I swear I thought I posted in this thread years ago when it first came out!

Mom's side is easy. Mom immigrated to Hawai`i in 1973 during the first or second wave of immigration to the United States. Her family has roots in the provinces of Badoc, Ilocos Norte ... the northern islands of the Philippines. I've visited her birthplace only once when I was 3, but we have a school and a hospital named after my great-great-grandfather, one of the men who helped build the town last last century.

My dad's side, not so easy. Born and raised in Na`alehu in 1919 (there was a biiiiiiig age difference between mom and dad, FYI) on the Big Island, it's with him I have my Hawaiian and Japanese roots. In the Hawaiian culture, it's common for families to hanai (give up) their child, often the youngest to a close family member or a close friend of the family. Usually these people are unable to have children. My dad was one of them, and he was given to my grandfather's close childhood friend -- a Filipino/Spanish family, hence my Filipino/Spanish last name.

My father always knew about this, but he didn't think anything of it. After all, this was tradition and the culture was being kept alive despite first the Overthrow, Annexation, and then eventually statehood.

Anyway, my paternal grandfather was 100% Hawaiian (something very rare) who spoke the language fluently. My paternal grandmother was 100% Japanese from Nagano, Japan. They met while working on the sugar plantation.

I already told Killarney Rose this, but my paternal grandpa's MOTHER wasJAILED by the American provisional government (the same ones who Overthrew the Queen) for speaking the native language in public. This happened when she was a teenager. They were cruel to her, but somehow she survived and she refused to give up her native language.

And that's OTW...!