Remapping Hawai'i and reconstructing localism in Lee Cataluna's plays

Remapping Hawai'i and reconstructing localism in Lee Cataluna's plays

著者（英） Masami Usui

journal or

publication title

Doshisha literature

number 49

page range 57‑80

year 2006‑03‑15

権利（英） English Literary Society of Doshisha University

URL http://doi.org/10.14988/pa.2017.0000014848

Remapping Hawai'i and Reconstructing Localism in Lee Cataluna's Plays

MASAMIUSUI

1. Introduction.

As a Pacific islander, Lee Cataluna represents the emerging generation by challenging a new cultural and social remapping of America in her Hawaiian plays. In Hawai'i, which has been victimized by colonialism, capitalism, Americanization, and globalization, Cataluna's remapping signifies a dual reconstruction of localism: the culture of Hawaii's local islands and towns against Honolulu, and that of the Hawaiian Islands against the Mainland. As a former news anchor for a local television sta- tion, and currently a columnist for Hawaii's oldest and most authoritative newspaper, the Honolulu Advertiser, Cataluna examines the unknown and neglected facets and continuing conflicts of local Hawai'i as the mul- tilayered embodiment of political, economic, legal, social, geographical, cultural, and linguistic otherness/uniqueness within the United States of America.

Cataluna conveys political issues to her audience in comedies and musicals, mostly commissioned by the Kumu Kahua Theatre, a non- profit-making local theatre in Hawai'i. Her plays include Da Mayah (1998), Aloha Friday (2001), Super Secret Squad (2002), Folks You Meet in Longs (2003), and Half Dozen Long Stem (2004), as well as The Kona- Town Musicians and Musubi Man, children's plays for the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and such musicals as Ulua (1999) and You Somebody (2002) for the Diamond Head Theatre. Cataluna, a playwright as well as columnist, is blessed with natural talents such as "a keen sense of obser-

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vation, the intellect to process the date," and "a sense of empathy for characters" (Burlingame "Politics"). Her satirical plays can be appreciat- ed not only by local people familiar with local topics and Pidgin English, but also by those who are concerned with a conflict between globalization and localism in a transnational context. In remapping Hawai'i and recon- structing localism in her plays, Cataluna attempts to show that localism is represented by three interwoven subjects: the land-environmental issue, the eco-political issue, and the socio-cultural issue.

n.

Cataluna's plays are grounded upon the idea of Hawai'i as an unique landscape with a rich natural heritage, yet whose ecological system was violated by foreign species and whose environment was severely dam- aged by land development. The environmental issue is, therefore, a nec- essary factor to understand Hawaii's struggle for their lost land, its his- tory, heritage, and also people. Ulua and Aloha Friday, which are set in the local towns of Maui and Kauai respectively, illustrate how Hawai'i has been sacrificing its nature, land, and ecology to land development.

Cataluna employs fishing in Ulua and hunting in Aloha Friday as signif- icant metaphors for Hawaii's lively traditions that faced a crisis in Hawaii's industrialization, urbanization, capitalization, and Americanization. Both fishing and hunting were part of traditional life- styles and rituals related to Hawaii's natural environment, both ocean and rainforest.

In spite ofthe fact that Hawai'i is mapped within the political sphere of the United States of America, Hawaiians are ethnically, linguistically, and culturally included in the category of Indigenous Islanders of the South Pacific. The Hawaiian Islands are located in the Polynesian Triangle, with Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Papanui (Easter Islands).

These islanders traveled and migrated by canoes, and the sea as a natur- al resource is absolutely essential for them to survive. They depend on the sea for their diet, transportation, and sport (Coleman 24) as well as for their cultural and ritual space. Fishing is primarily an everyday prac- tice of getting food so that it symbolizes Hawaii's appreciation of nature and its creatures. The marine resources that are closely connected with the local economy, diet, and cultural heritage confronted a crisis in the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries due to Hawaii's industrialization and urbanization.

