Episode 87: Embracing Aloha: Conscious and Respectful Travel in Hawaii

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Speaker 1: Are you planning to visit to Hawaii and want to make sure you're being respectful of the culture inland? Well, in this episode, our guests, elijah Kala McShane, will share the top five ways to show respect and etiquette when traveling to Hawaii, from learning about traditional customs to being mindful of your impact on the environment. Elijah will give us the advice we all need to have a responsible and respectful trip to Hawaii. So sit back, grab a Mai Tai and let's get started on your Hawaiian adventure the right way, starting with this episode.

Speaker 2: Aloha. welcome to Hawaii's Best. Here you'll learn what to know before traveling, as we discover Hawaiian culture, local businesses and the experiences that make Hawaii one of the most incredible places in the world. And now your host, brian Murphy, aloha and welcome to Hawaii's Best.

Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining me on this episode and as we're staring down summer this is the end of May Graduations are happening.

Speaker 1: I don't know about you. I got kids thinking about what we're going to do and maybe you're thinking about planning a trip to Hawaii and I wanted to share this episode with you that first aired earlier this year in January of 2023. It's with a friend of mine on the north shore of Oahu. His name is Elijah McShane and he is a Kanaka, maoli and native Hawaiian living on the north shore of Oahu, and I wanted to share this conversation I had with him about five ways and how to travel to Hawaii responsibly. I really love his heart and I think you'll hear that and feel that as it comes across in our conversation and his love for the Aina of the land of Hawaii, and I hope that my conversation with him brings value and you find it useful for planning your trip to Hawaii and you find value in the conversation. All I would ask is that you would just simply hit the follow button if you're listening on Apple Podcast, and the same with Spotify, so let's go in and talk. Story with Elijah McShane on the island of Oahu.

Speaker 4: Of what is known as O'Kapa'ala'a, and here in the O'Kapa'ala'a there is an ii'i that is a smaller piece of land that is considered now to be Hale'iva. That is which I live in, and it is a beautiful day in Hale'iva, hawaii. It is an honor to live over here Our Tutu Hine, who is actually almost in her hundreds now. She actually grew up in Hale'iva and had to relocate because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, because had internment camps on this half of the island, and so she had to relocate into Honolulu. And I believe I'm the first one in our O'Hana that has had the chance to live back in Hale'iva and you know there are no better place to be, i think, on the island. I love being over here. Hey, hawaii, i am Hawaii, i'm Kanaka Maui.

Speaker 4: The people that I've come from have actually been in Hawaii since the beginning of the original inhabitants of these islands and have always had a chance to be in connection to Hawaii. He always had an inclination of who I was, even in spite of all of the things that had taken place in Hawaii. With Americanization and the coming of the Western world, a lot of Hawaiians have been disconnected, and I was in that space as well and have the honor and just the aloha, the peace and gratitude to A'hua, to spirit and to my ancestors for allowing me to rediscover and to rekindle this really flame of being a person of Hawaii and what it can offer to the greater good. And so it is an honor to be with you guys today. It is an honor to always spread the true message of aloha to people around the planet who are called to come to Hawaii.

Speaker 1: You mentioned something you felt disconnected at a point and now you are re-engaged. Was there a catalyst for that moment of that switch?

Speaker 4: Oh, beautiful, brother, beautiful. Thank you so much. Historically, the people of Hawaii have really experienced a lot of pain, injustice, a lot of historical trauma, you can say, that exists within our story because of the coming of the Western world, but also, specifically, the really introduction of the occupation of the United States in Hawaii through its military, and we all Hawaiians have, in its own degree, have experienced a lot of disconnection from not only our language, our stories, our culture, but our own identity really at its core, root, and I was one of them. I had an experience in O'Hana that, although we were involved in things like oceans, sports and getting involved in just things that are usually of Hawaii, but the deeper connection wasn't always there.

Speaker 4: The principles, the practices that were inherently within our O'Hana had been heavily entrenched in the approach of the worldview of the Christian Church in Hawaii, which there isn't anything wrong with it, but it eliminates the presence of any other thing that can coexist with it, and so I feel that plays a huge role in why a lot of our people have a difficult time being able to walk in two worlds, of being in connection, when a lot of the people in our family are still involved in the things of the Western world that detaches them from the root of who they are as a person of Hawaii, and so I believe it was a part of the call in my life to reinstate this, and I've always had this inclination to really, in the law, to actually seek wisdom and to seek truth and to seek principles.

