Hānai

For other uses, see Hanai.
Look up hānai in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Hānai is a term used in the Hawaiian culture that refers to the informal adoption of one person by another, regardless of the age involved.[1] It can be used as an adjective, such as "hānai child", or as a verb "to hānai" someone into the family.

In the Hawaiian culture, hānai has historically been a practice of one family hānai-ing their child into another family. It has made tracing genealogical roots somewhat more complicated.[2]

When Winona Beamer spoke about the issue of hānai and its relevance to admission at Kamehameha Schools, she had first-hand knowledge of the practice in her immediate family. Kaliko Beamer-Trapp was born in England, but emigrated to the United States with his biological mother. When Beamer decided to hānai Kaliko into her family, it was with a special hānai ceremony.[3]

Other Polynesian cultures, such as the Tahitians and the Māori, have similar practices of adoptions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Staton, Ron (August 24, 2003). "Native blood and custom clash". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
  2. ↑ "Hanai and Adoptions". Hawaiian Roots. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  3. ↑ "The Life of the People". Ke Ola Magazine. November 1, 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, July 08, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.