[DISCUSSION] How Accurate is Alolan Culture to Hawaiian?

[0kamii]

Hey, everybody! It's 0kamii, and I have never made one of my weekly posts this late!

I apologize for the delay, but I still have things to do in the real world everyone once in a while. I can't be making posts for you all 24/7. Anyway, this is a post that I've been teasing for several months now, but there just never seemed to be enough interest for me to actually write it up. However, thanks to some outspoken reads in my previous thread, I see that there are in fact willing readers that want to see my two cents on this subject. So today, or rather tonight, we compare the culture of Alola to that of its inspiration, the Hawaiian Archipelago. A quick disclaimer before we begin: I am not of Hawaiian descent, nor shall I pretend to be. All the information gathered for this post is from family members that are of Pacific Island heritage, and from books at my college's library. If I get anything wrong, or unintentionally misrepresent the people or values of Hawai'i, know that it was certainly not intentional.

All that being out of the way, let's get started! Tonight we dare to ask the question:
 

How Accurate is Alolan Culture to Hawaiian?

 

I've decided that instead of going over every aspect of Alolan/Hawaiian culture, which would take hours or possibly days, I'm going to cover four aspects that get the most attention in Sun and Moon. Those aspects, in order of discussion, will be: Values, Food, Religion, and Hierarchy. This way we can look at some of the most prominent aspects of both cultures and see how Alola compares to its source material. So without further introduction, let's jump into Values.

Alolan Values:

 

 

Undoubtedly, Professor Kukui is a shining example of traditional Alolan values. He's sweet, encouraging, and frankly I couldn't stop staring at those carmel pecks...don't tell my partner. But anyway, he lets Lillie stay with him despite the fact that he barely knows her, and gives you a warm Alolan welcome months before you arrive. Kukui however isn't the only person in Alola that gives us an idea of what the people are like. All the Kahunas are strong, yet nuturing. They guide you, and push you forward with their words of wisdom. As does other characters like the trial captains, and even some of the side characters like Molayne and Wicke. Aside from Team Skull and the Aether Foundation, every person in Alola greets you warmly and with open arms. The values of Alola must be in kinship, trust, and community. But with that figured out, how does it compare to Hawai'i?

Hawaiian Values:

 

 

Thus far, Alola actually holds up. Pictured above are two women sharing the traditional Hawaiian ha. It is a well-known aspect of Hawaiian culture, and is the most important greeting there is. The bridges of ones' noses are pressed together, and then the participants inhale deeply together. This practice is said to transfer knowledge and wisdom, and create strong bonds in the community, not just in the family. This tells us that togetherness is of the utmost importance to the native Hawaiian people, and it is nice to see that this made its way into Sun and Moon. Not only that, but did you know that being nice to each other is actually a law in Hawaii? Yes, it's called the 'Spirit of Aloha,' and requires coordination between the mind and their heart, thus emitting good feelings onto themselves and others. If being kind is a state law, I think Alolan and Hawaiian values match up pretty well. One out of four Alola. Off to a good start.

Alolan Food:

 

 

Food was a surprising plot device in Sun and Moon. It gave us a bit of insight into Hau's character, and it made us see him as a joyous, eager individual with tastebuds married to nothing but his beloved malasada. But what exactly is malasada? Think of it like funnel cake, just deep fried with extra oil and sugar. Kind of like a really oily donut. Well, aside from the malasada that was mentioned every other island, we don't really know all that much about the cuisine of Alola. However, given the fact that it's a tropical region, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that there are abundant fruits and vegetables always on the menu. And if they're growing wheat to use in making pastries like malasada, there's also pasta, cake, and pizza. We see glimpses of this at the Battle Buffet, but it's hard to tell if that's native cuisine, or the equivalent of a Chinese restaurant in Amish Country. Either way, wheat and fruit seem to be big food items in Alola. What about Hawaii?

Hawaiian Food:

 

 

I'm sure we've all heard jokes about how much Hawaiians eat Spam. While yes, Spam is a regular snack, it's far from some of the most common foods eaten. According to my cousins, Kekai and Leilani, the most common things they'll eat for dinner are poultry items like chicken, and fish like tuna or marlin. Fruit is also a common meal choice, the most popular of which in my family are pineapple and taro. Fun fact, Professor Kukui gets his name from the kukui nut tree, but the seeds are used for candles, not food. Malasada, the primary contender here, is actually served in Hawai'i, but according to my cousins, it's like the equivalent of going to the county fair and getting a funnel cake, or an elephant ear. It's a treat, not a staple. Overall, in the food department, Alola does well to represent Hawaiian cuisine, but there's still some areas of improvement. I'll give it one of four still. Now what about religion?

Alolan Religion:

 

 

I use the word religion very loosely here. Obviously, Alola doesn't exactly have a defined religion, but belief is so important to the people of Hawaii I couldn't exclude it. Besides, the Tapus are very clearly meant to be guardians of the islands. If that's not religion-like, I don't know what it. The people even hold festivals in honor of the Tapus, and the Tapus even appear in times of need to defend the people in danger. Just like when Tapu Koko faces down Pheromosa/Buzzwole with Hala to protect Melemele Island. Although, it's clear that the Tapus aren't always protecting. Sometimes, they're dangerous, and can destory. The people of Ula'ula Island fear Tapu Bulu for that very reason. However, with Bulu as an outlier, it seems that the general opinion here is that the Alolan people exalt their guardian deities, and treat them with the highest regard.