Speaker 4: In my path. I've been blessed to have good teachers and to have good people that have poured into me, that have aided in the reawakening of who I am as an offspring of Hawaii and as a person that is able to still stay connected to my ancestors. That perpetuate that in modern day.

Speaker 1: It's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that and your perspective. And there's this call, and with a call comes action. And what drew me into you and your world on social media is this action, this response and this educating. How did that all start? Was it TikTok or was it Instagram? Because I came across you first on Instagram and then have really appreciated some of your TikToks as well. How did that all start?

Speaker 4: I was always asking a lot of questions in my life about who I was, the intention and the purpose that I had on the planet, how I'm called to give back, and it always led down to this really key question that opens up those actually spaces and gates of understanding and wisdom And that was like, what is the gift that I have to offer? Because you can only give what you have. I was always in that in between stage of really kind of knowing what my gift is. But in that conflicting place that seeing how it is economically feasible in the Western world And if that works, especially leading into early adulthood, i began to really ask a lot of those questions about like okay, what is my gift? Because if I'm going to take action in my life, i really got to get clear And the Spirit told me that you know everything is young, i tell you, but you know they shouldn't. So you know I'm going to ask you again what is the one thing that people around you always seeing in you that potentially you didn't really see in yourself, but people could see it inherently because adults, teachers, they are older, are developed, they have perception to see that in youth And at the foundation of it was always like, hey, this boy, he get plenty of aloha, he has a big heart, he has a call to give to people and whole he Hawaiian, oh, he just inherently get aloha.

Speaker 4: And so in my healing path that I kind of did not in our healing arts work to help people to come back to what the heart connection is through our ancestral principles, and the main principle that really exists in all cultures is this understanding of aloha, of truth and connection and heart connection. Yet it seems to be an untapped field in the world of creative media today. It seems like an untapped field And so as I began to really speak about the principles of aloha, i haven't come across too much people that come from Hawaii that actually have a perspective and philosophy that I had been honored to carry and to be given. And I found it as this is where I really speak, the truth that is in the heart that I carry in a way that people can relate and understand, that is non abrasive, that is universal and applicable to all people and a like the message is balanced and it's relatable And it doesn't offend but it invites.

Speaker 1: Right. What if we go ahead and jump into the five ways to respectfully visit Hawaii, and someone who's listening to this right now is maybe someone who's just getting back from a visit or is thinking about coming for a visit Currently, right now, as we jump into these five ways, how is the tourism, climate and environment currently from your perspective?

Speaker 4: That is a beautiful thing to kind of usher in this conversation, because it is usually every color of the rainbow. I usually say it's twofold, that you usually have the people that are of Hawaii that hate tourists. They are not interested in having anybody come, and that's oftentimes the folks, people that act as the voice of Hawaii on these different platforms TikTok, instagram and Facebook, you know that are kind of speaking about how, just off the bat, it is clear it is black and white people of Hawaii. We don't want tourists coming in. So that's one fold. The other fold, well, maybe threefold. So now in that middle one, you have that person that is only interested in the economics of tourism and they only choose to see the importance of having this industry in Hawaii And they take the stance that if we don't have tourism, that we don't have anything. And they usually only speaking about the economic input that the actual tourism brings to the Hawaiian islands and to all the funding of the state, quote, unquote, of Hawaii.

Speaker 4: And then the last one is usually the Hawaiians, usually the person that is in the middle tier, not always people that are Hawaii. It's usually people that come to Hawaii and they have business in Hawaii, but they're capitalists, they're opportunists, so they usually only see things out of the context of the Western world, which not always in connection Hawaii. The third tier, on the other side, is he or she. that is like writing that really space of seeing equanimity in economics and ecological impact in Hawaii And understanding that being proactive on knowing that the tourism industry provides a lot of resources, a lot of income to the state of Hawaii economically, employing a lot of our people. Specifically, if I'm not mistaken about that, is connected to tourism over 100,000 people who are employed by the tourism industry in Hawaii plus.