Fishing in the Pidgin musical, Ulua, which means a Hawaiian fish (see Appendix 1), signifies the local people's tendency to view fishing as a part of their lives and tradition, though it is pointed out that Cataluna may employ fishing as "sex, with good comic results" (Berger, "Cataluna's 'Ulua' Tasty"). In Ulua, a dropout from the University of Hawai'i, Kayden, leaves Honolulu and his girlfriend, and migrates to Maui to find a construction job, yet he is soon deeply involved in fishing with his Maui colleagues. The contrast between HonolululOahu and Maui represents the gap in local people's lives. Honolulu became a global city after various kinds of development; while Maui as a tourist place is under develop- ment and its environmental change is crucial. The contrast is, moreover, witnessed in another gap between the rapid land development for hotels and attractions and the growth of job opportunities. Under the leadership of Linda Lingle, the former Mayor of Maui County (1999 to 2002) and currently Governor of Hawai'i (2002-), "with her innovative and collabo- rative approach in developing tourism and new jobs on Maui" ("Linda Lingle Elected Governor of Hawai'i"), Maui was successfully transformed into the "Best Island in the World" and the islanders' unemployment problem was solved.

In such circumstances, Cataluna presents to us ulua (Hawaii's fish) as

a symbol of Hawaii's unique marine resource with "cultural, scientific, ecological, aesthetic and functional values" ("Evaluation" 1). As shown in many names except ulua, and also different names according to the dif- ferent growth stages for ulua, ancient Hawaiians discovered many species of ulua in Hawaiian waters and Hawaii's ulua has been consid- ered "an important food, market and game fish since at least the turn of the century" ("Evaluation" 1-2). In ancient Hawai'i, ulua played an essen- tial role in Hawaiian religious rites, as 'ulu' means "possessed or inspired by a god," so that the fish became a substitute if a human sacrifice was unavailable ("Evaluation" 3). Because the ulua was culturally and reli- giously recognized as an akua (a god), only the ali'i (the ruling class) were allowed to fish for ulua, just as was the case with the mano (shark) in ancient Hawaii. Found in Hawaiian sayings, legends, and chants, ulua was a popular and distinguished fish for Hawaiians. Among them, the large-scale, strong image of ulua remains in the well-known saying, "Ka

o

ulua kapapa ⁰ ke kai loa" (The ulua fish is a strong warrior or fighter) ("Evaluation" 3). Thus, ulua connotes Hawaii's ecological, cultural, and ritual uniqueness and dignity that has been handed down for generations from the ancient times to our contemporary era.

The transformation of the way the ulua is fished and understood, moreover, represents Hawaii's transformation as fishing ulua changed from the ancient sport of the ali'i to small-scale artisanal and coastal fishing from canoes in the nineteenth century, to commercial and indus- trial fishing at the beginning of the twentieth century, and ultimately to sport fishing at the end of the twentieth century. In 1898, when Hawai'i was annexed by the United States of America, it was recorded that approximately 2000 commercial fishermen among 150,000 residents were registered and they caught over six million pounds of fish (quoted from Shomura, "Evaluation" 5). The next century witnessed the growth of

more industrialized fishing practices. In 1990, however, landings of ulua decreased since the major fisheries stopped dealing with them because of the unknown ciguatera contamination of the species ("Evaluation" 6).

Hawaii's modern recreational fishing with rod and reel of ulua had start- ed by 1914 and became so popular that people competed not only in local fishing clubs but also internationally for ulua over 100 pounds. According to 1996 data, there were then 32,000 recreational ulua fishermen in Hawai'i ("Evaluation" 7). Organized and more recreational ulua fishing demonstrates the Hawaiian lifestyle and also marine sport. Ulua as a rich marine resource represents Hawaii's ecology, which has been directly related with the lives of Hawaii's people. The Honolulu-based young local man's absorption into fishing in Cataluna's Ulua symbolizes Hawaiian people's wish to return to the past and their tradition, and also to regain their sense of pride and identity.

In addition to the sea, the land is also sacred and has to be shared for Hawaiians; moreover, the land should neither be privately owned, sold, nor purchased in ancient Hawai'i. This value system rooted in the land originates from Hawaiian traditions, yet it was destroyed when Euro- American capitalists deprived local people of their land. In 1848, King Kamehameha III was advised by Caucasian mentors to divide the Islands and sell the land, first among the monarchy and later even the Hawaiian commoners. This privately owned land was eventually pur- chased at quite low prices by Caucasian planters, so that the land was namely stolen, occupied, and controlled by non-Hawaiians (Coleman 26).

