Is the term

The term Ohana is actually a pretty new word on the geological scale of things.

Here is Google's input for the term:

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=definition+of+ohana&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I use it in the loosest sense of the word, we're all related by our interest in Tiki therefore we are a kind of Ohana.

I use it sometimes in the more personal, familial way meaning my circle of friends are my Ohana. For this use of the word I tend more to the Disney Lilo & Stitch type meaning of no one gets left behind.

Here is where it gets interesting......

I have been accused by a couple of people of being very Un-Ohana Like, or not demonstrating the Ohana Spirit, or some general way of saying I am being unfriendly that includes a link to Ohana in the description.

At the same time I am being accused by these three people over here, I am being applauded by those three over there for demonstrating what Ohana truly means.

Which is it?

Am I being mean and therefore Un-Ohana like?

Or am I showing true Ohana spirit for standing up for or with my friends?

Could this mean Ohana is being co-opted as the new "Kool Kids."

It used to be that if you weren't part of the Kool Kids you were an outcast. We can't do that, the Kool Kids will make fun of us, beat us up, whatever it is the Kool Kids do to people who aren't Kool Kids.

Now the same people, are telling me that I am not 'truly' Ohana. Like they are more Ohana than I am and I should probably just give up trying because I will never be as Ohana as they are.

Or maybe its even worse.... Maybe the Kool Kids are still the Kool Kids, and a group of Not-Kool Kids has finally come together to try and control Ohana.

What do you think?

Is Ohana being taken over as the term du jour?

Who decides what is and what isn't Ohana? And is there some sort of panel of judges where we can plead our cases? an appeals process for Ohana?

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2010-03-14 19:43 ]

Kool Kids? It just means "republicans wearing a Fez".......

That's why I am not only the president of the unkool kids klub.......

......but also a former client!

Actually I find the use of the words "Ohana" and "Aloha" here on Tiki Central very annoying. It almost implies that Tiki and Hawaiian culture are synonymous. As it's been pointed out in prior posts, Tiki is supposed to be exotic, mysterious, edgy, sexist, and politically incorrect.

Now I'm all about civility and friendliness but those concepts are not exclusive to "Ohana" and "Aloha". We've already usurped Hawaiian religious symbology for this mid-century kitsch culture so let's not appropriate any more as if it was our own.

So Chip if people are accusing you of being "Un-Ohana like" here on Tiki Central, I would take that as the greatest Tiki compliment.

I have no idea who the Kool Kids are (and also what's up with this FOM stuff?) How can such a small-circle Geek culture like Tiki be so fragmented? Someone once pointed out here that "Tiki Central is like high school with booze".

Oh well, back to my RFI... (working on a Sunday afternoon, no Tonga Hut for me)

On 2010-03-14 15:57, JOHN-O wrote:
I have no idea who the Kool Kids are

Actually, I don't either. But I hear lots of people talk about the Kool Kids so I know at least two exist. I mean its Plural, right? Kool Kids. That means there are at least two. Somewhere.

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2010-03-14 19:43 ]

Actually, I remembered the phrase "Kool Kids" from something posted here about 6-7 years ago...I just thought it was funny back then, so I keep on using it though I am not always correct about who the Kool Kids currently are! (I just know I am probably not one of them!) I guess the phrase kind of stuck in my head.

To me, Kool Kids would just refer to really stuck up people, who have adopted a notion of what "Tiki" is and what it really means, and if you don;t agree, turn their backs on you.

I am of the old fashioned "Tiki is poly-pop" school of thought. Basically, Sven's books just about sum it up for me. But I know there are people that come from a whole different outlook, one more in tune with the hippies on Maui. Tiki to them is about polynesian culture, and mystical things and using words like "Mana" whereas in my conception of tiki it's more about Anaheim culture in 1961, eating fake cantonese food and living a fake lifestyle of suburban primitism, for example. That's actually what I love about Tiki.

However, I have not really encountered all that many people here on tiki central (in person, at events) that fit the description of a Tiki Snob. Most people in my area are really cool. Many of us know each other, and I see new people here all the time, and noone treats them harshly.

FOM is definitely KOOL KIDS material....

On 2010-03-14 19:14, little lost tiki wrote:
definitely KOOL KIDS material....

Wait.... is it supposed to be ALL CAPS?

Have I been using the term wrong all this time?