Speaker 4: Yet always knowing that there has to be a balance, that the lands have a threshold, the lands have a capacity, the waters and the oceans have a capacity to maintain the people that live in Hawaii as well as people that are coming through Hawaii Over 8 million people to 11 million people per year coming to Hawaii, and a majority of those people are not educated when they're coming and were dependent upon getting them educated when they come, but at that time it's almost too late, and so I appreciate having these platforms to give people the access to the resources when they come.

Speaker 4: And so the current climate is three tier. It's easy, it's a black and white of people staying out, it's the black and white of people only being about economics, and then it's the one in between. And, as Buddha said, the middle way is always the way that you can find peace and harmony between the conflict and the comfort. And seeing that being in that middle way is having that equal balance of people coming and people being respectful and people understanding host culture and acclimating to it, instead of coming in to invade another person's home, even if it's unintentional.

Speaker 1: Would I be okay to assume that you're in the middle way? Tia, I'm in the middle way brother.

Speaker 4: Yeah, I am in the middle way.

Speaker 1: Well, based on your content, your heart, I can definitely see that The first way you talked about and how to respectfully visit Hawaii is pre-education. Maybe unpack that a little bit. Yes.

Speaker 4: So pre-education is extremely important for all of you people, all the listeners who were here this episode, from its launch up until eight to 10 years from now. These are consistent pillars to experiencing Hawaii. Pre-education, as you already know, thank you, the people of Hawaii are storytellers, so I'm going to tell you a little bit of a story and kind of explain its point in this Mo'olano or story is that it is a part of culture and you know, a part of everybody that two guys who head into a house and this house has an ancestor and elder that has been in this area for a long time. They are respected in the community, they are honored in the community, they have had their contributions in their community. And the first guy goes in and he is not in a state of awareness of really understanding honor and respect of that person's space and place for lack of a better term uneducated, of what is the host culture in that house. And this is a great elder, he's kind, he's nice. If he sees things that maybe are inappropriate, he's not really going to speak it out loud and have you feel uncomfortable.

Speaker 4: But this first visitor comes into the house and he walks into the house. He doesn't take his shoes off and he doesn't realize that on his shoes has mud and dirt on it and then he doesn't really ask where the bathroom is. He actually goes through the house to look for where the bathroom is. The elder is a little bit confused because obviously, etiquette had it been educated in this first visitor And the next visitor comes and he has the understanding of honor, of being in relationship, of understanding that this is the elder's home and because it's the elder's home, there is proper etiquette that needs to be exemplifying and expressed as you walk into the elder's home and because he was taught this in his culture, he comes, he takes off his slippers and his shoes before he goes into the house, he asks for permission and as he looks around and observes the beauty of this house and with all the pictures of his ohana, of his children, of all of his accomplishments in his life, he begins to get curious on the history and the story of this elder And he comes almost as a student, with humility and with honor.

Speaker 4: And I give this little bit of mo'olelo because it explains a lot about the two expressions of the visitors that comes to Hawaii and the personality types of people that come. One is pre-educated and it's because of either the culture that he was raised in or that she was raised in the etiquette that existed within the household and all the principles and the values that lay at the foundation of really all people and cultures had been instilled in him or in her. But on the other hand, you also have the other visitor, the one that is abrasive. It doesn't really know about place It comes and it almost is invasive and it's literally due to a lack of education. But to be a student, to have education, it also takes humility and we understand that a majority of people that come that are not educated on how to experience. They don't need to do it because they only do what they know. As they say, if you knew better, you would do better, and so pre-education is really understanding the host culture, being able to get curious as a student.

Speaker 4: So when you come to Hawaii, it is not only an experience that you come to get away from wherever you're coming from, but you also know that you are coming into another elders' house. That elder is a metaphor for the Hawaiian people, because the people of Hawaii are elders. We have been here for almost the Tahitian contact with 1000 years, but we really say since BC, our people have been on this land for over 2000 years And so because of that, there absolutely is an inherent existence of culture, of practice, of principle, of way of life that had allowed our people to thrive on this land for this long of time. And it's not like we are not interested in having people come, but we are interested in a specific archetype of person that comes, person that is respectful, a person that is humble, a person that is a student, a person that has a lot of love in their hearts, understanding how to operate when they're in the elders' home, and that's all. And we provide all of those resources in our work in Awikin' aloha.