Consequently, Hawaiians lost their sacred and shared lands and their cultural heritage deeply rooted in the land, and eventually suffered the loss oftheir homes, lifestyle, and sense of dignity.

Hunting in Hawai'i is not an action to violate nature, but to protect its own land and ecology. Hawaii's rich and unique ecosystem was trans-

formed as humans had brought foreign species over the past 1,600 years.

From the time when the first Polynesians migrated across the South Pacific Ocean to Hawai'i in A.DAOO, Hawaii's unique ecosystem has been critically violated. The means to solve this violation was hunting to slaughter the foreign species, and ironically, it became Hawaii's tradi- tional sport and cultural heritage (Crawford 108-09). By the mid-twenti- eth century, hunting wild boars was popular among Hawaiians; even in the twentieth century, hunting was still necessary to obtain food and it is also one of the professions for local people, especially in local islands.

Hunting in Hawai'i is traditionally an action to supply local people with the necessities oflife including food and also products oftaxidermy.

In Aloha Friday, the TV program entitled "Shooting Goat with the Two Monizes" that stars two brothers hunting in the rainforest of Kauai is representative of Hawaii's traditional sport and cultural heritage.

Milton: On camera Howzit, howzit Kauai. Thanks for joining us on yet another installment of "Shooting Goat with the Two Monizes."

I'm your host, Milton Moniz. Dis my bradda, Dilton Moniz. Togedda', we da Two Monizes. Would be the Three Monizes, but our odda brad- da Hilton Moniz stay working hotel. In this edition of "Shooting Goat with the Two Monizes", us guys going be taking you to Hanakapiai, where we will shoot goat, clean gun and smoke meat. We'll visit with kupuna Uncle Choochie Naai, who will reminisce about the good old days when he used to shoot goat and all kind endangered stuff you no can shoot anymore. Legally, I mean. Later, we going Koke'e, where we will look da scenery and shoot goat. And also, a special seg- ment: "Shooting Goat with the Two Monizes" goes on the road. We'll head out to the beautiful island of Molokai where we will, you guessed it, shoot goat. So grab your cold pack, load your weapon, and gather the children for some fun family entertainment as we go shoot goat! You ready, Dilton? (9-10)

There is, however, a contrast offered between the growing hotel/tourism business and the disappearing practice of hunting among the three local brothers in Kauai. With the rapid growth of tourism, at the same time, the exploration of nature became an attraction and jobs were created for tourist guides as well as construction workers and hotel staff. In Super Secret Squad, one student of the University of Hawai'i critically says,

"Yeah, let's go to Diamond Head and beat up those eco-tour guys. I hate those bastards" (11). Hawaii's dynamic nature has been again violated and threatened by the land development and the outsiders' everlasting pursuit of commercial opportunities.

In her comedies, especially Ulua and Aloha Friday, Cataluna implies that Hawaii's sacred environment and its cultural heritage, represented by fishing and hunting, are abused and endangered.

Ill. The Eco-Political Issue

The second significant issue repeatedly debated in Cataluna's plays is eco-politics that has determined the transformation and struggle of Hawai'i as its economical and political power has been weakened, almost diminished, and controlled by non-Hawaiian outsiders. When Hawaii's sacred land and natural resources were endangered, Hawaii's economics and politics underwent a change and ultimately were dominated by non- Hawaiians. Since Hawai'i has been economically and politically betrayed and controlled by outsiders, it is important to point out that Hawaii's young locals have to take the initiative in their own economics and poli- tics and Cataluna conveys this message to the local people through her plays.

As Hawaii's economy, from large enterprises to small businesses has been controlled and even managed by non-Hawaiian investors through- out its history, outside or foreign investment is a controversial issue in

Hawai'i. In the twentieth century, Honolulu was transformed into a glob- al city where American and foreign investors competed with one another in establishing large-scale hotels, golf courses, shopping malls, restau- rants, tourist offices, and all kinds of tourist attractions. Local towns in Hawaii's local islands other than Oahu have also been threatened by emerging outsiders and tourists. Cataluna's Aloha Friday represents this crucial fate. Kauai's Mehehune Cable Vision, whose motto is "Kauai's first, last, best and only quality cable television provider," is sold to a large mainland corporation. As a serious and "natural subject for a Honolulu Advertiser columnist" (Vogel), Hawaii's economic fate is evi- dently illustrated in this comedy.

