Aloha-ed States
That the Hawaiian Cultural Preservation Association exists isn’t surprising. That it’s based in San Francisco is.
HCPA founder Patrick Mukuakane explains all. When he moved to San Francisco 12 years ago he was shocked by how large the Hawaiian community was in the Bay area-about 30,000 strong.
Over the years, the hula group he started grew into the HCPA. The organization became a network for Hawaiians-and just plain lovers of Hawaii-to get together and for younger Hawaiians growing up on the mainland to “retroculturalize” to their Polynesian roots.
About a year ago, Mukuakane turned to his friend Floyd Miller, head of Miller/Huber Relationship Marketing in San Francisco, to build both membership and a Web site for the HCPA.
Miller himself is a Hawaiiphile with a second home on the Islands. “It’s your spirit that makes you Hawaiian,” he claims.
The site (www.hawaiiancultural.org) scrolls horizontally instead of vertically to emulate the path through a party (Auntie Pua’s 100th birthday luau, to be specific), notes Miller. The horizontal scroll proves to be smoother than most vertical scrolls, but a long scroll is a long scroll.
The site is supplemented by small mailings as time and funding allow. Such lists as the Hawaiian Democratic Club are more likely to be used than the subscriber file for Aloha, a magazine about Hawaii, which Miller feels would be too expensive to rent.
The organization has 150 active members and the Web site gets 300 to 400 visitors a month. Members, who will soon be able to sign up online, get aT-shirt for basic membership (friend or hoaloha). Larger sponsors-hanohano and a bove-get a picture of hula dancing that Miller described as “the embodiment of the association.”
That’s fine, Mr. Miller, but while our spirit may make us Hawaiian, our bodies can’t quite manage the hip action. Ouch.
