Book
Lady friends: Hawaiian ways and the ties that define
Cornell University Press • Ithaca • Published In 1999 • Pages: xi, 175
By: Ito, Karen L. (Karen Lee).
Abstract
This is a study of six urban Hawaiian households. Ito interacted with household members, extended families, and friends; but focused on the mothers, who according to her, are the mainstays of the family. An important set of familial traditions is associated with interpersonal conflict. Disputes and their resolution are invoked by the metaphors 'entanglements' (HIHIA), 'loosening' (KALA), 'cutting' ('OKI), and 'to make right' (HO'OPONOPONO). Negative emotions, such as coldness, unkindness, jealousy, stinginess, and insincerity entangle and bind. They block the smooth functioning of social interactions on which reciprocity and community are based. Path-clearing ceremonies and clearing-the-way prayers are practiced to restore the set of positive emotions associated with the word ALOHA: love, generosity, affection, hospitality, empathy, and warmth. Ito argues that even though urban families are alienated from the land they are able to maintain their identity by practicing the above traditions.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2003
- Region
- Oceania
- Sub Region
- Polynesia
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard
- Field Date
- 1973-1974
- Coverage Date
- 1970-1998
- Coverage Place
- Kalihi, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
- Notes
- Karen L. Ito
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-171) and index
- LCCN
- 99017552
- LCSH
- Hawaiians