Unlike Hawaii's global business, Hawaii's local business is unique as it largely depends on local people's needs and financial conditions.

Especially in Folks You Meet in Longs and Half Dozen Long Stem, Cataluna shows how Hawaii's business embodies Hawaii's local people's lives and economic conditions. As an everyday-base drug store, Longs provides all kinds of local people with standard necessities from medi- cine, nail polish, coffee filters, to a cup of coffee for a break, as well as local products such as beach sandals at cheap prices. It is the place where even elderly people living modest lives, and high school students with a small allowance, can stop by, shop, and take a rest. Longs Drug Stores was founded in 1938 in Oakland, California as a self-service con- venience drug store, and it is currently considered one of the most popu- lar drug stores on the West Coast and in Hawai'i. When the first store of this California-based Longs was opened in Honolulu, Hawai'i, in 1954, Hawai'i was a US territory so that they faced restrictions on mainlan- ders' controlling interests (Longs Drugs Stores). However, Longs succeed- ed in Hawai'i and had opened 31 stores there by the end of Fiscal Year 2004. According to Longs, their strategy of "low prices, excellent service,

and a tradition of 'treating others as we'" brought quick success to the first Longs Drug Store. Hawaii witnessed the growth of this mainland- based drug-store business in the following decades. Longs started and grew during the period when the American small drug store business was beginning to be developed into a franchise retail organization. Even though it is a mainland-based large corporation, Longs has been trans- planted so well in Hawai'i that it reflects Hawaii's local people's needs and lives. Both in her play and a collection of short stories, entitled Longs, Cataluna employs Longs as a mirror to observe both the dark and bright sides oflocalism.

As a representative of a small local business, moreover, a flower and lei shop in Half Dozen Long Stem is important since lei-making is always needed both as a tradition and as a business in Hawai'i. The small busi- ness always threatened by big enterprises is an important ground for Asian immigrants who left the plantations and started their own busi- ness especially in Honolulu. As seen in Longs, the local-based business has adapted to local people's occupations and lives. As a workplace, those local stores also provide young people with job opportunities, yet that work place is the place where their future dreams, that is, American Dream, to get out of the small world and to make a success are born.

Mrs. Fujiuchi's lei shop is a familiar place where local people reflect on their lives with each other since flowers are needed on such public and private occasions as weddings, birthdays, Valentine's Day, anniversaries, and even funerals. Leis are especially important for all occasions since leis are traditionally used for sacred rituals. Yet the fate of the shop is determined by Hawaii's economics, and the shop is closed when the building owners sell the building. Mrs. Fujiuchi's fate is also determined by this closing because she kept this shop with her former dead hus- band's wife. She says that: "I'm about to walk away from the place that

made me miserable for more than half my life and the people who made me nuts every day I came to work" (28). Even though Ms. Fujiuchi is known as a florist who can make the most beautiful wedding flowers in town, she is aware of the limitation of florists.

Mrs. Fujiuchi: Everything here only looks alive, but nothing is grow- ing. I used to have a dream I would make a big garden. Plant in the ground, you know? Flowers that only grow for them- selves, not to be picked or smelled or anything. (26)

Her words reflect her unhappy life, which cannot be filled with flowers and leis. This message is strong enough to evoke the fate of Hawai'i which once embraced its rich natural resources but has since been deprived of them due to the economic development. Since making leis is an important business for Hawaii's tourism, the fate and significance of flowers has been transformed as Hawai'i itself had to face change.

As Hawaii's local people are torn between Americanization and Hawaii's localism, they seek for the American Dream in their struggle in local economics. In Longs, this dilemma is most clearly described: it is first a shame for a local high school student to have a summer job at Longs because he does not want to end up in such a job, yet it is his fate to end up in the same job thirteen years later.

Larry Tanouye: ... All I tell her nah, because this ain't me. And she go, who you then? And I told her I not going work here the rest of my life. I going college. I taking Japanese AND Spanish. I going into international business. I going own my own company, my own jet, travel the world. And the real pisse is she still say, too, and every day I come in, she tell me, "So LaITY, how's those plans?" (FYML 16)

67 Larry's American Dream cannot be accomplished and he seems to end up at Longs. This passage reflects the economic hardships behind the world- famous paradise. No matter how hard Hawaii's local people attempt to be assimilated into America, the failed American Dream, which is cynically mentioned in Longs, demonstrates Hawaii's own destiny whose official and superficial meaning is an establishment of the last Paradise for out- siders, yet whose internal and profound meaning is a resistance against Americanization among Hawaii's islanders.

