• Clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        5 days ago

        Sounds like he was speaking Pidgin. I’m guessing you know this, but for the others: Haole are people not from the island, but doesn’t always apply to tourists from what I have read.

        Hawaiian identity is somewhat complicated.

        • TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          5 days ago

          It’s complicated… Hawaiian pidgin developed in the late 1800s from multi ethnic plantations. It’s a blended version of English with Hawaiian, Portuguese, Japanese, Cantonese, and Filipino languages. It’s not really distinct to a single ethnicity on the islands, it’s spoken by around half of the population of Hawaii. So it’s more of a distinction that you are a local rather than being a native Hawaiian.