tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post4428067780566631150..comments2023-10-17T04:51:08.765-10:00Comments on KauaiEclectic: Musings: BelongingJoan Conrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00172330100788007499noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-54928628511125223632010-09-17T03:40:22.836-10:002010-09-17T03:40:22.836-10:00Mahalo Joan for your mana'o.
I pray for alo...Mahalo Joan for your mana'o. <br /><br />I pray for aloha and reconciliation among all people on Kaua'i. I am a born and raised Kaua'i Kama'aina but lived on the mainland for many years...too many years of education. My ohana is a mixed bag of Hawaiian, Filipino, Portuguese, Haole, and Japanese.<br /><br />There are many malihini who are are more "local" or "Hawaiian" than the locals and dare say nominal Hawaiian. There are also many who have no clue whatsoever regardless of race.<br /><br />If someone truly respects the unique natural elements of Hawaii, respects & understands the history of all the island people, do not take advantage of others, and have true ALOHA they are all right with me regardless of race.<br /><br />Aloha.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-13066885528083275312010-09-16T22:06:22.355-10:002010-09-16T22:06:22.355-10:00Try LISTENING!
October 1st...Kaua`i Beach Resort...Try LISTENING! <br /><br />October 1st...Kaua`i Beach Resort 4:30pm; 6:30 pm <br />formal presentation. <br />"Na Lani" <br />Under the direction of <br />Kumu Hula Kehaulani Kekua.<br />A Historical perspective.<br />www.kaieie.orgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-14592903212573310872010-09-16T17:43:21.228-10:002010-09-16T17:43:21.228-10:00This is called herd mentality.
Just because ever...This is called herd mentality. <br /><br />Just because everyone is saying something doesn't mean any of it is true.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-34947841327919550922010-09-16T17:40:33.146-10:002010-09-16T17:40:33.146-10:00“I wouldn't want to belong to any club that wo...“I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member” - Groucho Marx<br /><br />If I 'belong' to this group, would I be required to think that I care what you or other group members think of me? <br /><br />Must I also have your eco-terroristist, pro-sovereignty, anti-government distrusting nature?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-70111512413943212132010-09-16T16:27:29.724-10:002010-09-16T16:27:29.724-10:00"Belonging" is less of an issue to peopl..."Belonging" is less of an issue to people. Nowdays, it's more like "I'm living here now for a while...maybe for the rest of my life...maybe not."<br /><br />We, for example, have never felt the need to "belong". We're just "here", wherever "here" is at the moment.<br /><br />Loners, I guess. Some people have the need to be surrounded by "community" and "roots".<br /><br />We don't. Can't really understand those that do. Seems like being dragged down in quicksand more than any comfortable thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-65464435480221283652010-09-16T15:16:34.258-10:002010-09-16T15:16:34.258-10:00"They warred alot but it was intra-cultural w..."They warred alot but it was intra-cultural warfare, not inter-cultural warfare. They didn't sail over and fight the N.A. Indians or anything."<br />Hey if your dead and their using your bones to make fish hooks inter and intra ain't going to make much difference.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-59012729350636979862010-09-16T13:58:24.172-10:002010-09-16T13:58:24.172-10:00still you have to admit, it was a nice post. mahal...still you have to admit, it was a nice post. mahalo joan!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-35163582575686837052010-09-16T12:33:58.255-10:002010-09-16T12:33:58.255-10:00As we say in NYC:
"I've got your 'al...As we say in NYC:<br /><br />"I've got your 'aloha' right here!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-54437290268203817992010-09-16T12:11:25.155-10:002010-09-16T12:11:25.155-10:00"Most of the people living here know nothing ..."Most of the people living here know nothing of the "host" culture, except a few words such as "mahalo nui loa"...."<br /><br />My transplant neighbor was screaming "you are so pilau" at my other transplant neighbor yesterday - quite proud of her ability to misapply that word. Somewhere in there a nasty "aloha" was also shouted out - translation - "I hate you". <br /><br />Nasty is still just nasty, and race and culture have nothing to do with nasty. Nice people almost always find a way to belong wherever they live. To me, its kindof that simple. Those who stew in anger, pick fights or disrespect the culture and society around them never really belong anywhere - even among their "own people". This I think the truly pono don't need to spend much time worrying about belonging. <br /><br /><br />Ah, angry people on an island where the restaurants are increasingly run out of tents and trailers. Calcutta with an edge.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-72482975861943585262010-09-16T12:06:03.996-10:002010-09-16T12:06:03.996-10:00A very small point.
I doubt the defeated "cu...A very small point.<br /><br />I doubt the defeated "cultural segment" felt that only small changes were being imposed upon it by the victorious "cultural segment".<br /><br />Didn't those fun-loving Tahitians introduce human sacrifice and the kapu system as well?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-38181573868202367712010-09-16T11:03:03.445-10:002010-09-16T11:03:03.445-10:00"That's not true. Hawaiians came in two d..."That's not true. Hawaiians came in two distinct waves. The second wave by the Tahitians conquered and subjugated the first wave from the Marquesas Islands. Plus, once settled they didn't represent a single polity. They warred and conquered one another throughout their history."<br /><br />True: They came in two waves. <br /><br />False: The Tahitians actually acclimated to the already developed Hawaiian culture.<br /><br />True: They warred alot but it was intra-cultural warfare, not inter-cultural warfare. They didn't sail over and fight the N.A. Indians or anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-87251818017055934462010-09-16T10:58:57.175-10:002010-09-16T10:58:57.175-10:00"I got my mind right, boss!"
