INSTITUTE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS
86-641 Puuhulu Road
Wai`anae, Hawaii 96792-2723
Tel: (808) 200-2684
http:\\www.hawaiianperspective.org
HAWAIIAN CODE OF CONDUCT
The conquest of a nation is only complete, not by military subjugation, however thorough, but by destruction of the national consciousness. Therefore, every Hawaiian is responsible to all other Hawaiians for the survival of our Hawaiian cultural identity, our historical memory, our deep and abiding culture of OLA, and our Aloha for our whole environment. We hereby dedicate ourselves to retain, teach and rescue our Hawaiian national consciousness for the sake of our posterity, our fellow Hawaiians, our nation and ourselves.
- Since the Hawaiian language is a fundamental pillar of our identity, we shall make every effort to learn, use, teach and support the sustaining of our Hawaiian language.
- Our Children are the most treasured investments of the values and traditions of our culture. We must make every effort to cultivate in our children the pride in being Hawaiian and provide every possible opportunity for them to learn of the values and traditions of our people.
- We shall practice Aloha, the heritage from our ancestors, mindful of the virtues of Akahai, Lokahi, `Olu`olu, Ha`aha`a, and Ahonui.
- We shall engage in hard work, realizing that laziness breeds unhappiness and weak minds.
- We shall continually strive for spiritual development and adopt an attitude of tolerance and understanding to those who conceive of spirituality in a way different from our own.
- We shall extend and display respect to all others which reflects our own appreciation of humanity. We shall carry our pride quietly, neither boasting of ourselves nor speaking badly of others – often a dishonest method of self-praise. Yet we must be unashamed of our principles and honest in our criticisms.
- We shall try to avoid conflict and cooperate with those who do not understand us and whom we do not understand; yet, we shall speak our truth openly and stand firm in our own beliefs and right to assert our Hawaiian identity.
- We shall be patient, enduring the pains of injustice but never surrendering to or joining such injustice.
- We shall respect and engage in humor, the helper to love and affection, the positive expression of humanity.
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(To be filled in by you.)
Original Draft circa 1982 by Poka Laenui, plaenui@hawaiianperspectives.orgsettlers-code-of-conduct