To the Editor:
Very recently, Ku'ulei Reyes Tengan '98 and I were married on Ku'ulei's home island of Molokai. A lu'au was held in celebration of our love and marriage. This effort required months of planning, countless hours of volunteerwork and labor, and a number of expenses. Family members and friends lay net for papa'i (crabs), went on fishing trips for aku (tuna), picked limu (seaweed) and 'opihi (limpets), killed and prepared a pua'a (pig) for the imu (underground oven), wrapped laulau (pork bundles), set up tents, tables, and chairs, and brought in flowers and ferns from ma uka (the uplands) to decorate the site. A number of Native and non-Native Alumni that arrived before the wedding also took part in these activities and preparations. When the big night finally came, the lu'au involved prayer, song, Hawaiian music and food, and fellowship. Alcohol was served of course, but it was a minor part of the evening.
The true essence of the lu'au lay in the spirit of kokua (helping one another) that enabled the lu'au to take place. It was a celebration and a party, yes; but more importantly, it was a time when an entire community's resources were pooled together in order to make possible such a truly joyous occasion. It was also a time in which Hawaiians were able to share their aloha (in the truest sense of the word), with one another and also with our malihini (visitors).
When one tries to transplant that experience into a frat at Dartmouth or even a hotel in Waikiki, all meaning and integrity is lost, and what actually results are the Western misconceptions of a lu'au as some "wild tiki party." What Aaron Akamu stood up for was the integrity of his people, his culture. He was not raising a fuss to be the PC-bandit; he was crying out his own anguish upon ears which he sought to educate, ears which in the end were as deaf as their eyes were blind. Lu'au is not a theme, neither is Hawaiian. It is a joyous celebration of a people who are very strong and vibrant, not the echoes of the past which may be conveniently appropriated as a decoration for a frat basement. I would ask that anyone who has not experienced a lu'au not try to make comparisons with other "cultural" events. Once you have attended one, perhaps you will see why this whole controversy is so hurtful to us, and why we as Kanaka 'Oiwi refuse to let a Hawaiian theme party get passed off for a lu'au.