Speaker 4: So we will give the links on this episode of the podcast for everybody to actually tune in. We actually have a playlist on YouTube that everybody has access to that you can go on and you can click on, and it has over 100 YouTube videos of education, wide ranging from music of Hawaii, historical pain and trauma in Hawaii, the current events of Hawaii are political history of Hawaii, so that at least if you can spend one to two months just trying your best to go to the videos, then you can have a proper holistic perspective on Hawaii in all of its colors And instead of it just being tourism and going to Hanama Bay to experience and hearing only the history of Hanama Bay, but learning, like even before Hanama Bay was a tourist attraction, what was Hanama Bay Right?

Speaker 1: So pre-education and that was going to be one of the things I was going to ask, but I assumed you'd cover it. But having those resources is something that will definitely link to anything that we put out there. So appreciate that. Yeah, pre-education it's so much more than traveling from California to Arizona like traveling the state border. You're traveling into a whole other world, a whole other country and having that same mindset of. If I was traveling into Japan, if I was traveling international like that, i and I think the majority of people would do their due diligence of that pre-education, because traveling into a culture like that mindset on continental US is that's international. Traveling to Hawaii is just, in a lot of people's minds, another state.

Speaker 4: It's still domestic Right, right, right.

Speaker 1: So having these resources available is going to be huge for anyone who has that heart, like you mentioned, of learning and of humility. Number two kind of goes hand in hand, i think. Once pre-education happens, a lot of this stuff kind of falls into place. But number two give back. What do you mean by that Impact?

Speaker 4: that a little bit, i appreciate this point because it holds a close place in my heart of wherever I go to. We come back to the first story. I didn't explain the first story on this part but on the first visitor, he didn't bring an offering. The other visitor that had the etiquette that was kind and humble to come into the elder's house, he brought an offering. He brought an offering And this can come in all kind of different ways and forms that it could take, but this specific offering could definitely look like being able to see the Hawaiian organizations out there that you can give your time to, you can volunteer with. How we equalize things within Hawaii, within the tourism industry, is we're in the process of being able to move actually toward a more experienced that is based on ecotourism And so identifying organizations, which we also offer on top our website. If you go into a website to Anoaha Aina tab, you will find on the bottom of the page a list of organizations that you can contact and you can reach out to to actually give back. If you are not able to be able to actually give your energy and the time to being at a specific place for an entire day, how does that look like? heading to the beach into an area that you know maybe there's a lot of plastics and trash that are on the beach in the smallest ways, knowing how to give back, that you can take a plastic bag and head onto the beach and pick up the trash that is, in one particular reason, kind of space of that beach And you see how to give back. It can begin with being able to just give a prayer to the land and to thank the land for having you, to actually speak to a person that is from Hawaii and you know and to just extend like, yeah, i appreciate you for having us in your home. Yeah, those small things that you can do immediately to give back. And then it goes to the larger scale of like spending a day in an organization who is hosting a community work day and being able to go there and to meet the community and to kind of keep away from from just only seeing who you are as being a visitor, as being a tourist, that you don't belong in those spaces. The opposite is true You belong in those spaces even before having a vacation That should be.

Speaker 4: The first thing on the list is being able to get engaged in a community organization that is doing community work to feed the people, to feed the homeless, to help our children to be empowered, and to give that as your offering before getting invited in the house to eat the food that the elder is offering to you, because you know the elder already prepared the food, hey, the food's already cooked at the table, yeah. But the principle is, are you going into the elder's house to take or to receive before you give? And so, even before thinking of going to all of these beautiful places in Hawaii to experience, why not consider the idea of the first activity that you have in Hawaii is to plan a community outreach day with a community organization that is directly helping Hawaiian communities? That is a great way to become an ally to the people of Hawaii. So that you're staying in Hawaii is positive, first, because you are giving an offering.

Speaker 4: I thought you're right now. If you operate like that, you know this kupuna, this elder. He's going to invite you back to his house so much times because he know that you are in the right space, because you brought the offering, because you already had the consciousness and the awareness to do that. It changes the game for everybody.

Speaker 1: It's interesting you bring this up. There are so many thoughts and questions going through my mind and one of the thoughts was we actually, today, as we're recording this, we released episode 70, and episode 70 is all about volunteering in Hawaii. We highlighted Maui culture lands. We had Ekoulu Lindsey on the podcast and it was great being able to hear how, if you're traveling to Maui, being able to connect with Maui culture lands and going into Honokawa Valley and planting trees simple as that, removing invasive species simple as that And hearing the history and story of a spot really makes that Mai Tai even better, absolutely.