Along with economics, politics in Hawai'i has undergone a long path before the establishment of the Kingdom of Hawai'i, yet has attempted another rout since Hawaii's statehood in 1959. Cataluna's first play and box-office hit, Da Mayah: Election 2000, portrays Hawaii's politics and its struggle to have a self-governed legislature throughout its history. The Hawaiian Islands were inhabited by Polynesians who migrated from other areas of the South Pacific, and there were many ruling chiefs on the islands. It became the Kingdom of Hawai'i when those small king- doms were conquered by King Kamehameha. The Hawaiian Islands were politically controlled under a Hawaiian monarchy whose political strate- gies were advised by Caucasians. Hawaii's self-destruction began when the Kingdom was established because it was primarily constructed and blindly controlled by Euro-Americans. The gradual and non-violent inter- vention of Euro-Americans into Hawaii's politics transformed Hawai'i into a weak and dependent monarchy whose authority and dignity were lost in 1887 when King Kalakaua was forced to sign the "Bayonet Constitution" that limited the monarch's political powers and the rights of Hawaiians (Coleman 26). Anti-royalist Caucasians insisted that it was the victory of freedom against the monopolized power of the kingdom, while, for Hawaiians, it was the victory of colonialism. Hawaii's annexa- tion in 1898 was, thus, a consequence of Hawaii's own loss of self-govern-

ment as well as the end of the Kingdom of Hawai'i.

With the knowledge of Hawaii's political degradation in its early stage, Da Mayah can be appreciated as more profound and cynical. In Da Mayah, Cataluna states what lies behind politics, especially Hawaii's local political scene. Cataluna remarks that Da Mayah applies one of the six premises that her teacher, Victoria Kneubuhl, taught at Kumu Kahua's playwriting class: that is, the play is "about trying to hide some- thing" which is interesting from a political point of view (Burlingame,

"Politics"). Even though Cataluna insisted that the play is "not a parody of current events" and that the characters are not based on real people (Burlingame, "Politics"), it is quite interesting to observe the play's treat- ment of contemporary politics and controversial issues. As for the gover- nor's election, for example, Hawai'i welcomed a new era when Gerorge Ryoishi Ariyoshi (1974-1986), a Hawaii-born Nisei, became the first American of Japanese ancestry elected governor of a state in 1974.

Hawai'i had previously had two mainland-born Caucasian governors since 1959. John Waihee became the first elected governor of Hawaiian ancestry in 1986 (to 1994) and in 1994 (to 2002) Hawaii-born Benjamin J.

Cayetano became the first Filipino American state governor in the US.

After these three Hawaii-born and non-Caucasian governors, the sixth elected governor in 2002 was Linda Lingle, the first woman and a St.

Louis-born governor. The former governor, Cayetano had not served Hawaii's politics and economy well, and was harshly criticized as an inef- ficient governor. This was the time when Cataluna's Da Mayah was writ- ten and produced. The Hawaii-born mayor's incapability is ridiculed, and Cataluna harshly criticizes this locally-based, yet politically weak mayor.

As Dennis Carroll remarks, Lee "has a gift for satirical writings" and intelligence and she "seizes on the hypocritical and the venal nature of bureaucratic institutions in a comedic way" (Tsai).

69 Cataluna's plays examine the way that Hawaii's economy and politics are closely related through the process of Hawaii's losing her own self- governed and self-controlled status. At the same time, those issues have to be discussed, examined, and reported profoundly because they directly influence local people's lives. In order to do this, Cataluna writes her plays not only to entertain her audience but also to educate and enlight- en the local people.

IV. The Socio-Cultural Issue

In addition to the land-environmental issue and the eco-political issue, the socio-cultural issue has to be included in Cataluna's plays because it represents Hawaii's unique culture and society. As she stated in an inter- view when her first play was a box-office hit, she is keenly aware that people "rely too often on ethnic stereotyping in local humor" so that she intends to write "a comic play in pidgin dialect that doesn't make fun of Hawaii's ethnic mix" and to "stretch the boundaries a little" and "do what isn't expected" (Burlingame, "Politics"). Hawaii's local society and culture have to be evaluated as a unique sphere, allowing Hawai'i to be under- stood from the inside.

