The very first encounter I had with a Samoan impressed me. Latter on I met thousands when I worked for Sixth U.S. Army and the Presidio of San Francisco. Talofa means greetings in the Somoan language. Just like Aloha means to those of you who are very familiar with Hawaii. The Tongans greet you with Malo e Lelei as do the Fijians with Bula Vinaka. The great people of Tahiti greet you with Ia Orana and the people of Aotearoa known to us strangers as New Zealand christened by a White man long after it had a name of its own! In New Zealand the greeting Kia Ora. . The islands of Marquesas greet you with Kaoha. Which all brings to why Aloha is so close to the greeting from all these beautiful islands of the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. In Swahili the greeting is Jumbo, as Namaste is known all over the India. Let us forget about greetings and say Mahalo, which means Thank You. I have always loved the people of Polynesian ancestry just as I have worked hard to honor and love the First People of Africa and the United States. In fact all indigenous people are very close to my old dying heart. We have said on this website thanks to Joel Skidmore and others that the First People of San Francisco and the Bay Area the Muwekma Ohlone should be honored and their right to be put back on the Federal Registered honored by the United States government. It is a great shame that in San Francisco most people do not know about the Ohlone and even little about the Muwekma Ohlone. You go to Hawaii and you feel that the Hawaiian indigenous folks took control of their destiny. The White folks tried to screw them over but some of the indigenous people of Hawaii led by some few honest politicians and advocates fought to preserve the rights of those whom the gods chose to look after Paradise on Earth. The philosophical dynamics and the ethical repercussions of the missionaries must be scrutinized and adjudicated sooner than latter. Many churches that preyed upon the indigenous people should be mandated to pay reparations. Now, some conservatives will not agree with this statement. It is not about agreeing it is doing the right thing. If it were not for the missionaries many of the ancient traditions intact with rituals and portions one of a kind would have survived the times and brought enlightment to us stupid folks who call the civilization we live today materialistic. Where there was soul, we have nothing - a vacuum that leads to stress, thousands of bi-polar folks, and a mental degradation that defies the imagination. The most sickening crime and hate, one against the other and putting greed and the almighty dollar before god, rules and regulations not written in books that are perishable. Where is the love? Why is it in all my travels and having intercourse with the indigenous people on sensitive and traditional topics the same mentality and the same culprits seem to be the common denominator - the British, the missionaries, those who are greedy and very materialistic. This prostitution must stop and the time is now. It is common knowledge that those who live in concrete jungles will not understand nor experience the jewels and aspirations of those close to mother Earth in places untouched by so called civilization. The forest of Kenya where I grew near Nairobi, the paradise that is the Seychelles Islands which I visited when I was young, the mountains of Afghanistan, the beauty that is Nepal and the Himalayas, the Black Forest and the wonders of Honduras and Belize. Brazil with all it has to offer untouched, as is the time I spent in Peru above in the mountains but close to god and all that is pristine. There are other places such as the Andamans that are part of my subconscious because of unique experiences and those I experienced in Arambol and Vagator, which I am sure, some have and we all belong to that class - one of a kind chosen by god to be facilitators and keepers of this Earth by default. The Almighty has his own ways and if one goes with the flow focused on humanity and what is good for the majority - trying to be at peace with the Earth and all the good that the Earth contains some that breathe and others that not - that is Aloha. Mahalo Breathe that greets and that breath that mutually wishes one another all that is good and peaceful, till we meet again so that we share what the Great Spirit has given to us in Trust. Mahalo.

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