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Premises of Hawaiian Beliefs and Values
Just scroll through the world map- you will come across the ink drops marked as Hawaii in the middle of the pacific, which will at the first instance give you an impression of extreme remoteness and isolation. You would probably wonder how the early explorers could find out the place! Somehow they could, the early Polynesians who braved the untamed ocean to reach this uninhabited lands where eventually they laid the foundation stone of a rich Hawaiian culture that appear to be little obscure to the people of the outside world, but actually rooted into great philosophy.
The Hawaiian Culture and Value System
The culture that flourished within the tropical rainforests and behind some of the world’s fiercest volcanoes, were bound to be different from the civilizations which developed in the lands with more exposure to and interaction with the outer world. But in case of Hawaii, the things shaped up in a different way. The isolation from the outer world and their own nature- based civilization influenced their beliefs and ethics and eventually resulted into the development of a unique society on the basis of a unique value system.
Central to their value system is the ‘Ohana’ which in Hawaiian language means family. What the modern economists stresses on today, the ancient Hawaiians realized that long ago; they defined family as the basic unit of society and the ultimate expression of humane qualities.
Thus, the Hawaiian culture attaches great importance to the social institution of family. But family in the Hawaiian sense of the term is much different from that of the western concept; the Hawaiians do not at all understand the concept of immediate family. For them family is an expansive term including all the closely as well as distantly related people beyond blood relation. This system is founded on the notion of sharing. According to the Hawaiian culture, sharing is extremely important. They view sharing as a virtue that prevents individual moral degeneration. Thus the Ohana shares lands and foods on the one hand and children on the other.
Thus the Hawaiian society does not thrive on the Western ideal of individual accomplishment by outshining others; it rather emphasizes on the collective sharing of status and all other achievements of life. Thus neither illicit relation nor having illegitimate children is regarded as something abnormal in stark contradiction to the Euro- American or Asian societies.
Their belief system based on Ohana is intertwined with an overtly spiritual fervor. For they believe, by performing the proper duties to Ohana, it is possible to attain the right level of spirituality. But how should a Hawaiian perform his duty towards Ohana? First of all, as a member of an Aloha community, he or she should clearly understand what contributions are expected by the society from him/ her. Then everybody has to make full use of his/ her potentials to make useful contributions to the Ohana. The individuals should look to it so that the health of the entire community is maintained.
The bonding of Ohana does not end with death. When one member passes away, the same duty and obligations are carried on towards the members of next generation. The Hawaiian culture pays great respect to the memories of their ancestors and weaves poetries around the graceful deeds of the loved ones who are no longer with them. They believe the Aumakua or good spirits of their ancestors stay with them to protect from the evil forces and Aumakua thus becomes the source of their personal strength.
Religion of Hawaii
Another major aspect of Hawaiian belief system is the religion, which like any ancient society revolves round the worship of the force of the nature. Thus four main Gods--- Kane, Lono, Ku, and Kanaloa represent various aspects of nature…sunshine, rain, herbs or ocean. The next tier of the Gods included Pele, the Goddess of volcano, Laka, the goddess of Hula etc. A common Hawaiian belief teaches that foreigners should not take lava rocks back home, as that may bring bad omens sparking the wrath of Goddess Pele.