Barack Obama and the White House Shaka

Travel Blog  •  Pam Mandel  •  01.21.09 | 3:12 PM ET

obama shaka gestureREUTERS/Larry Downing

Maybe you caught it. Our new president, Barack Hussein Obama—and his little daughter, Sasha—threw the “shaka” at the Punahou School Marching Band during the inauguration parade. If you’ve driven in Hawaii, you’ve seen the shaka more than once—when you let the guy merge in front of you or stopped to let someone cross the street to the beach. Wikipedia has the most consistent origin story for the greeting which means, depending on context: it’s cool, hang loose, right on ...

One theory according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, prevailing local lore credited the gesture to Kalili Hamana of Laie, who lost the three middle fingers of his right hand while working at the Kahuku Sugar Mill. Hamana was then shifted to guarding the sugar train, and his all-clear wave of thumb and pinkie is said to have evolved over the years into the “shaka.”

I can’t help but wonder what other signs of island culture the 44th president is going to bring to Capitol Hill.

Tags: Barack Obama, Politics, North America, United States, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., Shrinking Planet

Pam Mandel is a freelance writer and photographer from Seattle, Washington. Her work has appeared in a variety of print, radio, and web publications and she's contributed to two guidebooks, one on British Columbia and one on Hawaii. She plays the ukulele, has an internal beacon that is surprisingly capable of locating the best baked goods in town, almost any town, and speaks German with a Styrian accent. Learn more on her personal blog at Nerd's Eye View.


5 Comments for Barack Obama and the White House Shaka

Eva Holland 01.21.09 | 4:18 PM ET

You mean, that wasn’t another one of his secret terrorist signals?

Ahhhh, love it. Coolest. President. Ever.

TambourineMan 01.21.09 | 4:54 PM ET

Other signs of island culture?

Tropical sativa growing in the White House Rose Garden would be nice.

SHAKA SHAVED ICE 01.21.09 | 8:17 PM ET

2009! YEAR OF THE SHAKA!
represent the positive!
SHAKA

Aloha from California 01.22.09 | 5:16 AM ET

After watching this segment of the parade again, it also looks like President Obama says “howzit!” to the Punahou School kids. Very, very cool!

Michael Yessis 01.22.09 | 9:29 AM ET

Love it! Hope to see it more in the coming years.

Maybe he’ll be caught drinking POG, too.

Great post, Pam.

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