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Māhū

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Māhū ('in the middle') in Native Hawaiian and Tahitian cultures are third gender people with traditional spiritual and social roles within the culture, similar to Tongan fakaleiti and Samoan fa'afafine.[1] Historically the term māhū referred to people assigned male at birth (AMAB), but in modern usage māhū can refer to a variety of genders and sexual orientations.

According to present-day māhū kumu hula Kaua'i Iki, these individuals "were particularly respected as teachers, usually of hula dance and chant. In pre-contact times māhū performed the roles of goddesses in hula dances that took place in temples which were off-limits to women. Māhū were also valued as the keepers of cultural traditions, such as the passing down of genealogies. Traditionally parents would ask māhū to name their children. Kaua'i Iki, quoted by Andrew Matzner in 'Transgender, queens, mahu, whatever': An Oral History from Hawai'i. Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, Issue 6, August 2001.

In modern popular culture, māhū is commonly used pejoratively to refer to LGBTQ+ people.[2]

History[]

Pape Moe

Papa Moe (Mysterious Water), an oil painting by the Westerner, Paul Gauguin, from 1893. It depicts a māhū in Tahiti drinking from a waterfall.[3][4]

According to some, in the pre-colonial history of Hawai'i, māhū were notable priests and healers, although much of this history was elided through the intervention of missionaries. Others describe the māhū as not having access to political power, being unable to aspire to leadership roles, and "Perceived as always available for sexual conquest by men."[5] The first published description of māhū occurs in Captain William Bligh's logbook of the Bounty, which stopped in Tahiti in 1789, where he was introduced to a member of a "class of people very common in Otaheitie called Mahoo... who although I was certain was a man, had great marks of effeminacy about him."[6]

A surviving monument to this history are the "Wizard Stones" of Kapaemāhū on Waikiki Beach, which commemorate four important māhū who first brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaiʻi.[7] These are referred to by Hawaiian historian Mary Kawena Pukui as pae māhū, or literally a row of māhū.[8] The term māhū is misleadingly defined in Pukui and Ebert's Hawaiian dictionary as "n. Homosexual, of either sex; hermaphrodite."[9] The assumption of same-sex behavior reflects the conflation of gender and sexuality that was common at that time.[note 1] The idea that māhū are biological mosaics appears to be a misunderstanding of the term hermaphrodite, which in early publications by sexologists and anthropologists was used generally to mean "an individual which has the attributes of both male and female," including social and behavioral attributes, not necessarily a biological hybrid or intersex individual. This led to homosexual, bisexual, and gender nonconforming individuals being mislabeled as "hermaphrodites" in the medical literature.[10]

Kaomi Moe, aikāne to King Kamehameha III and a māhū, is another historical example.[11]

In 1891, when painter Paul Gauguin first came to Tahiti, he was thought to be a Template:Lang by the indigenous people, due to his flamboyant manner of dress during that time.[12] His 1893 painting Papa Moe (Mysterious Water) depicts a Template:Lang drinking from a small waterfall.[12][13]

Missionaries to Hawai'i introduced biblical laws to the islands in the 1820s; under their influence Hawai'i's first anti-sodomy law was passed in 1850. These laws led to the social stigmatization of the Template:Lang in Hawai'i. Beginning in the mid-1960s the Honolulu City Council required trans women to wear a badge identifying themselves as male.[14]

In American artist George Biddle's Tahitian Journal (1920–1922) he writes about several Template:Lang friends in Tahiti, of their role in native Tahitian society, and of the persecution of a Template:Lang friend Naipu, who fled Tahiti due to colonial French laws that sent Template:Lang and homosexuals to hard labor in prison in New Caledonia.[15] Rae rae is a social category of Template:Lang that came into use in Tahiti in the 1960s, although it is criticized by some Template:Lang as an abject reference to sex.

In contemporary cultures[]

In the 1980s, Template:Lang and fa'afafine of Samoa and other queer cultures of the Pacific began organizing, as Template:Lang and queer Pacific Islanders were beginning to receive international recognition in various fields.[16]

In 2003,[16] the term mahuwahine was coined within Hawaii's queer community: Template:Lang (in the middle) + wahine (woman), the structure of the word is similar to Samoan fa'a (the way of) + fafine (woman/wife). The term mahuwahine resembles a transgender identity that coincides with Hawaiian cultural renaissance.[17] Kumu Hinaleimoana Kwai Kong Wong-Kalu clarified that:

Since the term Template:Lang can have multiple spaces and experiences, Kumu Hina originally coined the terms: Template:Lang (transgender man) and Template:Lang (transgender woman). However, Kumu Hina believes that those terms should be revised due to scientific advancement and so she coined four new terms. Template:Lang who feel internally wahine (female)—emotionally, spiritually, psychologically and culturally—could use the term haʻawahine. If they feel more internally that they are kāne (men), they are haʻakāne. When they have taken on externally what they feel internally i.e. dressing as a female, have began to or had undergone hormone therapy and other forms of medical transitioning (including cosmetic surgery), then the term hoʻowahine would be used. Likewise, for Template:Lang who feel that they are internally male and taking that form externally, then hoʻokāne....[11]

Notable contemporary Template:Lang, or mahuwahine, include activist and kumu hula Hinaleimoana Kwai Kong Wong-Kalu,[18] kumu hula Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole, and kumu hula Kaua'i Iki; and within the wider Template:Lang LGBTQ+ community, historian Noenoe Silva, activist Ku‘u-mealoha Gomes, singer and painter Bobby Holcomb, and singer Kealii Reichel.

