Part of Hawaiian culture, ʻohana means family (in an extended sense of the term, including blood-related, adoptive or intentional). The concept emphasizes that families are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another. The term is similar in meaning and usage to the New Zealand Māori term whānau, and its cognate in Māori is kōhanga, meaning "nest".
Contents
In Hawaiian, the word ʻohana begins with an ʻokina, indicating a glottal stop. The root word ʻohā refers to the root or corm of the kalo, or taro plant (the staple "staff of life" in Hawaii), which Kanaka Maoli consider to be their cosmological ancestor.
Housing
In contemporary Hawaiian economic and regulatory practice, an "ʻohana unit" is a type of secondary suite. It is a part of a house or a separate structure on the same lot that may contain a relative but which may not be rented to the general public.
In popular culture
ʻOhana is a key theme in Disney's 2002 film, Lilo & Stitch, and throughout its franchise.