Kalo aloha shirt

 The Hawaiian Force

Craig and Luana Neff founded their clothing company, The Hawaiian Force, as a way of sharing Hawaiian values, culture, thoughts and untold histories with people. Activists at heart, much of their work has a strong political, yet often humorous, slant.

The Hawaiian Force have a shop in Hilo on Hawai’i Island, in which they stock a large range of political t-shirts, as well as a small range of screen-printed aloha wear. The fit of their shirts, like their attitude, is relaxed.

The importance of roots

This long sleeved aloha shirt features a pattern of kalo plants in Craig Neff’s distinctive fluid, bold drawing style.

The kalo plant, known as taro in English, features on a number of The Hawaiian Force’s products, including a tee shirt which warns: ‘Radical Hawaiian Taroist – without your roots you are ruthless’ (see FE012751).

Kalo in the creation chant

In the Kumulipo, the Hawaiian creation chant, kalo grew from the remains of the still born son of Wakea (sky father) and  his daughter Ho'ohokukalani. The kalo plant sustained his young brother, Haloa, known as man and continues to do so today.

The Hawaiian word for family, 'ohana, can be traced to the kalo plant. Its off-shoots are known as 'oha, thus 'ohana means a group of people who are from the same root.

As such, this is the sort of shirt that would be appropriate to wear a number of family occasions, including weddings or a baby lu?au.

Wearing your culture

For the Neffs, a well-chosen aloha shirt is a way in which people can ‘wear their culture’.

‘… it’s like wearable art, so you have to pick and choose wisely… (it) actually has a deeper significance that’s political, that’s spiritual, that’s fun, that’s a little bit of everything, but also has a message that people can relate to. People can see that you understand.’ – Luana Neff, 2017

Co-collecting in Hawai'i

This shirt was acquired by Te Papa during a co-collecting trip to Hawai'i in 2017. Te Papa worked with Noelle Kahanu,a cultural specialist from the University of Hawai'i, to develop collection of aloha shirts that reflects the ways in which Hawaiian culture has been historically represented, and misrepresented, through the aloha shirt, and the ways in which contemporary native Hawaiian designers are utilising the aloha shirt to communicate indigenous cultural values. This shirt was purchased at The Hawaiian Force store.

Te Papa’s co-collecting programmes are guided by the principle of mana taonga – the sharing authority with stakeholder communities.