Hello MaoliWorld <3

My Name is A.J.

I'm Mixed Hawaiian/Filipino/German/Irish, adopted into a middle class Midwestern (US) white family, and raised to believe I was white, but just "tanned well" (even tho that Tan stuck around all year long).

I have struggled most of my life trying to understand my culture, German and Irish always being the most accessible of the 4, Hawaii just being another American "State", and we never even got into the Filipino. "We're America, a melting pot, everyone is mixed with something".

I can remember the first time I realized that "Hawaiian" might be something deeper inside of me than just the word I used to explain to people why I tanned so well.

I was practicing and teaching myself dance for the first time. The genre of dance I was compelled to learn was called "Liquid" and was based off of fluid movements of the body, focused largely on the hands. I practiced for months, and months, and am far from any sort of even intermediate level, but there's something about those motions that I could connect with, that brought me peace.

Note: Liquid style dancing (from what I understand, and please correct me if I'm wrong) is not Hawaiian, or Hawaiian inspired, and is mostly associated with the Rave scene. But I've never been to a rave, nor have I danced this way drugged or intoxicated.

But about a year and a half later, a close friend of mine who is not Hawaiian, but has roots there, showed me a Hula video, and immediately I noticed the hands, and the motions, and the fluidity, and it knocked me on the floor. It wasn't like learning something new, but something familiar, something I could recognize even tho I had never seen it before.

I know little to nothing about Hula, or Hawaii, Hawaiians, our language, our culture, But I know in my heart I have a connection here.

I look forward to learning, and please feel free to call me out on any ignorance, I'm here to learn, hopefully about myself, my ancestors, and my living community. <3

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