WEBVTT - What are the Greatest Things We Just Learned about Hawaii? 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.400 Guess what, mengo, what's that? Well, so, you, of course 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:04.680 remember back in our Mental Floss days, and actually this 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:07.080 was our very early Mental Floss days, we did this 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.280 issue called the Most Important Questions in the History of 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:12.560 the Universe. I mean, how can I forget Like, we 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:16.680 answered some of the biggest, most important, most life changing 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:19.599 questions in the history of the universe, like uh, can 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.079 a pregnant women drive in a carpool lane? Or is 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:24.840 there most effective move in Rock paper scissors? It was 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:28.080 really important. Yeah, honestly, I don't know how the world 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.400 lived without knowing these answers. But one of the other 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.280 reader questions that we answered was why does Hawaii have 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.559 interstate highways? Because you know, as cool as it may 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:38.519 sound to be able to drive across the ocean to 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:42.479 one of the Hawaiian islands, that's not possible obviously. As 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:44.760 it turns out, this goes back to the Eisenhower days 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:48.280 and specifically the Dwight D. Eisenhower system of interstate and 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.840 National Defense highways, and this is when the funding came 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:55.040 to build Hawaii's interstates H one, H two, and H three, 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:57.280 and they were largely built as a way to move 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:01.680 supplies between military bases more easily, so the interstate designation 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:03.720 was really just a way to recognize that the roads 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.760 had been built from federal funding. I mean, Hawaii is 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:09.920 such an interesting history, and I've had so many other questions. 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.080 I've really been looking forward to this episode. Yeah, it 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:15.399 definitely is, and it's one of those places we think 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:17.920 we know more about than we actually do. So in 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:20.160 today's episode, we're gonna talk about some of why he's 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.080 fascinating history. We'll talk about some of the origins of 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.240 several things we associate with Hawaii, and share some facts 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:29.120 about the islands beyond just the beautiful beaches. So let's 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:53.240 dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.520 I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:58.040 good friend Manes Ticketer and on the other side of 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:00.800 the soundproof blast. It is actually kind of hard to 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:04.360 look at rocking the loudest Hawaiian shirt I think I 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.760 have ever seen. That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:10.760 It is truly a stunning amount of parents for a 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:14.680 single shirt, and for everybody listening, I do want to 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:17.080 point out that Will did use air quotes just now 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.359 when he said Hawaiian shirt, just so you know, yeah, 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.920 trust me, I'm well aware that most people in Hawaii 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.800 tend to wear way fewer parrot shirts than Tristan does. 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.480 But this actually goes back to something I noticed while 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.359 doing research for today's show, and that's how so many 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:33.440 of the things people associate with Hawaii, you know, the 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:37.560 tropical shirts, ukulele music, pineapples. I mean, He's really have 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.840 more to do with the foreign influence of the colonialists 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.040 and other outsiders than they do with native Hawaiian culture. 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:46.240 And that's what got me thinking it'd be fun to 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:48.600 take a closer look at some of the most iconic 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.360 aspects of Hawaiian really try to get a sense of 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:53.880 where they came from. Now, that way we can get 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:57.440 past the touristy conceptions of Hawaii is this dream vacation 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.519 spot or real life garden of Eden, and and learn 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:04.480 more about what life on these islands is really like. Definitely, So, 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:06.360 so to start, I think we should give a quick 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:08.720 look on terms for how we'll be talking about the 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.480 people who live in Hawaii, because it's actually a little 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:14.040 trickier than it is for other states. Like I'm a 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.480 Georgian and you're an Alabamian, and that's just because of 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.600 where we live. But in Hawaii, the term Hawaiian is 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:24.680 generally reserved for people of native Hawaiian ancestry. In other words, 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:28.000 it's those people who descended from the indigenous people who 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.760 migrated to the islands from Polynesia over a thousand years ago. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.800 And today people in Hawaii who don't share that ancestry 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:37.360 they go by a different name. So even if they 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.520 were born and raised in the state, they're known as 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:43.480 Hawaii residents or else simply as locals. And that's something 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.240 we'll try to keep in mind today, right And that 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:48.000 just thinks you will actually come in handy for this 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:50.240 next part, because I do want to circle back to 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:52.480 these Hawaiian shirts for for just a minute. You know, 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:57.160 despite Tristan's best effort, there's no denying that colorful Hawaiian 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.480 shirts were Aloha shirts as they're sometimes called there, widely 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.640 viewed by many as tacky, and I mean, they've even 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:06.960 kind of become this visual shorthand for the stereotype of, 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.240 you know, the crass, clueless tourists. But I was looking 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.200 into the history of these wearable postcards as one marketer 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:15.640 call them, and it turns out the shirts do have 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.160 some connections to the long standing cultural traditions. It's just 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.960 not quite Hawaii's. Yeah, I was gonna say it didn't. 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:26.280 Most Polynesian voyagers skip the whole shirt thing entirely, Like 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:29.040 it'd be hard to imagine them wearing long flowing shirts 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.240 while hopping from island to island. Yeah. So the real 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.200 story is that back in the eight eighties, American plantation 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:38.920 owners had already settled into the still sovereign Kingdom of Hawaii, 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:42.000 and as their grip on the local economy extended, these 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:46.600 plantation owners started recruiting low wage laborers, mostly from Asian countries, 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:49.080 and the majority of this influx was made up of 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:53.080 Japanese immigrants, and the brightly colored kimonos that they brought 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.280 with them actually served as the foundation for what would 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.800 later become the Hawaiian shirt. But actually, the Japanese culture 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.279 isn't the only influence. You've got the Chinese immigrants that 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:06.720 we're bringing these colorful silks. You had the Filipino families 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.200 that were adding a more relaxed look to the mix 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:11.920 by introducing to the islands these kind of these long 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:16.000 tunics that are traditionally worn untucked. So do the shirts 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.600 actually have any native Hawaiian influence at all? Like, what 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.440 about those patterns? So, as the islands became more and 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:26.039 more dominated by sugar and pineapple plantation, native fashion really 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:28.880 had to adapt to life in the fields. So while 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.760 most Hawaiians had still worn clothes made from lightweight tappa 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.200 cloth prior to the eighteen hundreds, now they needed something 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:37.880 more durable, and so the solution was a new kind 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.200 of fabric that had been introduced by the British and 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.279 American soldiers. And it was this kind of this blue 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.479 and white checker denim that the natives took to calling polaca, 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.920 and that's the Hawaiian word for frock. The natives put 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:51.560 their own spin on it as well. I mean they 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.120 cut off the shirt tails and gave the polacca a 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:58.159 straight hymn so it could be worn outside the pants. Okay, 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.720 So now I guess we have most the characteristics in place, right, Like, 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.440 like we've got these loose fitting shirts, they're worn on tucked, 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.120 and they're also made out of bright, silky, colorful fabrics. 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:10.840 I guess yeah, that's right. And so the only thing 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.840 left to do was shorten the sleeves and liven up 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.039 the patterns. And that's exactly what a University of Hawaiian 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:20.000 student named Gordon Young did back in the nineteen twenties, 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.640 or at least that's what his mother's dressmaker did. Apparently 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:26.680 she worked with Gordon to develop specially tailored shirts from 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:30.120 out of cotton Yukota cloth, and that's the fabric typically 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.320 used to make kimonos. Now. These custom shirts were mostly 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:36.839 white with black or blue patterns depicting bamboo stalks or 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:39.800 geometric patterns. So you know, think of these as the 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:43.080 forerunner of the prototype for the gaudier Hawaiian shirts that 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:46.600 we know today. And so from their Hawaii resident Taylor's 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:49.239 picked up on the new fashion in the thirties and 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:52.599 it really began to popularize these Hawaiian shirts or aloha 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.760 sports where and they were using the same kimono material 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.040 that Gordon had used. But you're skipping the important parts, 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:03.320 like what about pineapple prints. Well, you know, for those 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.240 brighter colors and tropical prints, we