Hau’oli La’Eha o lulai
Our Hawaiian word of the week is “Hau’oli La’Eha o lulai” which means “happy July 4th.”
Hau-oli means “happy.”
Say that with me, “HOW OH LEE”
La is like the word “the”
Eha means 4, or “fourth.”
Say, “la eha”
O means “of.”
Lulai means “July.”
Say OH LOO-LIE
All together, please repeat after me, HOW-OH-LEE LA EHA OH LOO-LIE
Great!
In Hawaii, July 4th is a big holiday because local people love fireworks to the point that it’s insane and probably illegal. The reason Hawaiians say Happy July 4th, Hau’oli La’Eha o lulai—
We do not say Happy Independence Day, KOO-OKO- AH “Lā Kūʻokoʻa, because that’s reserved for Hawaiian Independence Day which we celebrate in November.
There is a movement called the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement which reminds people that Hawaii was a queendom, a garden ruled by a loving queen before the American government arrested her and stole our native lands.
Local people can’t get enough of fireworks— they buy them in giant 10 ton cargo containers from China— and then proceed to explode the entire island.
They’ll do that—They’ll say happy July 4th, but they won’t say Happy independence— Koo-oko-ah— unless it’s referring to Hawaiian independence.
