Welcome to Hawaii Inside!
Hawaii’s Inside Story
About Us, By Us, For Us
Hawaii Inside opens up the inner dimensions of the aloha spirit… not the commercialized version marketed by our so-called “hospitality industry”, but the astonishing mix of the countless elements of our unique way of life, largely unknown to the outside world (and to many in our own community, for that matter) that makes for Hawai’i’s inside story. This is the magic that awaits within.
Hawaii Inside is about us, by us, and for us (and the rest of the world as well). If pictures speak a thousand words, videos speak volumes: our collection of thousands of videos tells endlessly fascinating stories in the authentic voices of our Island community. Dr. Serge Kahili King, urban shaman, leads us into the secrets of the kahuna tradition, while on a less exalted plane, Hotel Street Harry holds forth on the infamous war-time War of the Prostitutes. Every niche of our islands is rich in significance and story-telling, and no stone is left unturned!
Join us in Videos!
At the same time, we are contending with an uncomfortable truth. Hawai’i, as we know it, is disappearing. Just since 2020, we have lost more than 100,000 local residents to the mainland, thanks to the usual culprits: lack of opportunity, chump-change wages, and unaffordable housing (everything costs something-point-something). No surprise there… every family has been affected by the exodus. But what is surprising is that during that same period, more than 85,000 people moved to Hawai’i from elsewhere. At this rate, most of our local population (of people born here) will have been replaced by people from another country (so to speak)… within the next generation.
Imagine, then, a Hawai’i inhabited mostly by folks (bless their hearts) who have no experience with this place, no memories of growing up here, and no understanding of Hawai’i’s way of life, its traditions and history, and its people. Before we know it, the magical way of life portrayed herein will have vanished.
That’s why someone needs to stay behind to help keep the lights on.
With that in mind, I bring you Hawaii Inside, in the hope that it might help our community understand and appreciate all that we must protect and perpetuate. Understanding will bring solutions.
Ua ola loko i ke aloha – Love gives life within.
Also, be sure to look in on our Companion Sites… your links to the very best of Hawai’i’s websites!
A Bit of History
As a way of getting our feet wet (even with the ocean at hand), here are some mind maps (“WisdomMaps”) of the history and culture of Hawai’i. WisdomMaps lay things out in a multimedia-rich environment that you’ll find fascinating… it’s history as you’ve never seen it!
(Heads up: mind maps are best viewed on a desktop or tablet!)
Now, give a listen…
“Hi’ilawe • braddah Iz Kamakawiwoole”
And have a read…
Wolohu’s Sunday School
Wolohu’s Sunday School is our correspondent Wahanui’s account of a madness that befell the valley of Hi’ilawe on the Island of Hawai’i in the 1830s.
Captain James Cook had discovered the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, then returned the following year to Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawai’i. There, he made himself persona non-grata with his Hawaiian hosts, and was eaten, sort of, for his trouble.
For many years thereafter, the basket containing the leftovers of England’s Great Navigator-Cook’s head, actually-is faithfully watched over by its caretaker, Waha, a priest who believes it to contain the bones of the god Lono. But at last, unable to constrain his curiosity, Waha opens the basket, and seeing that he has been defrauded, he curses the head of this white devil, and proclaims a contagion of madness upon those who had profaned his sacred trust, and upon their descendants in perpetuity.
The contagion, in the form of syphilis, arrives in Hi’ilawe in the bloodstream of a shipwreck, Bennie. The disease is communicated to his rival Wolohu, who becomes progressively deranged as the disease ravages his already peculiar brain. Wolohu comes to view the Christianity preached by the valley’s resident missionary, Bertram, as a cargo cult that cries out for new leadership. Its treasures, piled high in San Francisco, await their redeemer. But Bertram has lost his touch, and Wolohu is determined to prevail in the Battle for Christmas.
The madness persists into modern times, when a crass developer, Avery Bagwell, stumbles into possession of those said-same remains of Captain Cook, and perpetuates the curse… with compound interest. It proves to be a fine madness indeed.
Coming soon to a bookstore near you!
A Bit More History
The Pacific is our larger home. The Hawaiian Islands occupy the northern apex of the Great Polynesian Triangle, anchored in the far southeast by Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and by New Zealand in the southwest. In addition to Polynesia, this vast ocean includes the island domains of Micronesia, stretching for thousands of miles. For the purpose of the Big Picture, here are our mind maps for the cultures and history of the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and Australia. While collectively all of the Pacific Islands’ territory amounts to but a relatively small land mass, the psychic expanse of these islands is immense, and their cultural and spiritual depth profound. The peoples of the Pacific and their amazing civilizations will always occupy an out-sized presence in our imaginations.
A View Toward the Future
Hawai’i is one of the world’s best examples of a melting pot society. We know how to make it work. When everyone’s a minority, nobody’s in charge, and we all get along pretty well (albeit with a sense of humor). Our community and way of life are sustained by both our Hawaiian host culture and by the cultures of people whose origins lie in places far, far away. We believe that Hawai’i has a future very different from what we presently contemplate (with mixed emotions). We hope to encourage new thinking and initiatives in building a new economy that will someday export to the world not only our own uniquely creative products, but America’s most valued product: its higher education. A patented technology now exists to make American higher education available to global learners everywhere, in their own languages, without requiring any knowledge of English or study in the United States. And it’s all ours. Imagine Hawai’i as a global knowledge center and visitor destination of a very different sort.
Interested? Have a look at Our Future.
A more hopeful future for Hawai’i begins with an understanding of our own story and an awareness of our cultural wealth, our rich creative talent, and the possibilities that await us for renewal. For with understanding come solutions.
Please get in touch: terry@hawaiiinside.info