have to look to 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.600 artists like Elsie Das And in nineteen thirty six, she 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.440 was commissioned by a local store to create these fifteen 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.800 original Hawaiian prints to be used on a new batch 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.400 of Aloha shirts. And then you had other artists that 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.280 followed her lead and also started drawing inspiration from the 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:24.760 islands where they lived, and so pretty soon Hawaiian shirts 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:28.239 started to look a lot more tropical. Actually, I found 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.280 this great article on the subject by an author named 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:34.119 Dale Hope, and as he explained, Elsie and others started 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.320 to create their own designs, substituting what had traditionally been 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.760 Japanese style motifs and prints on the imported fabrics. Diamond 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:45.600 head was substituted for Mount Fuji, Japanese pine trees changed 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:49.800 to coconut trees, and thatched huts with ocean scenes and surfers, 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:54.840 fish and flowers replaced bamboo. Well, I mean that description 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.040 definitely makes the whole wearable postcards thing ring true, right, 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.720 and since tourists are the buying postcards, it does make 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.000 sense that the shirts would play best in that crowd. 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.600 I am curious, though, what do natives and locals think 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.120 about them, because I imagine there's some mixed feelings over 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:12.320 something that, on the one hand, has very little to 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:15.200 do with Hawaiian culture, but on the other still brings 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.680 in tons of revenue for the islands. Yeah, it definitely does. 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:20.840 And and for the most part, I think you're right 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.160 about those mixed feelings. I mean, the kind of you know, 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.040 making lemons into lemonade mindset. It is really something that 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.200 pops up throughout Hawaiian history, and part of that's the 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:32.000 nature of colonization in general. But it's also just being 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.640 an island civilization. You know, the visitors are constantly coming 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.840 and going and kind of shaping and reshaping bits of 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.280 culture along the way. So when it comes to the 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:45.080 Hawaiian shirt, there was some pushback eventually. Actually, at one 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:49.040 point the shirts were completely banned for employees of Hawaii City, state, 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.199 and federal offices, and even from banks and a lot 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.880 of corporate offices. And the thing was that the laid 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:58.160 back shirts would promote sloppiness at work. So I'm guessing 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:01.079 casual fridays on a thing in hawai It's funny that 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:02.920 you mentioned that, because I actually read about this big 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:06.240 push in the sixties from Honolulu's fashion industry, and it 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:10.360 was called Operation Liberation. It was basically a campaign to 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.720 overturn the ban and and get office workers in Hawaii 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:17.360 to start wearing lighter, more comfortable clothing, especially when you 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:20.200 think about that humid climate that they have there. And 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:22.560 so part of this centered on the Aloha shirts, and 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.839 in fact, some manufacturers even promoted the movement by giving 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:28.880 out two free shirts to every member of the state 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.160 Senate and House of Representatives. I like that. How did 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.080 this bribe actually work? It kind of did. Yeah, So 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.160 by nineteen sixty six, the government had relaxed its stance 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:41.800 and even began encouraging employees to wear the colorful shirts 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.120 on the last day of the work week, and these 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.679 were dubbed Aloha Fridays. Then, once word of the practice 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:49.480 spread to the rest of the States, it was given 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.480 a more continental name and casual Fridays were born. Oh 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:55.679 that's really amazing. So uh, if you don't mind, I 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:58.120 actually want to switch gears now and talk about a 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.680 product of the islands whose Hawaiian ru are a lot 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.319 more clear cut, and that's surfing. So the sport went 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.840 mainstream thanks largely to early twentieth century athletes like Duke 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.440 Khano Moku and he was a five time Olympic swimming 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:14.600 medalists who later became a surfing ambassador and that's when 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.440 he started giving surfing demonstrations along the Southern coast in 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.679 the nineteen tents. But while Duke is widely known as 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.599 the father of surfing today, his ancient ancestors in the 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.880 Polynesian Islands actually practiced the sport long before him, and 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.520 to them it was much more than just a sport. 