I was born in Hawaii, am I Hawaiian?
The term “Hawaiian” is sometimes used out of place. Hawaiian usually refers to a person of Hawaiian decent with [tag]Hawaiian[/tag] blood.
Example: In Texas if you are a Texan, it could mean you were born in Texas or are a resident of Texas.
Not so in Hawaii. Since the Hawaiian people are a “Race” of people, being Hawaiian is much more than just being a resident of Hawaii.
I’ll turn to Wikipedia here:
Hawaiian can refer to:
the [tag]Hawaiian Islands[/tag]
the [tag]Hawaiian language[/tag]
the [tag]Hawaiian People[/tag] (KÄnaka maoli)
Residents of the state generally do not refer to themselves as Hawaiian unless they in fact have some Hawaiian blood (see above). They might instead refer to themselves as kama`aina, meaning “child of the land”, or as locals, especially if they were born (or at least raised) in Hawaii. These latter two terms imply origin in, or great familiarity with, Hawai’i, but not Hawaiian descent.