Hawaii Claims the Shaka as Its Official State Gesture

In addition to perfect surf and sunshine, Hawaii’s known for the shaka, the hand gesture that symbolizes positive messages like hello, goodbye, shoots, and aloha. It’s evolved from an intrinsic part of Hawaiian culture into a globally recognized symbol ingrained in the surf world.

Now Hawaii lawmakers are ensuring that the shaka remains inherent to the islands with a pair of new bills that “adopt, establish, and designate the shaka as the official gesture of the state.”

“It’s a simple, but meaningful initiative,” Hawaii State Senator Glenn Wakai told me. He helped introduce the bills in January. “It captures what’s special about Hawaii. I believe there is great value in the positive spirit embodied in the shaka.”

Wakai credits filmmaker Steve Sue, who produced Shaka, A Story of Aloha, with proposing the idea of legally marrying the shaka to Hawaii. “We cannot let another location take ownership of something that originated in these islands,” Senator Wakai said. “California proclaimed surfing as its official state sport in 2019. I didn’t want to see them, or another state taking credit for the shaka.”

Once Hawaii Governor Josh Green signs off on the bills, the shaka will be the first official state gesture in America. But the bills do more than stake claim on the shaka. They even provide instructions on how to throw a proper one. According to HB2736, that’s done by “extending the thumb and smallest finger while holding the three middle fingers curled, and gesturing in salutation while presenting the front or back of the hand; the wrist may be rotated back and forth for emphasis.”

It also tasks Hawaii officials with creating shaka art for public display and explains that although it’s regarded as the symbol for “hang loose,” the shaka “shares the aloha spirit around the world.”

The bills say that “while multiple origin theories exist, all theories have the shaka developing within the State,” and “ensures that Hawaii retains recognition as the birthplace of the shaka.”

Out of those origin stories, a highly regarded one traces the shaka to a fisherman and sugar mill worker from Oahu who unintentionally created it over 100 years ago. “Our great-great grandfather, Hamana Kalili was the originator of the shaka,” Oahu musician Mailani Maka’inaʻi said. “After his hand got stuck in a machine at work his three middle fingers were missing. Only his thumb and pinky were left. So when he said ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ when he waved, it looked like the shaka,” she added.

Legend says that Kalili left the mill for a job working on a train. There, his revamped wave caught on with locals, and the rest, as they say, is history. Wakai said that critics of the bill have “scoffed” at it as a “waste of time,” but he believes keeping the shaka Hawaiian is essential “The shaka is a symbol of happiness and aloha,” Wakai said. “The world needs to be uplifted by this gesture of kindness.”

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