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:32.760 In the Hawaiian Islands, riding waves came to carry this 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:37.040 social and even religious importance. For example, when Hawaiian's found 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.160 a tree that they thought would make for good surfboards, 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:42.120 they would leave offerings that it's based before carving it up, 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.839 and surfers also sought the help of special priests called kahunas, 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.640 who would help them pray for choice waves and even 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:53.200 give thanks after surviving and especially nasty wipeout. That's pretty interesting, 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:55.800 but it was still a sport then, too, right, definitely, 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:58.920 so ancient wavesliders would compete against each other over stuff 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.960 like who could ride the fastest or farthest, or who 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.920 could catch the biggest wave, and everybody got in on it, 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.040 like all Hawaiians were free to surf, regardless of age, gender, 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.120 or even social class. But to be fair that there 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.000 was a little classes m when it came to the 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:15.640 kind of board you could ride, so most people wrote 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.000 these alia boards, which were pretty thin, they weren't too big, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:22.120 and somewhat comparable to modern short boards. But then there 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:25.360 were also these ones called olo boards, and they were 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.839 these like humongous planks that only chieftains were allowed to use. 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.319 And honestly, I have no idea how they wrote these 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:34.200 things because olo boards were about twice as long as 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.760 today's long boards, which means, you know, um, they were 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.640 like eighteen to twenty feet on average. It's crazy. Oh 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:44.240 my god, just trying to imagine standing on something that's 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:47.640 eighteen feet long in the ocean. It's a I don't know, 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:49.600 I can't imagine doing that. But all right, So did 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:51.920 you get any sense for how old surfing is, because 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.600 it sounds like several centuries at least, right, So, nobody 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.400 knows for sure when this wave sledding got its start, 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:00.600 but the first written account of it goes back to 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.600 the seventeen seventies. Then it was clear even then that 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.040 the practice had already been around for a very long time. 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:08.880 In fact, I've read about this discovery a couple of 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.400 years back, where archaeologists uncovered a series of petroglyphs that 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.840 supposedly depict people's surfing, and the figures were carved into 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.920 sandstone along the coast of the island of Oahu, and 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:22.280 experts believe the markings are about four hundred years older, 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.480 so which is about two hundred years before Europeans first 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.240 made contact with Hawaii. All right, so there's no doubt 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:30.320 about it then. I mean, surfing is a true part 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:33.680 of native Hawaiian culture. And just to bring this full circle, 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:36.280 I actually learned while reading up on these aloha shirts 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:39.079 that they share the same point of origin with board shorts, 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:42.200 which is that polacca cotton stuff I mentioned earlier. And 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:44.800 in the early days of surf culture in the twentieth century, 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:48.199 the serious surfers would go to these specialty Japanese tailor 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.920 shops in Hawaii and they'd order these custom fitted shorts 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.640 made from polacca cotton. So, just like with the field 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:59.000 workers of old Hawaii, these surfers needed something comfortable yet durable, 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.079 and once again, paloca fit the bill. That's pretty cool, 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.280 and I know that a native Hawaiian would have their 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:06.960 own thoughts about this, but as an outsider, I do 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.560 really love how aspects of these different times in Hawaii's 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:12.640 history tend to overlap and blur in places. It's kind 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:14.880 of a testament to the people of why vote, to 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.439 their endurance and to their ability to sort of roll 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.520 with the punches in order to preserve what matters to them. Oh. Absolutely, 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.520 And I think another interesting example of that overlap is 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.600 in the folklore surrounding the islands themselves. Like take Pelee 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:32.439 for instance, as the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, is the 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.440 subject of all sorts of legends. Some of them connect 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.640 with native Hawaiian mythology, and some of them are completely 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.800 made up just for the tourists. Well, I definitely want 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.040 to spend a few minutes dissecting which is wished. But 0:13:44.120 --> 0:14:00.400 before we do, let's take a quick break. Welcome back 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.760 to Part Time Genius, and we're talking about the colorful, 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.680 the complicated history of Hawaii. So well, I, I know 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.160 you've got a bizarre modern legend about Pale that you're 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.280 itching to talk about, but first I did want to 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.079 share some of the real traditional folklore she's connected with. 