Speaker 4: Back at the Sheraton. I agree, I agree, I agree, Mahalo Maui, thank you for that.

Speaker 1: So number three we hear about support local, especially during the last couple years. No matter where you call home, always support local and those local businesses. But point three is support local Hawaiian businesses. Let's dive into that and how can people do that?

Speaker 4: Okay, yes, this is a good, a good thing to speak about, about the economic innovation of Hawaii And to preface. There is a difference between local and Hawaiian. There is a difference between a business that is local I will repeat that and a business that is Hawaiian. Hawaiian business could also be considered to be local, but a local business is not always Hawaiian, and so we really speak about this. This is not to say that you cannot go eat at L and L and go and experience things at zippies and you know, because that's actually local business. It's an infusion of a whole lot of people that are actually listening to this.

Speaker 4: They may not know that Hawaii was the first place to pass equal rights for all ethnic backgrounds legally in its constitution in the Hawaiian kingdom, and this had opened up spaces for people from all around the planet to come to Hawaii. It opened up opportunities for all kinds of different people that weren't in a good living condition in their home in the Philippines, in Portugal, in Spain, in Puerto Rico, all of these places that they weren't too interested in continuing living there, and they had an opportunity to come to Hawaii and to work in Hawaii on the plantations and to bring their families to Hawaii. This is what had led to the first place that is considered to be the melting pot of all places, and so I am an advocate of actually being in alignment to experiencing the wide array of things that are offered in Hawaii, all the local businesses, all the different ethnicities and heritages that can be experienced. But to uplift the Hawaiian economy. You're really speaking about Hawaiian businesses that are not only high quality in their artwork, in their creativity, in their food quality, but also these Hawaiian businesses are culturally rooted. They are the ones that are in the ohana of the elder in that house And that he has raised his children to be economically independent, to know how to start business, proud of these children. Because our people, who are inherently Hawaiian in terms of our heritage, culture and history, we have a lot to offer.

Speaker 4: But oftentimes it gets kind of blurred when the smoke screen of all the marketing that takes place for the local businesses And it deters people from actually going into eating out of the food of the elder to really choosing to add. You know, uncle, i'm not really interested in eating your food. How about I go to across the street to see bees? I'm going to grab food to bring over to you And then we can maybe eat that. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it's not fully authentic And it's not always 100% the encapsulation of the spirit of Hawaii that you want to experience when you're coming to our island. So that's easy ways to be able to come to Hawaii and to be in support of not only local businesses but also being able to have your experiences with what is inherently Hawaiian.

Speaker 1: Yeah, you definitely feel that that spirit. You know be even in a conversation with somebody, even conversation at the front desk. You check it in. There's a spirit you feel when you're talking and it kind of jumps into our next point of making friends. How do you do that? you know, on vacation you come on for a visit. How do you make friends so fast?

Speaker 4: Hey, you know people love good people, right. Yeah, they love good people Right. And so if you have love in your heart and are interested in connection, i understand because of different cultures and upbringings. You know, when I was 15, i had a chance to go to New York on a trip for about 11 days, are e you? Well, it was an outweigh trip and so we had all had all kind of different activities to give back to the community and different things. But the one thing that I had seen and noticed is that a lot of people were a little bit low, just low, heavy, not really interested in in you, only kind of interested in the cell. There's no connection.

Speaker 4: Now, part of Hawaii, the spirit of Aloha as an action verb, is Being able to know that exchange. That exchange, that interpersonal exchange of energy is considered to be highly sacred. Is that, once I acknowledge you and I see you and I'm here in the front of you, in your presence, that that's now a Responsibility of mine, to present all of my heart to you in a way that that is not invasive, it's not loud, but it's there, even if you're quiet and an introvert and you don't really like to speak and be too much, expressive Your heart, in your energy, how you connect. It doesn't have to be loud, it doesn't have to be Expressive, like, like me, i go into Starbucks or go into a place to eat. Only a part of who I am is I come and I bring Aloha in the way that I'm speaking to you guys on this show right now, and so it seems Expressive. It seems outward, but it's. it's still contained, it's maintained, but it's. It's only for the betterment and the uplifting of the person that is right in front of me and for the environment That I'm in here to bring the light. I'm not here to bring anything that if I'm having a difficult time in my life, i'll project that upon other people. If you want to make friends, it's just like how you make friends anywhere is you'd be a good humor.

