Hawaiʻi Cre­ole Eng­lish — called “pid­gin” by its native speak­ers — dates back 100 years to the sug­ar plan­ta­tion days. Immi­grant work­ers, first from Chi­na, then Japan and oth­er coun­tries, need­ed a way to com­mu­ni­cate with their fel­low work­ers and with the peo­ple who lived among them, the Native Hawai­ians. Pid­gin is still spo­ken in Hawaiʻi, and being flu­ent is a source of great pride by its speak­ers. Pid­gin is what makes us local.

One of the most pop­u­lar videos we pub­lished at Pūpū was this lit­tle gem, Moke Action, an ear­ly film direct­ed by the tal­ent­ed Native Hawai­ian film­mak­er ʻĀi­na Paikai. Not sur­pris­ing­ly, ʻĀi­na would go on to make many award-win­ning short films, includ­ing the won­der­ful Hawai­ian Soul in 2020. Moke Action, star­ring Bru­tus LaBenz, Brah­ma Fur­ta­do, and Liona Arru­da, is the tale of two young men who near­ly get into an unfor­tu­nate scuf­fle. Hap­pi­ly, they are pre­vent­ed from com­mit­ting vio­lence, thanks to their respect for their elder. Or, in pidgin:

Two guys like scrap til aun­ty wen scold dem.

Exact­ly.