Hapa Biography

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Biography Hapa

In the Hawaiian language, hapa is strictly defined as: portion, fragment, part, fraction, installment; to be partial, less. It is a loan from the English word half. However, it has an extended meaning of "half-caste" or "of mixed descent". This is the only meaning of the term in Hawaiian Pidgin, the creole spoken by many Hawai'i residents.

Used without qualification, hapa is often taken to mean "part white", and is short hand for hapa haole. The term can be used in conjunction with other Hawaiian racial and ethnic descriptors to specify a particular racial or ethnic mixture. Examples of this include:

hapa haole (part Caucasian/white)
hapa kanaka (part Hawaiian)
hapa popolo (part African/black)
hapa kepani (part Japanese); the term hapanese is also encountered
hapa pilipino (part Filipino)
hapa pake (part Chinese)
hapa kolea (part Korean)
hapa kamoa (part Samoan)
hapa sepania (part Spanish)
hapa pukiki (part Portuguese)

While the terms haole and popolo are no more inherently derogatory than white or black, they are sometimes used as racial or ethnic slurs. One should be careful using these terms since many Caucasians consider the modern use of the word haole to have racist connotations when used to describe members of that group. Some island residents used the word olopop when referring to African-Americans after African-Americans became aware of the meaning of popolo in modern local slang. The original meaning of popolo refers to the small black berries of a Hawaiian plant. Mary Kawena Pukui wrote that "Because of its color, popolo has long been an uncomplimentary term." Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel H. Ebert, Hawaiian Dictionary, Revised and enlarged edition, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu HI, 1986

Pukui also states that the original meaning of the word haole is "foreigner." Therefore, all non-Hawaiians are technically haole. In practical terms, however, the term is used as described here, with the specific exclusion of Portuguese. Portuguese are traditionally considered to be a separate "race" in Hawaii. Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel H. Ebert, Hawaiian Dictionary, Revised and enlarged edition University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu HI, 1986

Hapa-haole also is the name of a type of Hawaiian music in which the tune and styling are typically Hawaiian, but the lyrics are in English or mostly in English. Kanahele, George S., ed., Hawaiian Music and Musicians, University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu HI, 1979.

The word "hapa" has moved into Hawaiian and California English via reborrowing, and is generally used to describe a person of partial Asian or Pacific Islander racial/ethnic heritage. However, it has been reported in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that many native-Hawaiians feel that a person can only be described as hapa if they are part-Hawaiian, and that a person who is half-Caucasian and half-Asian but who is not also of Hawaiian ancestry should not be described as being hapa.