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2010-03-14 19:44 ]

i thought sven invented the term "ohana"......

okay okay-relax- .... it's just a joke,......couldn't resist it though...i'd throw any one of you under the bus for a laugh......the timing was perfect in light of the recent mai kai dissapointment debacle.....sorry sven :)

On 2010-03-14 16:55, lucas vigor wrote:
However, I have not really encountered all that many people here on tiki central (in person, at events) that fit the description of a Tiki Snob. Most people in my area are really cool. Many of us know each other, and I see new people here all the time, and noone treats them harshly.

Here's my theory. I think in So CA, people are less uptight because frankly we have TOO MUCH Tiki and/or Poly-Pop culture. Just this last Saturday night there were three events: 1. Hula Girls at ?? 2. Boardwalkers at DTBC and 3. Purple Orchid anniversary party. Decisons, decisons. (And yeah I didn't go to any of them, I was celebrating Pre-Tiki culture at Musso & Frank).

People in Tiki-deprived areas suffer through Poly-Pop withdrawal which makes them mean and judgmental. :D

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-03-15 10:06 ]

I use the term to refer to the Tokyo leprechaun that started a chain of upscale Japanese steak houses.

On 2010-03-14 19:23, Tipsy McStagger wrote:

i thought sven invented the term "ohana"......

okay okay-relax- .... it's just a joke,......couldn't resist it though...i'd throw any one of you under the bus for a laugh......the timing was perfect in light of the recent mai kai dissapointment debacle.....sorry sven :)

Now that's funny. I don't care who you are...

For me, the "ohana" is a closed group. My "ohana" is mainly a gourp of people who were active in this community from 2001-2003 and spearheaded what defined it. People who were at TO at Caliente Tropics and hung out in Romm 351. Was it 351? I forget the number. People who I met at the 1st 2 Hukilau and just bonded with.

Since then, it's just sort of generic. About as real as "Brotherhood" or whatever.

And I also agree that a lot of non-Cali people have thin skin when they deal with Cali people. They project a clique onto people who just honestly are friends because they hang out together. They (we) feel like outsiders more than we should.

"Ohana" has become attached to the Tiki community and means something vaguely like "happy friendly family." Because of its association with a particular group it's a loaded word and one that's used when Person A is accusing Person B of not behaving in the manner that Person A feels Person B should behave. Person A will use "ohana" because he/she figures his/her accusation will have more emotional weight than just telling Person B "You're not being very friendly." ("Where's the aloha?" is a phrase used in a similar manner.)

When someone makes such as an accusation using loaded words he/she is being emotionally manipulative. It's possible that he/she is emotionally immature and needs constant affirmation in order to feel wanted which means he/she relies on the admiration of others for his/her self identity. When he/she feels slighted it genuinely compromises his/her self worth and there may be some lashing out such as accusing a person of not acting like "ohana" or being a "kool kid."

"Kool Kids" is a dismissive term Person A will use when he/she feels there's some group of elites and Person A thinks he/she is being slighted by this group. The actual supposed group probably doesn't think of themselves as a group and would never call themselves "Kool Kids."

They probably also genuinely have no interest in Person A but Person A has never figured out that a lot of people are never going to be his/her friends or think his/her thoughts or work is interesting. Because Person A's sense of self worth is based on how others view him/her Person A will take the indifference of others as an actual attack on his/her person and will attempt to make the others feel bad about themselves by accusing them of being elitist.

Another possibility is that the person accusing someone of not acting like "ohana" is just an ass and lets loose the accusation every time the slightest thing doesn't go his/her way.

Then there's also the possibility that the person being accused of not acting like "ohana" is an ass. If that's the case it would be pointless bringing up his/her unohana vibe because he/she probably doesn't give crap what you think.

The Room Number was 135.

I know because I was there.

very astute, woofs. you may not be a sociologist, but you play one on the internets.

On 2010-03-15 09:57, croe67 wrote:
The Room Number was 135.

I know because I was there.

Ah yes! The people who hung out there are one group, and those who didn't are outsiders. :wink:

No, seriously, the people of TC seemed to have camped out together at the early TOs in that room and seems to have been a real bonding time for the community. Maybe a dividing time if you want. I dunno. I wasn't there, but knew those who were and they became friends and pointed to those times as "formative" to their friendships.

woof, you are droppin the science!

But, if person A is a type B personality, and person B is type A, do we get ABBA?

And who's the Dancing Queen?

Dont answer that....

I wanna be surprised.

:wink:

On 2010-03-15 08:22, The Gnomon wrote:
I use the term to refer to the Tokyo leprechaun that started a chain of upscale Japanese steak houses.

Beef-O'Brady-Sans Steak House!

