Haole

Haole (/ˈhaʊliː/; Hawaiian [ˈhɔule]) is a term used in the U.S. state of Hawaii to refer to individuals of European ancestry, in contrast to those of native Hawaiian ancestry and the other ethnicities that were brought in to work the plantations. In the Hawaiian language, the term has been used historically and currently to refer to any foreigner or anything else introduced to the Hawaiian islands of foreign origin. The origins of the word predate the 1778 arrival of Captain James Cook, as recorded in several chants stemming from antiquity. Its use historically has ranged from descriptive to race invective.

History

Haole first became associated with the children of European immigrants in the early 1820s. It unified the self-identity of these Hawaii-born children whose parents were as much culturally different as they were similar. With the first three generations of Haole playing key roles in the rise of the economic and political power shifts that have lasted through the current day,Haole evolved into a term that was often used in contempt especially after the missionaries imposed strict rules prohibiting games, singing, and playing. It evolved further to racial meaning, replacing "malihini" (newcomer) in addressing people of Caucasian descent who move to Hawaii from the U.S. mainland by the 1860s. A 1906 phrase book sometimes translates it to "English (language)".