..."I got my mind right, boss!"<br /><br /> - Cool Hand LukeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-1655091303988023812010-09-16T10:54:03.201-10:002010-09-16T10:54:03.201-10:00Or go native.Or go native.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-26186286977540165122010-09-16T10:29:43.344-10:002010-09-16T10:29:43.344-10:00I imagine she believes there's an exception fo...I imagine she believes there's an exception for newcomers who exhibit "correct" thinking on an array of hot button issues.<br /><br />Or become local by the injection method.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-65786882417548914192010-09-16T09:44:13.556-10:002010-09-16T09:44:13.556-10:00Oh, boo hoo for the damn hawaiians, again.
Money ...Oh, boo hoo for the damn hawaiians, again.<br /><br />Money talks and "native culture" walks.<br /><br />That successful agenda has been steamrolling from the east coast over to the west coast and beyond to AK and HI.<br /><br />You're no longer who you were. You're American now.<br /><br />Get with the program, or live in self-induced misery. You can do it. Many (most?) of your people have already done it.<br /><br />Bend with the wind or break.<br /><br />In America, if you can buy your way in, you belong. Roots mean nothing.<br /><br />No matter where you go, there you are. Ownership = belonging. Hence the phrase "my belongings" (what I own).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-71808977623811285172010-09-16T09:40:18.592-10:002010-09-16T09:40:18.592-10:00Hawaiians were among a very small group of culture...<i>Hawaiians were among a very small group of cultures in world history that never conquered anyone. </i><br /><br />That's not true. Hawaiians came in two distinct waves. The second wave by the Tahitians conquered and subjugated the first wave from the Marquesas Islands. Plus, once settled they didn't represent a single polity. They warred and conquered one another throughout their history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-53476831029418557232010-09-16T09:33:04.622-10:002010-09-16T09:33:04.622-10:00Most of the people living here know nothing of the...Most of the people living here know nothing of the "host" culture, except a few words such as "mahalo nui loa", which is written on every politicians/bank executive's letters to the public.<br /><br />Let's think of it this way: Hawaiians were among a very small group of cultures in world history that never conquered anyone. How can we expect them to understand what it is like to conquer another, different culture? They have no historical reference to that idea.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-52096308861004528932010-09-16T08:55:55.359-10:002010-09-16T08:55:55.359-10:00The nice thing about living in the United States i...The nice thing about living in the United States is that anybody else's opinion that I don't belong here just because I came to work on the construction of a resort property is completely irrelevant. I belong here because I want to be here. It doesn't matter what you think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-76623154761926766062010-09-16T08:42:36.186-10:002010-09-16T08:42:36.186-10:00I'd like to hear an *honest* discussion by joa...<i>I'd like to hear an *honest* discussion by joan about her feelings of being an outsider on kauai.</i><br /><br />I imagine she believes there's an exception for newcomers who exhibit "correct" thinking on an array of hot button issues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-43561053748585855892010-09-16T07:48:39.373-10:002010-09-16T07:48:39.373-10:00I'd like to hear an *honest* discussion by joa...I'd like to hear an *honest* discussion by joan about her feelings of being an outsider on kauai.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-83501071249502072962010-09-16T07:36:07.895-10:002010-09-16T07:36:07.895-10:00But do you really belong here, or will you soon be...<i>But do you really belong here, or will you soon be gone? How do you belong here, because you had enough $$$ to buy a piece of Kauai, or do you have roots in the commonunity?Do you care about the people, water and land, or just yourself? if just yourself, you don't belong here</i><br /><br />You prove my point. That's just your big fat opinion. Where, outside your big fat opinion, is there any authority for the notion that someone doesn't belong unless they "care about the people, water and land" or that they don't belong if "they'll soon be gone"? That's your own opinion about belonging. "Belonging" in your sense is just an arbitrary moral imperative that you impose. It doesn't contain any objective truth or reflect any profound insight. It just states your arbitrary opinion that people must share your ecological and social beliefs in order to "belong" and that they must not be nomadic or transient. So, under your regime, a truly nomadic person, one who moves all their life from place to place, actually "belongs" nowhere. Sorry, but your views are cramped and unrealistic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-24446877859429802852010-09-16T07:06:57.423-10:002010-09-16T07:06:57.423-10:00As if "belonging" someplace - anyplace -...As if "belonging" someplace - anyplace - isn't just some construct imposed by somebody with a big fat opinion. Whatever is here at the moment "belongs."<br /><br />But do you really belong here, or will you soon be gone? How do you belong here, because you had enough $$$ to buy a piece of Kauai, or do you have roots in the commonunity?Do you care about the people, water and land, or just yourself? if just yourself, you don't belong hereAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-81576271009759286632010-09-16T04:00:05.474-10:002010-09-16T04:00:05.474-10:00"From the masses to the masses" the most..."From the masses to the masses" the most / Revolutionary consciousness is to be found / Among the most ruthlessly exploited classes: / Animals, trees, water, air, grasses . . . <br /><br />--Gary Snyder, "Revolution in the Revolution in the Revolution"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-64452340752499699002010-09-15T22:55:56.334-10:002010-09-15T22:55:56.334-10:00mahalo for the reflective post joan
got me think...mahalo for the reflective post joan <br /><br />got me thinking of tune i left unfinished....<br /><br />bury me when i'm dead and gone,<br />take me home where i belong<br />where the nights are cool<br />and the days are long<br /><br />bury me when i'm dead and gone<br />cry for me but don't cry for long<br />you won't miss me when i'm gone<br />take me home where i belong<br />and bury me when i'm dead and goneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875069982976812251.post-10052527744194600132010-09-15T20:52:51.412-10:002010-09-15T20:52:51.412-10:00As if "belonging" someplace - anyplace -...As if "belonging" someplace - anyplace - isn't just some construct imposed by somebody with a big fat opinion. Whatever is here at the moment "belongs."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com