Moke (slang)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Moke is a person who is a local of one of the Hawaiian Islands.[1]
Fluency in Hawaiian pidgin is a common characteristic of a Moke, as is native Hawaiian, Samoan, or other Pacific Islander ancestry. Mokes of Filipino, Chinese, Japanese or Caucasian ancestry are uncommon (listed in decreasing order), but not unheard of.
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[edit] Tita
Titas are the female counterpart to Mokes.[2] Titah are "usually large, always tough, [and] very local."[1] Self-identified Titas include Haunani-Kay Trask,[3] Mililani B. Trask and Linda Lingle.
[edit] Political Ideology of Mokes
Many Mokes believe that the white man took over and degraded Hawaii. Captain James Cook is the usual scapegoat in these situations. His name is often invoked without true understanding of the postcolonial history of his life and death. His death in 1779 off the coast of Kealakekua Bay is often considered just. Consequently, finding a haole is a usual battlecry for a Moke hunting party.
Mokes in contemporary culture have been given agency by the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s. This newfound agency consequentially marginalizes academic work produced by non-native scholars, and "credentialing" is the de facto modus operandi for non-native scholars seeking to establish their claim to writing on native subjects. Kanalu G. Terry Young's review of Turning Tide: The Ebb and Flow of Hawaiian Nationality stresses non-local Niklaus R. Schweizer's credibility as contingent upon his "congenial personal demeanor that comes with a ready smile. To do the kind of work he did for this book demonstrates his aloha for these islands and their indigenous people."[4]
[edit] History of Mokes in Literature
John William's A Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands is one of the earliest records of Mokes in literature. Williams, a missionary with the London Missionary Society equates mokes with "Heathen Darkness," a claim that suggests the later antagonism between Caucasians and "locals" over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century.[5]
Later portrayals include W. S. Merwin's The Folding Cliffs,[6] and Paul Theroux's Hotel Honolulu.[7]
[edit] Recreation
Mokes usually participate in one or more of the following recreational activities:
- Surfing
- Bodyboarding
- Bodysurfing with McDonalds Tray
- Hawaiian Canoe Paddling
- Wearing tank tops
- Hunting wild boars
- Spearfishing
- Driving a Lifted Pickup
- Listening to Reggae/Jawaiian Music
- Playing an ukulele
- Stealing shoes/slippahs
- Smoking pakalolo
[edit] References
- ^ a b Pidgin Guide
- ^ Carroll, Dennis and Elsa Carroll. "Hawaiian Pidgin Theatre" Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. 28, No. 1. (Mar., 1976), pp. 56-68.
- ^ Luangphinith, Seri. "Homeward Bound: Settler Aesthetics in Hawai'i's Literature" Texas Studies in Literature and Language. Vol. 48, No. 1, Spring 2006. pp. 54-78.
- ^ Young, Kanalu G. Terry. "Book Review of Turning Tide: The Ebb and Flow of Hawaiian Nationality" The Contemporary Pacific" Vol. 13, No. 1, Spring 2001. pp. 292-293.
- ^ Williams, John. A Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands; with Remarks upon the Natural History of the Islands, Origin, Languages, Traditions, and Usages of the Inhabitants. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1837. p.2
- ^ Merwin, W. S. The Folding Cliffs. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Press, 2001.
- ^ Theroux, Paul. Hotel Honolulu. Boston: Mariner Books, 2001.
