In response to snork's thread, this is what I found just from a very brief search. Starting off with some links that point to some pretty strong parallels, but then go into some possible frauds where I openly say I don't know enough to be certain. Wish Lesleyann was around.
Book review
http://www.natcom.org/ROC/one-two/Vol2Num2/ConefreyWood.htm"Haoles in Hawaii
Theresa Conefrey
Houston Wood. Displacing Natives: The Rhetorical Production of Hawaii. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999. 240 pages. $63.00 (cloth); $26.95 (paper).
Houston Wood’s rigorous and original work challenges the typical guidebook depiction of America’s only island state as an idyllic paradise where happy Hawaiians are ever eager to share their aloha spirit with tourists and other outsiders. Wood aligns himself with postcolonialist scholar Edward Said in writing with the aim of participating in the "struggle over geography," and with Native Hawaiian activists in "commit[ting] to a project that actively opposes the dominant culture’s continuing attacks upon Natives" (3)….Equally problematic is the appropriation of so-called Hawaiian spiritualism by practitioners of new-age religions. By way of example, Wood offers a brochure from a Canadian company that appears to contain little concrete evidence of the actual Native culture. He quotes Naone, a distraught Native Hawaiian, as responding with the plaintive cry that "people need to be told they can’t just make up stuff and say it is Hawaiian" (75). Wood notes wryly that it is unlikely his plea will be heard. "Metropolitan appropriations are disseminated worldwide, but the voices of Naone and others like him are barely heard"
http://www.moolelo.com/statehood-50years.html"If anyone can feel Hawaiian, or be "Hawaiian at heart," where does this leave us as true Hawaiians, as Kanaka Maoli?
Our ancient hula is learned and performed in Japan, with taiko drums, no less. People teach hula today and call themselves kumu hula regardless whether they read it in a book or watched a videotape. Those who contribute to behaviors like these have cheapened the sanctity of hula, a rich cultural practice.
We have haoles who love our beaches who chastised me for trying to stop them from running around in the buff. They insist that our ancestors ran around naked, and the missionaries made us put clothes on. The ignorance of these people is shocking.
We have haole people here on Maui who profess to be a kahuna (high priest) and do house blessings, telling people their homes are haunted and there are bones under their homes. They then charge a hefty fee to "bless" the homes. This particular "kahuna" preys on the bones of our ancestors, and that is the most disgusting thing to take place.
There are groups of crystal worshippers who leave their offerings in archaeological sites around Maui and after their rituals dance naked on the beaches, beating drums and dancing around a bonfire. And the powers that be take no action against this type of idiocy."
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2005/07/04/focus5.html"Law ends government oversight of Native Hawaiian healing practices
Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - July 1, 2005 by Clynton Namuo
A new state law bars government oversight of Native Hawaiian healers, leaving it up to so-called "kupuna councils" comprising experts in the field.
While kupuna councils had been used to oversee Native Hawaiian healers in the past, they were regulated as state agencies because they were commissioned through Papa Ola Lokahi, a Native Hawaiian health agency. Papa Ola Lokahi institutes Native Hawaiian health programs with federal funding from the Native Hawaiian Healthcare Act of 1988.
The new law, Act 153, removes anyone on a kupuna council from liability and gives the councils total independence from state government oversight.
"This finally cut the last tie to state regulation," said Terry Shintani, a physician and lawyer who helped draft the legislation. "It makes the kupuna councils as independent as possible."
Previous attempts to regulate Native Hawaiian healing, such as licensing, failed, Shintani said.
Native Hawaiian healing is a closely guarded practice, handed down through families. Because of that, regulation traditionally has come from elders, not government. The law codifies that practice.
Kupuna councils can consist of any number of members, as long as at least three are proficient in Native Hawaiian healing methods. The councils will continue to be chosen by Papa Ola Lokahi and will regulate practices such as lomi lomi (massage), laau lapaau (herbal healing), laau kahea (spiritual healing), hooponopono (conflict resolution) and pule (prayer healing).
The councils also were created to keep inexperienced "New Age" people from claiming they were Native Hawaiian healers, Shintani said.
As kupuna council members grow older, some have promised to teach their practices to people other than family members. One kupuna council, created at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, has seen three of its eight members die since 2000, said Helen O'Connor assistant to the director of the Traditional Native Hawaiian Healing Center.
The Waianae health center is constructing a building solely for Native Hawaiian healing, which will be completed in one year, O'Connor said. The center's kupuna council goes beyond simply choosing who can practice Native Hawaiian healing as it also regulates the protocols there, she said."