Speaker 4: The hard part about it is oftentimes is a lot of people that have had an upbringing in a Playsay like new you or replace a like MA that is Stoped in a lot of business, which was hand-in-hand with actually having the experience of a lot of for lack of a better term a lot of distrust, that people are afraid to be open and vulnerable and people because they have come to that state of being afraid to be open and vulnerable. They actually see it as almost alien. If people are that, if people have Aloha, a lot of people think that if I go Into America who I am that they can't believe that this is authentic. They can't believe that it's real.

Speaker 4: When you come to Hawaii, a majority of Hawaiians are good people And if you are a good person and are able to acknowledge place and people and spread Aloha, are people are gonna have no problem interacting with you. If you have Aloha, hawaii will give you Aloha. You. You a norm. If you don't have Aloha, you're also gonna experience that the people of Hawaii are not gonna have any Aloha for you. So that's how you do. It is, if you want to make friends, have the intention of being a good human, of having Aloha and being open and being respectful. Having the insight of where you are Gains a lot of respect from our people about Inviting people to their spaces. So that comes back to pre-education again.

Speaker 1: And that leads, i think, beautifully, into your fifth way and how to respectfully visit Hawaii is having Aloha. We're all familiar. I'm sure anyone listening to this who ever will listen to this has heard of the word Aloha. But how do you have Aloha? How will we unpack that?

Speaker 4: Yes, yes, yes. okay, first I'm gonna ask you a question, brother How would you define Aloha?

Speaker 1: Aloha has action, so it's an action of putting others before self. So there's a humility, there is a strength when I hear the word and feel the word of the strength of Aloha, where you Stand with firmness, stand with love, stand with conviction, and It has everything else wrapped into it of love and hello and goodbye and affection.

Speaker 4: Awesome, you know, for beautiful, yes, you know. in our spaces of education, i usually begin our conversations with that question how do they define Aloha? because it's it will create the police and the grounds To know how to connect to Aloha Oh, that's well said, yeah, and how to relate to Aloha, and you know, oftentimes, in the experience of the visitor, they usually define it as, of course, high goodbye, love, a greeting. Yes, all of that is Correct. yet if you define the kind of love that Aloha is, is the kind of love, what is the expression of love? I usually put it in comparison to What we know, that maybe we had experiences in the church and we can learn different expressions of love and how. in the Greek, it states that the Unconditional expression of love is agape, the kind of love that you can experience only from creator. It is infinite, it is unconditional, it's connected, it's understanding, it's compassionate, it's empathetic, it's authentic and transparent, which means that it's it's real. It's real, it's eternal, it's not the thing that that is absent at any time, which means that the spirit of Aloha has to be one with a kuah, with spirit and creator, and, in in hand and hand with that, it has to be one with Hawaii, and so the spirit of Aloha and How to leave Aloha is your, real, simple, but it is both principled in practice. if people haven't ever experienced that kind of Overflowing, a bounding love before and your life They did already have like a reference point of love, of what, what that is, so they usually See it and the question it first before inviting it, because they don't really know if it's fully real, and that's unfortunate. and so How to leave Aloha a appropriate way to experience Hawaii We usually teach people three main ways of Aloha.

Speaker 4: that is interconnected to our ancient spiritual system in Hawaii and It's connected to our three pickles. the concept of a pickle is a place that gives life or gives energy, and so it's an energy point on the body. in the Indian philosophy, these three pickles would be considered to be the root chakra, the crown chakra and the plexus. in Hawaii This is actually known as the pickle are the root, the pickle II, the crown and the pickle all the plexus, and these are connected to three main principles of Hawaiian spiritual philosophy in terms of the human experience, on what we can maintain in our own lives, and I connect that to these three principles and this is Aloha aina, aloha aqours, aloha canaka, and these three principles in English is Aloha aina, a deep honor, love and Aloha for the land, for the environment, for all that exists within the external experience, in human existence, everything that exists on our plane, seen and unseen.

