Clifford Naeʻole
Hawaiian Cultural Advisor
The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua
by CHRIS AMUNDSON
“Aloha from a visitor means the same thing as aloha from a Hawaiian.”
“I grew up in the taro patches of Waiheʻe with my grandfather for five hours a day. And as a small kid, it was fun. It was entertaining. And it came to a point where I was graduating from high school [1970] and I says to him, “I want to leave taro patches and go see the world.” And his answer to me was a very, very negative answer, because he wanted to give the land to me. He wanted to give everything to me, and I declined it.
I said, “I’m gonna set my sight on broader visions and go to the mainland and make myself famous and have fun.”
Eventually he did sell the land, and I remember seeing his boots and cobwebs on the sickle. I says to him, I says, “Grandpa, I thought you’d never, never get rid of this land.” And he said, “Because you did not fulfill your destiny.”
So, it hurt me. At 35 years of age on the mainland is where I found my Hawaiian-ness – my heritage, as well as my blood.
I found out that Naeʻole was the chief who was entrusted to care for Kamehameha, who was foretold to be the slayer of chiefs – to be the man to unify the Hawaiian kingdoms. The chiefs wanted him destroyed. Kamehameha’s mother trusted him to Naeʻole to run for the hills and flee from the persecuting enemies and be raised until he was old enough to become a warrior to take his place in history and become the unifier of kingdoms.
From that point on, I came back to Maui. I got back into taro patches. I began to return to the land. I began to understand more and more. When I came back to Maui, I committed my firstborn to the Hawaiian language. The language opened barriers. It helped my mind be free.
And then The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua came calling. They hired me as a PBX operator two weeks before the resort opened [1991] – room reservations, phones. And as time went on, I started introducing more Hawaiian things, and my voice got heard. I graduated to the position of cultural advisor, and now I have a hand in everything that is of anything to do with Hawaiian-ness – from the website, to the decor, to the language, to the menus, to the everything.
Next year’s Celebration of the Arts [April 18-19, 2025] theme at The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua will be “In the eyes of the beholder, from the eyes of the beholder.” For me, aloha from a visitor means the same thing as aloha from a Hawaiian. To me, it makes no difference – it comes as equal status.
Aloha can go a long way. It is taken beyond the shores of our islands to the shores of visitor’s cities, states and countries. Hopefully the good will permeate their being, and they may pass it on, too. It expands and expands.
When I was a boy, my grandfather came to me being the hiapo – firstborn of the firstborn. And with that comes responsibility. And he judged that I had no idea on kuleana – I had no idea of responsibility. So, to all the generations that are coming, know your responsibility, know your kuleana.
Sometimes your kuleana finds you. You have no choice: you better take care of it.
Kuleana is about being responsible, and it’s about being right and wrong at the same time. I say to always look inside yourself and always keeping an eye out. If something needs to be corrected, make sure that it is corrected in the way that is always workable to both parties.
You’re not always going to be correct, but you always got to listen. Kuleana is being aware of everything around you: everything and everyone around and try to be responsible and make the right decisions. And if there are decisions that one cannot be made, you think about it. Eventually the answer will come. That’s kuleana – being able to be responsible for what is wrong as well as what is right and admitting that I was wrong.”
