Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [27]
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How did ancient Hawaii turn into mai tais, resort luau and tiki bars? Find out in Tiki of Hawaii: A History of Gods and Dreams (2005) by Sophia V Schweitzer, which succinctly captures the post-WWII tiki craze.
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Since the demise of the plantation era, Hawaii agriculture has been diversifying with macadamia nuts, coffee, floriculture, papayas and more. Sugarcane, once the king, is now commercially harvested on only one Maui plantation; likewise, only one pineapple plantation survives – and both are struggling financially. Agriculture accounts for less than 1% of Hawaii’s gross domestic product, but reviving small farms is seen as an essential aspect of building a sustainable economy – one that could literally feed itself.
Hawaii is also looking to attract clean energy and high-tech industries as a way to diversify, since the state recognizes that continued growth in tourism (and more low-wage service sector jobs) no longer supports Hawaii’s long-term health.
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POPULATION
Over 70% of Hawaii’s 1.3 million residents live on O’ahu, making Honolulu Hawaii’s only real city. On O’ahu, population density is nearly 1500 people per sq mile, compared with 109 on Maui and 37 on the Big Island. Yet, in terms of its share of Hawaii’s population, the Big Island has grown the fastest since 1990.
Ethnically, Hawaii is unique. First, it is among only four US states in which whites do not form a majority. Second, it has the largest percentage of Asian Americans (55%, predominantly Japanese and Filipino) among all states. Third, Hawaii has the highest mixed-race percentage (18.5%) among all states, and nearly half of all marriages are mixed race. Fourth, Hawaii was the first majority-minority state in the USA since the early 20th century – and its current minority (nonwhite) population constitutes a whopping 75%.
Today roughly 80,000 of Hawaii’s people identify themselves solely as Native Hawaiian. However, about 250,000 identify themselves as all or part Hawaiian, while some estimate that the number of pure Native Hawaiians is actually less than 8000. Interestingly, Hawaii only contains an estimated 60% of Native Hawaiians worldwide, and the percentage off-island is growing as Native Hawaiians increasingly leave Hawaii (usually for economic reasons).
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WHO’S WHO
haole – white person (except local Portuguese); further defined as ‘mainland’ or ‘local’ haole.’
hapa – person of mixed ancestry, commonly referring to hapa haole (part white and part Asian).
Hawaiian – person of Native Hawaiian ancestry. It’s a faux pas to call any Hawaii resident ‘Hawaiian’ (as you would a Californian or Texan), thus semantically ignoring indigenous people.
kama’aina – person who is native to a particular place; literally, ‘a child of the land.’ A Hilo native is a kama’aina of Hilo and not of Kona. It assumes a deep knowledge of and connection to the place. In the retail context, ‘kama’aina discounts’ apply to any resident of Hawaii (ie anyone with a Hawaii driver’s license).
local – person who grew up in Hawaii. Locals who move away retain their local ‘cred,’ at least in part. But longtime transplants (see below) never become local. To call a transplant ‘almost local’ is a welcome compliment, despite emphasizing the insider-outsider mentality.
Neighbor Islander – person who lives on any Hawaiian Island other than O’ahu.
transplant – person who moves to the islands as an adult.
Note: in this book, Hawai’i (with the ’okina punctuation mark) refers to the island of Hawai’i (Big Island), while Hawaii (without the ’okina) refers to the state. We use this distinction to avoid confusion between the island and the state, but the ’okina spelling is officially used for both.
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While Hawaii