Hawaiian Religion:

 

 

Oh, gees. You know I could do several dozen posts only talking about Hawaiian religion. It's easily one of the most extensive that I've studied, and I couldn't possibly fit it all into a single paragraph. So instead, I'll go over the main points. Many aspects of the Hawaiian mythos revolves around explaining natural phenomena, such as Pele and her association with volcanic activity, as pictured above. There are many demigods in Hawaiian mythology, most of which suffer from human desires and fall victim to human tendencies. Greed, anger, fear, et cetera. The Tapus are not unlike this, and while they protect the islands, as Hawaiian demigods were said to, they still have outbursts and sometimes fall prey to their own mortal tendencies. So if we compare the concept of Hawaiian demigods to the Guardian Deities, it is actually quite an accurate rendition. Alola, you're officially two for four. Can you get one more point?

Shameless plug for a moment, Hawaiians also have their own guardian deites called ʻaumākua. I did a post a few weeks ago going over this concept, and I talked about what I think would be the Alolan equivalent of the common na ʻaumākua. Check it out if you want, link provided here: (http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-DISCUSS...m%C4%81kua).

Alolan Hierarchy:

 

 

In terms of social structure, we don't get all that much from Alola. All we know for a fact is that Island Kahunas are akin to elders, and are held in very high regard. Some of them are even treated as leaders, and are respected in ways that average trainers don't fully understand. A kahuna, which actually means 'expert' in Hawaiian by the way, is tasked with the sacred duty of guiding trainers through their Island Challenge, and reminding them to have respect for their pokémon and the island deity that protects them. There's no hint of a president, king, or any other sort of ruler in Alola, so in terms of how hierarchy works, all we know is that Kahunas, and by extension all elders, are respected for their wisdom and life experiences. I'd mention the Elite Four here, but the Elite Four is a very new addition to the Alolan hierarchy, and it will take some time to see its effects before a proper assessment can be done. Maybe we'll see the impact in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon?

Hawaiian Hierarchy:

 

 

Obviously, Hawaii has long since been intergrated as a state of the USA. Therefore, their modern hierarchy consists of a President. However, prior to that, Hawaii had a monarchy. Pictured above is the last queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Queen Lili‛uokalani. Her reign only lasted two years before she was overthrown and replaced by Sanford Dole as President of the Republic of Hawaii. So while it's impossible to tell what form of government runs Alola, compared to Hawaii, there is clearly a similarity between the respect held for ali‛i, the royalty, and the admiration that the Alolans have for older, wiser individuals. For ordinary citizens, elders are and always have been treated with dignity and honor. Therefore, Alola earns its third point.

Conclusion:

While video games and movies are often known for wrongly interpreting cultures and traditions not their own, I can safely say that Sun and Moon did a very good job of portraying its source material correctly. Many aspects were spot on, and other were only tweaked in such minor ways that blowing it out of proportion would just seem foolish. The only area in which Sun and Moon failed was food, but every other aspect was great, so I can't find too much fault in that. Besides, there's so much more I couldn't go into because of time and space in this thread, so I'll leave the rest of it to the readers to do their research and see what other areas in which Alola shines. Frankly, I think a comparison between the music of Alola and Hawaii would be very cool!

Well, that's all for tonight. Again, sorry for posting so late. I'll have a new post going up on Friday, and I hope to see you all there. I hope those that requested this post are pleased, don't forget to vote on the poll, and I will see you all later.

Thanks for reading everyone! Battle onwards, friends!

- 0kamii

[0kamii]

@wartty @iimlF4nT4Sy

So what can I say except, you're welcome?

- 0kamii

[Reis]

wait... "Time and space in this thread"...
sinnoh remakes confirmed

this one must've taken a while to write, looks a lot longer then a lot of other posts xd

[Sharkfang2193]

That was a really interesting read thanks for going out of your way to look up the information to share with us Big Grin

Being able to learn so much about Hawaii culture and to see how close the game relates to actual place was mind blowing . I love how pokemon base their new gens on actual places like Johto being in ancient Japan , anyway i'm getting off track , also it's ok to take your time with the post i wouldn't mind waiting a whole month in order to read 1 not only are they informative there fun to read

P.S My aumakua was the Turtle i just forgot to say it in the comments before also that moana line was real clever it made me burst out singing

[0kamii]

@Reis Not really. It just looks a lot longer than some of the other posts because of how much space the pictures take up. If you were to delete those, it'd be about the same as some of the others. Maybe a little longer, but not by much. I'm glad you stopped by, though. Hopefully you learned something you didn't know before.

@Sharkfang2193 Thanks for the feedback, Sharkfang. Glad to see there are people that enjoy the posts I make. Yeah, this post took a bit of research, but it was really fun to write and I'm always happy to share other cultures. Living in America, I often find that those in the USA idealize their own culture, whilst completely shunning others. I don't agree with that at all, and I think other cultures are some of the most beautiful aspects of our world. And I loved to see Nintendo do it right!

And yeah, I just love Moana for that very reason. And I tagged wartty and iimIF4nT4Sy because they were two of the readers that really wanted this post. I hope they get the chance to read it.

- 0kamii

[wartty]

Omg I can't believe I almost completely missed this post xP that was wonderful to read man really looking forward to more like this <3 found the food to actually be really interesting like what masalada is actually a thing?? That's amazing lol and you didn't really reach for any of this either everything makes perfect sense :D
Id like to see Ultra SuMo show the progression from the kahuna system to something more like the monarchy or democracy once the Europeans arrived. Kinda of like an unforeseen consequence of kukui trying to bring alola into the modern world, but maybe that's too political for Pokemon xP