Where did the shaka come from?

Mahalo to my friend Donna Conti for recently sharing the story of Hamana Kalili, the man many believe inspired the shaka.

Today I visited the Polynesian Cultural Center, where a bronze statue honors him, and I finally had the chance to take his portrait.

Whether the shaka means hello, goodbye, thank you, or simply aloha, it has become one of Hawaiʻi's most recognizable symbols. What I love most is that behind the gesture is a real person whose story continues to connect people generations later.

The most widely accepted version of the story is that he lost the three middle fingers on his right hand in an accident while working at the Kahuku Sugar Mill in the early 1900s. Afterward, he worked around the sugar train, and his distinctive wave, with only the thumb and pinky extended, became familiar to local children and the community. Over time, that gesture spread and evolved into what we now know as the shaka.