Benny O'Hana of Tokyo

not to be confused with nohana sushi...

For me, 'Ohana' represents a loose, informal network of like-minded people who are into the tiki scene - for myself that is a group that focuses on cocktails, mid-century architecture, exotica music, Polynesian design, the historical 'myth' of Polynesia as utopia, and a few other things.

The word 'Ohana' also implies that there is a 'un-Ohana' out there. This might be best described as an average person, who if removed from the general population and inserted into a Hukilau-type event, would be confused, or 'not get it' or have the attitude of 'get me away from this crowd'

Someone with Ohana would have the attitude of 'I like this, I want more, I wish to return' Ohana doesn't distinguish between someone like me who was a subscriber of Tiki News way back in 1995, or the newly arrived fresh-faced teenager who shows much more enthusiasm that my middle-aged body can provide, or a person who mostly attends Group Tiki Activity A, or a person who attends Group Tiki Activity B, or a person who chooses to interact mainly via internet.

There are other communities that focus on other things - trains, sports cars, beanie babies, Star Trek, politics, fine food, world travel, theatre, and they might have there own definition of 'Ohana' that fits their own community, but for me Ohana refers to the tiki world.

My view of Ohana tends to have a global/Utopian sense about it, and it includes many people I haven't met, or may not even be aware of.

There are individuals within this scene I enjoy being with more than others - often a reflection of comfort gained from attending past tiki events, or a shared interest in some area outside the tiki world. And yes, there are some people who can be real jerks, but overall the collective good feeling of the global tiki community overshadows them.

Other people feel more comfortable with defining Ohana to be a smaller group of people - and the definitions of 'us' and 'them' then also change. The smaller group may simply be an acknowledgement of being among good trusted friends, or it may have the good aspects of a sports league, where a group works quietly together and strives to better themselves and the world for a common good. A step down, and you're doing your work simply for bragging rights - the 'We've done this, but you haven't' or even worse, the 'We are now better than you' attitudes.

At its worse, the 'us versus them' grows/de-evolves to the feel of a sterotypical urban street gang, where identity is gained mostly by what colors you wear, or how well you adhere to the gang's rules, or how many bare walls you tag (so you can expand your territory), or trashing (verbally or physically) those who are not part of your self-defined 'Homie' circle. It is entirely possible to end up with a Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde group personae, where one set of standards of how to behave is adapted for within the group, and a completely different set of behavior is adapted for outside appearances.

Community/group pride can be a good and very positive thing, but danger is approached when it overshadows and pushes away the more global form of unity that includes all others.

I tend to view myself as an individual, and de-emphasize any collective group identity for myself. I view the others in the tiki community as individuals too, and try to ignore the boundaries of the various smaller groups that have formed within the tiki community. For myself, the global definition of 'Ohana' spirit works well for me.

Vern

[ Edited by: ikitnrev 2010-03-15 16:02 ]

I thought Ohana was made up for Lilo and Stitch. I know that it's a Hawaiian term but no one used it before the cartoon came out. I think of it as a non-word in the sense that it conveys nothing of import for this group - we either get along or don't - it's not like being here bestows some special powers of happiness for all! Many are disappointed by the way they are treated when first coming to TC (everyone is supposed to automatically KNOW to look things up first before or in lieu of asking questions) and then, when they are attacked by the "kool kids" pull out the "where's the ohana" comments.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you HAVE to have a thick skin to hang out here and post pictures of your work and comments on other artists' work because you WILL be brought to task by those in the know. If you like something and you speak out and get clobbered by opposing opinions, you either roll with the punches, and get in a few of your own, or you wither and die - never to be seen on the boards again. I'm glad I stayed on long enough to get past the hurt feelings because I have met and made some really great friends on here and continue to add to my "ohana!" (I couldn't resist using the word! LOL)

As a newcomer to this board, I can say it has been one of the most welcoming 'lifesttyle' boards I've ever been a part of. I personally associate the idea of 'Tiki' with Wild drums and headhunters and zombies and sexual abandon (The 'politically incorrect' notion mentioned earlier) and not so much with the 'Tiki Modern'/midcentury aesthetic and the somewhat more generic 'Hawaiiana' but recognize that for the most part these things are all inextricably linked. I don't think that is something that needs to be corrected - either by me imposing my narrow view of what 'Tiki' really means to me, or anyone else imposing their narrow view of what it means to them.

'Ohana's a very generic term that means different things to different people. Maybe it shouldn't...but it does. Any imaginable 'insult' using the term is equally imprecise - to the point of being meaningless.