Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 12, 1 November 1994 — Aloha Kākou, 'Ohana, Nā ʻOiwi, Ame Nā Poʻe O Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha Kākou, 'Ohana, Nā ʻOiwi, Ame Nā Poʻe O Hawaiʻi

by Kamaki Kanahele Trustee-at-large

One day I asked my grandfather (who spoke fluent Hawaiian) why

I never heard him say mahalo in Hawaiian only said in Englisn. He told me "Thank you" was a haole word whieh they, in their culture, for themselves, used as a requirement of courtesy. When such an

occasion occurred for a Hawaiian like himself, if talking to a malihini or a Hawaiian raised in Western ways, he would say "Thank you". If talking to Hawaiian that was with him in his time or that of his parents' or grandparents' time, there would be a honi or a slight lowering of the head or a tear would fall, or an embracing, or a silent time where mana would flow between one another and not a word need be spoken. But never was there the use of a "mahalo".

In the purest sense of our Hawaiian being not a word need be said or heard of either "Mahalo" or "Thank you", but coming through the silence from "I", na'au, to pu'uwai comes the fullness of the spirit of Ke Akua in love, appreciation, and gratefulness. As I leave the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as a trustee, 1 leave in the fullness of the spirit of Ke Akua for all of you. Even in that light, my grandfather would say, "No need say mahalo, no such thing. If your heart is aloha , nothing needs to be said, nothing, and guess what my mo'opuna, they, if they truly are Hawaiian, will hear your aloha loud and clear. Maopopo?". Ae, Tutu. maopopo.