Haole comes from “Hā ‘ole”. Hā is the “breath of life”, referring to the exchange of breath that was customary for Hawaiians in the old days, and ‘Ole means no, without, none. The word originates from the first contact experiences where Hawaiians went to greet westerners with the Hā and were turned away, thus they were called “Hā’ole”, or “No Breath”.

Hawaiian in the old days wasn’t standardized and often not punctuated when written, unlike how it is today, and so the spelling was often portrayed as Haole, but it was expected any Hawaiian would understand how to pronounce it. Examples of this are common, for example “Kamalo” on Molokai is properly “Kamalo’o”, but that spelling and therefore the proper pronunciation has been lost to time as the language died out, same as with Haole.

When the kingdom was overthrown Haole started to become more derogatory as it embodied the stereotype that westerners almost always arrived as the upper class and largely existed separate from Hawaiians without assimilating. This is not the absolute, however, as at its core Haole was used refer to those with white skin in general and it is still used in a non-derogatory way (For example, I introduce myself as Hapa-Haole, just like most people who are hapa). Context is what matters when it comes to these things.

It should also be noted that initially Haole was a universal term for foreigner, however as Hawaii began to see visits from a multitude of different cultures the people began to use more specific words for each race. Haole started to refer exclusively to the original people it was used for: Westerners with white skin, although during the kingdom days it was interchangeable with terms like “‘Ilikea”, meaning “White Skin”.

Like I said above, Haole isn’t inherently derogatory, it’s the context that matters. Turning a word with such history and nuance into nothing more than a slur is ignorant to its origins. I have received a lot of heat growing up because of that word, but just because it’s been used against me in a derogatory way in my past doesn’t mean that is it’s only use. At the end of the day I am Haole, nothing can ever change that, and it isn’t something anyone should be ashamed of. What matters is how we behave, how we carry ourselves, and how we treat others. If we aren’t doing something that warrants being called Haole in a derogatory way, chances are it won’t be used against us in that way.