I’ll say it in Hawaiian — “Mele Kalikimaka”, since I am currently home for the holidays visiting my 92 year old mother in her rural village, and my 27 year old son who lives on the same island. I have lots of other relatives here in Hawaii and may be seeing some of them as well.

May your holidays be filled with fun, family fellowship, and friendship.

Thanks to our Tucsoncitizen.com loyal readers who keep coming back to our website for “news, information, commentary, opinion & perspective”.

Looking forward to 2013 as a new year filled with hope, peace and love. Happy New Year next week, and keep spreading that “aloha spirit” into the new year. And if you’re unsure what exactly qualifies as “aloha spirit”, read one of my previous posts “Do you Practice Aloha?” (click here).

It’s supposed to be a special time for Christians (Catholic and Protestant) to celebrate and rejoice in the birth of Jesus Christ. But it can be so much more, in spreading the message of love, faith, & hope throughout your community and the world.

Last night at the Christmas Eve Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral, Bishop Gerald Kicanas preached that “we are all precious children of God”. He also said we need to “create a world of peace.”

Many non-Christians (like my birth family of Jodo-shu Buddhists in Hawaii) celebrated Christmas as a family tradition and secular holiday from school/work. I’m sure that can be said of other religious families & communities as well.

Now to be politically correct, American communities may also celebrate the 8 days of Hanukkah (Jewish Americans), Kwanzaa (Black Americans) from Dec. 26 to January 1, sometimes Bodhi Day (December 8 for Buddhists commemorating the birthday of Lord Buddha), and even Diwali (Hindu Festival of Lights) till mid-December.

However you celebrate these holidays, even if its just to get together & exchange gifts and fellowship, please reflect upon what faith means to you spiritually, and to spread love (and the “aloha spirit”) to your family, friends & neighbors.

And Merry Christmas to all today. Mele Kalikimaka in Hawaiian (click here for last year’s blog on the 12 days of Christmas – Hawaiian style).

In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain after a decade of war. The revolution had destroyed the colonial silver mining industry and had bankrupted the national treasury. Along the northern frontier, funds that had supported missions, presidios and trading routes were reduced. As missions began to wither without military protection, Mexico began auctioning off more land (land grants). The revolution also impacted the relationship between the Europeans, Pueblos and non-pueblo natives such as the Apache and Navajo.

The Mexican period came to a close with the influx of Americans. In 1846, the annexation of Texas led to the Mexican-American War, ultimately resulting in the Mexican Cession, in which the United States acquired the region of Arizona north of the Gila River in 1848. The California gold rush brought more Americans through Arizona. The Mexican period closed with the Gadsden Purchase in 1854 and the last of the Mexican army leaving Tucson in 1856.

Arizona officially became the U.S. Territory of Arizona from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state.
That was almost 100 years ago.

Arizona state flag

Currently about 30.8% (2009 estimate) of the State of Arizona has individuals claiming to be of Hispanic origin, but we are awaiting the official 2010 Census results. Many local Mexican-American families here in Tucson are 5th generation Americans, like District 5 Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias‘ familia.

Blogger Hugh Holub has a recent report on Arizona’s 6.4 million population. “Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic group in the state, as well as in the country.”

Other Hispanic politicians in Southern Arizona: Congressman Raul Grijalva (CD 7), Pima County Supervisor Chair Ramon Valadez (District 2), Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez, Tucson Councilmembers Regina Romero (Ward 1) and Richard Fimbres (Ward 5), LD 27 Senator-elect Olivia Cajero Bedford, LD 27 House Rep.-elect Dr. Macario Saldate, TUSD Governing Board members Adelita Grijalva (Raul’s daughter), & Miguel Cuevas.

So therefore, based on Arizona’s history as having been once Spanish-speaking Mexico and the current increasing ethnic population figures, my Christmas message this year is “Feliz Navidad”. I always sing along when I hear Jose Feliciano‘s popular song with that title (written by him in 1970) on the radio.

Happy holidays everyone.

Feliz Navidad, prospero año y felicidad.

“12 Days of Christmas Hawaiian Style” was apparently written in 15 minutes as three friends ate Chinese food in the living room of a Diamond Head (Oahu) home. So reported the Honolulu Star Bulletin in December, 1995.

The song was copyrighted in 1959 by Eaton "Bob" Magoon Jr.'s Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Co. Listed as its authors were composer/real estate developer Magoon, actor/singer Ed Kenney, and Gordon Phelps, then Magoon's assistant. (Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Co. is no longer in business, and neither is the Honolulu Star Bulletin, which went out of business recently in June, 2010).

The Hawaiian version starts off:

“Numbah One day of Christmas, my tutu give to me One mynah bird in one papaya tree.” (Tutu is grandmother in Hawaiian)

The hilarious song goes on to list:
Two coconuts
Three dried squid (yum)
Four flower lei
Five big fat pigs (pua’a, the Hawaiian pig)
Six hula lessons
Seven shrimps a-swimming
Eight ukuleles
Nine pounds of poi (that’s a lot of poi!)
Ten cans of beer (more politically correct versions now say “soda”)
Eleven missionaries
Twelve televisions

You can see how times have changed since 1959 (Hawaii’s statehood year) since it’s not politically correct to mention beer with young families anymore (even in Hawaii), nor Christian missionaries who first arrived in Hawaii in 1820. And color televisions were only starting to pop up in people’s homes back then.

Listen online to various different versions of this song, sung in Pidgin English (but I translated it for you readers, as I am fluent in Pidgin, having grown up on the Big Island).

Happy 12 days of Christmas!

Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas in Hawaiian) a bit early too.

A German Weihnachtsmarkt is actually coming to Tucson this weekend (December 4th), just in time for St. Nicholas Day on Monday.

Weihnachtsmarkt is a German Christmas Market (German baked goods and other specialties, Christmas tree decorations, crafts, activities for kinder (kids), German Christmas songs and instrumental music, raffle prizes). Free admission to this 1st annual event, 5 to 8 p.m.

Where: Desert Sky Community School
122 North Craycroft (campus of Rincon Congregational Church)
http://www.desertskycommunityschool.org/
(520) 745-3888

Desert Sky is a “public charter school inspired by Waldorf Education nurturing grades K-5 for the 2010/2011 school year.” It is “based on the child development theories of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, and will consider the whole child, including the academic, aesthetic, social, and emotional development of the student. A classic academic education is integrated with the arts and music at all grade levels.”

Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas in German).

And if you want to start earlier in the day (11 a.m.) drive up to Mesa for their Christkindlmarkt:

If you want to hear the popular Hawaiian song with this title, google it to hear various versions online. The first few lines go:

“Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day”…

But there’s many other ways to express Christmas greetings in some of the languages I’ve studied: Frohe Weihnachten (German), or Feliz Navidad (Spanish), or “Merii Kurisumasu” (Japanese version of Merry Christmas).

Whether you celebrate Bodhi Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa (or none of these like my Muslim nephew) it’s that time of the year to extend a secular “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” to all.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.