Date: Sun, 06 May 2001 22:46:22 -1000
From: "Na Maka o ka 'Aina" <namaka@...>
Subject: FWD: Aloha No or No Aloha?
To: Kanaka_Maoli_Allies <kanakamaoliallies-l@...>



The Asian Development Bank:
Aloha No or No Aloha?



I do not support the ADB and the principles they subscribe to. I wish
to support the protests but, as a Hawaiian, I could not march on the
'Aina chanting "No Aloha for the ADB." I could chant "We don't agree
with the ADB" or something like this, but I fear chanting "No Aloha"
for anything, here in Hawai'i.

I mean no offense to any of the organizers who have worked hard and I
believe have so much Aloha and have given so much of themselves.
However, many of the people including myself feel hilahila about the
coming events, yet want to participate with others standing for what
is right.

Since Aloha is usually not spoken about directly because it is
addressed through feelings, Aloha nevertheless is a philosophy, not
just a word. It is the foundation of Native Hawaiian spirituality and
religion. From its base essence to its zenith, "Aloha" is about right
action, truth and resisting the affronts to Creation.

Although this word has been used, misused, abused, bastardized and
profaned by the colonizers, it is still a sacred word for the
Hawaiian people. It is believed in our language that certain words
come from the time of Creation and Creator, and although man can use
them, man cannot profane them. Aloha is such a word.

When we utter the sacred word of Aloha, we invoke the spirit of
Aloha. When Aloha is in action, it is felt on all levels and what is
contrary cannot exist simultaneously. One can't be in Aloha and in
the absence of it at the same time.

It means each person engaged in Aloha is bound to the principles of
truth and right action, eventually. When Aloha is enacted, our
actions are overseen by the Akua, Na Akua, Na 'Aumakua, Na Kupuna.
Each participant can act as he or she chooses but is responsible for
his or her own actions and intentions regardless.

It would be a mistake, however, to believe that aloha demands
passivity. Aloha is a state of being and therefore requires action
and participation. To be true to Aloha, one must stand for truth,
defend the principles that protect the rights of all people and the
sacred earth, and resist the affronts to Aloha itself.

Today the word Aloha is uttered in commercials and embossed on
tourist brochures, tee-shirts, storefronts, doormats, beach mats and
even rubber slippers. In short, Aloha is used to sell Hawai'i, steal
Hawai'i, and consume Hawai'i. So strong is this word it would seem.

The haole (foreigner) uses Aloha to feel good and remain ignorant of
the facts, and has even begun to argue against our activists speaking
the truth, claiming that they lack Aloha, because the message is not
one the haole wants to hear. Aloha is about telling the truth.
Sometimes the truth hurts, but it can also heal.

When the haole came to Hawai'i to steal the land and help us to learn
about heaven, our Kupuna in their ultimate wisdom maintained Aloha.
Everyone, however, assumed that they were simply saying hello,
goodbye and hope you feel good, like many still believe it to mean
today.

But were our Kupuna doing this? Or were they invoking the laws and
principles of Aloha? Our Kupuna saw and survived many things, good
and bad. They witnessed the times of great death when 96% of the
people of this land died. Our recent Kupuna are the 4% who survived.
In the time when every man, woman and child had buried at least 20
people, when these Kupuna said "Aloha," were they saying that they
felt good?

They said Aloha to the just and un-just, the good and the bad. They
did not differentiate nor judge.

Our Ali'i invoked Aloha when the U.S. troops landed to help the haole
overthrow the Kingdom. She remained steadfast in Aloha.

Despite the Aloha and truthful stand of the sovereignty movement -
and how very damning it is for America (America's ugly little secret
are we, the Hawaiians) -
the U.S. still cannot find a way to openly aggress on the Hawaiian
people? Why can't they? Is it because of Aloha, because so many
people in the world come here to the Land of Aloha, the only State in
the Union (if you support U.S. occupation) known as the Love State.
People from all over the world lay on our beautiful shores, swim in
our beautiful oceans while the Hawaiian people dance and sing for
them and make good food for them. The world would look at the U.S.
as the mad-dog of the earth if they ever went to war with us. So how
will they make war in the land of Aloha?

Will the powers that be use any venue they can to invoke the contrary
- the opposite of Aloha. If history tells us anything, I believe they
will. They only need us in the absence of Aloha once to change a
hundred years of Aloha.

So when the ADB comes here, how will we greet them? If we say "No
Aloha for the ADB," are we using the term "No" as it is defined in
English, to negate? Or "No" as it is used in Hawaiian as an
intensifier for the word it follows? "Aloha No -- Much Aloha." The
power remains in the breath and utterance of the word.

Do we embrace the contrary by focusing on the ADB through the concept
of "No Aloha for the ADB"? Or do we disempower the contrary by
embracing the concept of "Aloha No - Much Aloha." Aloha for the
people that are being killed, exploited, poisoned and removed from
their land and culture by the effects of the ADB and others that
subscribe to globalization, all in the name of profit.

Let us invoke Aloha in its highest order with the ADB, and march,
rally and protest against what is contrary to Aloha and place our
mana there. We invoke Aloha and the ADB is bound by it, as are we.

ALOHA NO!


Kealoha Pisciotta
230 Lyman Ave.
Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
(808) 934-7668
kealohap@...