Speaker 4: That's the aina, that's the aina Aloha aqours a deep honor, love and connection. Aloha to aqours, to spirit, to creator. So you, honoring kind of place goes hand in hand with with actually honoring the spirits of the place. And then there is Aloha Kanaka, a deep honor and respect for humans, for humanity, for our interpersonal relationships that exist around us. Have it be you and your partner, you and your children, you and the person that is in the back of the counter at Starbucks or at longs or at Costco, or a person you haven't ever seen in your life, but they cut you off on the highway in the freeway To Aloha Kanaka is to not get offended but to have understanding of where people are at and to give that honor, that respect, to give that peace in return, even when the conflict is being experienced on your end, still being able to Aloha Kanaka.

Speaker 4: And so all of these three ways are the practical, applicable ways that you can implement Aloha into your daily life, wherever you are. This isn't only an infrastructure and a philosophy that you have to learn through being inherently Hawaiian. No, at the foundation of all of our peoples there existed a love for land, a love for spirit and source and ancestors and a love for everybody else around us. That's how we maintain harmony, that's how we maintain peace, that's how we maintain our relationships, that our light is not chaotic, because we can't face our pain of our relationships, of how people treat us, where we get engaged with it, with that Aloha. So that's how you can experience Aloha. We're a practical kind.

Speaker 1: I think that's a great way to frame the conversation and wrap it up with. Going back to these five ways pre-education, Like you mentioned earlier, Elijah we'll definitely have those links available and being able to point people towards the YouTube and the websites and all that good stuff and ways to give back, volunteering your time or resources, even when you're on the island, and maybe even there's ways you can give back off island as well. Look for those resources, Look for those opportunities because they're there, and just find some ways to be able to give back an afternoon, a morning or what have you. The third way was support local Hawaiian businesses. I kind of want to put maybe another sub point under that. One of the questions I love to ask anyone who comes on the podcast Elijah is best eats, best place to eat, right? So we're on the North Shore.

Speaker 1: What's maybe one, two or three spots that you would love to shout out, how someone could tangibly support local Hawaiian businesses, but with their stomach.

Speaker 4: Oh, beautiful, everybody love for eat all the time. In terms of Hawaiian owned in the North Shore, there's really really few. The one that I can think of that I encourage everybody to go eat at it is called the Farm to Barn A pretty close detail of mine. Her name is Michelle Ching. She, her and her partner are the owners of this particular place at Farm to Barn, and it's called Farm to Barn because right in the back of them is their entire farm where they get all of their produce to actually produce all of their food. It's a beautiful place to hang out. It's a good place to really spend time. But for all the plant based lovers out there who actually love a lot of vegan food, i do encourage beatbox and the other one is Cosmic Kitchen. These are good places to really embrace love and good people and people that have a lot of. They may not be from Hawaii inherently, but they definitely do have a lot.

Speaker 1: And the fourth one was make friends. and you go to a spot like that, it's going to be easy to make friends. And the fifth was to have a lot. I appreciate your time and appreciate your low ha. anything else that you would love to say before we head out?

Speaker 4: Close everything, usually in either a prayer or a chant, a song. So in this time I want to pay homage to a kumubula in the history here in Hawaii, in Hawaii Island, and her name is kumubula or anti-edith kanakaole, and anti-edith kanakaole is actually being featured on a US quarter for her contributions to Hawaii. And anti-edith kanakaole and her line and the kumahele and all of their offspring, they have been huge advocates and pioneers of the Hawaiian arts And they are leaders of all things in Hawaiian consciousness, hawaiian education. And so this is an oldie, a chant, a peace and gratitude for all the people that have had a chance to listen. I just encourage you guys to tune into this. Each time you hear hanu, please take a deep breath. It's going to be three hanus. These three hanus are the expression and the reiteration of aloha aina, aloha aku, aloha kanaka, these principles of aloha. And then I'm going to give this offering of orimahalo and we can go on our way and experience Hawaii to me and be the most beautiful way possible. So, hanu.

Speaker 4: Haal Han Haal, han Haal Han Haal, with buzzingger At night And the��분 At night As they're, it is an honor and blessing being on this show, whether free aloha reaches to the ends of the planet and to all of the listeners out there. To give aloha, be aloha. Give aloha, love the people that you love, the love that people that care for you. To love the people that you own close, because you don't ever know what would happen. Give your aloha to get when you come to Hawaii. Get aloha there's one.

Speaker 2: Mahalo for listening to this episode of Hawaii's Best. To stay up to date on future episodes, please subscribe and visit us at Hawaii's best travel dot com.