Hawaii's socio-cultural issues should be examined from the point of view of Hawaii's loss of indigenous culture and the emergence of Hawaii's unique diversity of layered cultures, Hawaii's homelessness against Hawaii's Aloha spirits since Hawai'i lost its own land, political and eco- nomic power, and also its unique and sacred culture.

Along with its economic conflict, Hawaii's social and cultural values were threatened by white mainland American standard behaviors and values. In Aloha Friday, for example, the local cable television station's working conditions and even work atmosphere are changed as soon as the owner sells it to a mainland company. The station where employees

work on a Hawaiian relaxed and flexible schedule is forcibly transfigured into the American business-type of station.

Buck: Allowha! I'm Buck Buyer, president of Lakeside Communications out of Sunnydale, here to make an important announcement.

This little cable station out in the middle of the Pacific is becoming part of a vast network of sister stations back in the states. You see, we here at Lakeside Communications truly understand the Hawaiian culture. Why, we've been holding corporate meetings here in the islands of three years runnin'.

We understand the leisurely lifestyle, the importance of relax- ation and play, and the ancient Hawaiian traditions, like wear- ing floral moo-moos on aloha Friday. We thing that's what your cable television should be about ... as relaxed and down-home as aloha Friday. That's why now that we're buying the compa- ny, we're changing the name to reflect our Hawaiian attitude.

I'm proud to announce, Menehune Cable Vision will now be known as Lakeside Aloha Friday Cable. (14)

The irony exists in the paradox of a new representative from the main- land fixing regulations such as punching a time clock, while, at the same time, expecting employees to project the image of Hawai'i by making them wear mu'umu'u. The term Aloha Friday was originally born during the rapid Americanization in the 1960's after Hawaii's statehood. Aloha shirts, which had been invented and made by plantation workers in the late 1920's, became popular not only among locals but also tourists. A mainland clothing retailer who was successful in Hawai'i, Reyn McCullough, was so impressed by Aloha shirts that he started to encour- age Hawaii's business owners to let their employees wear Aloha shirts to work on Fridays because they are more suited to a workplace in Hawai'i (Downing). It is generally known that wearing Aloha shirts and mu'u- mu'u on Friday signifies a movement toward the relaxation of the coming

weekend. Aloha Friday then became a cultural norm so that Aloha shirts and muumuus are applied as work dress all year around to welcome tourists with the Aloha spirit. In Cataluna's Aloha Friday, Hawaiian flexibility was first criticized and cannot be evaluated by a new Caucasian boss, while Hawai'i's external image is enlarged and exagger- ated for the company's commercial purpose.

In addition to Aloha Friday, Aloha spirits in a larger scale are commer- cially appealed, yet they are betrayed in Hawaii's history. Hawaii's Aloha spirits or generous welcome/giving spirits result in Hawaii's loss of land as home. In her screenplay Ho'olawe: Give and Take and also her collec- tion of stories, Folks You Meet in Longs and Other Stories, Cataluna focuses on Hawaii's society and its local residents from an inside point of view. Behind the apparently affluent economic benefits of Americanization, Hawaii's local people have not necessarily profited.

Contrary to Hawaii's globalization, moreover, local people have suffered from economic hardships and poverty. To this less-known fact, Cataluna pays attention with a strong sense of sympathy. As shown in her early work, Ho'olawe, where she dramatizes the story of a tenderhearted Hawaiian repo (homeless) man from a newspaper story, Cataluna has a keen insight into Hawaii's local paradox between Aloha spirits and home- lessness. As for the importance of this script, Cataluna's co-worker and director, Michael Wurst, criticizes the fact that other films made in Hawai'i, such as Byrds of Paradise and Beyond Paradise, "are really about outsider-haole reactions to Hawaii" (Burlingame, "Cataluna").

Against those superficial representations of Hawai'i, Cataluna dares to reveal Hawaii's true local stories of Aloha spirits that have been margin- alized.

