Aikane -Qualia Folk

earthobservatory.nasa.gov, December 2011

Aikāne is a Hawaiian term for an intimate male friend of lower rank involved in a sexual relationship with a man of ali‘i (noble) rank, a close male confidante to another man (with whom he might or might not have a sexual relationship), or a dear friend of any sex or gender.

Traditional Hawaiian references

Hawaiian tradition honors the aikāne-as-lover with at least one aphorism: he aikāne, he punana na ke onaona (“an aikāne is a nest of fragrance”) Kamehameha I had aikāne with whom he was erotically intimate, as did many rulers before and after Christian missionaries undermined the official status of aikāne-as-lover. After the missionaries had transformed Hawaiian society and banned same-sex erotic-romantic relationships, Kamehameha III and Kamehameha IV were also known to have aikāne.

Kamehameha I, Hawai‘i

In the story of the great chief Lonoikamakahiki of the island of Hawai‘i, there is a commoner from the island of Kaua‘i, Kapa‘ihiahilina, who became his aikāne after telling him, “Aloha au ia ‘oe, ukali mai nei” (“I love you, so I followed you here”) when Lonoikamakahiki went into exile on Kaua‘i. A famous aikāne in Hawaiian history since Contact was Keoniana (John Young II), trusted counselor to Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III (see article, “Kamehameha III”).

Keoniana (John Kaleipaihala Young II), aikane to Kamehameha III, Hawai

There is also a tradition of naming intimate Platonic relationships after romantic-sexual ones: ho‘okāne (from kāne, meaning man or husband) for a man who is as close as a husband to a woman but without the implicit sexual bond, and ho‘owahine (from wahine, meaning woman or wife) for a woman who is like a wife to a man but without the sexual bond. Aikāne as non-sexual, non-sex/gender-based friendship can be seen as an indication of how highly valued the loving and implicitly sexual (or at least possibly sexual) relationship was between a superior elite man of ali‘i status and as inferior aikāne in the traditional Hawaiian network of personal relationships.

Printed title of Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika, 1861 (nupepa.org/gsdl2.5/cgi-bin/nupepa?e=d-0nupepa–00-0-0–010—4—-text—0-1l–1en-Zz-1—20-about—00031-0000utfZz-8-00&a=d&cl=CL1.10.1&d=HASH0190b7da7cfe4727e1cb69ed&gg=text, January 2012)

Such a relationship may have been a reference point in polite conversation. In a letter to the editor of the Hawaiian language newspaper E ka Hoku o ka Pakipika (The Star of the Pacific), the author uses the following courtesy in the introduction:

E ka Hoku o ka Pakipika. –Aloha oe:

E ae mai oe ia’u e hooipo aku me oe, “Kuu aikane punana a ke onaona,” no keia wahi kumu manao i manao ai au e hoike akea aku i kekahi mea i hana ia ma ke kulanakauhale Alii.

To the Star of the Pacific.—Aloha:

Allow me to make love to you, “my aikāne, nest of fragrance,” concerning a topic that I thought to make public about something that has happened in the Royal City.

This introduction indicates that it was acceptable for pre-Christianized (and recently Christianized) Hawaiians to frame the sexually-implicit aikāne relationship as an ideal that was applicable to all loving relationships, much as traditional English language letters begin with “Dear ____,” as an acceptable means for showing nonspecific affection in the introduction.

Contemporary Use in Hawai‘i and Polynesia

Although there appear to be no references to aiwahine (a close female confidante to a woman) in the historical record, the term is used in current Hawaiian LGBTQ discourse. The absence of aiwahine could be due to the lack of interest in women’s lives by non-Hawaiians who recorded the earliest histories. Or aiwahine could be a new word, created in response to awareness of worldwide LGBTQ identities, and the adaptation of Gay folk identity discourse to Hawaiian traditional language. The same may be true with Hawaiian transperson identities māhūwahine and māhūkāne (corresponding with transwoman and transman, respectively; see article, “Māhū”). The relationship of same-sex lovers and transpeople in Native Hawaiian society should be understood within an attitude of tolerance for various configurations of gender and erotic expression. Overall, aikāne and māhū identities were considered acceptable and unremarkable.

– Mickey Weems
QEGF Authors and Articles
QEGF Introduction
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Further reading:

Lilikala Kame‘eleihiwa, Native Land and Foreign Desires, Pehea La E Pono Ai? Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1992, pp. 116, 145, 180, 191-2, 263-4, 266, 274, 276, 284, 365n.6, 379, 388.

Robert J. Morris, “Aikane: Accounts of Hawaiian Same-Sex Relationships in the Journals of Captain Cook’s Third Voyage (1776-80).” Journal of Homosexuality 19(4) 1990:21-54.

Robert J. Morris, “Same-Sex Friendships in Hawaiian Lore: Constructing the Canon.”

Stephen O. Murray, ed. Oceanic Homosexualities. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992. pp. 71-102.

Curt Sanburn, ” ‘Men of the First Consequence’ The Aikane Tradition: Homosexuality in Old Hawaii.” Honolulu Weekly 3(19) May 12, 1993:4-6.

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