OUTLINE OF TOPICS
WHO IS MALIA CRAVER? WHY IS THE MUSIC FOR "HAWAI'I PONO'I" PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND? WHY DID SHE MAKE TWO DIFFERENT COMMERCIALS FOR KAU INOA?
MALIA CRAVER'S HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE KAU INOA COMMERCIAL: Transcript, translation, and commentary
MALIA CRAVER'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE KAU INOA COMMERCIAL: Transcript and commentary
MALIA CRAVER'S SPEECH AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN AUGUST 2000 PORTRAYED DIFFERENT GOALS AND A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE. (excerpts and links to her speech and local news coverage of it)
COMPARISON WITH KAU INOA AD BY DENNIS KAMAKAHI
LINK TO EXPLANATION OF THE KAU INOA PROGRAM AND TRANSCRIPTS AND ANALYSIS OF 4 RACIST KAU INOA ADS FEATURING RAIATEA HELM, LILIKALA KAME'ELEIHIWA, VICKY HOLT TAKAMINE, AND BUTCH HELEMANO:
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/big60/OHAKauInoaCommercials.html
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WHO IS MALIA CRAVER? WHY IS THE MUSIC FOR "HAWAI'I PONO'I" PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND? WHY DID SHE MAKE TWO DIFFERENT COMMERCIALS FOR KAU INOA?
In late 2007 Malia Craver made at least two very different 30-second TV commercials for Kau Inoa, with the audio portions also being used as radio ads.
"Auntie" Malia Craver is a highly revered 80-year-old ethnic Hawaiian kupuna (elder), who has spent decades doing family counseling, culture-based dispute resolution (ho'oponopono), and staff training for the relatively non-political (until recently) Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Centers. In recent years she has moved more strongly into the political realm, appearing on panels and forums devoted to the politics of grievance and sovereignty, using her cultural expertise and status as political weapons.
An elderly person of such distinction, who speaks softly and with quavering voice, automatically commands great respect in Hawaiian culture. Some listeners will feel obligated to rush out and sign up for the racial registry merely because she tells them to do it.
In her Kau Inoa TV commercials Ms. Craver appeared in a red and black flower-print dress with a bright green sweater, gold rings on three fingers, a gold necklace, and spoke while seated in a chair. But she wore no specifically "Hawaiian" adornments.
Background music in both the Hawaiian language and English language commercials was an acoustic guitar very softly playing "Hawai'i Pono'i" as a kind of mood music. That song was the national anthem of the Kingdom of Hawai'i (although the type of guitar used in this commercial had not yet been invented).
In its militancy "Hawai'i Pono'i" is more like the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" than "America the Beautiful." Kamehameha The Great was already long dead, and his 65-year 5-king dynasty had ended, when the lyrics by King Kalakaua were put to music by the German immigrant bandmaster Henry Berger. One interpretation of "na kaua e pale me ka ihe" is: the warriors will defend [Kamehameha] with spears. A more sophisticated interpretation views the grammar as "actor emphatic." The word "na" indicates possession or duty, while "kaua" refers to two people -- the singer plus one other person being spoken to [Kamehameha]. Thus Kamehameha is being thought of as an 'aumakua (ancestral spirit) who, together with the singer, are pledging to use spears to defend the sovereignty of the nation. "Makua lani e, Kamehameha e, na kaua e pale, me ka ihe" then would be interpreted as "Royal ancestor Kamehameha, it is for you and me to defend [our nation] with the spear."
"Hawai'i Pono'i" is always sung in Hawaiian, even by people who have memorized it but do not otherwise speak the language. Sovereignty activists consider it to be the continuing national anthem of a still-living independent nation under American belligerent military occupation; and so it is sung today as a kind of protest song somewhat like the anti-war songs of Joan Baez ("Where have all the flowers gone?"). Portions of the song contain words generally interpreted as racial designators; most notably "ka lahui." Thus the song is perfect mood music for a Kau Inoa advertisement because (a) it was the Kingdom's national anthem and thereby affirms the secessionist attitude that is a core of today's sovereignty movement; (b) it has a militant tone regarding the use of spears to defend a sovereign (either Kamehameha or the nation) and thereby affirms emotions of grievance, self-defense, and righteous indignation for the overthrow of the monarchy; and (c) its racial overtones are appropriate for spurring interest in signing up for a racial registry to be used as a membership roll for a future racially exclusionary government.