Cataluna presents to us the true meaning of Aloha spirits which are rooted in local people's lives. Hawaii's sharing spirit, represented by

Aloha spirits, is illustrated in some episodes and monologues in Folks You Meet in Longs. The most remarkable example is the one about the lonely old man who brings flowers to the women workers for their hair every morning.

Nadine (and the Old Man with the Pikakae); Every morning eight o'clock sharp, come in with his plastic bag full of pikake. Is not in bloom, he bring gardenia, but then he apologize about the bugs. If no more flowers in house, he bring plumeria from the school, but then he look little bit shame. Like maybe not so good. He put the plumeria on toothpick and go right down the row and give to all the girls.

That's his thing. He come to flirt with the girls .... (11)

It is a traditional custom for women in Hawaii to wear natural flowers.

This tradition gives the lonely old man opportunities to greet and talk with the store's sales people. The sense of respect for and appreciation of him is naturally borne beyond generations and different ethnic groups and they all enjoy this shared moment.

In another monologue in Folks You Meet in Longs, Cataluna delineates a touch of Aloha spirit by a lonely man who encounters a 9-to-lO year-old homeless boy in the midst of poverty and homelessness.

Bill Thompson: I don't even know the boy's name, but I know he likes the chocolate ones the best. I saw him. He didn't know I was home. I did that on purpose. I wanted to see his reaction.

(Folks 11)

The lonely man, Bill, discovers that his leftover spaghetti in the fridge, last few cookies in a bag, or orange juice are gone mysteriously every time after he returns home from work, so he decides to find out what is happening in his apartment and finally realizes that a skinny young boy

sneaks in and eats his leftovers. Because Bill feels "something about" the boy's face, he, on purpose, decides to leave whatever he can, such as candy, bread, juice boxes, chips, and chocolate cookies in a basket and sit it on the lanai, the balcony, with a note "For you." His effort turns use- less because the boy does not touch what he left, even a twenty dollar bill.

Bill Thompson: ... So now, I keep a little extra food in the fridge. I make sure I always have those cookies. And when my land- lord asked me if I was having any problems with the apart- ment and would like to move to a higher floor, I told him no.

I like where I am. (Folks 12)

No matter how serious this issue may be, this episode implies an indirect yet spiritual communication between a homeless boy and a local lonely man of modest means. The sharing spirits, genuine Aloha spirits, over- whelm American institutionalized welfare so powerfully that it reminds the audience of the appreciation of Hawaii's local sharing spirits.

When Hawaiians once lost their original cultural heritage, a new wave of diverse cultures landed on Hawai'i and a unique mixture of layered cultures was born in plantation camps in the nineteenth century.

Especially after 1959, Hawaii's local people with their diverse ethnic backgrounds confronted a conflict between American culture and stan- dards and local culture and standards of life. This is comically expressed in Cataluna's Super Secret Squad where five University of Hawai'i stu- dents (Wanga, Togo, Boy, Duck, and Liko) struggle with their lives and attempt to reform the wrong societies and representatives of all the insti- tutions. The most impressive scene is observed in Aloha Stadium where they take Kaleo, Liko's nephew who is abused by his own mother, to see a University of Hawai'i-Manoa football game.

Liko: I brought for him [Kaleol 'ulu.

Togo: 'Ulu! What the hell?

Boy: 'Ulu make him strong, he, Liko?

Liko: It's cultural.

Togo: You in the wrong culture, cousin. This is football culture. You supposed to be eating football culture food.

Boy: Yeah, like five dollar hot dog all small and hard, left over from last week's game.

Wanga: And saimin so stale the noodles all in one clump that the hot water cannot touch.

Togo: N achos made from imitation cheese substance that has been found to cause cancer in rats.

Togo: Football game food. Tailgate kalbi cooked till all black because the guy watching the hibachi all piluted. Mac salad that been out in the sun five hours too long. Rice ball your sister made while she was doing her nails and wiping her baby's bandana nose.

That's the best. (21)

Aloha Stadium is a centerfor the popular American sport and its culture in Hawai'i since it was founded in 1975 and replaced the old Honolulu Stadium which was located on King Street (State Government of Hawaii). Aloha Stadium is currently home to the University of Hawaii's Warrior football team and has also been the site of the National Football League's Pro Bowl. As the largest outdoor facility in Hawai'i, Aloha Stadium serves local people as the most versatile multi-purpose facility where high school games, concerts, fairs, and even "swap meet" (garage sales) are held.