In many traditional communities, Template:Lang play an important role in carrying on Polynesian culture, and teaching "the balance of female and male throughout creation".[19] Modern Template:Lang carry on traditions of connection to the land, language preservation, and the preservation and revival of cultural activities including traditional dances, songs, and the methods of playing culturally-specific musical instruments. Symbolic tattooing is also a popular practice. Modern Template:Lang do not alter their bodies through what others would consider gender reassignment surgery, but, just as any person in Hawaiian/Tahitian society, dress differently for work, home, and nights out.[20]

Strong familial relationships are important in Template:Lang culture,[21] as kinship bonds within all of Hawaiian/Tahitian cultures are essential to family survival. When possible, the Template:Lang maintain solid relationships with their families of origin, often by becoming foster parents to nieces and nephews, and have been noted for being especially "compassionate and creative".[19] This ability to bring up children is considered a special skill specific to Template:Lang people.[22] Template:Lang also contribute to their extended families and communities through the gathering and maintaining of knowledge, and the practicing and teaching of hula traditions, which are traditionally handed down through women.[19]

In situations where they have been rejected by their families of origin, due to homophobia and colonization, Template:Lang have formed their own communities, supporting one another, and preserving and teaching cultural traditions to the next generations. In the documentary Kumu Hina, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu visits one of these communities of elders up in the mountains, and meets with some of the Template:Lang who were her teachers and chosen family when she was young.

Videos[]

2015[]

In 2015, the following video was uploaded to The Kumu Hina Project's YouTube channel[1]:


Video caption:

"A scene from the PBS documentary KUMU HINA. Mahu is the Hawaiian term for people who embody both male and female spirit."

2016[]

On 16 April 2016, the following video was uploaded to Ka Leo O Hawai‘i's YouTube channel[2]:


Video caption:

"Kumu Hina Wong-Kalu shares her mana‘o about what it means to be transgender in the Hawaiian culture."

On 8 October 2016, the following video was uploaded to The Laura Flanders Show's YouTube channel[3]:


Video caption:

"A PLACE IN THE MIDDLE is the true story of a young girl in Hawaiʻi who dreams of leading the boys-only hula group at her school, and a teacher who empowers her through traditional culture."

2021[]

In 2021, the following video was uploaded to KHON2 News' YouTube channel[4]:


Video caption:

"In this episode of Aloha Authentic, host Kamaka Pili sits down with Kumu Hina and Lina Robins-Tamure, to talk about the true meaning of Māhū. Learn the cultural perspective of homosexuality in Hawaiʻi, hear powerful stories of acceptance, and answering user-submitted questions from social media."

2022[]

On 8 July 2022, the following video was uploaded to BishopMuseum's YouTube channel[5]:


Video caption:

""Hidden in Plain Sight: The History of The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu in a Changing Waikīkī": Our first conversation will discuss the historical findings and artistic choices behind "The Healer Stones of Kapaemhu," including details about the first written version of the moʻolelo, its loss, its rediscovery deep in a library archive, and its restoration — all in the context of the rise of tourism, militarization, and the erosion of Hawaiian cultural identity throughout the 20th century. Speakers include:

  • Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu - exhibition co-curator
  • Kanaka Maoli - teacher, cultural practitioner, and community leader
  • Dean Hamer - exhibition co-curator and Emmy and GLAAD media award-winning filmmaker
  • Joe Wilson - exhibition co-curator, Emmy award-winning filmmaker, community advocate
  • DeSoto Brown - exhibition lead curator and Bishop Museum Historian and Curator of the Archives

The Kapaemahu Program Series is generously supported by McInerny Foundation, Bank of Hawaii, Trustee."

In December 2022, the following video was uploaded to ABC News' YouTube channel[6]:


Video caption:

"ABC News’ Kyra Phillips reports on a new museum exhibit in Honolulu that seeks to reacquaint Hawaiians with an ancient tribute to the gender-fluid ways of being māhū."

See also[]

  • Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu – contemporary Template:Lang, teacher and Hawaiian cultural worker
    • Kumu Hina (2014) – documentary film about Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu
  • LGBT rights in Hawaii
  • Rae-rae
  • Fa’afafine, similar group in Samoa and American Samoa
  • Bakla, similar third gender concept in the Philippines
  • Bissu, similar third gender concept among the Bugis people of Indonesia
  • Two-spirit, a pan-Indian umbrella term for all traditional Native American identities that do not fit into the Western gender binary or heterosexual roles

Footnotes[]

  1. ↑ Template:Cite web
  2. ↑ Template:Cite web
  3. ↑ Template:Cite web
  4. ↑ Stephen F. Eisenman. Gauguin's Skirt. 1997.
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Roughgarden
  6. ↑ William Bligh. Bounty Logbook. Thursday, January 15, 1789.
  7. ↑ James Boyd. Traditions of the Wizard Stones Ka-Pae-Mahu. 1907. Hawaiian Almanac and Annual.
  8. ↑ Mary Kawena Pukui. Place Names of Hawaii, 2nd Ed. 1974. University of Hawaii Press.
  9. ↑ Mary Kawena Pukui, Samuael H Ebert. Hawaiian Dictionary. 1986. University of Hawaii Press.
  10. ↑ Websters International Dictionary of the English Language. 1890. Merriam Company.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Template:Cite web
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Template:Cite web
  13. ↑ Stephen F. Eisenman. Gauguin's Skirt. 1997.
  14. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  15. ↑ Template:Cite book
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Template:Cite web
  17. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  18. ↑ Template:Cite web
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Template:Cite journal
  20. ↑ Template:Cite book
  21. ↑ Template:Cite book
  22. ↑ Template:Cite book

References and sources[]

Template:Refbegin

  • Eisenman, Stephen F., (1999). Gauguin's Skirt. London: Thames and Hudson. Template:ISBN.
  • Matzner, Andrew (2001). O Au No Keia: Voices from Hawai'i's Mahu and Transgender Communities

Template:Refend

External links[]


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