The interruption in the disruptive impeachment process is certainly welcome at this time of year. Festivals, holidays, parades, and rituals serve to unite people, and take a break from politics.
At their best they create a spirit of kinship, aloha, that says were all in the same, big-blue-marble, canoe. Most northern cultures celebrate the winter solstice, even though it promises a few months of unpleasant weather and in an earlier age maybe hunger. On the other hand, a white Christmas promised easier travel in a one-horse open sleigh, instead of a wagon stuck in knee deep mud of unpaved roads.
The solstice promised rebirth, hours of daylight start getting longer. In a primitive world the longer nights of autumn must have been frightening. If one had a good harvest though, winter could be a season to relax and enjoy the bounty with chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Plowing can wait until the ground thaws again.
On Hawaii we do not have seasons in the northern rotation. On this island, the world’s most compact continent, it is not unusual to have all four seasons at the same time, just a few miles apart. A blizzard on Maunakea, tropical rains in North Hilo, with blistering summer sun in Kawaihae or the Ka’u desert, maybe a hurricane thrown in for good measure.
Seasons here are denoted by other things. The weather really has only two seasons, wet and crazy, that is, wet and unpredictable, not dry. The holiday time, or Makahiki, envelops this time of year and was distinctive for being a break in the normal tribal warfare.
Captain Cook’s arrival during Makahiki on a floating island 100 times the tonnage of any canoe impressed everyone. The sails looked like the standards of god Lono, and the white men had an abundance of magical iron. Their red-mouthed-trumpets — firearms — were fearful.
Fortunately, it was Makahiki and everything was festive. Unfortunately, Cook was forced to return some weeks later, Makahiki was over, the unpredictable weather season had begun and his high expectations spoiled his image as a near divinity. He had simply worn out his welcome.
As 18th century explorers went, Cook was progressive. He asked native peoples the names of features instead of making up European names, like New Zealand, and tried to keep his sailors from spreading diseases.
His arrival will remain controversial, but what’s past is past so we try to do the best we can with the present for the sake of the future. His ship had one of the first chronometers, navigators could finally determine longitude at sea. The Englishmen’s disregard of brutal kapu (no due process) ultimately led to its replacement.
Different cultures have different ways of celebrating the season and some celebrations are not even tied to the solar cycle. We have the richness here of one of the most cosmopolitan populations on earth in a small town with very long streets. Even my little neighborhood of 150 families has representation of every race and more nationalities than I can recall. We can enjoy one another’s customs and definitely one another’s food. The smallest convenience store here has more snack selection than entire malls elsewhere.
Some use the celebrations to divide us from them, but in our culture that seldom works for long. America is an amalgam, so is Hawaii. There is more to gain for both sides by accepting peaceful newcomers that rejecting them.
In addition to new foods and cultural events they often bring new ideas, new skills or find new applications for existing talent. As a result, we have more opportunities for celebration from Kalikimaka to Mardi Gras, Cinco De Mayo, Halloween, Prince Kuhio Day, Chanukah, Ramadan, Kwanza and American Saturday night. You can celebrate whichever ones you want or none at all without being stigmatized. Anything you chose to do that does not affect another is your right, so enjoy, and if you can liberally share that joy with another, even better.
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. He writes a biweekly column for West Hawaii Today. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com