Malia Craver was solo performer in at least two different TV ads for Kau Inoa, and the audio portions were then also used as radio ads. The first ad was in Hawaiian language; a later ad was in English. Both ads continued running on both TV and radio, although the Hawaiian language ad seemed less frequently played as time went by. Perhaps the Hawaiian language ad was run with diminishing frequency because very few people speak Hawaiian well enough to understand it. English subtitles appeared on the TV screen, but most people lack patience to struggle with subtitles -- for example, French language "art films" in America have small audiences even when they have English subtitles. Transcripts of both ads are provided below, including an English translation of the Hawaiian ad. The two ads are very different in both content and tone.
Politicians are often accused of telling people whatever they want to hear -- therefore delivering very different messages to different audiences. For example, Palestinian zealot Yasser Arafat when speaking to American television audiences either in broken English or through a translator often seemed like a very charming and conciliatory peacemaker; but when speaking live in Arabic to a chanting, cheering mob of fellow Palestinian militants his voice was shrill, his gestures were agitated and broad-sweeping (perhaps even waving a gun), and his message was violence-inciting. Malia Craver's Hawaiian language ad speaks only to ethnic Hawaiians, directly asking them to sign the racial registry. In the English language ad she never personally mentions the racial registry ("Kau Inoa" appears on the TV screen). Instead her main focus is to scold Caucasians for allegedly not taking care of ethnic Hawaiians. By scolding Caucasians she stirs up resentment among ethnic Hawaiians. By saying Hawaiians must "have the strength to know what to do" she in effect tells Hawaiians to sign up for Kau Inoa as a first step toward getting even. Thus she appeals to base emotions of resentment and anger rather than seeking to calm the waters and use ho'oponopono as her United Nations speech of August 2000 clearly says should be done.
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MALIA CRAVER'S HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE KAU INOA COMMERCIAL
The mere fact of speaking Hawaiian language is sometimes in itself a political weapon. It gives the impression that the speaker is ethnic Hawaiian -- a "brother" -- since few others speak it. Prayers to the Hawaiian gods are always spoken in Hawaiian language (are they incapable of understanding English?). Hawaiian language is used in Hawaiian religious ceremonies in the same way Roman Catholic priests 50 years ago celebrated the Mass only in Latin -- it doesn't matter that nobody except the priest can understand the language; it only matters that the language itself conveys a feeling of something divine and mysterious. For information and analysis about how Hawaiian language hymn and prayer were used in an official state government legislative committee hearing about the Akaka bill, see:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/AkakaHawLegisBrfngFedDeleg033105.html
And for personal anecdotes regarding the "political incorrectness" of a person without Hawaiian blood speaking Hawaiian, see item #2 at:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bigfiles3/ConklinPersonalBkgdAkaka.html
** Technical note regarding Hawaiian language and English translations of elderly native speakers (most readers will want to skip this next paragraph, which is sort of a disclaimer that there might be a few inaccuracies in both the transcript and the translation).
In the spontaneous speech of a native speaker (of any given language), there are sometimes interruptions, pauses, repetitions, "slips of the tongue", or elisions and the like, that can come across as "errors" when you are looking at a written transcription of what was spoken. For example, English "want to" is often uttered like "wanna" and "did you eat?" might be slurred to sound like "jeet?" In her Hawaiian language ad for Kau Inoa, Ms. Craver uttered the word "no'ono'o" with the 2nd and 4th syllables (the unstressed syllables) de-voiced, such that it sounded something like "nono". However, a fluent speaker of Hawaiian can unravel this particular "nono" as "no'ono'o", just as a fluent speaker of English can unravel "wanna" as "want to" (or even "jeet" as "did you eat"). In the speech of native speakers of Hawaiian, such as Ms. Craver, some syllables may be nearly inaudible in terms of vocal-cord vibrations; but one may still hear them through their rhythmic presence in relation to their neighboring syllables. Compounding the difficulty is that Malia Craver is an 80-year-old lady, somewhat frail, so her voice quavers and she slurs some words more than a younger speaker would do. Also, her Hawaiian language ad has her speaking much more softly than her English language ad, and she sounds almost weak with age. Of course that adds to her charm, charisma, and mana (spiritual power); but also adds to the difficulty of making an exact transcript. In this transcript the 'okina is shown by an ordinary apostrophe, and the kahako (normally shown by a horizontal bar over a vowel) has been left out because it makes trouble for e-mails and webpages. The line breaks are added only to facilitate comparison of the Hawaiian and English. The TV broadcast of the Hawaiian language ad included English subtitles; but the translation below is based on what can actually be heard, not necessarily what Ms. Craver might have intended and certainly not what OHA would like to "correct" it to say.
