Posted by Lani on August 22, 2000 at 22:27:36:
SUCCESS AT LAST!
The day before yesterday, I was the only person in the world who knew that Huna (in English) wasn't huna (in Hawaiian)! Now there is another. I just got this e-mail from a site Lamaku suggested to me, I had posted on the "Huna" controversy there.
He is fluent in Hawaiian, may be Hawaiian himself.
In it he now sees, perhaps for the first time, why there came to be such hostility and bad feelings between Hawaiians and the haumana of Max Freedom Long and Huna.
He's going to post it as a FAQ of some sort on his site!!!
Man, I'm impressed. Soon, in another generation or so, the hostilities should come to an end!
I'm so happy.
I received a transmission from a wonderful haumana wahine of mine.
She didn't completely understand the e-mail I sent her on it, but she sure thought I sure sounded smart!
But, of course, I'm not. I've been with the Hawaiian language for 35 years now of my 55, actually some more I think. And it took me this long before my realization. To me, I'm a dunce. No doubt about it.
In any case, since this has been the source of so many hostile actions, let me try to convey it to you again. In case you didn't understand my meandering before:
Hawaiian doesn't use capital letters; it is more advanced than that (English capital letters would be equal to Hawaiian, except for the fact that they are not pronounced in English. For example, if a person speaks to you and asks you, "How is your ford?" Is "ford" a common noun, a "ford" (that is, a number of stones forming a walkway across a stream) or a, "Ford" (an automobile made by the Ford Automobile Co.)?
It makes all the difference in the world doesn't it?
If you say, "Ford" but the other person hears "ford" there is bound to be a lot of confusion there.
How does Hawaiian handle it?
Hawaiian uses the "o emphatic" to precede all proper nouns. IOW the little "o" in front of a word changes it from a common noun into a proper name.
So if someone were to ask me my name in Hawaiian, "O wai koi inoa?"
I could answer "lani ko`i inoa." But what would this mean? "My name is too high for you to understand."
Bummer. Or maybe I would answer, "O lani ko`i inoa." What would that say? "My name is Lani."
So whenever a person asks a person who speaks Hawaiian, "Is Huna (of Max) a part of the native practices?" His answer will always HAVE to be, "NO!"
And he would be correct. Max Freedom Long didn't invent secrets (one of the meanings of the Hawaiian common noun, "huna").
BUT (!), What if you asked the same question, but asked, Did Max (found is an incorrect word, maybe something like popularize) o huna?
The only answer is, "I don't know.", or, "Yes".
In Hawaiian, Max Freedom Long founded the religion of "o huna".
In English, Max Freedom Long founded the religion of "Huna".
BUT Max DIDN'T found (in Hawaiian) "huna". He founded "o huna" (pronounced ohuna".)
Your pal,
Lani