Haole (ˈhaʊ li): term in the language of the Hawaiian Islands to describe a person of non-Hawaiian/non-Polynesian ancestry. Primarily used to describe a person of European or "white" ancestry.

Haolewood (ˈhaʊ li wʊd): term in the modern vernacular of the Hawaiian Islands to describe a group of communities on the Windward Side of the island of Oahu, most notably the neighborhoods of Kailua and Lanikai, where haoles tend to congregate.

Although I spent the majority of my first 18 years of life growing up in Kailua, Hawaii during the 1970s and 80s, it was in the year two thousand and two, and in the small waterfront town of Des Moines, Washington, that I first came across this amazing neologism. I was chatting with one of the butchers at the venerable B & E Meats. I was waxing enthusiastic about how good it felt to actually have a neighborhood butcher, that such things were all but impossible to find in my home town. Naturally, he asked where that was. When I replied, "Oahu, in the town of Kailua," he exclaimed, "ohhhh, Haolewood!"

I was enchanted.

The view of the Kawainui hillside from the parking lot of Creekside LoungeOver the next few years I made many trips back to my home town to visit my family, with that magical word always in the back of my mind. One day, making my way through the parking lot of Foodland, I happened to look across Hamakua Drive at the nearby hillside overlooking the soggy pastureland of Kawainui Swamp. Watching the play of late afternoon light and shadow against that verdant backdrop, I was suddenly struck with a vision, a graphic icon in tribute to the community that had such a profound impact on my life. After many years of cogitation, false starts, foot-dragging and general laziness on my part, I was finally able to bring this vision to life. The result of these efforts graces the top of this page.

I am currently looking for someone in the Islands who owns or runs a printing company who might be interested in licensing this design for disribution state- (and who knows, maybe even world-) wide. I envision Haolewood T-shirts, decals, static window clings, coffee cups, you name it. If you think you might fit the bill, drop me a line at haoleboy at haolewood dot us.