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He Heahea He mai e ku`u hoaaloha o ka `ôlelo Hawai`i. You are welcome, my friend of the Hawaiian language. Ua ao ka `ao`ao `upena nei, ua hiki mai la `oe. Light comes to this webpage, for you are here. Mai! Mai! Eia nô au nei. Come! Come! I am here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ During my early childhood, the heahea [heh' (y)ah heh' (y)ah], a warm welcoming call in a friendly voice to an approaching visitor to a Hawaiian home, was still practiced. In the old days, a kâhea, a chant, followed the heahea to welcome a beloved relative or friend. There was no specific wording for a heahea or kâhea. One was improvised as appropriate for the visitor or the occasion. The purpose of the heahea is to make a person feel welcome, as it is far more heartening and hospitable as a welcome than "How are you?" or "Howzit?" or worse, "Wot you like?." Without a heahea, the Hawaiian visitor, feeling unwelcome, may think: "Auê! O ka nânâ wale mai no kaho`i o ka maka, `a`ohe heahea mai." "Oh no! He merely looks and does not heahea." I hope you are feeling welcome with my heahea, a humble one though it may be, as you are indeed welcome here. Aloha a hui hou, Aunty D |