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.840 For instance, did you know Pale can't stand pork products? 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.000 I can't say that I knew she had feelings for 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.160 them one way or other. But but what's the story here, 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.760 why does she not like pork? Well, this comes from 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:27.680 an old myth where Pale had a falling out with 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.680 one of her one time boyfriends. This guy come up 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:34.640 Poa and you know Kamapua right like, he's the Hawaiian 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.520 demigod who's half man half pig. Oh that kma Pa. 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.080 Sure of course I know, Okay, So appairly, when the 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.200 pair of split, Pale chased her old bow with a 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.800 lava flow until he's cornered on the windward side of Honolulu. 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:51.600 And then as the lava creeps closer, Kamapua lie down 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.560 on the ground and began to chant, and this causes 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.480 the earth and the trees to rise up and hold 0:14:56.480 --> 0:15:00.200 back the lava until suddenly it rains and cools everything own. 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:02.960 So then Paley is like, all right, I guess I 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:04.880 can't kill you, So how about we just agree to 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.200 stay on separate sides of the island. And this sounds 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.720 great to come up Pua, So he settles into lush, 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:14.280 green windward side and Paley takes the dry, arid leeward 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:18.120 side fair enough. So so you're saying Pale is still 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:21.120 holding a grudge against swine because of this, so to 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.480 this day, like visitors are warned not to bring pork 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.200 over the Polly highway that connects the leeward side to 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:30.160 the windward side. And since Kamapua was part pig, hauling 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.400 pork is a symbolic way of bringing him back to 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.480 Paley's turf. And if you try to do that, Pale 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.360 will do her best to stop you, Like you might 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.000 be called away on some emergency, or your car could 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.760 break down along the way, or if an old woman 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.560 with a dog should appear during your journey. That's actually 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:49.200 Pale offering you an easy way to dispose of your 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:51.560 forbidden pork. You could just feed it to the hungry 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.760 pop and be on your way and then do kind 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.280 of like that. With all her fiery wrath, Plee still 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:00.240 can't stand the thought of people wasting pork. I mean, beyond, 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.440 she's a pretty considerate raffle deity in a way. Yeah, 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:06.320 it's pretty amazing. So if you're looking to get on 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:10.200 her good side, Pale apparently loves gin or any quality whiskey, 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.480 or at least that's what one longtime Hawaii resident said, 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:17.400 because for nearly forty years, this woman named Leatris tried 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.560 to keep the Mauna Loa volcano from erupting by routinely 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:22.920 tossing bottles of gin into it while flying in a 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.320 small charter plane. So this is what Leetrice told reporter 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.120 in the eighties. She said, quote, I've come to respect 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:32.040 Madam Pale. I have a feeling that she wants to drink. 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:35.600 I can't say my blame or given some of the 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.360 rumors people have spread about her. And actually, for instance 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.480 one of these, have you heard of Paley's curse? It's 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.840 this idea that the goddess will inflict bad luck on 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:47.520 any visitor who takes rock, sand, or other natural artifacts 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:50.520 from the Hawaiian islands. But while you're pale pork legend 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:53.720 got it start as a native Hawaiian tall tale. Pale's 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.080 curse is actually just this modern myth that was likely 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:59.080 started by a resentful park ranger. So and now that 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:00.920 you explained that, I actually do you remember reading something 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.040 about this for our park Ranger episode? Like it was 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.360 a warning they gave tourists to try and keep them 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.640 from taking home all these volcanic rocks as keepsakes, right, yeah, 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.200 that's the theory, although some people maintain it was actually 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:14.960 something that tour guides told visitors so they wouldn't drag 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.600 a bunch of rocks and sand onto their busses and 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:21.160 places like that. But regardless, the curse has been propagated 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:23.960 by guide books and travel websites, and this has gone 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:27.119 on for decades now, so so that hundreds of visitors 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:30.360 now send thousands of pounds of rocks back to Hawaii 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:32.920 every single year, just in an attempt to ease their 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:37.000 guilty consciences and reverse their bad fortune. I like that 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.440 once again, there's like an easy way to break the curse. 