The audio portion of Malia Craver's Hawaiian language TV ad, used also as a radio ad, can be played on the Kau Inoa (OHA) website as the following mp3 file:
http://www.oha.org/kauinoa/radio/ohamaliahawn.mp3
'O wau, ko'u inoa 'o, Malia Craver.
'O ia ku'u makemake no
e, kau ko'u inoa.
No ka mea 'o ia ka, ka makemake a ko kakou po'e kupuna --
e kokua, a, ho'olaha ia 'oukou a pau,
i hiki ia kakou ke holomua,
me kena, no'ono'o Kau Inoa.
Mahalo.
Here is a literal translation created directly from listening repeatedly to exactly what Malia Craver said:
As for me, my name is Malia Craver.
My [cherished] wish is this
[that] my name will [be] register[ed].
Because the, the wish of our ancestors is this --
to help, and broadcast to you all,
so that we all can make progress,
with that thought [of] Register [in the "Kau Inoa" program].
Thank you.
Here is the translation that appeared as subtitles on the TV screen during three "scenes" while Malia Craver was speaking. This is the "cleaned up" version by OHA, changing Ms. Craver's literal meaning in order to write smooth-flowing English that more closely reflects what OHA wants her to be saying:
I am pleased to have placed my name registered with Kau Inoa.
Our ancestors, our elders want all of us to work together and be informed.
We can move forward together making progress together through this effort.
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MALIA CRAVER'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE KAU INOA COMMERCIAL
The English language ad has completely different attitude and content from the Hawaiian language ad. Here her voice is (relatively) strong, she speaks in an indignant, almost combative tone of voice while making large gestures up, down, and sideways. It almost looks like a hula noho (seated hula dance).
Ms. Craver is clearly scolding Caucasians for coming into the Hawaiian homeland and failing to take care of the natives, thereby putting Caucasians on the defensive and eliciting sympathy for the "plight" of the "Native Hawaiians." Although the number of Japanese and Chinese immigrants was much larger than the number of Euro-American immigrants, Malia Craver singles out "Western people" and never mentions Asians. By "telling off the haoles" Ms. Craver also scores big points with ethnic Hawaiians, motivating them to sign up for the racial registry as, in effect, a first step toward "getting even." The Hawaiian language ad was entirely focused on encouraging ethnic Hawaiians to sign up for Kau Inoa merely because Malia Craver and the ancestors say so.
The audio portion of Malia Craver's English language TV ad, used also as a radio ad, can be played on the Kau Inoa (OHA) website as the following mp3
http://www.oha.org/kauinoa/radio/ohamalia.mp3
Three words have been printed in CAPITAL LETTERS because Ms. Craver speaks them at a higher pitch, with exaggerated length and stress, and accompanied by gestures.
"Hawaiians were living here WAY before Western people came. How come they ALL came HERE? And never took care of the Hawaiians on Hawaiian lands? You supposed to have strength to know what to do. I am Malia Craver, and I have placed my name. Mahalo."
Shame on Malia Craver for saying Caucasians ("Western people") came to Hawaii and never took care of ethnic Hawaiians. The criticism of her for saying that is for two reasons.
(1) Caucasians did indeed take very good care of Hawaii's natives, unlike what happened on other Pacific islands. The only reason Kamehameha was able to consolidate all the Hawaiian islands under a single ruler for the first time in 1500 years is because of British guns, cannons, ships, and military expertise. By empowering one native chief, Caucasians deserve credit for facilitating his victories over all others and thereby putting an end to centuries of slaughter. Boatloads of missionaries came to preach Christianity, which native Hawaiians eagerly embraced. The missionaries created a written version of the Hawaiian language which the natives quickly learned, enabling them to save ancient legends and history by writing them down in books and newspapers. Missionaries brought medical drugs and techniques. Missionaries and lawyers helped the Kings create a written constitution and establish the rule of law and a legislature to give voice to the people. Sailors, merchants and doctors brought goods and services producing a burgeoning economy, raising the natives' standard of living and life expectancy. For comparison one need only look at Tonga and Samoa, where Polynesian kings and chiefs maintained sovereignty and ancient systems of land management, and whose people today come to Hawaii for a more prosperous life and medical care.
