Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp

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Indigenous Researcher and Writer

Tag: wahine

Recognizing Hawaiian Women in Hawaiian History

In reflecting on the way that many local women are dismissed in Hawaiian history and culture discussions by outsiders and even at times by our own men in the Hawaiian community, maybe this is be a wake up call in understanding and revisiting the way women are thought of in history in general but in — read more

Jun 9, 2018
Hawaiian Fisher Women and Divers

In ancient Hawai’i, the Hawaiian men usually were the ones that hunted, planted, harvested, cooked and fished. There were, however, roles in each of the above too for women. For example, when it was time to plant, women were present and handed over the seed or taro corn to men. The belief was that things — read more

Jun 9, 2018
Menstruation through the Lens of Hawaiian Culture

One of the negative impacts that Westernization and colonialism brought to Hawaiʻi was the way we understand women in Hawaiian culture. Take for example a womanʻs menses. There are several terms for a womanʻs menstruation. Hanawai, kahe, maʻi (wahine), heʻe koko, wai, wai ʻula, wai o ka wahine, waimaka lehua. We tend to think of — read more

Jun 9, 2018
Menopause In Hawaiian Culture

I’ll just give some mana’o on menopause from a Hawaiian perspective based on talking story with kūpuna in Papakolea and Hawaiʻi island as well as from research primarily from Mary Kawena Pukui. In Hawaiian, menopause is referred to by three terms: Hoʻokiʻo; lele; and mau. Kiʻo refers to a small pool used to stock fish. Hoʻokiʻo — read more

Jun 9, 2018
Pele and ʻAi Lāʻau

There seems to be much misunderstanding about Pele, her family, and her legends. I have read in a post from a malihini (who obviously hasn’t read much on the Pele lore) crediting the forest eater god, ‘Ai Lā’au, as being the one “eating” Leilani Estates. The undertone of that of course is based on Western — read more

Jun 9, 2018
The Role of Hawaiian Women

One of the side affects of colonialism in most areas in the Pacific had been the introduction of a rigid system of gender roles. In my own understanding of traditional cultures through Oceania, most indigenous peoples acknowledged not two genders but three. The Bugis in Sulawesi in Indonesia for example have five genders. In other — read more

Aug 15, 2012