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.720 I feel like ple is just a big softie. Maybe so, 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.480 But you know, when the legend first started circulating in 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:49.400 the mid nineteen forties, there was no mention of returning 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:51.720 what you stole as a way to change your fortune. 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.919 And all that bit of wishful thinking was actually added 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.360 later by tourists who were just desperate for a way 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.679 to explain and and maybe fix the problems in their lives. 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.240 So now all these packages are frantically sent to Hawaiian 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:08.800 post offices and town halls, even directly to the Hawaii volcanoes. 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.800 National Park and a lot of the time the bits 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:15.320 of rock or sand. They're accompanied by these heartfelt letters 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.360 and they describe the bad luck that the senders hope 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:20.919 to undo. And some of the stuff is really heavy, 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.320 like you can find people writing about bounce of cancer 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:26.280 or divorce or jail time. And then you get these 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:28.680 other letters which are just hard not to laugh at, 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.520 Like I came across this one that reads, we won 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.240 the six hundred thousand dollar lottery. We would have won 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:36.479 the two million dollar lottery if it wasn't for this, 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:40.720 Please take the rocks back before more bad luck. I mean, 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.480 it does sound a bit like a double edged swords right, like, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:45.920 on on one hand, some letters are probably gonna be 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:49.520 pretty entertaining or maybe even inspiring, But on the other hand, like, 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:52.399 how frustrating must it be to have to deal with 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.320 this endless dream of stolen rocks and apology letters from 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.679 guilty touris just coming your way? Oh totally it. But 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:00.560 you know, I do want to mention that even though 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:04.159 Pale's curses a modern invention it it does have some 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.600 roots in real Hawaiian mythology. I read this great piece 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.399 in Pacific Standard where they talked to the director of 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.720 the University of Hawaii at Manoahs Center for Hawaiian Studies, 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.880 and she helps trace some of the connections in this way. 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:20.720 She says, rocks in Hawaii have their own personalities, male 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:23.879 and female. They don't like to be disturbed. Rocks in 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:26.760 the volcano are made by Pele and they are kapu. 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:29.400 That is, they have a kind of sanctity, and it's 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.080 definitely bad luck to take them away from the volcano. 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.399 I mean, that's interesting. But in this case, if returning 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:37.760 the items doesn't break the curse, does that mean people 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:41.439 are just stuck with their bad luck of missing winning 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:44.320 the lottery by millions forever? But I wanted about that too, 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:47.160 and I actually found some pretty sage advice on the subject. 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:49.600 And this was from a retired historian at the University 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.480 of Hawaii, and she says, if you took a stone, 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:56.520 perhaps unknowingly or without meaning disrespect, I would recommend a 0:19:56.600 --> 0:20:00.359 ceremony rather than sending the rocks back, just say release 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:04.080 me from this kapu. Just let it go. Well, that's 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:06.359 definitely a better option and a cheaper one than mailing 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:09.119 rocks to park rangers. But you know, given the way 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:11.320 Hawaii became a state in the first place. There is 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:15.119 something sort of ironic about sending back the stolen pieces 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:17.800 of Hawaii back to you know, this island that was 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:19.800 taken away from the people. Yeah, I know what you mean. 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:22.040 And without getting to dour, I do think we should 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.199 address the elephant in the room and and talk a 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:26.680 little bit about Hawaii became part of the US to 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.479 begin with, because this year actually marks the hundred and 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:34.920 twenty fifth anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Now, 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.040 prior to that time, Hawaii was recognized internationally as a 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:40.480 sovereign nation, and it was under the rule of Queen 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.520 Lily Okolani, and she had inherited the throne from her 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:47.639 brother just two years earlier. But Hawaii's fertile volcanic soil 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:50.359 and close proximity of the States had long made at 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.760