Evolution of the Hawaiian Night Marchers

INTRODUCTION Within the tropical paradise of Hawaii, there is a legend of ancient Hawaiian warriors still marching around the islands to protect their Ohana, or family. If anyone not of Hawaiian descent is caught in the path of Hawaiian Night Marchers, they will demonstrate their Hawaiian power. However, just like Frankensteins monster or Godzilla, the Hawaiian Night Marchers will likely change over time to meet the social and cultural needs of the Hawaiian people. Acculturation will most likely be the biggest factor in the future change of the Hawaiian Night Marchers due to tourism and intercultural marriage. This paper explores the legend of the Hawaiian Night Marchers through family stories from …show more content…
Every monster originates from the human imagination. (Huet 84) For example, Godzilla was created to impersonate the Japanese fear of the atomic bomb, and the global destruction it could create. What fear was the Hawaiian Night Marcher created to impersonate? One may conclude that the Hawaiian Night Marchers represent Hawaiian’s strong belief in family, or that the Night Marchers were created to represent Hawaiian strength and independence to foreign visitors, or Haole, to Hawaii. When local descriptions of the Night Marchers are viewed alongside the history of Hawaii, the legend of the Night Marchers gains historical and cultural depth. Since Hawaiian was not a written language until the 1820’s, many current Hawaiian legends, including Night Marchers, are perpetuated through the words of local Hawaiian residents (“About the Hawaiian Language”). Historical writings by Captain Cook and other foreigners record experiences with Hawaiian warriors, explaining their significance to the Hawaiian culture and why the culture would perpetuate these warriors through legend. The best way to learn about Night Marcher legends is to ask local Hawaiian residents, and study historical documented …show more content…
The Night Marchers are relatively new compared to legends like the Chinese dragon, which has existed for over thousands of years, but are still affected by the same principles. So what is the next step for these Night Marchers? If the legend of the night marchers evolved, their purpose would still remain the same, but their methods are likely to change. They would still defend the Hawaiian way of life, but expand their influence to Hawaiians living worldwide. Due to the epistemology of current Hawaiian culture, and the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands, many people from around the world travel to Hawaii. The Hawaiian Islands are melting pots for many different cultures. As a result, the Hawaiian people are heavily affected by acculturation. Acculturation is where people modify their cultures to adapt to living with traits from another culture. This can affect religious beliefs, dietary practices, and cultural legends like the Night Marchers. Eventually, the change from acculturation is forgotten and the new adapted culture is accepted for generations to come. For example, before America commercialized smoking tobacco, it was used by the Native Americans in spiritual rituals and as medicine “to promote physical, spiritual, emotional, and community well-being” (“Traditional Tobacco”). Tobacco was first introduced to Europe after the Native