Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 12, 1 December 1999 — Hale Kūʻai in Japan [ARTICLE]

Hale Kūʻai in Japan

Hale Kū'ai Cooperative, the national

store of Ka Lāhui Hawai'i selling native products made by Hawaiians in Hawai'i, has been selected as the subject of a new exhibit at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan, according to Rebekah Luke, executive director of the eo-op. The museum will replicate Hale Kū'ai's small Hau'ula storeffont as an example of the current eeonomie activity of indigenous Hawaiians. The creations of 50 producers will be featured. Akitoshi Shimizu, an anthropologist, discovered Hale Kū'ai on the Internet. "When Hawaiians emphasize their ethnicity in their business activities, they

are proposing a Hawaiian model of economy, an alternative to the dominant system of capitalism whieh is characteristically competitive, self-assertive and exploitative towards others," he observed. For information on Hale Kū'ai Cooperative and the Japan exhibit, eall 2378430.