(2) The propaganda for the Akaka bill, and for Kau Inoa, stresses "self-determination." Why should Malia Craver complain that "Western people" came to Hawaii and did not take care of the natives? Weren't the natives able to take care of themselves? Aren't the "natives" today demanding to take care of themselves? Or does Malia Craver in this ad make the claim that "Western people" (i.e., Caucasians) have a never-ending duty to take care of ethnic Hawaiians, who are otherwise incapable of taking care of themselves? Should ethnic Hawaiians be permanent wards of the state, relying on handouts from everyone else forever? That's the situation with most Indian tribes. The Akaka bill is an attempt to tribalize ethnic Hawaiians and place them under the plenary power of Congress so the "Great White Father" can "take care of them."
A final issue with Ms. Craver's English language speech is this: Who is the "you" being spoken to in the sentence "You supposed to have strength to know what to do." The interpretation presented above is that Ms. Craver was speaking to her fellow ethnic Hawaiians, telling them to be strong and fight back by signing up with Kau Inoa. But there is another equally reasonable interpretation, that Ms. Craver is speaking to haoles, as a continuation of the scolding she was already giving them. Ms. Craver already scolded "Western people" for coming to Hawaii and not helping the natives. Now she continues her scolding by telling the Caucasians that the Caucasians were the strong ones who should have known that their duty was to help the natives. So perhaps that's what she means by the sentence.
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MALIA CRAVER'S SPEECH AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN AUGUST 2000 PORTRAYED DIFFERENT GOALS AND A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE. (excerpts and links to her speech and local news coverage of it)
Here are excerpts from a weekly column by Mary Adamski published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on Wednesday, August 9, 2000. Full text is on the Star-Bulletin website at
http://starbulletin.com/2000/08/09/news/story9.html
** NEWSPAPER EXCERPTS: "Craver was invited to speak Aug. 30 at the 53rd annual U.N. Conference of Non-Government Organizations. More than 2,000 people will attend the three-day session which has the theme "Global Solidarity, the Way to Peace and International Cooperation." "I will talk a little about ho'oponopono, a method to resolve family and personal conflicts and achieve peace," Craver said. She said she will also share with the global audience, the principle of lokahi: "To achieve peace and unity, you must be in harmony with God, your fellow man and nature." One of three to speak at the closing session on "New Responsibilities for Civil Society," Craver will share the stage with consumer advocate Ralph Nader and Hanan Ashrawi of the Palestinian Initiative for Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. She is not going to be just telling stories of Hawaiian culture and tradition; she wants listeners to see there is a model here for putting peace into practice anywhere. ... "I'm going to say that peace begins within," Craver said. "It is about aloha, love, it's honor and respect for one another. ... Craver said her cultural values are rooted in her upbringing in Hookena on the Big Island. She is 100 percent Hawaiian and was hanai to an aunt who raised her. "In that small village, everybody took care of everyone's children, not just Hawaiian but haole, Filipino, oriental. Adults looked out for you and we learned to respect and be obedient to our elders."
** CONKLIN'S COMMENTS: In Ms. Craver's village, people were treated equally regardless of race, and everyone took care of everyone else's children. As Hillary Clinton likes to say, "It takes a village" to raise a child. So why does Ms. Craver now favor racial separatism, with a racially exclusionary government setting up culture-based laws applicable to only its own members and different from the general laws of Hawaii? Ms. Craver advocates ho'oponopono to resolve conflicts and achieve peace. So why does she now want to set up a system whereby a race-based government will quarrel with the multiracial state government to divide up Hawaii's lands and file lawsuits to resolve conflicts? Ms. Craver has worked for many years to help broken families resolve their disputes through faith and love. So why now does she favor a plan to split members of a family apart, establishing separate customs and laws for Mom vs. Dad, for Dad vs. child, for aunt vs. nephew, for cousin vs. cousin, merely because one person has a portion of his genealogy from one racial group which the other person does not have?
Here are excerpts from Malia Craver's actual speech at the U.N., with ** comments** inserted The speech was entitled "The Ancestors' Wisdom Lives On." The complete text can be found on the website of the United Nations, Department of Public Information, Non-Governmental Organizations at:
http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/annualconfs/53/craver.html
** SPEECH: "I do have a brief protocol that I must do as a Hawaiian of the Polynesian Race and that is my right. And, as an American Citizen, I do have that right and that is to recognize my Higher Power and my ancestors and your ancestors too."
** COMMENT: So Ms. Craver acknowledges that she is an American citizen possessing a right to freedom of speech, that she has a culture-based protocol she is obligated to perform, and that everyone has ancestors worthy of being recognized. Shall we then recognize a racially exclusionary government for Hawaii's people of Japanese ancestry? **
** SPEECH: "I want to express my greetings of ALOHA to God, my Heavenly Father, and Jesus, my Lord and Savior. I love you Heavenly Father and Jesus. And, to my ancestors, and all of your ancestors, I greet them with fond aloha and I love each one of them."
