus on the traditional Hawaiian lei. I chose this object due to the fact that in all my years of being a student, the concept of dress and clothing items of the Hawaiian people was never something that I learned about in depth. I never knew what different colors symbolized, or that there could be a deeper spiritual meaning to simple clothing items like headpieces. Learning about the hidden meanings and importance of traditional clothing items has been an interesting thing for me, as I am used to studying historical events like wars and battles.

When people think of Hawaii, other than it’s beautiful beaches, Hawaiian jams, and ono grinds, one thing that stands out is hula. For the Hawaiians, hula was a form of poetry and was used in sanctity and ceremonially. According to King David Kalakaua, “Hula is the language of the heart, and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people”. As times passed hula has changed because missionaries did not accept what the Hawaiians had established on their own such as their traditions of nudity. Whatever the missionaries did not accept, they quickly and strategically changed. This caused a “rebirth” of hula. It is important to remember that hula is a part of the Hawaiian culture and

Certain beliefs involved sacred rituals that had people worshipping many different gods and considering certain places such as a volcano for example, to be ‘sacred’ and participating in rituals of the drinking of certain things called ‘Kava’ a special beverage prepared from a root from a tropical pepper. The beliefs and traditions of the Polynesian culture relied heavily on the social structure that provided a base for everything that entailed the island life, the belief that some family members and persons were derived from the gods was another belief in the culture. ”The underlying set of principles through which Polynesians interpreted their world and organized their social lives included the concepts of Mana and Tapu, intertwined with ideas of rank based on descent from gods” (Kaeppler). When the Westernization of Polynesian began, this brought many things that the culture and people had not yet seen nor experienced. The Europeans brought trade and with trade that brought metals that were never before seen or used on the islands of Polynesia. “Previous to European trade, the use of metal was virtually unknown, and tools were pre-eminently cutting, incising, and filing elements of stone, bone, shell, obsidian, shark teeth, and fish skin mounted on wooden handles” (Kaeppler). These types of changed in the production of music and art can without a doubt create somewhat

Colonisation of the Hawaiian Islands in the years following Captain James Cook’s landing in 1778 had a huge influence on the societal structure, the ruling system, and the gender roles within the community. With the old culture dismantled, a new one was built on the basis of Christian values, brought to Hawaii by the missionaries from New England. This essay will give a brief description of the colonisation of Hawaii, and then focus on the effects this process had on the societal structure, the monarchy, and the gender roles as were widely accepted in society, as well as how these changes affected other aspects of their culture. It will also briefly explore the effects of the expanding economy due to the opportunities the colonisers saw for growth and monetary gain.

Although many people have no idea that Polynesia really means “region of many islands”, I happen to know that this region is made up of three major cultural areas in the southwest Pacific Ocean. These include Polynesia, and Polynesia’s neighboring cultures, Melanesia and Micronesia. The Polynesian culture is so wide spread, so practices, customs, norms, etc. all fluctuate by island. The entire culture can be examined through the seven elements of culture.

One of Hawaii's traditions is the hula, a dance designated to their beautiful, grace, and spirituality.

Whenua is the Māori term for land, it also refers to placenta (notion of birth). Land was and still is extremely important to the Māori people. From the time the Maori people set foot on Aotearoa, their way of life is highly revolved around the land. They have an immeasurable respect for the land and it holds the utmost significance. This essay will explore traditional beliefs of whenua such as the creation myth and the importance of Tāne. It will also discuss the importance to the Māori and how the loss of land (after the Treaty of Waitangi) played such a significant role. It will also explore the location of Māori and the rural urban drift, from the 1940s and still very much evident in today’s society, as well as the influence of Pakeha and other cultures. My theory is that the significance of the land has changed overtime from traditional usage; to the way it is today.