Kanaka maoli definition
Kanaka maoli means a “Hawaiian native.” MARY KAWENA PUKUI & SAMUEL H. ELBERT, HAWAIIAN DICTIONARY 240 (1986) [hereinafter HAWAIIAN DICTIONARY]. “Kānaka” is the plural form of “kanaka.” Id. at 127. While federal documents distinguish some Native Hawaiians from others based upon an arbitrary blood quantum, this Article uses “Kānaka Maoli” to refer to all Native Hawaiians – descendants of the aboriginal people living in Hawaiʻi prior to 1778. See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 3057k (defining “Native Hawaiian” as “any individual . . . whose ancestors were natives of the area which consists of the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778”). Accordingly, this Article references “Kanaka Maoli,” “Kānaka Maoli,” and “maoli” interchangeably with “Native Hawaiian” and “Native Hawaiians,” respectively.
Kanaka maoli means native Hawaiians.