** COMMENT: Ms. Craver has abandoned the ancient religion of her ancestors and embraces the Christianity brought to Hawaii by the missionaries who were caring for the souls and language of her people, contrary to her claim in the English language Kau Inoa ad. She embraces Western values and Western religion; not the religion of 400,000 gods, human sacrifice, constant warfare, a social caste system that included slavery, and zero "civil rights" or "human rights."
** SPEECH: "I want to talk and share with all of you about some relevant spiritual and cultural values of our beloved ancestors who are now sleeping beyond the thin veil that separates them from us. ... basic values from my family and in our home since birth. ... Their wish was that I live a life grounded in cultural and spiritual values and good principles that would be reflective of their teachings and their love for me.
** SPEECH: "Lokahi ka mana'o -- be of one mind. To be unanimous in agreement, to bring harmony, peace and unity for people, families, friends and even our enemies, according to our wise and beloved ancestors in ancient times. Yes, our ancestors were people of wisdom, the "torches of wisdom." I mean every ancestor of every ethnic race. They were all the torches of wisdom."
** COMMENT: "Harmony, peace and unity for people, families, friends" -- noble goals, totally destroyed by setting up a racially exclusionary government that divides instead of unifies; that pulls apart families along racial lines; that sets up a never-ending "negotiation" process to see how much land, money, and power one race can grab at the expense of all others.
** SPEECH: "The principle of Lokahi is based on the connection with God, with each other, and nature to the fullest. This sacred relationship underscores the belief that WE are not the masters of the universe. We are an important element of a sacred relationship with God and nature. Our very existence depends on the harmony we strive to maintain through love, honor, respect and reverence for one another. There is no end to this spiritual connection to God, ourselves and all of nature."
** COMMENT: The connectedness among God, the land, and the people is a core belief of the Hawaiian religion -- but the way today's sovereignty activists interpret that religion is that the only people who have a family relationship with the gods and the Hawaiian islands are the ethnic Hawaiians. The theory is that in the beginning the gods mated and gave birth to the Hawaiian islands as living beings. Later they mated and gave birth to the primordial ancestor from whom all ethnic Hawaiians are descended. Thus anyone with a drop of Hawaiian native blood is a child of the gods and a brother to these islands in a way nobody ever can be who lacks a drop of the magic blood. This theory says the only people inherently entitled to exercise political power over the use of land in Hawaii are ethnic Hawaiians. Thus it is a form of racist religious fascism. Perhaps Ms. Craver is not aware of it, but this is what she is endorsing in her Kau Inoa commercials.
** SPEECH: "Aloha means love, affection, compassion, mercy, sympathy and kindness. ... It is that love, caring and spirituality that allows us to appreciate our differences as being unique and beautiful strengths that binds us rather than separates us."
** COMMENT: The Kau Inoa program is all about separating people by race rather than binding us together as children of God. Its purpose is to set up a government of the race, by the race, and for the race, to enable one race to take for itself what is now shared by all.
** SPEECH: "People at peace, speak to each other, those in love communicate. Peace is forgetting a grievance; love means true forgiveness. People can exist in peace, and live together through love. ... We all need to improve our relationships with one another. We all need to be aware of the urgent need to remember that we are all related. As people, we need to be needed, to serve and to give of ourselves to help others."
** COMMENT: Let's emphasize Ms. Craver's own words: "PEACE IS FORGETTING A GRIEVANCE; LOVE MEANS TRUE FORGIVENESS." Therefore, even if ethnic Hawaiians feel they have suffered badly at the hands of "Westerners" (Caucasians), it is time to forgive and forget. We're all part of a family now, aren't we? Or does Ms. Craver subscribe to the racist concept described earlier, according to which ethnic Hawaiians are the children of the gods and the brothers to the land in a way nobody ever can be who lacks a drop of the native blood? If Caucasians and Asians are forever outside the family of gods, islands, and Hawaiians, then of course there's never any need to forgive and forget a grievance as one would do with a family member. But there's hope, because Malia Craver was speaking to a worldwide audience with all human races present, when she said "WE ALL NEED TO BE AWARE OF THE URGENT NEED TO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE ALL RELATED." So, Ms. Craver, what's up with your endorsement of the racially exclusionary Kau Inoa program and the Akaka bill? Why would Ms. Craver want to build a wall of racial separatism; a wall of apartheid? Let's borrow the words of President Ronald Reagan when he stood in front of the Berlin wall and said to the Evil Empire's President Gorbachev: "Tear down this wall!"