The double irony regarding "football culture food" in Aloha Stadium is described in the above dialogue where American football culture food such as hotdogs, hamburgers, and nachos are contrasted with Hawaii's local football culture food, a mixed plate with Chinese, Korean, and

Japanese food. Kalbi is Korean marinated barbeque, saimin is a mixture of Japanese and Chinese noodles, and rice ball is Japanese musubi for lunchboxes. This local football/picnic culture food, the so-called mixed plate, symbolizes Hawaii's ethnic diversity from plantation camp days.

More essentially, Hawaii's traditional food, ulu, which survives in the local diet, is added in this play. Ulu, breadfruit in English, originated in Java, was taken in voyages to Malaysia, then to the Marquesas in the fourteenth century, and eventually to the rest of Polynesia (Appendix 2).

When the Polynesians migrated to Hawai'i, they brought ulu with them.

Not taken as a staple diet like taro, ulu was virtually transplanted in Hawai'i because of its supposedly mythical origin and also usefulness in Hawaiians' lives (Schweitzer). The legendary origin is impressive enough to be mentioned here: during famine Ku time, the god of war turned to an ulu tree in order that his wife and children would not starve. Because of this legend, ulu served primarily as a famine food in Hawai'i. With eco- nomic values, the fruit of ulu possesses a carbohydrate food source and all parts of the wood were useful for building canoes, the trunks for surf- boards, the sap for caulking, inferior kappa (bark cloth), and dying. The breadfruit design is most popular for the Hawaiian quilts. The contrast between the American football culture and Hawaii's local culture repre- sented by ulu is made as a strong message against superficial Americanization. Ulu is important in Cataluna's play because it can res- cue the abused boy from the lack of nutrition, health, and care. Both the healing and nutritious effects of ulu are applied to the child who suffers not only a broken arm but also a broken heart in the spheres of a contem- porary Americanized family and society.

Cataluna's down-to-earth observation and description of human condi- tions and social and cultural issue is also observed in a series of mono- logues in Folks You Meet in Longs, as she remarks that "at any time of

the day or night" in Longs it is possible to "witness some small moment of human frailty or true grace" (Kanda 1). As the director of this play, Keith Kashiwada mentions, Longs implies "cultural differences based on the demographic of each location" and they are "scientific, sociological, and anthropological" (Kanda 1). Cataluna discovers that Longs Drug Store represents the collective voice of local people in their behaviors, tastes, customs, living conditions, values, and even in their lives.

V. Conclusion

Lee Cataluna's straightforward voice from the inside and her strong compassion for local people and their lives enabled her to produce nine dramas in the period of time from 1998 till now. Her productivity repre- sents the creative possibilities of Hawai'i as the land on which art and literature can be born and nourished. Since the first local theatre group, Kumu Kahua, was created in 1972 and local plays began to be produced over thirty years ago, local playwrights have been emerging as Carroll remarks, and Cataluna virtually and uniquely succeeds to her forerun- ners in order to remap and reconstruct Hawai'i.

Cataluna portrays Hawai'i from an inside perspective that allows her to free all the boundaries from the restricted and conventional method of mapping America. While American culture and values are situated in contemporary Hawai'i, localism remains or even emerges as the strongest force to awaken its pride in the local people. Cataluna's comic and humorous depictions of localism is, therefore, a challenge to the American standard to place Hawai'i and its people in the remote edge of the American territory which always determines the direction of all the regions within the atlas of America. Cataluna's remapping and recon- structing of Hawai'i represents an important step to strive against the American middle-class and Caucasian-based values and their wrong

direction, and also signifies the essential attitude toward regaining and reestablishing a sense of pride in Hawaii's localism.

This paper is completed as part of my project on Hawaii's local plays for the 2002-2005 Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (2) by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. I presented an abridged form of this paper at the American Studies Association Convention in Washington, DC, in November 4, 2005. I deeply appreciate John Wat for his warm and generous support for my research on Lee Cataluna's plays. I also thank Juliet S. Kono for her comments and ideas on Hawaii's local topics.

Appendix 1

("Evaluation")

Appendix 2

(Pratt 51)

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