The Word "Local"

Huakai i Kauai! - This week we’re headed to Kauai. We’ll be making new Hawaiian language content and supporting local where we can.

Did you know that the way we use the word “local” in Hawaii is not how most English speakers use the phrase?

In Hawaii, when we say, “local” we mean “kamaaina” or people and things that are from Hawaii. This can be local foods that have evolved over the years to be unique to this place for example: spam musubi or saimin. This can also be local people who have generational roots in this place from being here for so long for example: descendants of plantation workers. This can also be a way of thinking which can be for everyone who is from here, lives here, and visits.

In other parts of the western world, when they say, “local” it just means something that is particular to a place with no nuances attached. You could be acceptably called a “local {resident}” of a place to which you just moved and no one would disagree.

Hawaii is not this way and I would venture to guess it’s because Hawaiian thought and culture is so tied to aina and genealogy so when we talk about “local” we’re talking about more than just a textbook definition. 

What are your thoughts on this? Would you agree?