** SPEECH: "We all need to be aware of the urgent need to remember that we are all related. ... Let ALOHA be our guide. Do not be afraid to take the first step to reach out to others and share ALOHA or LOVE today with one another."
** COMMENT: Feel the love. Kau Inoa. Racial registry. Got koko [native blood]? Come on in! No koko? Give me your property and then get lost!
CONCLUDING COMMENT: Pity poor Ms. Craver, a good soul led astray by an Evil Empire grasping for more power. A woman so kind and generous she lends her name to something terrible just because some "friends" ask her to do it. An elderly person who, perhaps befuddled and perplexed, signs over the most valuable thing she has to a wayward relative with an evil heart. Peace be unto you dear Aunty.
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COMPARISON WITH KAU INOA AD BY DENNIS KAMAKAHI
At the same time Malia Craver's Kau Inoa ads were running, another ad featuring Dennis Kamakahi was also running. Craver's Hawaiian language ad was a simple appeal to ethnic Hawaiians to sign the racial registry because she and the ancestors want you to do it. Her English language ad was primarily a scolding to Caucasians for allegedly failing to help ethnic Hawaiians, coupled with an appeal to ethnic Hawaiians to "have the strength to know what to do" [i.e., sign up for the racial registry as a first step toward getting even]. But Dennis Kamakahi's ad goes directly for the jugular. It's a straightforward appeal to racism. It says that regardless of whatever disagreements ethnic Hawaiians might have, they all have one thing in common -- the bloodline. That's it. So sign up on the blood registry.
Kau Inoa TV commercial featuring Dennis Kamakahi, late 2007
** He stands dressed all in black, except for a very thin white band barely visible above the neckline of his black shirt (minister's collar peeking out? puka-shell necklace?). He wears a black hat with green feather hat band, and a pendant made of two boar's tusks. Holding a guitar, strumming it softly, he looks directly into the camera and starts talking. **
See his photo at
http://www.oha.org/kauinoa/
Listen to the audio portion of his ad at
http://www.oha.org/kauinoa/radio/ohadennis.mp3
** TV Screen says
Rev. Dennis Kamakahi
Entertainer
"We finally realizing that we for a long time as a people have been disunited. By different feelings. We forgot one thing. [*voice now begins quavering with emotional excitement; eyes bulging; hands gesturing*] We all share the common BLOOD LINE. We ALL HAWAIIAN. We need each other. Come in lokahi and unity together as one. That's important. That's the Hawaiian philosophy. I'm Dennis Kamakahi, and I placed my name." [*signature scrawls across screen*]
** Commentary by Ken Conklin:
Mr. Kamakahi makes it abundantly clear that there is one thing and only one thing holding ethnic Hawaiians together -- "We all share the common blood line. We all Hawaiian." That's it. "... we for a long time as a people have been disunited. By different feelings." But according to Kamakahi it doesn't matter that there are strong disagreements among ethnic Hawaiians, different values and beliefs, opposing attitudes toward the Akaka bill. All that matters is "We all share the common blood line." So sign up for the racial registry Kau Inoa, because that's all it is -- a group of people who say race is the most important thing -- a group of the race, by the race, and for the race. Blood is everything.
The TV screen identifies Dennis Kamakahi as a "reverend." However, no details can be found about that. Running his name through Google yields several biographical descriptions, all containing the same phrase (suggesting they all took it from a single source): "He became an ordained minister in 1977 and founded the Ka Leo Mana Mission." But there is no description what the Ka Leo Mana mission did or whether it had a physical location. There is no naming of what divinity school he attended (if any) nor what denomination he was ordained in, nor what church (if any) had him as its pastor. But whatever happened in 1977, for 3 decades he has been known as an entertainer. Calling him "Rev." Dennis Kamakahi is clearly a stretch, attempting to give respectability to his blatant racist appeal.
*** A description of the Kau Inoa program, plus transcripts and analysis of 4 racist kau Inoa ads featuring Raiatea Helm, Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, Vicky Holt Takamine, and Butch Helemano, is available at
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/big60/OHAKauInoaCommercials.html
*** See also "B.J. Penn, famous ultimate fighter, beats up a police officer and then OHA makes him the star of a Kau Inoa commercial glorifying violence and racism." at:
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/big60/KauInoaUltimateFighterBJPenn.html
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