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The Shaka is part of the Hawaiian identity

Photo:

Mengshin Lin / AP

Who owns the so-called Shaka?

The hand greeting, also known as “Hang Loose,” is now considered good form at every surfing course.

They now want to have him protected in Hawaii.

Two bills aim to make the Shaka the official gesture of the US state and recognize Hawaii as its birthplace.

At its core, the House bill is about two fingers: the thumb and the little finger.

They are stretched out and the three middle fingers are curved.

The wrist can be rotated for emphasis.

This is somewhat reminiscent of an impulse sprinkler of the lawn sprinkler type.

However, gardeners are not considered the origin of Shaka.

According to tradition, the greeting goes back to the Hawaiian fisherman Hāmana Kalili.

Kalili lived on the north shore of Oahu in the early 1900s and lost three fingers in an accident at a sugar factory.

After the accident, Kalili worked as a train attendant, documentary filmmaker Steve Sue tells the AP news agency;

Children who jumped on the train for a free ride curled their middle fingers to imitate Kalili's hand, giving each other the all-clear.

Kalili's great-granddaughter Mailani Makaʻīnaʻi sees something touching in the story.

»I love the compassion part.

'Oh, okay, he's missing three fingers.

So I'm going to greet him the way he does,'" she told the AP.

"It's the idea that I am like you and you are like me." Today, in the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, a bronze statue greets Kalilis with the Shaka.

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Ronaldinho was a world footballer and icon

Photo: DANIELE LA MONACA/ REUTERS

Ronaldinho and Neymar as multipliers

However, the Shaka really became known outside of Hawaii in the surfing spots of the world.

Since the surfing boom of the fifties and sixties, the greeting has spread worldwide and is particularly popular in Brazil.

There they used multipliers like the football superstars Ronaldinho or Neymar, who celebrated in this way.

The original Shaka finally entered pop culture.

In Hawaii, however, people know what else the Shaka has to offer.

In the corona pandemic, for example, it was used as an alternative to shaking hands, which is critical for infectious reasons, but it can also express gratitude or approval or reduce tension, it is said.

"The gesture is so versatile," said Hawaii Rep. Sean Quinlan, who introduced the bill in the House of Representatives.

Hawaii Senate member Glenn Wakai said he couldn't imagine the bill not passing, according to the AP.

Who's supposed to be against it in Hawaii?

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